![UT architecture library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/UT_architecture_library.jpg)
The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (UTSOA) is a
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
within The
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
, with its major facilities located on the main university campus in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. UTSOA's dean is
Michelle Addington. In 2016, the school's former dean,
Frederick "Fritz" Steiner, stepped down citing Texas Government Code Section 411.2031, also known as "Campus Carry," which entitles licensed individuals to carry concealed handguns onto the campus of an institution of higher education.
UTSOA has nearly 700
graduate and
undergraduate
Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
students. There are approximately 65 full-time faculty and 35 adjunct and part-time faculty. The student/faculty ratio is 10:1.
The school has five faculty members that are Rome Fellows, including adjunct professor Coleman Coker, associate professors Hope Hasbruck, Mirka Benes, Nichole Wiedemann, and most recently, 2014 recipient Vincent C. Snyder.
The school is located within the historical core of the University of Texas at Austin campus. As part of the original 40 Acres, the college fully occupies
Goldsmith Hall
Goldsmith Hall is a building on the University of Texas at Austin campus, serving as the primary home of the School of Architecture. It was designed by Paul Cret, who also designed the Main Building (a.k.a. the Tower), the Union Building, and t ...
,
Sutton Hall, and
Battle Hall
Battle Hall, also known as the "Cass Gilbert Building" and "The Old Library," is a historic library on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It is one of four buildings on campus that have been added to the National Reg ...
. In 2007, Battle Hall was listed as one of America's Top 150 Favorite Works of Architecture by
The American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
(AIA),. UTSOA also occupies part of the West Mall Office Building.
Two of these buildings were designed by
Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...
and another by
Paul Philippe Cret
Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...
. Cret is credited as the designer of the campus
master plan for
The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, and helped to build the
Beaux-Arts-style
Main Building tower. Cret collaborated with
Herbert M. Greene (of Texas firm Greene, LaRoche, and Dahl) and UTSOA Class of 1921 alumnus Robert Leon White for several of his projects.
UTSOA celebrated its
centennial
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at ...
in 2010, with a keynote by UTSOA alumnus
Craig Dykers
Craig Edward Dykers is an American architect and founding partner of the architecture firm, Snøhetta.
History
Craig Dykers was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1961. In 1985 he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University ...
of
Snøhetta
Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , ...
.
History
In 1910, The University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering (now known as the
Cockrell School of Engineering
The Cockrell School of Engineering is one of the eighteen colleges within the University of Texas at Austin. It has more than 8,000 students enrolled in eleven undergraduate and thirteen graduate programs. The college is ranked 10th in the world a ...
) began offering a professional degree in
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
.
[University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture Archives, Alexander Architectural Archives, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utaaa/00081/aaa-00081.html] Two years later, the program had over 30 registered students.
The school was expanded over the next two decades under the leadership of Frederick Giesecke and Goldwin Goldsmith. In 1925, the school became the first in Texas to be accepted for membership in the
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
. The program was accredited in 1935 by the
National Architectural Accreditation Board. The school moved into its permanent home in the Architecture Building (Goldsmith Hall, named after Goldwin Goldsmith) in 1933 and became the School of Architecture in 1948.
The school's first graduate was Bertram Ernst Giesecke, who was officially licensed as an architect in 1927.
Past and present leaders
* Hugo F. Kuehne, Chairman (1910 – May 1912)
* F.E. Giesecke, Chairman (June 1912 – August 1928)
* T.U. Taylor, Acting Chairman (September 1927 – May 1928)
* Goldwin Goldsmith, Chairman (June 1928 – May 1935)
* Walter T. Rolfe, Chairman (June 1935 – May 1946)
* Hugh McMath, Chairman (June 1946 – June 1950)
* Robert Talley, Acting Director (July 1950 – August 1951)
*
Harwell Hamilton Harris
Harwell Hamilton Harris, (July 2, 1903 – November 18, 1990) was a modernist American architect, noted for his work in Southern California that assimilated European and American influences.
He lived and worked in North Carolina from 1962 until ...
