At PRCP, Torkelson assesses the history and condition of historic sites, drawing on his expertise in design and preservation planning to guide their long-term management. He and the PRCP team develop recommendations through deep community engagement and participatory design, incorporating interviews, oral histories, and workshops to ensure that a broader range of voices informs each project. His work foregrounds issues of social justice and representation, particularly in landscapes that have historically excluded multiple narratives. His portfolio includes nationally significant sites such as the Lincoln Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Torkelson’s collaborative approach is illustrated in the award-winning Lewis Mountain Cultural Landscape Report, completed in collaboration with the National Park Service and former workers and visitors to Lewis Mountain, a historically segregated campground in Shenandoah National Park. The project received the Vernacular Architecture Forum’s 2025 Paul E. Buchanan Award.
In addition to his role at PRCP, Torkelson leads Built for the Birds, a national research initiative documenting the history of birdhouses in the United States. He is currently authoring an article on the J. Warren Jacobs Birdhouse Company, the country’s first commercial birdhouse manufacturer. As a 2025 Orlando Ridout V Fellow, Torkelson and the project team are traveling the country to document the rare remaining examples of Jacobs’ work.
