Research & Programs

M.Arch Program Receives 8-Year NAAB Continuing Accreditation

Our Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree program has received an eight year term of Continuing Accreditation with a Plan to Correct from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Congratulations to Track Chair Sarosh Anklesaria and former Track Chair Kai Gutschow and the Master of Architecture students, staff and faculty.

Carter Nelson (B.Arch '17) Awarded 2022 Highlands Travel Fellowship

The School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Carter Nelson (B.Arch '17) has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship for his proposal Dovecotes of Tinos. With this award, Nelson will fully document a selection of dovecotes on the Greek island of Tinos in order to help support their preservation.

Carolyn Ristau Joins RCI as Visiting Scholar

The Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) is pleased to announce that Carolyn Ristau has joined the RCI as a Visiting Scholar. Ristau has over a decade of experience practicing and researching urban issues, including zoning, housing, transportation, and public safety. Her research seeks to understand the origins and context of zoning and development regulations to find ways that these regulations could be used to support more inclusive communities.

Ray Gastil to Speak at “Post-Covid Cities: Framework for Opportunity”

Remaking Cities Institute director Ray Gastil will speak on a panel on Wed 08 Sep from 12:00-2:00pm on "Post-Covid Cities: Framework for Opportunity.” The panel, which includes the leadership of the New York New Visions coalition of architects, designers, planners, and related disciplines responding to 9/11, will look back to the lessons learned from that work, and discuss the meaning and value of those to the current urban challenge.

Announcing the Associate Heads and the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the School of Architecture

The School of Architecture is pleased to announce our new Associate Heads and Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): Professor Mary-Lou Arscott, Associate Head for Design Fundamentals; Professor Joshua Bard, Associate Head for Design Research; Professor Kai Gutschow, Associate Head for Design Ethics; and Professor Erica Cochran Hameen, Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The new positions are effective July 1, 2021.

RCI Working to Address First Mile/Last Mile and Micromobility Challenges Outside the Urban Core

The Remaking Cities Institute (RCI) and Traffic21 CMU faculty are working with communities in Allegheny County to address first mile/last mile and micromobility challenges that exist outside of the urban core. The Linking our Networked Communities (LINC) project is underway in partnership with the Quaker Valley Coalition of Governments (QVCOG) and the communities of Bellevue, Avalon, Ben Avon, Emsworth, and Kilbuck. The study, supported by a challenge grant from CMU’s Traffic21 and the Mobilty21 Urban Transportation Center, focuses on critical issues for mobility and urban design for towns beyond the urban core in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.

Group Exhibition "Human Scale Remeasured" Features Work of Stefan Gruber’s Spring 2020 Cooperative Housing Studio

Associate Professor Stefan Gruber has initiated an international cooperation between five schools of architecture that investigates Cooperative Housing for the 2000-Watt Society. They explore how to address the intertwined issues of affordable housing and resource scarcity against the backdrop of ecological, economic, and political crisis and design for more equitable, collaborative, and resilient communities. “Human Scale Remeasured” is currently on show at the Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin through 13 May 2021.

Remaking Cities Institute Faculty to Work with Monessen and Shaler on Traffic21 Smart Mobility Challenge Projects

Remaking Cities Institute director Ray Gastil and faculty Jonathan Kline and Stephen Quick will work with the City of Monessen and the Township of Shaler, winners of Traffic21’s third annual Smart Mobility Challenge, to develop mobility/urban design recommendations from computer visualization data to respond to community priorities.

Professor Dana Cupkova Blends Research and Practice with EPIPHYTE Lab

For Associate Professor Dana Cupkova, pushing boundaries is nothing new. She works continuously to develop novel models for integrating her teaching with research. This approach is exemplified in her work at EPIPHYTE Lab, an architecture design and research platform situated at the intersection of academia and practice.

Announcing the David Lewis Community Engagement Design Scholarship

The Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture is proud to announce the establishment of the David Lewis Community Engagement Design Scholarship in memory of David Lewis, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Urban Studies at Carnegie Mellon. This award is open to SoA students who work within diverse communities through participatory architectural design processes and demonstrate commitments to social justice and community service. The School of Architecture will announce the call for applications for the first award cycle in the spring of 2021.

Erica Cochran Hameen to Present at Green Building United 2020 Sustainability Symposium Thu 22 Oct

Dr. Erica Cochran Hameen to present at Green Building United's 10th annual Sustainability Symposium on Thursday 22 October. Dr. Cochran Hameen, along with Dr. Esther Obonyo, Professor & Director of the Global Building Network, and Ruth Ann Norton, President of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, will lead a workshop and seminar titled “Scaling Energy Efficiency and Energy Reduction Incentives: The research, policy, practice triangle.”

M.Arch Program Receives Initial Accreditation from NAAB

CMU’s Master of Architecture (M.Arch) program has been granted Initial Accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The accreditation is effective January 1, 2019, which means that past degrees awarded by the SoA, including the inaugural M.Arch graduating class of 2019, are considered accredited.

Alumnus Gabriel Cuellar Awarded ACSA 2020 Course Development Prize

The SoA congratulates alumnus Gabriel Cuellar (B.Arch ‘08) for receiving a 2020 Course Development Prize presented by ACSA and The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University. Cuellar’s course proposal “Exist, Flourish, Evolve” — Territorial Care and the Upper Misi-ziibi explores how architecture can uphold and promote the Rights of Nature in the context of the Mississippi headwaters watershed.

Jeremy Ficca and Stefan Gruber Awarded ACSA 2020 Architectural Education Awards

The SoA congratulates Jeremy Ficca and Stefan Gruber for receiving 2020 Architectural Education Awards presented by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Ficca was awarded in the Creative Achievement category for his course Fabricating Customization, and Gruber was awarded in the Collaborative Practice category for the project Urban Acupuncture for Community Forge.

Michael Baker (B.Arch ‘05) Awarded 2020 Highlands Travel Fellowship

The School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Michael Baker (B.Arch ‘05) has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Delbert Highlands Travel Fellowship for his proposal The Churches of Chiloé and the Jesuit “Circular Mission.”

School of Architecture Ranked #11 in DesignIntelligence Survey

The Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture’s B.Arch program is ranked #11 overall in the 2019-20 DesignIntelligence Survey of Architecture Schools, and placed top-ten in 9 of 12 focus areas. For schools with 20-49 graduates, the SoA ranked #9 overall in most hired from architecture schools. Professor & Head Stephen Lee was again named one of the Most Admired Educators in Architecture this year.

Dan Martin to Step Down as Dean of CMU’s College of Fine Arts

Dan Martin has decided to step down as dean of CMU’s College of Fine Arts (CFA), and will return to the faculty in the School of Drama. A national search to find Martin’s successor will be announced later this fall, with the goal of naming the new dean by fall of 2020. Martin will serve in his current role until a new dean is named.