UW ARCHITECTURE
LEADING WITH COLLABORATION + IMPACT
“Storefront”
display of student work in the department chair’s office
Photo - Ali Ahmed
Chair’s Welcome
Congratulations on your admission to the Department of Architecture at the College of Built Environments (CBE)!
We are guided by the CBE’s three core pillars: collaboration and impact, bold thought leadership, and equitable and just practices. As the nation’s only college that brings together the departments of Architecture, Construction Management, Landscape Architecture, Real Estate, and Urban Design and Planning under one roof, we offer unparalleled opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Our department’s internationally recognized faculty integrate teaching and research in community-engaged design, highperformance building , embodied carbon, circular cities and living systems, mass timber, materials and fabrication, as well as history and theory. Through these efforts, we strive to build a more just and beautiful world in partnership with Seattle’s professional community, which is among the most innovative and highly recognized in the country.
We look forward to welcoming you into our remarkable community of students, faculty, and staff as a member of the 2025 incoming cohorts!
Sincerely,
Richard E. Mohler, FAIA, NCARB Professor and Chair Department of Architecture
ARCH 503 - Mixed-use multi-family housing studio - Credit: Eleanor Lewis
ARCHITECTURE
We empower students to be responsive and responsible to society, culture, and the environment. Our values are based in the discipline of architecture, materials and assembly, advocacy, and community-based design, seen within the context of social and technological change. Our classes and studios provide students with hands-on experience that leverages Seattle’s unique position as a center for innovation with strong global connections. International programs expose students to the impact of architecture in diverse cultural settings. We advance architectural knowledge through research, scholarship, and practice, and employ our expertise to benefit local, national, and global communities.
CERTIFICATES
• Design Computing
• Historic Preservation
• Housing Studies
• Lighting Design
• Real Estate
• Urban Design
ARCH 507 - Nehemiah Studio - Credit: Bryce Boho, William Flanagan, Lu He, Alicia Jacobs, Facundo Jaime, Jacob Schmitz
Winner - 2023 Metropolis Magazine Planet Positive Award
ARCH 506 - Scan Design Foundation Copenhagen Studio - Credit: Cameron Reese
ALUMNI PERSPECTIVES
“The architecture program is rooted locally while thinking globally. The regional design emphasis on materials, craft, and sustainability are consistent throughout the curriculum and are complimented with multiple diverse opportunities for study and research abroad.”
- Buddy Burkhalter, M Arch 2017
“Returning to school after 20 years was a bit terrifying, and I braced for the potential of a dog-eat-dog experience. To my pleasant surprise, I found only support and camaraderie, and I graduated with friendships that I’ll have for life. The familial culture in the program was critical to my survival, and is both professional and personal gold.”
- Stephanie Farrell, M Arch 2016 2025 Graduate
of The Last Decade Awardee
O ur approach to architecture is through a researchled lens that aims to discover innovative ways of maintaining an intimate dialogue between architecture, people, and context.
- Mariam Issoufou - M Arch 2013
Mariam Issoufou Architects is an architecture and research firm founded in Niger, in 2014, by Mariam Issoufou.
AWARDS
• Aga Khan Award for Architecture Shortlist
• Moira Gemmill Award
• Royal Academy of Arts Dorfman Award
• Prince Claus Award
• Dezeen Awards Public
Building Shortlist
• Lafarge Holcim Global Silver Award
• LafargeHolcim Middle EastAfrica Gold Award
• Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative
• Architect Magazine R+D Award
• University of Washington Alumni Gold Award
• AIA National Emerging Professionals Exhibition
• Architizer Impact in Design Award
RESOURCES
FABRICATION LAB
PHOTO LAB
RESEARCH LABS + CENTERS
INTEGRATED DESIGN LAB
The Integrated Design Lab’s mission is to advance the highest performing built environment through research, technical assistance, education, and outreach.
