Mia Kaplan is an interdisciplinary artist, architect, and architectural historian from Southeast Louisiana. The coastal marshes, swamps, and pine forests of the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, where Kaplan has spent most of her life, are her primary sources of inspiration. She studied Drawing and Printmaking at the Memphis College of Art and studied Architecture and Historic Preservation at Tulane University. The intermix of her passions, which span across fields of drawing, painting, printmaking, assemblage, sculpture, textiles, curation, architectural design, environmental graphic design, and historic preservation result in a multi-faceted body of work that encompasses Kaplan’s ever-evolving practice.
Mia Kaplan Studio LLC began as Mia’s art studio when it was first registered in 2015. Since its founding, Kaplan has developed the firm into an interdisciplinary firm that provides artistic, architectural, and historic preservation services. Mia Kaplan Studio LLC is registered with the LSBAE as an Architectural Firm, and the studio’s sole owner and manager, Mia Kaplan, is a registered Architect in the state of Louisiana with experience in commercial, retail, residential, government, and industrial architectural projects.
The firm’s primary office is in Lacombe, Louisiana. The firm’s purpose is to approach context-driven design as an art, treating places and buildings like pieces within a greater social-sculptural collage. Each client has a different vision, and we are meticulous about bringing each one to life in a way that respectfully bridges the past and the future. At times, MKS partners with consultants and larger firms to accomplish projects at any scale.
Contributing Author, “Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands” by John Stubbs, William Chapman, Julia Gatley, and Ross King. Routledge. 2023.
Forestry Equipment Circa 1890 Building Improvements, City of New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways, New Orleans, LA (Cushing Terrell)
Holy Aid & Comfort Spiritual Church, Schematic Design Drawings for Reconstruction, in collaboration with the PRC. New Orleans, LA (Cushing Terrell)
Historic Structure Reporting and Conditions Assessments, Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming (Cushing Terrell)
Section 106 Desktop Review for Little Africa Plaza on behalf of African Economic Development Solutions. (Cushing Terrell)
Conservation of Interior Furnishings of the 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson Suite at the J.J. Pickle Federal Building, Austin, TX (Cushing Terrell)
Tenant Improvements, Architectural design at the 1937 Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. San Antonio, Texas. (Cushing Terrell)
New Construction of two 40,000 sf Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings and Offices. Confidential Tech Client. Temple, TX and Kuna, ID (Cushing Terrell)
Tenant Improvements for 4,300 sf Commercial Office and Retail Store. Google Fiber, Huntsville, AL (Cushing Terrell)
Tenant Improvements for 11,000 sf Workplace & Call Center Offices, Confidential Tech Client. Charleston, SC (Cushing Terrell)
Experiential Graphics, Technical Consultant and Production Design for 11-Story Office Building. Confidential Tech Client. Seattle, WA (Cushing Terrell)
Lincoln Beach, National Register Nomination. New Orleans, LA
Slave and Tenant Farmer Housing Documentation Project, Architectural Drafting from Photogrammetry, National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, Natchitoches, LA
The Terpsichore Part 1, 1890s Double Renovation and New Two-Story Addition in Mid City. New Orleans, LA (Trapolin-Peer)
The Terpsichore Part 2, New Construction of Two-Story Double in Mid City. New Orleans, LA (Trapolin-Peer)
Schematic Design for Renovation and Addition, Richardson Memorial Hall at Tulane University. New Orleans, LA (Trapolin-Peer)
Preservation Internship, Researching and Writing about New Orleans Civil Rights History. Leona Tate Foundation for Change. New Orleans, LA.
Please note: some of the above projects were completed while Mia was employed by another firm. The name of the firm is indicated in parentheses following the project information.