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Marika Dalley Snider, PhD, M.Arch, AIA

Marika Snider is an architect, educator, and storyteller who celebrates the small, the forgotten, and the under-appreciated architecture and its associated people through film and visualization, writing, and historic preservation.

In 2003, Marika formed a small design-build architectural firm in Dayton, Ohio. As her career evolved, she became more interested in history preservation and worked for the Ohio History Connection (formerly Ohio Historical Society) as a project architect designing museum-quality restorations on state-owned historic sites. Projects include well-known sites like the houses of President Warren G Harding and Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Serpent Mound and other indigenous sites, as well as historically sensitive maintenance projects on lesser-known sites. 

Marika’s research lies at the intersection of history, culture, and technology. She began by challenging static media by producing short documentaries about architecture and place. https://vimeo.com/marikasnider. This led to experimenting with immersive virtual reality as a way to experience reconstructions of historic sites.

  • Orange Mound History Project – visualization of the architectural heritage of one of the largest and oldest African American neighborhoods by digitally reconstructing the neighborhood and embedding it in an Unreal Gaming engine for an immersive history experience
  • West Jefferson Street History Project – supporting historic preservation and documentation of the historically black commercial district in Brownsville, TN
  • Digital Reconstruction and Lighting Study in Virtual Reality of the Hypostyle Hall at the Temple of Karnak, Egypt

Marika teaches graduate and undergraduate Architectural Design studios, the Architectural History series, Interior Design Professional Practice, and Graduate Seminars such as Historical Research and Visualization and Perception & Architecture Through Filmmaking: Theory and Practice.

As part of her commitment to celebrating the contributions of all people, Marika is a founding member of the College of Communication and Fine Arts Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She also serves on the College’s Graduate Council and Research Committee and is the Architectural Licensing Advisor. 

Education

  • PhD, Middle East Studies / History, Architecture and Urbanism, University of Utah
  • Master of Design Studies in Historic Preservation, Boston Architectural College
  • Master of Architecture, University of Kansas
  • Bachelor of Science in Architecture, The Ohio State University

Licensure & Registration

  • Registered Architect: Kansas, Ohio, Utah
  • NCARB Certification
  • California Safety Assessment, Post-disaster Building Evaluator credential