CIRCULAR CITY + LIVING SYSTEMS LAB
The Circular City + Living Systems Lab is an interdisciplinary group researching living systems integrated into the built environment that produce and circulate resources within the food water-energy nexus.
LIFE CYCLE LAB
The Life Cycle Lab is an interdisciplinary research group focused on conducting the foundational research needed to develop methods to accurately assess and radically reduce the embodied carbon in materials, buildings and infrastructure while optimizing the broader impacts of materials on human, social and ecological health across the full life cycle
CENTER FOR PRESERVATION AND ADAPTIVE REUSE
The Center for Preservation and Adaptive Reuse is a research, education and advocacy center that recognizes the value of our existing historic and non-historic buildings. The center produces innovative research, advances knowledge, and promotes educational initiatives addressing the reuse and preservation of the built environment at all scales.
HUMANITIES, HISTORIES, and FUTURES
Humanities, Histories, and Futures leverages departmental strengths in the humanities to forge connections to the social sciences, advance climate solutions, and promote prosperity, equity, and social justice while collaborating with other UW colleges, local institutions, and community and industry partners.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS
Students in Rome are immersed in a densely layered historical context while in Mexico City they are confronted with a fast-paced and rapidly changing metropolis. In Copenhagen, they study pedestrian and bike-friendly infrastructure while in Berlin they study progressive housing policy and design strategies. These international experiences prepare our graduates for the diverse cultural contexts and challenges architects face in an increasingly global context.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT (BE) STUDIOS
BE Studios leverage the unique interdisciplinary resources of the College of Built Environments to address challenges of climate change and social equity while engaging with underserved communities. Recent projects include partnering with the Nehemiah Initiative to prevent Black displacement in Seattle, aiding the Shoalwater Bay Tribe facing sea level rise, and collaborating with Reconnect South Park to address industrial and transportation pollution.
RESEARCH STUDIOS/SEMINARS
Research studios and seminars allow students to directly engage with faculty on their cutting edge, design-focused research. Topics include housing affordability, high-performance building, digital fabrication, and urban agriculture. Work from these studios has won recent national awards including a 2021 AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award and a 2023 AIA COTE Top Ten for Students Award.
NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN/BUILD STUDIO
The award-winning Howard S. Wright Neighborhood Design/Build Studio engages students in the design and construction of small usable structures for Seattle-area nonprofits. Students experience the entire design and construction process including client engagement, site visits, schematic design, design development, material selection, detailing, and hands-on construction.
FURNITURE STUDIO
Students design and fabricate a piece of furniture using our extensive Fabrication Lab facilities. Regardless of experience, students learn how to design and craft their pieces using hand and digital tools. The studio includes a partially funded 10-day trip to Denmark. Work from the studio has won dozens of awards at the Chair Affair event in Idaho and two pieces were Finalists in the international 2024 Gray Magazine Awards.
Mexico City Program
ADVANCED DEGREES
The folded floor with reflective stickers indicating points to measure with the vibrometer. They’re the same kind of material used on running shoes to improve safety. The stickers reflect light from the vibrometer and help to measure vibrations from the shaker placed atop the structure. Photo: Tomás Méndez Echenagucia
Department of Architecture Assistant Professor Tomás Méndez Echenagucia and UW Master of Science in Architecture/Design Technology student Nathan Brown construct the mass-timber room for an acoustics experiment. Photo: Amy Balala
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE
The Master of Science (MS) in Architecture is a research-based degree that addresses the increasing demand for research skills in both academia and the profession. Our program provides advanced, concentrated study in two areas of specialization: design technology and architectural history and theory. Both degrees require 45 credits and can be completed in 5-6 quarters. Master of Architecture students who would like to continue on with an MS Architecture degree can share up to 9 credits with their M Arch degree, saving approximately one quarter of study.
MS ARCHITECTURE – DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Focuses on advanced research in design computing, sustainability, highperformance buildings, and materials. Students collaborate with faculty and members of the professional community.
