Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) continues to be ranked among the nation’s best. In the annual DesignIntelligence survey, “America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools 2014,” APLA’s undergraduate program in Architecture is ranked 8th in its fields nationally. Survey respondents rated Auburn students as among the nations strongest in several skill areas, including Construction Models & Materials (2nd), Cross-Disciplinary Teamwork (2nd), and Sustainable Design Practices & Principles (3rd). These rankings are based on annual surveys of leading practitioners in these fields.

October 25 marked the 25th anniversary of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s (CADC) annual Pumpkin Carve. Daylong student pumpkin carving yielded up to 400 pumpkins that were displayed and lit for public enjoyment as the sun sets. The often intricate designs were judged on creativity, appearance and craftsmanship, and the winning pumpkins were auctioned off to raise money for the Auburn University chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).

A cross disciplinary team consisting of Kevin Laferriere (Architecture), Kevin Hill (Building Science), William Holcomb (Building Science), and Jared Taylor (Building Science) from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and from the McWhorter School of Building Science placed second in the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) 2013 Student Competition. The Auburn team, Tiger Building Company, won the Southeast regional competition out of an original field of forty teams from twenty-seven universities. The team was coached by Ben Farrow, Paul Holley and Mike Thompson.

A student exhibition of work from the course ”Architecture in Watercolor” was on display in the Dudley Gallery at Dudley Commons in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) in October. The class was taught by instructor Iain Stewart (BArch ’00), an architectural illustrator who has made a name for himself working for firms throughout the US and Europe for over sixteen years. Stewart will be back on campus teaching watercolors in the spring of 2014.

The 2013 lecture series of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture, entitled “Renegades + Outlaws:  Design Thinking at the Edge” continued over the month of October with lectures from Michael Murphy, the Chief Executive Officer of MASS Design Group, a nonprofit architecture firm based in Boston, MA; Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, the two principals of the award-winning Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects in Atlanta, Georgia; Riccardo d’Acquino of Riccardo d’Aquino & Partners in Rome, Italy, a firm recognized for works in Architecture, Monument Restoration and Urban Design; and Professor Kathryn Moore, Immediate Past President of the Landscape Institute, and the UK representative of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).