Archinect - News

Cooper Robertson unveils campus master plan for the University of Maryland

2024-01-10T13:54:00-05:00

Details of a new comprehensive master plan by Cooper Robertson for the University of Maryland’s flagship campus in College Park were revealed Tuesday by the firm following its initial announcement in March of last year.

By prioritizing strategies for “holistic growth,” the university says it will be able to meet its slate of strategic development goals that include increasing institutional resilience, achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2025, improving transit options and pedestrian access on campus, making facilities improvements, enhancing connectivity between the campus and D.C. metro region, and preparing for a more diverse future.

Rendering courtesy Cooper Robertson

“This plan builds on the University of Maryland’s role as an ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution,” Cooper Robertson partner and UMD alum Mike Aziz said. “By embracing its legacy of distinction in a modern and strategic program, the university is setting a highly sustainable and lasti...

University of Maryland researchers develop 'cooling glass' that can redirect a building's heat into space

2023-11-17T11:54:00-05:00

Researchers aiming to combat rising global temperatures have developed a new 'cooling glass' that can turn down the heat indoors without electricity by drawing on the cold depths of space. The new technology, a microporous glass coating, can lower the temperature of the material beneath it by 3.5 degrees Celsius at noon, and has the potential to reduce a mid-rise apartment building's yearly carbon emissions by 10 percent.

The technology was developed by a research team at the University of Maryland, led by Distinguished University Professor Liangbing Hu in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The coating functions by reflecting up to 99% of solar radiation to prevent buildings from absorbing heat. It emits heat in the form of longwave infrared radiation into space. The phenomenon is known as radiative cooling, in which space serves as a heat sink for the buildings.

According to the research team, their glass is more environmentally stable than previous attempts at cooling coatings. The glass can be applied to a variety of surfaces, such as tile, brick, and metal, which makes it scalable and available for wide use. The researchers envision the new material as a key contributor to the solution to climate change due to its potential to reduce a structure’s energy usage and carbon footprint. The team is now working to further test the glass and understand its practical applications.

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Get Lectured: University of Maryland, Fall '23

2023-10-04T11:45:00-04:00

Archinect's Get Lectured offers a survey of the various events and public programming on tap at architecture schools each semester. Today, our series continues with a preview of what’s in store at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. this Fall.

Earlier in September, the school welcomed a lecture from Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk on September 8 and a presentation/workshop from Kabir Khondaker and Suhailey Farzana on September 29-21. Events continue on Friday, October 20, with a discussion on the Aga Khan Award for Architecture with MIT’s Nasser Rabbat, Mimar Journal founder Hassan-Uddin Khan, and the Director of the award, Farrokh Derakhshani. Their presentation will be followed on November 11 with a lecture from Dutch practitioner Andrea Möhn of Andrea Möhn Architecture on 'Healing Architecture.'

The semester ends on November 16 with Nigerian former Rolex Protégé nominee and HTL Africa's head of design, James Inedu-George's lecture 'Performative...

Cooper Robertson will develop master plan for a campus expansion at the University of Maryland, College Park

2023-03-09T13:19:00-05:00

Cooper Robertson has been announced to lead the master planning for a campus facilities expansion at the University of Maryland’s flagship campus in College Park.

As part of their contract, the firm will deliver “flexible, data-driven, and inclusive comprehensive planning framework that will guide strategic growth and development” at the 1,340-acre campus. The project will target the development of currently-available land, while enhancing connectivity to the surrounding community and improving multi-modal transportation along sustainability lines and with several capital improvement projects integrated therein.

Cooper Robertson partner Mike Aziz says it helps the university retain its character as a “ambitious, forward-looking, and value-driven academic institution.”

Image courtesy University of Maryland, College Park

This is the second of a three-phase project which includes a draft development plan and will be followed by a final approval in June. The firm has also completed simi...

Architecture students at 17 schools will get licensed quicker with help from NCARB's new licensure program, IPAL

2016-12-13T19:36:00-05:00

The recently introduced IPAL, or Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure, promises to streamline the architectural licensure process for students at 17 universities and colleges by incorporating the Architectural Experience Program into the curriculum. Licensure, which is required by a majority of the fifty states and governing agencies in Canada, usually takes a few years of intense study and rigorous examinations after one's initial formal education is complete to attain. Initiated by NCARB, the in-school program will enable students to also take the ARE. Here's a full transcript of the press release:

Friends,The road to licensure for architects is getting shorter and shorter, thanks to a recent initiative spearheaded by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).

The Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL) provides students the opportunity to complete requirements for licensure while they are still earning their degree. Through the initiative, sc...

University of Maryland grad students envision redevelopment plan for New Orleans neighborhoods

2015-04-10T18:26:00-04:00

Founded by Gerald D. Hines, the annual Urban Land Institute Hines competition challenges multidisciplinary graduate student teams from North American universities to propose a comprehensive redevelopment program for a designated U.S. metro area. The ideas competition is set up as a design exercise with no plans of implementation, but the hypothetical situations of the brief are largely based on actual urban development and redevelopment scenarios, so students get to test their design skills in relevant real-world issues. What student wouldn't be motivated by that?

For its 13th edition, the competition focused on the Tulane/Gravier and Iberville neighborhoods in downtown New Orleans that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.

2015 ULI Hines finalists (starting on the L, clockwise): Harvard University: “Tremé 2.0”; University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin - Madison: “Quartier Vert”; Harvard University: “Claiborne Grove”; University of Maryland: “The Crossing”

The comp...

Get Lectured: University of Maryland, Fall '14

2014-10-22T14:06:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2014

Say hello to another edition of Archinect's Get Lectured! As a refresher, we'll be featuring a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. If you're not doing so already, be sure to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

We have two posters today from the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Below are upcoming lectures only. All lectures are open to the public and take place in the Architecture Building Auditorium, 0204, unless noted otherwise. Exhibitions located at Kibel Gallery.

Lectures with ** focus on Landscape and Urban Design (see poster below)

Oct. 22 **
5:00 p.m.
Iñaki Aldayaki Alday / AldayJover Arquitectura y Paisaje
“Hyper-real Drivers”

Oct. 27
6:30 p.m.
Omar Blaik / Principal - U3 Ventures
“A University in the City:...

University of Maryland postpones Architecture Library closure after backlash

2014-08-14T13:16:00-04:00

University officials have postponed closure of the Architecture Library after receiving backlash from graduate students and alumni. The library was set to close before the fall semester because of budget and safety issues and lack of use, Libraries Dean Patricia Steele said last week. [...] To save the library, graduate student Adam Chamy started a petition, which has received more than 500 signatures.