2023 Paul Helmle Fellow: Margaret Kerrison
April 4, 2023
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The Department of Architecture is pleased to announce that Margaret Kerrison, an award-winning story lead, story consultant, and Writer, has been appointed as the 2023 Paul Helmle Fellow.
“Architecture is the original immersive experience,” Kerrison said. “When we build places that are intentionally designed as human-centered and narrative-driven environments, we encourage community, play, and engagement in meaningful ways. We need more places that promote a sense of play, fulfillment, and purpose in our lives.”
Each year, the Paul Hemle Fellowship program recognizes the contributions of influential professionals in architecture and the broader landscape of the allied creative fields. It honors the legacy of the late Professor Paul Helmle, who educated generations of architects and designers for over three decades.
“The Cal Poly Pomona Department of Architecture is delighted to receive Margaret’s insight, enthusiasm and energy to outline a creative process that incorporates the narratives of people and cultures into the designs of real, virtual and hybrid environments,” said George Proctor, professor and department chair.
Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, Kerrison received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. Her career spans 15 years of creating narratives and writing for television, film, digital media, games, brand storytelling, location-based entertainment, narrative placemaking, and immersive experiences.
Kerrison is an award-winning Story Lead, Story Consultant, and Writer for multiple projects around the world, including Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, Avengers Campus, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, National Geographic Base Camp, AMOREPACIFIC Story Garden, and the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. She was a Disney Imagineer from 2014-2021. Currently, she is a Senior Experiential Creative Lead for Airbnb’s Experiential Creative Product team.
Kerrison is a frequent speaker for immersive storytelling in conferences, universities, and companies, including SXSW, Star Wars Celebration, D23, IAAPA Expo, FMX Conference, Asian Festival of Children's Content (Singapore), University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins University, Laguna College of Art and Design, Singapore National Library Board, Blizzard/Activision, and Riot Games.
Her projects have been featured around the world in The New York Times, Good Morning America, The Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, Wired magazine, and the official site for Star Wars. She is currently a Sr. Experiential Creative Lead for Airbnb. Her first book "Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds - A Writer's Guide" was released in August 2022. She is currenty working on a top-secret project and her second book.
Margaret Kerrison: Creating Immersive Worlds
The Paul Helmle Fellowship is awarded annually to a distinguished design professional who emulates the qualities of Professor Emeritus Paul Helmle, known for guiding students to better understand their design intentions in the larger landscape of architectural notions.
WORKSHOP
As part of the fellowship, 2023 Fellow Margaret Kerrison will conduct a workshop during Winter 2023 with a select group of Cal Poly Pomona architecture students. The workshop will take place over two weekends, April 8-9 and April 23 at the Neutra House VDL Studio and Residences in Silverlake.
Student participants will each receive a copy of Kerrison's book, "Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds," to be read in advance of the intensive portion of the workshop. Between the first and second weekends, students will work in small groups developing narratives based on a series of environmental design project programs. Two weeks later, on April 23, the workshop participants, Kerrison, the Department Chair George Proctor and a panel of faculty will hear from the student participants and discuss the workshop outcomes.
PUBLIC LECTURE
Margaret Kerrison, the award-winning immersive story designer and writer behind Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and other notable Disney projects, will share the multi-faceted influences that shaped her 15-year storytelling career for Walt Disney theme parks, Fortune 500 companies and museums.
Margaret Kerrison: Immersive Worlds Public Lecture
Friday, April 14, 12-1 p.m.
Building 7 Atrium, Cal Poly Pomona
From traditional to emerging entertainment platforms, Kerrison has created narratives and writing for television, film, digital media, games, brand storytelling, location-based entertainment, narrative placemaking and immersive experiences. She has worked as a story lead, story consultant and writer for projects such as Star Wars: Galactic Cruiser, Star Wars: Launch Bay, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Heineken Experience, StoryGarden by AMOREPACIFIC, and the Information and Communications Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai.
'Inspiring Generations of Students'
Professor Emeritus Paul Helmle (April 27, 1936 - Dec. 3, 2015) taught design studios in the Architecture Department for many years. Hundreds of students had their work looked at, questioned, discussed, encouraged and made better by Paul. He helped them to understand what they were doing, or trying to do, and laid the foundations upon which they would build careers. His constant probing for the best his students had to offer helped them in ways that were not restricted to architecture.
Paul’s own education was firmly founded at the University of Illinois in the 1950s and polished by the graduate school at Princeton. He worked in a small, unsung office in Illinois while he was an undergraduate, and a large, storied one in Connecticut after graduate school. He was hired out of Princeton by Eero Sarrinen, whose office was at the time the most desirable in the country for young, talented graduates. He left the Saarinen, later Roche and Dinkeloo, office to teach at Yale, then started his own practice, and ultimately accepted the offer of a position teaching at Cal Poly Pomona.
Paul’s work as an architect was individual and distinctive, combining the modernist rigor and historical exposure of his education with his own unique aesthetic. His outgoing personality and openness to other people’s viewpoints gave his work and his relationship with his clients deep personal dimensions. These same qualities helped him to sail unscathed through sometimes difficult waters as a member and chair of the architecture faculty. And they inspired generations of students to value his guidance and to enjoy his ebullient and charismatic personality. He was admired and loved by those privileged to work with and to study with him, and it is most fitting that his name should live on in this generous gift from one of his grateful and affectionate students. — Nicholas Pyle