Archinect - News

ACSA issues joint statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion censorship in education

2023-09-21T17:39:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has joined its sibling organizations in landscape architecture and planning in opposing the concerted efforts of far-right lawmakers to prevent the inclusion of race and racism topics into curricula in states including Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, South Dakota, and Virginia.

"This united declaration stands as a strong objection to the legislation that silences educators from sharing the histories of the architectural profession. Practitioners, educators, and students must be granted access to the complete narrative. Being privy to only a portion of the story significantly disadvantages us all," Mo Zell, the 2023-24 ACSA President, said in a statement.

"The boards of directors of the three organizations representing university programs and educators in architecture, landscape architecture, and planning — ACSA, CELA, and ACSP, — jointly communicate our opposition to any legislation that prevents educators from teaching and shari...

Mo Zell is named 2023-2024 ACSA president

2023-07-07T11:41:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has just named architect and academic Mo Zell as its 2023-2024 president.

In April of 2023, Zell was appointed interim dean of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s newly-established College of the Arts and Architecture comes to the position with an impressive list of past experiences both within the organization and in the world of architectural academia overall.

As a former ASCA regional director and fall conference co-chair, Zell has been able to expand on her on-campus efforts to spearhead a number of different initiatives, including the SARUP externship program, SUPERjury, Women in Design Milwaukee, and the SARUP Mobile Design Box.

Zell was also the first female department chair, Associate Dean, and faculty member at UMW’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning and holds degrees in architecture from the University of Virginia of Yale University, respectively.

In a statement, Zell said: "Architectural education p...

AIA issues a supplementary guide addressing issues in architectural education

2022-11-07T12:15:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) together along with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has published a new supplement to its Guides for Equitable Practice in order to reflect a renewed focus of university education and institutions.

The supplement, titled Equity in Architectural Education, is intended to provide teachers and administrators with scenarios, actions, and prompts that “inspire discussions about creating welcoming environments to attract and retain those currently underrepresented in academia and in the profession.”

It is also useful to the majority of practitioners whose firms employ student interns and recent graduates, prospective high school students, and others interested in entering the field as its output importantly “defines the concept of culture in architectural education” and subsequent impacts in the working world.

AIA releases new Guides for Equitable Practice supplement, outlining ways to advance equity and justice through architectural practice

2022-05-09T17:49:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), in collaboration with the University of Washington and the University of Minnesota, has published a supplement to their Guides for Equitable Practice, a framework for understanding and building equity in the architecture profession. Titled “Justice in the Built Environment,” this latest edition serves as a guide for architecture and design professionals looking to do more to advance justice through their design work.

"This new resource is designed to empower architects to use their problem-solving skills to create welcoming spaces for all,” said AIA Executive Vice President/Chief Executive Officer Lakisha Ann Woods. “It also provides perspectives and insights on how architects, in all types of workplaces, can help advance equity in their place of employment, projects, and in society.”

The new supplement also offers guidance on actions that individual practitioners and firms can take to advance equity. The document notes that there are at ...

Winners of the ACSA and Buell Center 2022 Course Development Prize include CCA, CU Denver, & Rice

2022-01-18T20:31:00-05:00

An annual award with a growing reputation as one of architectural academia’s most dynamic new prize competitions is making headlines again today after Columbia University’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) announced the winners of this year’s 2022 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.

The fourth edition of the award featured a variety of different seminars and studios that incorporate heavily interdisciplinary methods to tackle a range of topics within architecture and urban planning subspecialties. Courses will be taught at their respective universities within the next two years and will receive a cash award to help facilitate their instruction. Winning proposals will be presented at the ACSA’s annual meeting when it begins in Los Angeles on March 17th.

Scroll down to view the full list of winners and honorable mentions.

2022 Winners

Mono-poly-dollar - Lindsey Krug, University of Wisconsin-M...

Yale School of Architecture Dean Deborah Berke has been awarded the Topaz Medallion

2021-12-10T16:54:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects jointly with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has today announced Yale School of Architecture Dean Deborah Berke, FAIA as the 2022 recipient of the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education.

Berke, who has served as Dean at Yale since 2016, was commended for her “engaged approach in every graduate architecture student’s education” in addition to the initiatives that she has spearheaded during her tenure in New Haven, which include the introduction of an undergraduate Urban Studies major, the creation of Yale’s Center for Ecosystems in Architecture as well as the school’s first architectural sciences lab.