(Director: Tomás Mendez Echenagucia, tmendeze@uw.edu)
MS ARCHITECTURE
– HISTORY & THEORY
Explores the cultural, political, and modern influences on architecture, preparing students for advanced scholarly work. Faculty expertise includes post-colonial studies, the anthropocene, and the international context of architecture and urbanism in Japan
(Director: Ken Tadashi Oshima, koshima@uw.edu)
LECTURES AND EVENTS
The Department and College host lectures, exhibits, and events spanning all disciplines within the built environment.
Leif Johnson - StructureCraft Engineers
StructureCraft’s recent project at the University of Kansas, designed with BIG Architects, showcases an all-timber diagrid connection system built without steel plates or screws.
“ Sitting Still ” Documentary Film Screening featuring Laurie Olin - BArch 1961
Victor Luckerson, “A Scheme to Forget, a Demand to Remember: The Century-Long Battle Over the Memory of the Tulsa Race Massacre”
PROFESSIONALS ADVISORY COUNCIL
WHO WE ARE
The Department of Architecture Professionals Advisory Council (PAC) maintains a dialog between practicing architects, allied design professionals, and the department faculty. This dialog informs the profession about departmental concerns and larger academic issues. In turn, faculty gain greater awareness of marketplace realities and trends. Through participation in the council, members enjoy opportunities for professional growth while supporting the department.
WHAT WE DO
Provide feedback on evolving architectural practice while serving as a liaison between the Department of Architecture, architectural practitioners, and other professional advisory groups in the College of Built Environments. Support programs that enhance graduates’ professional merit, help students understand career paths, and develop transitional opportunities like internships. Facilitate continuing education for architects and assist the department in accessing professional resources to benefit students.
PAC INTERNSHIPS
UW ARCH PAC summer internships offer paid internships in Seattle-area design offices, with the primary intention of offering an introduction to the design workplace to students completing the first year of the Department’s 3-year MArch program. Matching of eligible applicants with available workplace openings achieves student placements for 320-400 hours of employment. Generally following the guidelines of the National Council of Architect Registration Boards (NCARB) Experience Requirements directed toward architect licensing, workplace supervisors monitor and mentor interns, in liaison with and reporting students’ experience to a Department faculty advisor.
PARTICIPATING FIRMS
Bassetti Architects
Baylis Architects
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Dean Alan Architects
DLR Group
EHDD
Environmental Works
Fathom Architecture
LMN Architects
Miller Hayashi Architects
MG2
Miller Hull Partnership
Mithun
NAC Architecture
NBBJ
Olson Kundig
Rolluda Architects
Runberg Architecture Group
SCB
SHKS Architects
Spotswood Design
SRG + Cannon Design
Studio Meng Strazzara
Weber Thompson
Weinstein A+U
ZGF
Douglas Ito , FAIA
BA ARCH 1992
Managing Principal - SMR Architects
Recipient of the 2024 National AIA
Whitney M. Young Jr Award , given to an architect or architectural organization that embodies social responsibility and actively addresses a pressing social issue.
