I was at U of Houston for a year and loved it. Lots of energy and very good facilities that continue to grow. I personally enjoyed the integration of the Industrial Design program within the Architecture school. There is lots of making that goes on, both scale model and detail 1:1 as well as good digital facilities.

I know nothing about the Texas Tech program, but I would consider UH the most underrated program in Texas, hands down.

Also, Houston is a bit more exciting of an architectural landscape than Lubbock...imho.

Don't go to Texas Tech, they almost lost their accredidation a few years ago...and you have to be pretty bad for that to happen.

I've know of some students who have left their program because they were unhappy.

Lubbock sucks.

I've heard good things about U of H's program but know of no specifics. Their building projects could use some work but at least they have them.

UH being in a "major" city is a big plus. You have the opportunity to make some great connections before graduation.

With a lot of new professors, the design work is steadily improving and broadening outside the U.S. for influences. Several studios have projects that involve out of state sites so that the cultural and regional influences have a bearing on the work . Studio roadtrip.

wow, Texas Tech is that bad?

Now I know which school I should go.
I will be a cougar!
Thank you :)

space architecture is sort of funny at U of H

this is the story of victoria lee
she started off on percodin and ended up with me
she lived in berkelely til the earthquake shook her loose
she lives in texas now, where nothin ever moves...

UH, in my opinion is the best arch school in the state. i was very unimpressed with UT. UH always beat rice at competitions, well, except that rice students create much better graphics. Texas Tech, like A&M always caused giggles in the firms I worked for.

in texas, i'd go to UH, Rice, then UT for undergrad. If you're looking into grad school, i'd go to the more known school, rice or ut.

The Space Architecture program has become more architecture for extreme environments.

What is space architecture program?
is it kind of degree program,too?

that seems very interesting.
thank you for great informations.

Lastly, I want to know about housing in UH.
Could you recommend good place to live?
Which could be quite and most fit for architecture?

the space architecture program has the most delightfully campy james bond models. They have buttons you can press to light up the inside of an underwater space lab made out of dusty plastic pipes. who wouldn't want that?

live near Rice/Museum area...I lived in Bellaire within the loop...safe but sterile...near Rice and all around there is a sweet area...lots of trees and nice free museums.

the space arch dioramas are rad...true, in a campy way.

I want to live in campus :)

UH campus is not in the best area of town...but check with the school...they do have housing on campus...but I know nothing about it.

UH is indeed very underrated and if you give it a chance, houston will not disappoint you.

i mean, lubbock isn't that bad, and they were given three-year accreditations because they were shifting degree programs, but yeah...UH.

all this being said, there are three interesting things about lubbock:

1.) buddy holly and stevie ray vaughan both got their start there
2.) if you drive westward from downtown lubbock on any major street: after you cross university avenue, the north-south avenues are named in alphabetical order from A to Y as you go westward, skipping X (damn!) and Z. after slide road, the progression starts again. and it does the same going east, although there isn't as much east as there is west.
3.) the original streets in lubbock were platted really wide so that a team of mules could do a u-turn at any location.

No it's not the best part of town, but it's getting better, I think, because of the increasing student presence. There's been quite a bit of new housing and parking bulit in the last two years. So with the new construction, the ugly parts are getting pushed farther away. So definitely check their website.

Of course some people just lived in the architceture building. But the fire marshall put an end to that. Really put a kink in my fourth year plans.

i used to live in the rice village area in an 750 s.f. apt with patio, for 550....the area north of uh is up and coming. some of my friends are moving in that direction. there's very little support, ie: grocery shopping, etc...

Hi,

I'm in the middle of my M.Arch at Princeton. I graduated from Texas Tech's School of Architecture in 2005.

I have a friend here that graduated from Texas Tech last year visiting the Princeton open house because he's deciding between MIT and Princeton.

In the last two years Tech architecture grads have been admitted and are attending the CCA, SciArc, IIT, Rice, Penn, Yale, Princeton among others that I know of. This is how you judge an architectural program.

Texas Tech is a big program with a wide range of students and talent, but you can get an amazing undergraduate architectural education there. There are several remarkable faculty members there, including an amazing dean.

Don't base where you go to school on how fun the town is. UofH is fine, but they aren't under-rated, they're just low-rated. To say it's the best school in Texas is just ridiculous.

I hope this will temper the mis-information in this thread. Good luck deciding.

Why are you getting a M. Arch at princeton if in teh same 5 years we all spent in undergrad school, you graduate with a Masters from Tech?

And the people I have met with said Masters degree, are actually further behind in architectural education than most recent grads I have met.

U of Houston is a lot better. For some reason many of the Big 12 schools have been on the edge of disaster with the NAAB. I can't count how many times I've heard of one of those schools out there being in danger of losing accredidation. I like and have heard many good things about U of H, Rice, UT, and A&M.

But yeah, I read somewhere that TTU's arch program was facing some difficulties. Plus they were having a lot of faculty problems. You might not want to get into the middle of that.

you have to remember that UH is a commuter school, so on-campus living is not that good. there are apts in the immediate area, but you will be paying a premium. with in a 5 mile radius there is plenty of artsy neighborhoods, from warehouse to museum districts, that are reasonably priced.

the facilities are good. they are adding a new wood shop, a whole seperate building, which should be finished by coming semester.

if your into to sustainability, there are a few good teachers that are leaders in the field. www.HARC.edu gives regular lectures for free at the auditorum. given the close distance to Rice, you will have access to a lot of their events. also UH is in competition with U Mass. for a 15 mil/yr grant from the DOE for wind turbine R&D.

at UH like many other schools, it really depends on the prof you take. a lot of the faculty teaches at Rice and UH. its up to you and abilities to make it into a grad program, i dont think saying so many people got into this school or that school is a justifiable argument. there is more to it then that.

I am not familiar with the size of Lubbuck, but Houston has a lot of arch internships at a varity of
office sizes.

one of my best teachers went to TTU, but he didnt go to a grad school and now he teaches at UH. go figure.

UH

And try and get a studio with Cord Bowen if you can...he is a very good professor and designer.

cord was good. the entire year was good when he graduated. he came back to teach and has made many good changes.