Archinect - News

SCI-Arc's immersive 2024 Spring Show exhibition to feature a colorful assortment of new student work

2024-04-18T12:58:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by SCI-Arc, an Archinect Partner School

SCI-Arc, an Archinect Partner School, is hosting its annual Spring Show exhibition later this month that will feature the work of undergraduate and graduate students from all school programs. The show takes place on its LA Arts District campus, beginning with the opening reception at 6 PM on Saturday, April 27th.

The annual exhibition is meant to highlight students' work and the diversity of SCI-Arc’s course offerings via four immersive monochromatic rooms, each with different textures covering its surfaces. The curator of this year’s Spring Show, postgraduate Fiction and Entertainment program faculty Alexey Marfin, tells Archinect: "The spaces operate on two scales: The bold statement seen from afar, but also the fine material detail seen on closer inspection."

"The exhibition will be centered around an experience...

The world's best architecture masters programs for 2023, according to BAM

2023-09-19T17:51:00-04:00

The 2023 edition of the Best Architecture Masters (BAM) rankings has just been released, featuring a slate of 19 graduate programs from across the world that were selected using an internal methodology by a 15-member “Expert Committee” of academics.

American Ivy League institutions once again dominated the top tier of the rankings, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking home the first place spot for the fifth consecutive year. BAM says its list was influenced by other rankings guides, including the most recent QS World Universities Architecture / Built Environment subject list, in addition to its internal methodology, adding: “This approach allows us to make an international-comparative study, that reflects the best architecture master’s programs from almost all over the world.”

The Universidade de São Paulo, University of Manchester, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Tsinghua University were new additions to this year's list.

The full BAM rankings...

SCI-Arc graduate students will showcase work that goes beyond traditional architectural representations at the 2023 Graduate Thesis Weekend

2023-08-16T12:15:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by SCI-Arc, an Archinect School Partner

SCI-Arc is proud to present its annual Graduate Thesis Weekend, taking place September 8-10 at the school’s LA Arts District campus. In recognition of the exceptional talents that form the Graduate Thesis class of 2023, this year’s graduating M.Arch 1 and M.Arch 2 students will share their thesis projects with their community, colleagues, and public, capping a year of extensive research and experimentation. The Graduate Thesis Exhibition will be open to the public during Grad Thesis Weekend and will remain on view in the SCI-Arc halls until September 13.

House Moving Hassle - Thesis project by Jia Mendoza. Image courtesy of SCI-Arc.

Aligned with the first week of the fall term, the Graduate Thesis Weekend at SCI-Arc fosters a connection between outgoing graduates and incoming students by filling the school with multimedia projects. In characteristic SCI-Arc fashion, this year’s graduating class has delved into the po...

Strike at Taubman College and the University of Michigan continues as student workers and staff assistants demand fair wages

2023-04-26T17:52:00-04:00

A group of 40 striking graduate student instructors and staff assistants at the University of Michigan Taubman College have reportedly had their April wages taken from them in response to their participation in a campus-wide movement that has sought improved working conditions and better pay for workers.

The school’s retaliatory move was met with ire, with the strike now going on for nearly a month. Protestors have already been met with police violence and say the University’s latest tactic constitutes an escalation in the midst of bargaining efforts that are, for now, ostensibly stalled.

Solidarity! Here are striking international grads picketing at Taubman College right this moment. Their chants are streaming into the architecture studios. pic.twitter.com/DoPQoretgk
— Grad Employees' Org UMich #OnStrike (@geo3550) April 26, 2023

In an open letter to Taubman's Dean Jonathan Massey, supporters of the strike wrote, “Such retaliation is wrong. Taubman College’s leadership should come ...

Architecture student Maya Matabwa named University of Illinois Chicago's Hartshorne and Plunkard Fellow

2023-02-22T14:42:00-05:00

Maya Matabwa, a first-year M.Arch student from the University of Illinois Chicago's College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts, is the recipient of the second Hartshorn and Plunkard Fellowship.

The program officially launched in 2022 by awarding its first fellow, M.Arch student Martina Smith, and is named and funded in honor of UIC alumni Ray Hartshorne and Jim Plunkard of Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture (HPA). To increase the opportunities for architecture students from traditionally underrepresented communities, the fellowship provides students with financial support for up to three years, academic and professional mentoring, and a paid internship at HPA.

Matabwa, who was born in Malawi, shared with UIC Today that receiving the award is "still sinking in."

Across academic institutions and firms, initiatives to create stronger pipelines, mentorship, and funding for students of marginalized communities have increased. "Being here as a young, Black, Malawian woman is an honor, ...

SCI-Arc's upcoming 'Select Graduate Thesis' exhibition showcase projects representing ideas emerging in architecture today

2022-09-21T12:40:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by SCI-Arc, an Archinect Partner School

Select Graduate Thesis ‘22 showcases imaginative responses to provocations transforming the discipline of architecture today. This year’s exhibit includes Graduate Thesis award recipients of the Gehry Prize, Peer Recognition Award, and Merit Thesis Awards.

