Design in a Changing Climate

A student finds purpose in a double major of architecture and climate sciences

Duke student Sam Stayn stands in front of a board that features several building designs
Duke student Sam Stayn paired two majors that enables him to consider architectural design while being mindful of ecological issues.

This is a summary of a story originally on Trinity College Arts and Sciences.

During his sophomore year of high school, Sam Stayn enrolled in a virtual summer program at the Boston Architectural College. He took an introductory course in design.

It was an epiphany.

“I realized that I needed a career path where creativity, analytical thinking and the act of making things are inseparable,” he says. 

That path of exploration widened during Stayn’s senior year of high school, where he took an elective class in environmental science. “Designing experiments, gathering field data and drawing conclusions mirrored the architectural processes of site analysis, iterative testing and structural imagination,” he said. 

At Duke, Stayn paired two majors — art history with a concentration in architecture, with Earth and climate sciences. The interdisciplinary approach enables him to build a specialized technical track where he considers architectural design while being mindful of ecological issues.

“The crossover is 100 percent advantageous,” he says. “While balancing the two majors can feel like a puzzle, the courses often complement each other. My scientific training informs my approach to topography, hydrological flow, materials and environmental resilience in design.” 

This semester, Stayn has advanced his knowledge and perspective on how to synthesize design and data while leading the Trinity House Course: Thinking Like an Architect.

For Stayn, the relationship between STEM, the humanities and emerging technologies like AI is not a tension, but a balance

“While more students are gravitating toward STEM fields, the arts and humanities provide an essential perspective,” he said. “They teach us how to engage with culture and the human experience in ways that numbers and data alone can’t capture. STEM and the humanities don’t have to compete — they strengthen each other.”

To learn more about students integrating STEM and the arts, go to STEAM@Duke.