Relisten to Archinect's 2016 podcast conversation One-to-One #41 with Deborah Berke

Berke was also lauded for her efforts to diversify the school and for leading an initiative to tackle and investigate the issue of slave labor in the construction supply chain.

Berke speaks about the Yale Building Project. P...

A fellowship opportunity with the ACSA invites candidates to bridge architecture, data, and research

2021-09-30T10:03:00-04:00

Since 1912, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) mission has been to empower schools of architecture and faculty to "educate increasingly diverse students, expand disciplinary impacts, and create knowledge for the advancement of architecture." Through ongoing research, special programs, community surveys, case studies, gatherings, and open calls, the ACSA has created a resource database for students and academics to use.

Thanks to a committed team of architects and educators, the ACSA aims to continuously advance architecture pedagogy by serving as "the voice of architectural education" while providing academic peers with tools and insight through data collection and analysis. Currently, the ACSA is offering two Research Fellow positions to work part-time during the Fall. This position will focus on topics "surrounding student and faculty demographics, social justice in curriculum, higher education, architecture in K12, and the architecture profession." To l...

New ACSA President Robert Alexander González pushes for DEI in higher education and shares the importance of community colleges

2021-07-02T14:05:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has announced architect and academic Robert Alexander González as its 2021-2022 President. Not a stranger to the ACSA, González has been involved in the organization's leadership since 2019, serving as the second vice president and vice president in 2020. Now in this new role, he shares, "It's an exciting time to step into the presidency, with access to such a large membership that is continually growing."

University of New Mexico campus building courtesy of University of New Mexico, School of Architecture + Planning

Currently serving as the Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico, González's leadership experience within architectural academia is expansive. Prior to his leadership at the University of New Mexico, he's served as the Director of the Architecture Program at Texas Tech University and the TTU El Paso Regional Site. Beyond his experience in academic program management, rec...

The Importance of Asking Why: The ACSA's research series, 'Where Are My People?', addresses race and its inequitable relationship with architecture

2021-03-16T19:51:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has dedicated its efforts towards architectural education and research by "empowering faculty and schools to educate increasingly diverse students, expand disciplinary impacts, and create knowledge for the advancement of architecture."

2020 sparked a resurgence in the importance of addressing the social and political injustices within architectural academia and professional practice. Last year, ACSA Director of Research and Information, Dr. Kendall A. Nicholson, Assoc. AIA, NOMA posed a pertinent question that has turned into an impactful research series. By examining architecture's history and its ties to race both in the past and the present, we can begin to understand steps towards sustained reform and social equity for architects who identify as Black, Hispanic, Latinx, Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander, and Native Indigenous.

Where Are My People? is a research series that investigates how architecture inte...

ACSA and AIA recognize 34 educators during the 2021 Architectural Education Awards

2021-01-29T19:38:00-05:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) recognize educators for their exemplary work in architectural academia. The ACSA shares, "the award-winning professors inspire and challenge students, contribute to the profession's knowledge base, and extend their work beyond the borders of academia into practice and the public sector. "

This year thirty-four academics from over twenty institutions were recognized and honored for their commitment and dedication to challenging students and contributing to the architectural academia within the practice and the public sector.

Image courtesy of ACSA

This year’s recipients are:

AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education

Kathryn H. Anthony of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Distinguished Professor Award

Julio Bermudez of Catholic University of America
Renee Y. Chowof University of California, Berkeley
Bradford Grant of Howard University
Alison Kwok...

Winners of the ACSA and Buell Center 2021 Course Development Prize include University of Houston, UH Manoa, & Woodbury University

2021-01-25T13:22:00-05:00

Now in its third edition, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University announce the winners of this year's 2021 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.

The jury selected five courses "that seek the kind of realism that redefines problems and leaves room for imagination. The courses will reach out to neighbors to cultivate skills fostering a more resilient society." $50,000 in prize money will be split amongst each winner. In addition to funding, each course will receive support to lead their course at their host institution within the next two years.

ACSA and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University have announced the winning entries of the 2021 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society. Image courtesy of Buell Center / ASCA.

2021 winners are:

GULF: ARCHITECTURE, E...

