Columbia University’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, along with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, is pleased to issue a competitive call for course proposals on the theme of “Architecture, Climate Change, and Society.” Successful proposals will include methods and themes that innovate within their institutional setting—asking hard questions of students that are equal in weight to the hard questions being asked of society in the midst of a global pandemic as it continues to grapple with the intertwined causes and effects of climate change.

‘Where Are My People? Queer in Architecture’ chronicles both societal and discipline-specific metrics to highlight the experiences of LGBTQIA+ designers, architects and educators. Central to the mission of this research series is the importance of giving voice and space to people from backgrounds who have been historically discriminated against. Part I encompasses numerous intersections with queer identity, recognizing the pluralistic and dynamic nature of gender and sexuality in architecture.

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and with the support of USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance is delighted to hold a joint student design charrette. The charrette will challenge students to design an exhibit that engages the public’s understanding of the need for humanitarian shelter to support the world’s most vulnerable people.

The charrette will challenge students to design an exhibit that engages the public’s understanding of the need for humanitarian shelter to support the world’s most vulnerable people. Ten teams of students, with two students per team, will be selected to participate in the charrette. The charrette will take place in-person during the ACSA113 Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, March 20-22, 2025.

The American Institute of Architects, Committee on the Environment (AIA COTE), in partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), have selected the recipients of the 2024 AIA COTE Top Ten for Students Competition. The competition recognizes 10 outstanding projects that meaningfully address the impacts of climate change. These creative designs imagine a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. The winning projects emphasize achieving net-zero emissions, adapting to resilient climate impacts, and addressing social and environmental inequities.

The program challenged students to design projects that use a creative and innovative, thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology to provide design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) are pleased to announce the winners of the Timber in the City 5: Urban Habitats Competition.

The fifth installment of the Timber in the City series, this year’s competition challenged students to devise ways of meeting urban housing needs through the addition of an overbuild, or vertical extension, made of wood to an existing building or structure. Students reimagined our existing cities by using wood systems to design additions that provide more desirable, sustainable, and valuable living and working environments. The seven winning projects demonstrate creative and clear approaches to designing a healthy built environment with timber as a central material, emphasizing the importance of addressing both sustainability and affordability in urban development.

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) are pleased to announce the 2024 Timber Education Prize winners. Established in 2022, this annual prize recognizes effective and innovative curricula that create a stimulating and evidence-based environment for learning about structural lumber systems.

From seminars and design studios to building technology classes and structured lessons, the winning courses will equip students with the knowledge and design skills to embrace wood-based solutions with confidence and enthusiasm. These courses highlight the significance of sustainable education, emphasizing the lower-carbon benefits of timber compared to traditional building technologies.

The focus area for this issue seeks to explore inventive topics from different aspects of the built environment. Innovation captures new ideas, methods, strategies, products, forms, designs, etc. Innovation is the action or process of innovating, introducing, or presenting novelties and modifying what is established by introducing new elements or forms. It is a change introduced to an existing product. Imaginative ideas include improvements that capture how components or processes are modified or configured in designs, systems, or domains, like building materials, data processing, digital fabrication, computation, history and theory of innovation. Innovation is critical to the success of any endeavor, such as an organization, enterprise, field or discipline, or industry. Invention is the primary driver of advancement in the built environment and other sectors, as it provides approaches, resources, and concepts generated and realized, leading to a better and more sustainable built environment. Invention guides all disciplines, and inventive ideas involve various players with diverse incentives.