Rachel Preston Prinz

By
Emily Leach
 – June 28, 2011

Rachel Preston Prinz is an architectural designer and historian who graduated from Texas A&M in 1998 with a professional Masters in Architecture (with emphases in Architectural Design & Architecture History) and a Certificate in Historic Preservation. Her pre-professional degree was a Bachelors of Environmental Design, completed in 1995, with minors in business and psychology. She has studied and worked in the cathedrals and villas of Europe and worked alongside American architects specializing in religious architecture, historic preservation, and ultra-high-end custom residential design.

Her work has included forensic architecture, archaeological architecture, the preservation and adaptive reuse of historic structures, re/design for handicapped accessibility, as well as the design of bio-climatic residences and commercial structures for non-profits. As a Certified Architectural Historian, Rachel has documented structures for National and State registers, worked for the Historic American Building Survey, National Park Service, BLM, the states of Virginia, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, California, Utah, Arizona, & Colorado.

As a professional freelance travel writer, Rachel has written extensively for tourism organizations as well as magazines, newspapers, and online guides, focusing on the intersections between architecture, archeology, and ways of experiencing the Genius Loci, or “Spirit of Place.” Rachel offers architectural tours, presentations and workshops on historic Southwest architecture, bio-climatic design principles, sacred architecture and labyrinth design, and frequently lectures on the links between architecture, archaeology, and astronomy.