The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York City, also known simply as GSAPP, is regarded as one of the most important and prestigious architecture schools in the world. It is also home to the well regarded Masters of Science in Urban Planning, Historic Preservation, and Real Estate Development.
The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) has evolved over more than a century. It was transformed from a department within the Columbia School of Mines into a formal School of Architecture by William Robert Ware in 1881 -- making it one of the first such professional programs in the country. While the number of specialized programs being offered by the school has multiplied over the years, architecture remains the intellectual core of the school, providing the central focus for more than half of the students and faculty, in addition to conferring a unique identity onto each of the other affiliated programs. All programs share a commitment to both professional training and research. The curriculum and philosophy stress the necessity of analyzing and challenging the underlying history, premises, and future directions of the design professions, even as students are prepared to become accomplished practitioners in their respective fields of specialization.
Among the school's resources is the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the United States' largest architectural library and home to some of the first books published on architecture, as well as the origin of the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.
Recent deans of the school have included architect James Stewart Polshek and noted architectural theorist and deconstructivist architect Bernard Tschumi. The current dean is Mark Wigley.
Although the GSAPP is a strictly graduate and research-based institution, Columbia University operates an undergraduate architecture program in association with the Barnard College of New York City.
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