Sarika Merchant

Sarika Merchant is an adjunct professor at the David R Ravin School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She recently received her masters degree from the same program. During her masters studies she delved into studying architecture through the lens of its purpose within a community and within its environment. She taught as a lab instructor for Dr, Azarbayjani’s Environmental Systems Principal class while exploring the implementation of visual coding into the field of architecture to create sustainable buildings for the future.

She worked with a team and Studio Dickey to create Gold Rush, a temporary public art sculpture. The installation is reminiscent of a metallic sparkle by gold mirrored panels that generate shimmering reflections and dancing light patterns. The overall form of the installation encourages interaction and spaces for people to photograph during their visit. This project was presented at the Arts in Society conference in Krakow, Poland.

In addition to teaching she works as an architectural designer at FMK Architects, an architecture firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. The firm is multidisciplinary and works on projects across North Carolina. She regularly takes what she learns at FMK and translates it into her teaching, bringing the students real world examples of architecture and grounding assignments and lessons in current industry projects.