Students from Pratt Institute, University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Syracuse win HERE+NOW student housing competition

2020-09-09T15:33:00-04:00

The 2020 International Housing Design student competition has announced its winning entries.

The HERE+NOW: A House for the 21st Century: 2020 Student Design Competition, led by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in collaboration with Custom Residential Architects Network (AIA CRAN), organized an open call for housing designs that represent new "ideas of domesticity" for the 21st century.

According to the competition coordinators, "the jury selected five exceptional student projects that challenged students to envision a house for the HERE & NOW: informed by context, culture, and vernacular, but fully embracing 21st-century technology." With close to 300 project submissions and over 800 participants in the competition, it becomes clear the topic is of interest to today's students. Below are the winners of the competition as well as the jury's responses to each of the winning projects.

1st PLACE WINNER

Project: Lubec Narrows
Student: Joseph Leaming of Pratt I...

University of Illinois Professor Lynne M. Dearborn inaugurated as ACSA National President

2020-07-01T18:37:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has announced that architect and educator Lynne M. Dearborn has taken office as the organization's new President.

Dearborn will serve through June of 2021 and is expected to focus on issues relating to racial justice within the ACSA organization and throughout field of architectural education, among other topics. Rashida Ng of Temple University served as the previous ACSA President.

Aside from her longtime involvement with ACSA and status as a licensed architect, Dr. Dearborn is also a Professor of Architecture and the Chair of Health and Wellbeing at the University of Illinois School of Architecture in Urbana-Champaign. She earned a B.ARCH from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an M.ARCH from the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

In a statement announcing her inauguration, Dearborn stated:

I am eager to identify opportunities to strengthen existing ties with NAAB, NCARB, AIA, AI...

If you are architectural faculty, don't miss this ACSA webinar on studio-based online learning

2020-03-25T15:39:00-04:00

After an initial surge of event cancellations and postponements due to the growing pandemic, we are now seeing an increasing shift from physical gatherings to virtual, web-based virtual events.

With the sudden transition to online teaching and remote studios, many teachers in architecture and design academia still face unanswered questions and unresolved challenges. To offer guidance for faculty, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture is offering a free webinar this Friday, March 27th. The panel will be moderated by Beth Lundell Garver (Boston Architectural College), panelists include Derek Ham (North Carolina State University), Yoonjee Koh (Boston Architectural College), Drew Krafcik (Stanford University), and Amy Larimer (Stanford University).

Studio-Based Online Learning: Building Community and Engaging Design at a Distance Webinar
Friday, March 27, 2020 | 4:00-5:00 pm ET
FREE (registration required)

Education in architecture and design offers studio-based learning en...

108th ACSA Annual Meeting postponed due to coronavirus

2020-03-09T12:08:00-04:00

ACSA President Rashida Ng announced Saturday that the 108th ACSA Annual Meeting will not place in San Diego this week. In the statement, she says:

The Board of Directors reviewed public health data about the coronavirus and its impact on travel and our conference venues, and determined it would be an unacceptable risk to hold the conference and related activities at this time. We regret having to make this decision, but determined we must prioritize the health and safety of our conference attendees.

The organization is currently exploring a virtual means to recognize and facilitate "the important and timely scholarly work" that would be shared throughout the conference.

This news comes in light of many other postponements and cancellations of events in architecture due to the coronavirus. With the ever evolving developments of the virus, Johns Hopkins has created an interactive dashboard that maps all of the global cases of the coronavirus. It may serve as a visual resourceful tool ...

UPenn's David Leatherbarrow receives 2020 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Architectural Education

2019-12-13T15:07:00-05:00

University of Pennsylvania Professor David Leatherbarrow has been awarded the 2020 Topaz Medallion by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). The award is presented by the two organization every year to superlative educators who "educate others to ensure architecture’s enduring excellence."

Professor Leatherbarrow has been an architectural educator for over three decades—he stated teaching at UPenn in 1984—and is considered, according to a statement announcing the award, as "one of the world’s leading experts in the history and theory of architecture."

In a statement supporting his award nomination, Kenneth Frampton, the Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University, writes, “This is an outstanding teacher of exceptional energy and ambition. He has been invited as a visiting tutor and scholar quite literally by distinguished institutions all over the world. What can one say? Elite teachers in architectural ...

