Archinect - News

A new grant will support Indigenous students and curriculum development at the University of Calgary's design school

2023-03-31T15:55:00-04:00

A new grant meant to encourage Indigenous students’ participation in the architectural field has been announced by the University of Calgary.

The $120,000 CAD ($88,600 USD) grant is being funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) and will help the university’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) further develop its existing Indigenous Pathways Program while integrating Indigenous knowledge and subject matter into the brand-new Bachelor of Design in City Innovation (BDCI) degree.

The school shares that the BDCI is also its first-ever undergraduate degree offering. Sessional instructors and staff from the Indigenous community will also be recruited as a result of the funding, which helps to underscore the central mission and principles of the institution. Currently, the SAPL is the province’s only accredited architectural degree program.

“This project elevates real estate leadership in our province through inclusion, representation, and professional standa...

UK architectural educators urge: "Join us in using the freedom and particular responsibility of academic institutions to push our discipline" to address the global ecological crisis

2019-08-14T13:07:00-04:00

We are concerned that at present our education does not give sufficient weight to the inherently ecological and political basis of architecture, nor to our responsibility to meet our uncertain future with socially and environmentally informed practice. We appreciate and applaud the efforts of contemporary practitioners, but we ask you to join us in using the freedom and particular responsibility of academic institutions to push our discipline further in this direction.

Over 1,663 academics, professors, and administrators, mostly from the United Kingdom, have signed on to an open letter aimed at the architectural community that calls for a "curriculum change" in how architectural educators view their positions relative to the ongoing ecological crisis.

The letter, among other things, compels educators to push national and international certification bodies to "centralise the social and technical dimensions of ecological breakdown in their practices and requirements, and to expand their policies to confirm that failing to engage with ecological breakdown is acting counter to the public interest."

In addition, the declaration asks educators to "conduct annual environmental policy reviews, so that our schools may lead by example, integrating the highest standards in our own policies, divesting from damaging industries such as arms manufacturing and fossil fuels, and exploring new options for positive carbon and ecological contribution."

The effort c...

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...