Bio

Joseph M. Watson is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at North Carolina State University, where he teaches histories of the built environment and design studios. Joseph’s research treats architecture as an ideal medium for understanding the larger forces that have shaped the modern world. His recent scholarship addresses this through a focus on the social and environmental dimensions of buildings and landscapes in the Southern U.S. during the twentieth century.

Joseph is currently at work on a book project, “Usonia South: Frank Lloyd Wright below the Mason-Dixon,” that will offer the first detailed, critical study of Wright’s work in the Southern U.S. Research for this project has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Tyson Scholars of American Art Program at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. He has written on other aspects of Wright’s work, which will be included in the edited volumes “Rewriting the American Present: Contesting the Myths of National Culture” (University of Texas Press, 2026) and “Modern Architecture and the Transformation of the American South, 1920s–1980s” (University of Virginia Press, 2027). His writings have also appeared in Architectural Theory Review, Arris, Avery Review, and the Journal of Architectural Education, among other venues.

Joseph has taught in professional architecture programs across North America, from Louisiana State University to the Rhode Island School of Design and the University of British Columbia. Prior to joining NC State, Joseph was an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Belmont University. He earned his Ph.D. in the History and Theory of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018. He also holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Tennessee.

Area(s) of Expertise

Architectural History, Environmental Histories of Architecture, Modern Architecture in the Southern U.S., Urban History