Temple University's Rashida Ng elected ACSA president

2019-10-15T16:16:00-04:00

Rashida Ng, chair of the Department of Architecture & Environmental Design at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University has been elected as the new president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for the 2019-2020 year.

Professor Ng, according to a press release announcing her selection, will "work to advance architectural pedagogy by coordinating with the discipline’s accreditation, licensing, and education communities, all of which are vital to student learning and development."

Remarking on the election, Professor Ng stated via an announcement, “The year ahead is an important one—ACSA is launching new initiatives to support research and teaching, as well as retooling its annual meeting to reach more faculty and practitioners in architecture. We will also be supporting schools during the release of the 2020 [NAAB] accreditation standards. We are committed to increasing access and supporting the retention of students from disadvantaged...

Robert A.M. Stern wins 2017 AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion

2016-12-08T17:39:00-05:00

The AIA and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) deemed Robert A.M. Stern the 2017 laureate of the Topaz Medallion, the highest accolade bestowed to an architecture educator. The yearly award distinguishes an individual for their significant involvement in architecture education for at least a decade, and also for their widespread influential teaching.

Credit: Yale School of Architecture

Robert A.M. Stern was acknowledged for his dedication to architecture education throughout his 50-year career — from his buildings, his teaching at Columbia University and deanship at Yale School of Architecture, to his numerous books such as “New Directions in American Architecture”, his New York City architectural heritage series, and the recent “Pedagogy and Place: 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale”. The Partners at Robert A.M. Stern Architects also promote emerging talent in awarding the $10,000 RAMSA Travel Fellowship every year.

Previous Topaz laureates include ...

FIU Professor Marilys R. Nepomechie starts term as ACSA President

2015-07-21T13:45:00-04:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce that Marilys Nepomechie, Professor of Architecture in the College of Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University (FIU), has begun her term as ACSA President for 2015-2016 academic year. [...] Bruce Lindsey, teacher and administrator at Washington University in St. Louis, is also starting his term as Vice President this month.

The ACSA announcement goes on to say: "As president of ACSA, Nepomechie has vowed to address the challenges facing ACSA schools, including diminishing institutional funding to support faculty and student work; a need to increase student and faculty diversity; the imperative to facilitate broad accessibility and affordability to our programs; the challenges of reframing the possibilities offered by online education; and in response to the breadth and rapid pace of change in the academy and the profession, the need to reassess, and perhaps recalibrate, our curricular structures."

Related Archinect news:

Big businesses and baby steps: Weekly News Round-Up for September 22 and 29, 2014

2014-10-06T18:43:00-04:00

Friday, October 3:

Eisenhower Memorial clears key hurdle on Gehry design: In a positive step for the Memorial's Approving Process Odyssey, the National Capital Planning Commission has OK'd the Commission on Fine Arts (the other federal body that must approve the design) to vote on the Memorial.
Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architecture: A series of infographics on the representation of women in architectural practice and education, courtesy of ACSA.

Wednesday, October 1:

Guggenheim plans New York expansion… again: Not for more art space (Gehry tried that before) but for offices.
Zaera-Polo steps down as dean of Princeton's School of Architecture: From the press release: "the school's former dean, Professor Stanley T. Allen, will serve as acting dean until a permanent successor is appointed and that Professor Allen will chair the search for the new dean."
Tiny Spanish Island to be First Energy Self-Sufficient Island: The 10,000 population island will use renewable e...

Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architecture

2014-10-03T13:00:00-04:00

The farther up you look in the world of architecture, the fewer women you see. In this chart, we’ve rounded up some common and publicly available metrics behind this claim. Like thousands of aspiring architects, we’ll start at the bottom and work our way up—while also pausing on the way to consider what these measures mean.

Lian Chikako Chang, ACSA's Director of Research + Information and prolific Archinect blogger, has created a series of infographics charting the progress of women's roles in architecture. The statistics are, at a glance, both depressing and hopeful: compared to overall representation in the population, women occupy a disproportionally tiny slice of architecture's higher tiers, but the numbers do seem to be increasing over time.

Check out all the infographics in our image gallery below. Lian also posted an in-depth look at the infographics over at the ACSA blog, showing how the data was sourced and analyzed.