, Director (September 1951 – June 1955)
* Hugh McMath, Acting Director (July 1955 – July 1956)
* Philip D. Creer, Dean (August 1956 – August 1967)
* Alan Y. Taniguchi, Director (September 1967 – August 1968)
* Alan Y. Taniguchi, Dean (September 1968 – May 1972)
* Sinclair Black, Acting Dean (June 1972 – July 1973)
* Charles Burnette, Dean (August 1973 – December 1975)
* John A. Gallery, Acting Dean (January 1976 – August 1976)
* Harold "Hal" Box, Dean (September 1976 – 1992)
*
Lawrence Speck, Dean (1992 – July 2001)
*
Frederick "Fritz" Steiner, Dean (August 2001 – June 2016)
* Elizabeth Danze, Acting Dean (July 2016 – June 2017)
* Michelle Addington, Dean (July 2017 – present)
Facilities, and research units, libraries, and centers
UTSOA is home to:
* The Center for American Architecture and Design (CAAD), which focuses on architectural history, theory, and criticism. The CAAD produces a series of publications and hosts several symposia annually, including Latitudes, an international conference that explores American
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
;
* The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), which studies the environment,
social equity
Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy. Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration.
Overview
Definitions of so ...
,
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
, and design aesthetics. The CSD's two Thermal Labs analyze
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
in building materials and architectural designs. Additionally, the CSD offers a summer Public Interest Design Program for advanced students from across the nation who are interested in the built environment and public service;
* The
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin is the state botanical garden and arboretum of Texas. The center features more than 900 species of native Texas plants in both garden and natural settings and is hom ...
, a botanical garden focused on sustainable research and education. The LBJWC is located off-campus in south Austin;
* The University Co-op Materials Resource Center, which has over 27,000 pieces of literature and material samples available for research within the UTSOA community. The MatLab is home to the Architectural Conservation Lab, a research space;
* The Alexander Architectural Archives is a unit of The University of Texas Libraries within the Architecture & Planning Library. The archives support research and education about the history of the built environment by acquiring and preserving research collections;
* The Architecture & Planning Library is a research branch of The University of Texas Libraries system and aims to serve the research needs of scholars in the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and planning;
* The Visual Resources Collection, a library resource that contains more than 250,000 slides and 100,000 digitized images.
Student organizations
UTSOA student organizations include:
* Undergraduate Architecture Student Council (UASC), which serves as a liaison between students and faculty members, as well as administrators;
* Graduate School of Architecture Representative Council (GSARC), a group focused on supporting the voice of graduate students;
*
Alpha Rho Chi
Alpha Rho Chi () is a professional co-educational college fraternity for students studying architecture and related professions. The fraternity's name is derived from the first three letters of the Greek word for architecture, ἀρχιτεκτ ...
(APX), a professional/social co-ed fraternity for students in architecture and allied arts;
* Ampersand, which combines the student chapters of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) to promote networking and involvement within the interior design community;
* National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS), which aims to enhance educational and professional networking for students from diverse backgrounds;
* Global Architecture Brigades, a student-led design/build organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in developing nations through the design of sustainable, socially responsible solutions to architectural problems;
* Community and Regional Planning Student Organization (CRPSO), a group that works to host a variety of activities for students in the school's planning program and planning-related disciplines;
* Student Historic Preservation Association, which represents Historic Preservation graduate students;
* ''ISSUE:'', an annual student publication featuring graduate and undergraduate student work;
*
Tau Sigma Delta, an honors society for advanced students pursuing architectural study and the allied arts;
* American Society of Landscape Architects Student Chapter, an organization for students of landscape architecture;
* American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), a professional organization whose mission is to promote the advancement of architecture for students;
* UTSOA First Years , which serves as a liaison between first-year students and prospective applicants as well as general recruitment tool.
Study abroad and other opportunities
UTSOA study abroad opportunities include:
* Study in Italy, a semester at the Santa Chiara Study Center in
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
, approximately an hour from
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
. The program focuses on the study of design, history, and visual communication throughout Italy;
* Europe Program, a semester of study that emphasizes a broad experience covering the buildings, landscapes, and the urban fabric across
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
;
* Studio Mexico, a 4 to 5-week travel component during which participants visit
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
sites, 16th century churches, small villages, and contemporary architecture in Mexico;
* Sustainable Architecture and Design in Munich, a 6 to 9-week faculty-led summer program in Germany.
In addition, the Study Abroad Office at The University of Texas at Austin offers faculty-led programs and facilitates exchanges with various foreign institutions.
Other opportunities for students include:
* The Professional Residency Program, which provides upper-level architecture students with the opportunity of a 6 to 7-month work experience as an intern in an office of the architectural profession;
* Design Build opportunities offer educational experiences where students design and construct architectural projects. For example, most recently, the school was involved with the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
2015 Solar Decathlon;
* Summer Academy in Architecture, a
community outreach program that introduces students to the architecture and design fields as a possible career. The program helps students develop drawing and
model-building skills.
