Architecture can be funny. Of course, it often makes for a well-disposed butt of the joke, like when Frank Gehry is satirized on the Simpsons, but buildings themselves can be funny as well.

In an organized room adorned with shelves, framed cartoons, and miscellaneous sticky notes, Amy Hwang, BC ’00, sits at her small desk with an array of watercolors and drawing supplies tucked away in ...