Ashton Hamm

Ashton Hamm is a worker-owner and co-founder of uxo architects with fellow Virginia Tech alumni, James Heard. She founded uxo architects in 2016 and became a licensed practitioner in 2017. As the national Secretary of The Architecture Lobby, Ashton helps address wage and labor issues within the profession and assists in democratic labor organizing. Her interest in labor and the structures of the profession are what inspired her research proposal for the Sunshine Fellowship, where she proposed interviewing firm owners to understand the dimensions of their practices. She interviewed 27 offices between Spain and Los Angeles, CA, touching on aspects of the firm operations including client relationships, the economy and design strategies.

Along with her lecture, she is exhibiting the data collected from each of the 27 firms allowing visitors to observe in passing or interact with the exhibit and analyze projects side by side.