AIA Seattle Honor Awards 2024
RECENT RECOGNITION + AWARDS
The Shop by LMN Architects
Scott Crawford (MArch ‘08, MSDC ‘10)
Bryant Callahan (MArch ‘22, MSDT ‘23)
Heartwood by atelierjones
Susan Jones (Affiliate Associate Professor)
Olga Amigud (BA Arch‘12, MArch ‘15)
Connection + Craft by Weber Thompson
Kristen Scott (MArch ‘89)
Cody Lodi (MArch ‘07)
Todd Mayne (MArch ‘03)
Myer Harrell (MArch ‘05, Part-Time Lecturer)
Jiao Mei (MArch ‘19)
Betula by Hybrid
Bill Nicholson (MArch ‘19)
Levi J. Rippy (MArch ‘06)
Trestle Cabin by Miller Hull
Cory Mattheis (MArch ‘11)
Steve Doub (BA Arch ‘90)
Jim Hanford (Miller Hull/Integrated Design Lab Advisory Board Representative)
Corvidae Co-Op by allied8
Leah Martin (MArch ‘98)
Barbara Busetti (MArch ‘97)
Leach Botanical Garden – Upper Garden by Olson Kundig
Misun Chung Gerrick (MArch ‘00)
New U.S. Embassy, Guatemala City, Guatemala by Miller Hull
David Miller (Professor Emeritus)
Robert Misel (BA Arch ‘89)
Mathew Albores (MArch ‘01)
Cory Mattheis (MArch ‘11)
Chris Grammens (Part-Time Lecturer)
Jim Hanford (Miller Hull/Integrated Design Lab Advisory Board Representative)
Matthew Kikosicki (MArch ‘14)
Matt’s Place 2.0 by Miller Hull Brian Court (MArch ‘02)
Susan McNabb (BA Arch Studies ‘94)
Stanford University School of Medicine Center for Academic Medicine by HOK
Founders Hall, Foster School of Business by LMN Architects
Andrew Gustin (MArch ‘18)
Veronica Macalinao (MArch ‘14)
Chris Patterson (MArch ‘98) Longbranch by mwworks
Eric Walter (BA Arch ‘95)
RESEARCH + TEACHING AWARDS
Associate Professor Ann C. Huppert
Awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship for Research
Assistant Professor Narjes Abbasabadi 2024 Royalty Research Fund Grant
Associate Professor Elizabeth Golden 2024 ACSA Course Development Prize
Associate Professor Gundula Proksch 2024 ARCC Mid-Career Research Impact Award
Associate Professor Tyler Sprague 2023 ACSA Timber Education Prize
Jim Hanford (Miller Hull/Integrated Design Lab Advisory Board Representative)
Steve Doub (BA Arch ‘90)
Casey Riske (Part-Time Lecturer)
Kejia Zhang (MArch ‘17) Dongtao Bi (BA Arch ‘17)
Park Home in Ravenna by Kejia Zhang and Xiaoxi Jiao
Kejia Zhang (MArch ‘17) Xiaoxi Jiao (MArch ‘17)
Affiliate Associate Professor Robert Hutchison
2024 Architizer 25 Best Firms in Seattle (Robert Hutchison Architecture) 2024 Loghaven Fellowship
Affiliate Associate Professor Susan Jones and Professor Kate Simonen
Featured in a recently released national documentary, Women of Carbon 2024 Women in Architecture Award from Architectural Record magazine
Professor Mehlika Inanici
STUDENT AWARDS + LEADERSHIP
Trevin Thompson (M Arch candidate 2025) Elected AIAS West Quad Director, 2024
Morocco Branting (M Arch 2024)
2024 Gray Magazine Student Design Awards Finalist
2024 Future 100 Award from Metropolis magazine.
Awarded the 2023 Leon Gaster Award (in 2024)
Jeremy Salesin (M Arch 2024)
2024 Gray Magazine Student Design Awards Finalist
Forbes America’s Top 200 Residential Architects
atelierjones
Susan Jones (Affiliate Associate Professor)
Chadbourne + Doss Architects
Lisa Chadbourne (MArch ‘98), Daren Doss (MArch ‘97)
Cutler Anderson Architects
Bruce Anderson (BA Arch ‘81, MArch ‘88)
Miller Hull
Brian Court (MArch ‘02), David Miller (Professor Emeritus)
MWWORKS
Olson Kundig
Tom Kundig (MArch ‘81), Jim Olson (BArch ‘63)
Prentiss Balance Wickline Architects
Dan Wickline (BA Arch ‘96)
Robert Hutchison Architecture
Robert Hutchison (MArch ‘96 - Affiliate Associate Professor)
Renée del Gaudio Architecture
Renée del Gaudio (MArch ‘02)
Eric Walter (BA Arch ‘95)
Tadpole Studio Bundit Kanisthakhon (BA Arch ‘94)
NORTHLAKE COMMONS - Weber Thompson
A mass timber, laboratory-ready office building has found its home on the north shores of Lake Union. Situated on Dunn Lumber’s original lumber yard, the design pays homage to the site’s history while looking to the future of workplace environments and the neighborhood.
