University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture

The University of Texas at Austin
School of Architecture
Type Public
Established 1948
Dean Elizabeth Danze (interim)
Students 663
Undergraduates 316
Postgraduates 347
Location Austin, Texas
30°17′07″N 97°44′28″W / 30.285388°N 97.741184°W / 30.285388; -97.741184Coordinates: 30°17′07″N 97°44′28″W / 30.285388°N 97.741184°W / 30.285388; -97.741184
Website soa.utexas.edu
Goldsmith Hall from the West Mall
Eden & Hal Box Courtyard in Goldsmith Hall
Goldsmith Hall from Inner Campus Drive
Sutton Hall from Inner Campus Drive
Sutton Hall, south side
Interior of the Architecture & Planning Library in Battle Hall

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (UTSOA) is a college within The University of Texas at Austin, with its major facilities located on the main university campus in Austin, Texas. UTSOA's Interim Dean is Elizabeth Danze. 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.[1]

UTSOA has nearly 700 graduate and undergraduate 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 40 Acres, the college fully occupies Goldsmith Hall, Sutton Hall, and Battle Hall. In 2007, Battle Hall was listed as one of America’s Top 150 Favorite Works of Architecture by The American Institute of Architects (AIA),.[2] UTSOA also occupies part of the West Mall Office Building.

Two of these buildings were designed by Cass Gilbert and another by Paul Philippe Cret. Cret is credited as the designer of the campus master plan for The University of Texas at Austin, 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.[3]

UTSOA celebrated its centennial in 2010, with a keynote by UTSOA alumnus Craig Dykers of Snøhetta.[4]

History

In 1910, The University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering (now known as the Cockrell School of Engineering) began offering a professional degree in architecture.[5] Two years later, the program had over 30 registered students.[6] 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. 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.[6] The school's first graduate was Bertram Ernst Giesecke, who was officially licensed as an architect in 1927.[7]

Past and present leaders

Facilities, and research units, libraries, and centers

UTSOA is home to:

Student organizations

UTSOA student organizations include:

Study abroad and other opportunities

UTSOA study abroad opportunities include:

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:

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.[9]

Admissions

All undergraduate applications are evaluated with emphasis on the following areas: SAT 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.[10]

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.[11]

Program rankings

In 2012, UTSOA’s undergraduate Architecture Program was ranked second in the nation[12] according to 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 Program sixth; and the graduate Landscape Architecture Program thirteenth.[13]

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.[14]

Rankings were recently updated for 2017, with UTSOA placing in the top 10 for its undergraduate Architecture Program at #6.[15]

Notable current faculty

Notable former faculty

During the 1950s, former UTSOA dean Harwell Hamilton Harris recruited several architects who practiced in the Bauhaus style of Josef Albers 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

References

  1. ↑ Saffron, Inga (February 29, 2016). "New Penn dean explains why gun law drove him from Texas". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  2. ↑ Crossette, Amy. "Battle Hall at The University of Texas at Austin Selected As One of the Nation's Top 150 Architectural Works". The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  3. ↑ "White, Robert Leon Historical Entry". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  4. ↑ "UTSOA Centennial Keynote, Craig Dykers". UTSOA Vimeo Page. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  5. 1 2 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
  6. 1 2 Traces and Trajectories: The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture at 100. 2010.
  7. ↑ "Bertram Ernst Giesecke". he AIA Historical Directory of American Architects. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  8. ↑ "Professional Residency Program - UTSOA [UT-Austin School of Architecture]". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "UT Austin's School of Architecture Establishes Initiative on Race, Gender and the Built Environment". UT Austin News. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  10. ↑ "Freshman FAQ - UTSOA [UT-Austin School of Architecture]". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Graduate Admissions FAQ - UTSOA [UT-Austin School of Architecture]". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "America's Best Architecture Schools 2012". Architectural Record. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  13. ↑ "Big Shifts in Design School Rankings for 2013". DesignIntelligence. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  14. ↑ "America's Best Architecture Schools 2014". DesignIntelligence. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  15. ↑ "America's Top Architecture Schools 2017 – ArchitecturalRecord". www.architecturalrecord.com. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
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