Winners of 2014 Architectural Education Awards Announced

2014-02-10T15:28:00-05:00

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has announced the winners of this year's Architectural Education Awards. Each year ACSA honors architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service.

ACSA is pleased to announce the 2014 Architectural Education Award Winners. Each year, ACSA honors architectural educators for their exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service. The award-winning professors inspire and challenge students, contribute to the profession’s knowledge base, and extend their work beyond the borders of academy into practice and the public sector.

Awards were given in the following 8 categories:

Topaz Medallion
Distinguished Professor
New Faculty Teaching
Creative Achievement
Diversity Achievement
Faculty Design
Collaborative Practice
Design-Build
Housing Design Education
JAE Best Article Award

Visit www.acsa-arch.org/awards to see the new list of Distinguished Professors and the variety winning design projects, among others.

Timber in the City Competition: Design Students Imagine a Mixed-Use Complex for Red Hook

2013-08-14T13:47:00-04:00

The Timber in the City competition organized by ACSA, the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, and Parsons The New School for Design, attracted over 1,000 architecture students and young professionals to create proposals for a mid-rise, mixed-use complex addressing NYC housing needs. The winners were chosen by a panel of leading architects and professors based on the use of wood as the primary structural material while meeting the needs of the Brooklyn waterfront community.

See the winning projects: www.acsa-arch.org/timber

The competition focused on a site in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook, with a population of public housing residents and working artists and designers, and a number of new residential and commercial developments. With a focus on regenerating the urban manufacturing sector and addressing housing needs, entrants, working individually or in teams, were tasked with incorporating affordable housing units; a bike sharing and repair shop; as well as a vocational, manufacturing and distribution center for the innovative use of wood technology.

“Today, timber is being used in new, innovative ways to help address the economic and environmental challenges of the build environment,” said Cees de Jager, executive director of BSLC. “This competition brought to life the way the design community is recognizing the benefits of wood – from reduced economic and environmental impact to enhanced aesthetic value and structural perfo...

Lian Chang appointed as Director of Research and Information at ACSA

2013-08-02T18:14:00-04:00

So much information flows by and through us at every moment--but most of it is either not available or not legible to us. Whether you’re a prospective student considering an education in architecture, an administrator assessing your school’s academic offerings, or a graduate navigating possible career paths, you need to understand the relevant data and the stories they tell.

Lian, as many Archinectors recognize from her amazing GSD school blog, is heading up a new research initiative at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Part of her new role will be "renewing the ACSA’s Guide to Architecture Schools and the ACSA Atlas Project, and in generating new case studies and statistical reports."

Marc J. Neveu Named Executive Editor of Journal of Architectural Education

2013-07-05T13:37:00-04:00

Marc J. Neveu, Ph.D., of the Wentworth Institute of Technology has been named Executive Editor of the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) for a four-year term starting July 1, 2013. Neveu has previously contributed to the JAE as a writer, a reviewer, a theme editor, and, most recently, as an Editorial Board member and Associate Editor of Media Strategies. The JAE has been the primary venue for research and commentary on architectural education since it was founded in 1947.

Washington, D.C., July 5, 2013 – Marc J. Neveu, Ph.D., of the Wentworth Institute of Technology has been named Executive Editor of the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) for a four-year term starting July 1, 2013. Neveu has previously contributed to the JAE as a writer, a reviewer, a theme editor, and, most recently, as an Editorial Board member and Associate Editor of Media Strategies. The JAE has been the primary venue for research and commentary on architectural education since it was founded in 1947. Published twice a year, the JAE is the longest running journal of its kind, with an estimated circulation of over 10,000.

“As the most important peer-reviewed journal in our field, the JAE plays a fundamental role in the development of emerging faculty as well as providing a place for established academics to shape contemporary issues,” says Neveu. His goals for the publication lie in developing both the print and online platforms to advance future scholarship and to lead ...

TIMBER IN THE CITY Competition Entry by Samuel Pitnick

2013-06-05T14:34:00-04:00

Young LA-based architect Samuel Pitnick has shared with us his entry to the 2012-13 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) competition for architecture students and recent graduates. This year's competition, titled TIMBER IN THE CITY: Urban Habitats Competition, was a a partnership between the Binational Softwood Lumber Council, the ACSA and the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School for Design.