Dean’s Welcome
Dear Future Member of College of Built Environments Community,
Congratulations on your admission to the College of Built Environments! We very much hope you join us in our quest to create a more just and beautiful world. From our careful review of your application, we are confident that you will contribute to and thrive in our community, and that your experiences in the College of Built Environments will ground and accelerate your future success.
You can expect that your experience in our College will provide you with opportunities for learning, research, and engagement that takes advantage of the most unique aspects of our college: together, the disciplines in our college are sharply focused on transforming the built environment for the better. Our degree programs reflect every aspect of shaping, planning, designing, and building the built environment and we are located in a city that exemplifies why solutions are needed for the most urgent challenges facing the world today. Through our complementary disciplinary expertise areas and approaches to the built and natural worlds, we instigate transformational change in industries that have historically been too slow to change.
We expect graduate students in our college to be active participants in their learning and to engage in shaping the work of the college with a wide range of partners. In CBE, our commitment to equity means appreciating the agency of all of the many stakeholders in our community and practicing deep listening in order to be excellent collaborators.
If you are curious to know more about our work, please look at our website, or reach out to the contacts provided in your offer letter if you have any questions. Congratulations and we look forward to welcoming you as members of our community!
Sincerely,
Ken Yocom Professor & Interim Dean College of Build Environments
COLLEGE OF BUILT ENVIRONMENTS
ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
REAL ESTATE
URBAN DESIGN & PLANNING
OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, & INCLUSION
At CBE we believe that Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are essential to meeting our goal of a more just and beautiful world. We believe that focusing on equitable and inclusive principles in the built environment, elevates diversity and justice, and results in increased prosperity and deeper levels of engagement for everyone. The built environment bears a disproportionate share of carbon emissions and energy consumption in the world and we have seen disparate impacts of place-based determinants on health and wellness. This responsibility comes with the power to enact positive change in both how we work and the outcomes of things we work on. Working equitably is key to equitable outcomes since complex problems require the ability to work effectively with people who come from different backgrounds, points of view, and cultural norms.
Leon Bridges (bottom left) FAIA, NOMAC (retired), BArch 1960 is the Recipient of the 2025 UW Distinguished Alumni Award. Pictured with current students and UW NOMAS leaders Davien Graham (upper left) and Van Le (right) at the 2024 NOMA Conference.
COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY
The built environment professions have a responsibility to provide all people with healthy and safe places to live, work, and gather. CBE students participate in service learning projects at all levels of their education. Some of our projects include:
• Nearly a dozen interdisciplinary BE Studios have collaborated with the Nehemiah Initiative which leverages the land holdings of Black churches in Seattle’s Central District to resist displacement and gentrification of BIPOC residents through the provision of affordable housing and community resources. Winner of a 2023 Planet Positive Award from Metropolis Magazine.
• 17 municipalities have benefited from the Storefront Studio in which students work with small business districts to reimagine their identity and revitalize underused spaces. Winner of a 2016 John D. Spellman Award for Downtown Revitalization from King County.
• 25 years of Neighborhood Design/Build Studios have served a wide variety of non-profit, community-based organizations in underserved communities. Winner of multiple AIA Seattle Honor Awards and PNW Region AIA Student Design Awards.
• Multiple Graduate level Architecture Research Studios and Seminars have explored housing affordablity strategies in collaboration with the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development and the Housing Development Consortium of Seattle/King County. Winner of a 2021 ACSA/ AIA Housing Design Education Award.
• Multiple undergraduate studios have collaborated with Cristiana El Buen Pastor church and non-profit Brick-byBrick to provide shelter and supportive services for asylum seekers in new buildings constructed of compressed earth block in Mesa, AZ.
University World Report
One of the most beautiful campuses in America - Architectural Digest