Crossing over with the first week of the fall term, Graduate Thesis at SCI-Arc is the nexus of school events, cultivating an inevitable link between outgoing thesis ideas with incoming students’ curiosities.

The weekend of reviews gives thesis students an invaluable platform to articulate, propose, and defend their work to the SCI-Arc community and beyond. 62 students and 17 faculty advisors will converge with an array of invited guest critics from within and outside the discipline of architecture to review, debate, and contemplate the provocations of this year's thesis projects.

Reflections of Utopia - work by M.Arch II student Jordan Micham. Faculty advisor: Wi...

Electriflow taps advancements in soft robotics to create mechanisms that operate without traditional machine parts

2021-07-27T17:38:00-04:00

A team of designers and engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder’s ATLAS Institute have tapped into new advancements in the field of soft robotics to develop paper-thin, moveable mechanisms. The objects, dubbed “Electriflow”, which don’t require motors or other traditional machinery parts to function, have been presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s 2021 Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference.

The researchers’ early creations include origami cranes that can bend their necks, moving flower petals, and fluttering insects.

“Usually, books about butterflies are static,” said CU Boulder graduate student and team lead, Purnendu. “But could you have a butterfly flap its wings within a book? We’ve shown that it’s possible.”

Electriflow took inspiration from previously developed “artificial muscles” by Christopher Keplinger at CU Boulder. His work is now available commercially through a company called Artimus Robotics. Keplinger employed a technology called h...

Trans.figure: Reflecting on UCLA's IDEAS Campus Summer Exhibition

2019-11-01T18:29:00-04:00

With the summer season behind us and a new term just started, Archinect takes a moment to showcase the work of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design's IDEAS campus located near Culver City, Calif. The campus is an incubator for exploration of various examples of digital design software, fabrication techniques, and other tools to help students during their introduction to the post-professional Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design program.

Work presented at the UCLA IDEAS Summer Exhibition 2019. Image courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

At the IDEAS campus, students are able to work and collaborate with faculty while examining four areas of research within the architecture profession: Entertainment, Mobility, Technology, and Urban Strategy.

Work presented at the UCLA IDEAS Summer Exhibition 2019. Image courtesy of UCLA Architecture and Urban Design

For this year's exhibition, the studio explored and experimented with objects curated from contemporary sculptures f...

Workers' rights for graduate students take a step backward under proposed rules

2019-09-23T15:15:00-04:00

Graduate teaching assistants and other student workers at private universities and colleges wouldn’t qualify for federal protections that grant most private-sector workers the right to form or join a union under a new regulatory proposal. Students who receive compensation for teaching or conducting research “in connection with their studies” wouldn’t be considered employees, who have the right to unionize and are protected from various unfair labor practices

The move, supported by three of President Donald Trump's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board, would deal a setback to graduate teaching assistant unionization efforts, though, according to Bloomberg Law, existing contracts between universities and student employee unions would not be impacted.

YouTuber documents life in architecture school

2019-08-27T18:00:00-04:00

Ever wonder what life is like in architecture school? RISD graduate, Joseph Echavarria has chronicled his entire graduate program experience, documenting everything from studio life, crits, Rhino hacks, to thesis reviews, modeling tips, and preparing for a presentation. He employs an authentic range of characters (his studio mates) and presents the uniqueness and rawness of life as an architecture student.

Joseph started his YouTube channel back in 2015 when he decided to begin logging his journey in architecture. "My main reason for starting the YouTube channel was just to have a reason to film. I’ve always wanted to make videos and I loved YouTube," Joseph told Archinect. Soon, the young student's passion for filming grew into a valuable resource for those seeking to learn more about architecture school. Many of his videos display comments from curious viewers expressing their gratitude for the consistent documentation of the college experience in architecture.

Joseph participa...

Do New Graduates Want More Money or More Time?

2019-07-26T15:48:00-04:00

Every summer, a new cohort of graduates enter the workforce. Eager to learn and grow, many will get their first taste of professional life. It is an exciting new chapter for many of them. But what are these emerging practitioners looking for in their new careers? As firms struggle with retention and talent acquisition, an understanding of what new graduates look for in an office can be a valuable investigation. What is it that they value most? Money over time? Or vice versa? And does one have to be had at the expense of the other?

Professor Ashley Whillans has a take. Her research shows a mix of values amongst students, some valued money more so than time and others time more so than money. This comes from many factors, such as the upbringing of the individual. "People who grew up in households that fought about money also are more likely to focus on money (versus time) as adults, even if they have a lot of money in the present," Whillans writes.

The professor discovered that over ...