Diversity initiatives
In 2016, UTSOA launched an initiative focused on Race, Gender, and the Built Environment in conjunction with the university's Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The goal of the initiative is to facilitate diversity among design and planning professionals and students, and foster discourse in teaching and research on race, gender, and inequality in American cities. Anna Brand and Andrea Roberts were named the first two scholar-fellows for this program as part of a one-year appointment.
Admissions
All undergraduate applications are evaluated with emphasis on the following areas:
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
or ACT scores, class rank, essays, academic preparation, extracurricular activities, and other achievements. Out of approximately 1,000 freshman applicants, 95 students are admitted. External transfer admission is offered to a few qualified applicants each year. Portfolios are not accepted from freshman applicants.
Graduate programs accept applications only for the fall semester. Applicants to all graduate degree programs are evaluated on The University of Texas requirements for graduate admissions. Most admitted graduate students have at least a 3.0 GPA in their higher-level college work.
Program rankings
In 2012, UTSOA's undergraduate
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
Program was ranked second in the nation according t
''DesignIntelligence'' The graduate Architecture Program was eleventh, and the Community and Regional Planning Program was fifteenth.
In 2013, ''DesignIntelligence'' ranked the undergraduate Architecture Program sixth; the graduate Architecture Program eleventh; the undergraduate
Interior Design
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...
Program sixth; and the graduate
Landscape Architecture Program thirteenth.
In 2014, UTSOA's graduate Architecture Program was ranked #10. In the Dean's Survey, the undergraduate Architecture Program was ranked fourth and the undergraduate Interior Design Program was tied for fifth.
Rankings were recently updated for 2017, with UTSOA placing in the top 10 for its undergraduate Architecture Program at #6.
Rankings by Niche ranked the program 11th in the nation for 2018.
Notable current faculty
*
Anthony Alofsin
*
Michael Benedikt
*
Coleman Coker
*
David Heymann
*
Juan Miró
*
Steven Moore
*
Lawrence Speck
Notable former faculty
*
Natalie de Blois
*
Nancy Kwallek
*
Charles Moore
*
Enrique Norten
Enrique Norten Rosenfeld (born c. 1954), Hon. FAIA, is a Mexican architect and principal of the design firm ''TEN Arquitectos'' (Taller de Enrique Norten Arquitectos). Norten was born in Mexico City in 1954 where he graduated from the Universidad ...
*
Frederick R. Steiner
*
Friedrich St. Florian
*
Billie Tsien
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (also known as Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects , Partners) are a husband-and-wife architectural firm founded in 1986, based in New York. Williams and Tsien began working together in 1977. Their studio focu ...
During the 1950s, former UTSOA dean
Harwell Hamilton Harris
Harwell Hamilton Harris, (July 2, 1903 – November 18, 1990) was a modernist American architect, noted for his work in Southern California that assimilated European and American influences.
He lived and worked in North Carolina from 1962 until ...
recruited several architects who practiced in the
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...
style of
Josef Albers
Josef Albers (; ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born artist and educator. The first living artist to be given a solo show at MoMA and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he taught at the Bauhaus and Black Mountain College ...
as faculty members. Known as the
Texas Rangers (architects), these faculty included Bernhard Hoesli, Colin Rowe, John Hejduk, Robert Slutzky, Lee Hodgden, John Shaw, and Werner Seligmann.
Notable alumni
*
Howard Barr
*
John S. Chase
* Everett Fly
*
Craig Dykers
Craig Edward Dykers is an American architect and founding partner of the architecture firm, Snøhetta.
History
Craig Dykers was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1961. In 1985 he graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University ...
and Elaine Molinar of
Snøhetta
Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , ...
*
David Lake of Lake, Flato
*
Fernando Belaúnde Terry
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
, former president of Peru
References
External links
*
{{University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture, Notable alumni=Frank C. Moffett, Scribe, "The Americans with Disabilities Act" technical content=Moffett was a leading member of the state task force which developed and promulgated amendments to the Uniform Building Code
BC The original amendments were published as part of the State's requirements for new construction and alterations in Washington; but after the sixth issue, were recognized and adopted by the editors of UBC, the International Congress of Building Officials
BCas integral to the current and later editions of the UBC., state=Washington
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
Architecture schools in Texas
1948 establishments in Texas