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Interior of a concrete dome building with architectural models and drawings lining the walls.

Architecture

Department of Architecture

About the Department

Architecture at Cornell’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning is about creative and critical design practices that make lasting impact. Balancing rigorous research and scholarship, responsibility for our natural and built environments, we reimagine the world at every scale to build a just and sustainable future for all.

At Cornell Architecture we see design as a process of creative experimentation and iterative analysis, ensuring non-judgmental, holistic, and open-ended inquiry enabled by independent, critical thinking and bold thought leadership. Our undergraduate and graduate programs are designed to support interdisciplinary collaboration and provide an integrated foundation in global history, theory, structures, environmental systems, building technologies, and visual representation, ensuring that our students are equipped with actionable knowledge and the agency to enact change.

Interior of a concrete dome building with architectural models and drawings lining the walls.

Above: An architecture exhibition in Milstein Hall.

Degree Programs

Studios and Spaces

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  • Student pinning up work in a gallery.

Upcoming and Ongoing Events

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Latest News and Research

Latest News and Research

In the Media 2026 Summer Architecture Programs for Kids and High School Students

Archinect — This roundup of summer architecture programs offers a guide to courses, workshops, and camps for all ages across the US and Canada.

Stories Announcing: Architecture and the Right to Heal, Resettler Nationalism in the Aftermath of Conflict and Disaster

Book cover with a stone facade of a mountain and white text.

Cornell AAP Architecture Professor Esra Akcan released a new book examining architecture's dual role as both a cause of human casualties and an agent for the public good with the potential to ameliorate traumas following conflict and crises.

In the Media Yale Divinity School’s New Housing, by Bruner/Cott and Höweler + Yoon, Reflects the Values of Eco-Theology

AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon (B.Arch. '95) and Eric Höweler (B.Arch. '94, M.Arch. '96) of Höweler + Yoon Architecture collaborated on Yale Divinity School's Living Village, a graduate residence designed around eco-theology and regenerative sustainability.

Stories New Cohorts of Engaged Fellows Contribute to Campus Community-Engaged Learning Network

students collaborate around a workshop table

Cornell AAP faculty Caitlin Blanchfield, John Ponstingel, and Hanna Tulis, and postdoctoral fellow Julian Hartman, were selected for the 2025–26 Engaged Faculty Fellows cohort, contributing to Cornell's campuswide network advancing community-engaged learning and scholarship.

Stories

a large domed building covered in snow as part of a college arts quad

What’s Ahead: Spring 2026 Highlights

After a winter break to regroup and recharge, faculty, students, and staff return to campus and to the open questions, conversations, and explorations that will drive the work of the semester ahead.

In the Media An Art Collector’s Vision Set in Rock in Millbrook, N.Y.

The New York Times — Designed by SO – IL, the firm of Architecture Professor of the Practice Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu, Artur Walther's new house is the culmination of careful study and experimentation resulting in a space geared toward openness and interaction with nature. 

Announcements UN-SINK: Redefining Ground Level Through Celebratory Water Spaces Wins Architecture MasterPrize

Architecture students Hannah Lin (B.Arch. '24) and Veronica Paulon (M.Arch. '24) were awarded for their project from Architecture faculty Farzin Lotfi-Jam's option studio Climate Uncertainties.

In the Media Who Gets to Be an Architect? That’s About to Change

ELLE Decor — Architecture Chair Jose Castillo comments on plans that could limit students' ability to access funding to cover the cost of graduate school, which could radically alter the demographics of the architecture profession.

In the Media How Cornell’s Summer Program Will Introduce Urbanism to High School Students in New York City

Archinect — The intense five-week program, based at the Gensler Family AAP NYC Center on Cornell Tech's Roosevelt Island campus, will offer participants an immersive introduction to the processes, disciplines, and professions responsible for the design and delivery of the built environment.

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