The Institute for Architecture & Urban Studies is a non-profit architecture studio and think tank located in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. The original Institute existed from 1967 to 1984, where it was a hub for experimental architectural discourse and practice. It re-opened in 2003 as a non-profit offering individualized summer architecture studios.

IAUS (1967–1984)

The Institute of Architecture and Urban Studies was founded in 1967 as a non-profit independent agency concerned with research, education, and development in architecture and urbanism. It began as a core group of young architects seeking alternatives to traditional forms of education and practice. The IAUS developed its curriculum in collaboration with a group of liberal arts colleges and universities and began its undergraduate education program in 1973. The program was open to students from a consortium of liberal arts colleges and provided an architectural component as a supplement to traditional liberal arts studies. Twelve students from five colleges ( Oberlin,

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Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

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) participated in the institute's first academic year (1974–75), increasing to 35 students from sixteen colleges by 1978. The program was organized around a rigorous sequence in the history and theory of architecture and an intensive design tutorial taught by the institute's fellows. The IAUS was not accredited by the

National Architectural Accrediting Board The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), established in 1940, is the oldest accrediting agency for architectural education in the United States. The NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. ...

nor another accrediting board and thus could not grant degrees. In 1977, design/study options gave students enrolled in a six-year professional degree program the opportunity to participate in the academic program. Credit for the program was provided by the student's own institution.

Peter Eisenman Peter David Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect, writer, and professor. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his high modernist and deconstructive designs, as well as for his authorship of several archi ...

was appointed as IAUS's first executive director followed by

Anthony Vidler Anthony Vidler (4 July 1941 – 19 October 2023) was an English architectural historian and critic. He was Professor at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union. Life and career Vidler was born in Mere, Wiltshire, in 19 ...

(1982), Mario Gandelsonas (1983), and Stephen Peterson (1984). In 1985, IAUS ceased to exist.

The current institute (2003–present)

The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies re-opened in 2003 due in a large part in the 9/11 renewal awareness in the critical impact of built form—how it is experienced, mediated, remembered and imaged—on our daily lives. The new Institute purports that this new awakening in the power and role of architecture exposed a need for an independent, multidisciplinary think-tank, or pedagogical “free speech zone”, in which to question, provoke, debate, experiment, explore and rethink the future of the metropolis at all scales.

Mission statement

The new institute's goal is to keep alive the improvisational spirit that made the old Institute at its apogee a mecca for young architects and critics like

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Charles Gwathmey Charles Gwathmey (June 19, 1938 – August 3, 2009) was an American architect. He was a principal at Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, as well as one of the five architects identified as The New York Five in 1969. Gwathmey was perhaps be ...

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, Diana Agrest,

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, Robert Stern,

Bernard Tschumi Bernard Tschumi (born 25 January 1944 in Lausanne, Switzerland) is an architect, writer, and educator, commonly associated with deconstructivism. Son of the well-known Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and a French mother, Tschumi is a dual French ...

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, Kenneth Frampton,

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, Gandelsonas, and Vidler, among others. While the original institute helped shape much of the autonomous theoretical discourse that dominated architectural culture in the last 30 years of the 20th century,Oppositions Reader: Selected Essays 1973-1984, by K. Michael Hays
/ref> the new institute concentrates more on applied theory and research utilizing new technology, cross-disciplines, materials and methods. While there are other architecture organizations in New York they are primarily places for exhibitions and lectures. They provided little in the way of debate, criticism, multidisciplinary experimentation, progressive education, improvisation and applied theory. While schools of architecture like

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

, and

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

have better success at creating greater intellectual friction and stimulation than the above-mentioned private organizations, they are to a great degree hampered by the requirements of professional accreditation.

Affiliations

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges ...

* Mt. Holyoke College *

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

Gallatin School of Individualized Study The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is a liberal arts school within New York University. Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary concentration based on their specific interests and career goals. Most courses can be taken at any ...

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

References

External links

The Institute for Architecture & Urban Studies Official Website

Finding aid for the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies fonds

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; ) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between rue Fort (Fort Street) and rue Saint-Ma ...

digitized items

Archinect listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies Architecture schools in New York City Landscape architecture schools Design schools in the United States Non-profit organizations based in New York City Urban studies and planning schools