Kent State University's Master of Architecture program fosters project-based learning to shape future leaders in design

2019-01-07T10:45:00-05:00

This post is brought to you buy Kent State University CAED

The Master of Architecture (M.Arch) program at Kent State University, College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) prepares graduates to be progressive leaders in the field of architecture by developing technical skills, professional knowledge, and design creativity through the exploration of project-based learning. The program fosters the refinement of critical design skills and offers opportunities for inquiry in architecture and related disciplines through comprehensive research.

Facilitated with cutting-edge technologies dedicated to critical design thinking, fabrication and experimentation, Master of Architecture program—as part of CAED’s vision, focuses on diverse disciplinary and interdisciplinary topics such as design-practice, history and theory, urban design, computational design, creative robotics, and interactive/responsive spaces.

Student Work - Design Studio - Image courtesy of Kent State Center for...

PennDesign launches $50,000 student prize and professional award in city planning

2018-11-14T14:22:00-05:00

The University of Pennsylvania's School of Design launched the new Witte-Sakamoto Family Prize and Award in City and Regional Planning, thanks to a $1.25 million gift from PennDesign alumnus William Witte and his wife Keiko Sakamoto. In conjunction with the prize, a new professional award for innovation and positive impact in planning was also announced.

The yearly $50,000 fellowship will be awarded to an outstanding student entering their final year in the school's Master of City and Regional Planning program. The professional award will be presented to a firm, team, or individual professional for an exemplary planning project that advances plan-making in at least four of the following areas: social equity, environmental quality, design, public health, mobility, housing affordability, and economic development.

“It’s incumbent on those of us who work on cities to make sure that we not only practice responsible development, but that it’s holistic and we deal with all these different ...

UC Berkeley’s new Master of Real Estate Development & Design program puts innovative design and sustainability at the center of real estate

2018-11-01T13:08:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the University of California, Berkeley

In June 2018, UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design (CED) launched its unique 11-month Master’s program that revolves around a central mission: to build more sustainable, prosperous and equitable cities.

The inaugural class of 16 students bring wide-ranging national and international experience in development, architecture and planning practice, affordable housing, policy, and economics. Throughout the year, students build dynamic career networks and learn directly from distinguished developers, entrepreneurs, designers, and planners in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The program offers an especially competitive edge to students by providing a world-class education at one of the top research universities in the world. CED’s professional programs focused on the built environment ranked #1 among all public universities in the country, and Berkeley ranks #3 in the world in the area of architecture and the built e...

SOM Foundation awards 2017 China Prize to three grad students

2017-05-17T20:08:00-04:00

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation recently awarded the 2017 China Prize to three graduate students, who each received a $5,000 fellowship for travel and research outside of China.

The recipients are (click their names to see their portfolio submissions):

Yue Wu - Tongji University, Graduate Student

Zhaoyang Luo - Harbin Institute of Technology, Graduate Student

Hanxue Wei - Tongji University, Graduate Student

The winners were chosen among a competitive group of applicants, who must currently be enrolled in the last two years of an undergraduate or graduate degree program in architecture or urban design in China. Entrants had to submit a portfolio, research proposal, and travel itinerary.

The SOM Foundation's reputable Travel and Research Fellowships have offered over 200 student recipients an opportunity to travel outside of their home country to conduct research on architecture, history, culture, and design. First offered in the U.S., the program has expanded to include students...

GSAPP United: how student unions affect architectural labor, ft. A.L. Hu, GSAPP MArch student and organizer with Graduate Workers of Columbia, on Archinect Sessions #81

2016-09-15T18:50:00-04:00

In a landmark decision last month, Columbia University graduate students won the right to unionize in a case filed against the National Labor Relations Board. As a result, graduate students in private universities across the U.S. now have the right to collectively bargain. What effect does this have on architecture student labor, and the valuation of architecture overall?

We're joined this week by special guest A.L. Hu, a third-year GSAPP MArch student and key organizer with Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC-UAW). Hu shared what's happening at the school after the landmark decision, and how these organizing efforts can affect the architecture profession overall.

Listen to episode 81 of Archinect Sessions, "GSAPP United":

iTunes: Click here to listen, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
Apple Podcast App (iOS): click here to subscribe
SoundCloud: click here to follow Archinect
RSS: subscribe with any of your favorite podcasting apps via o...

Following a landmark decision, graduate students will now be able to unionize

2016-08-24T17:17:00-04:00

The National Labor Relations Board decided in favor of Columbia University graduate students and teaching assistants in a landmark case over their right to unionize. The decision will affect private universities nationwide and overturns a 2004 Brown University precedent, which asserted that students were not employees and therefore did not have the right to collectively bargain.

The decision was preceded by a long legal battle between the Graduate Workers at Columbia group and the university. The students complained about a lack of job and wage security, late paychecks, poor medical coverage, and a host of other issues. Columbia University argued that students "have a primarily academic relationship with the University and therefore are not employees."

h/t the Columbia Spectator

Interested in other labor-related issues? Check out these past articles: