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.

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.

May 24

AAP Commencement

Join us as we celebrate the AAP class of 2026!

Function
Jun 6

Reunion 2026

Mark your calendars and celebrate with old and new friends at the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning during Cornell Reunion Weekend.

Function
Jun 26–Aug 14

Undergraduate Admissions Summer Events 2026

Register for an in-person information session at Cornell AAP or drop in for a casual conversation with an admissions officer.

Admissions

Announcements Three Major Los Angeles Art Institutions Celebrate Paul R. Williams

Architecture Professor Milton S. F. Curry, former Dean of USC School of Architecture, led the acquisition of the Williams archive, procured funding, and cocurated the exhibition at USC Fisher Museum of Art, open until March 2027. AAP architecture alums Cory Henry (M.Arch. ’12) and Amanda Williams (B.Arch. ’97) will contribute to related programming.

In the Media A Famed Brooklyn Cemetery Wants You to Come Visit… Before You Die

The New York Times — Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn is opening a $43 million visitor’s center and exhibition hall, designed by Gensler Visiting Critic Kim Yao’s firm Architecture Research Office.

Announcements

Aerial view of Sibley Hall and the southern end of Cayuga Lake

Explore Fall ’26 Classes for Non-Majors at AAP

Expand your disciplinary boundaries and enroll in courses that cultivate connection and catalyze actionable research. Options range from fundamentals to deep dives across architecture, art, city and regional planning, real estate, and design technology.

Stories Announcing: Cornell Journal of Architecture Issue 13, “Missing”

Concluding a thematic set spanning three issues and marking the 45th anniversary of its inaugural volume, this student-led publication continues to capture current thinking in the field and reinforce the importance of writing and editing in an architectural education.

Stories Announcing: Building and Unbuilding the City Museum: From Le Corbusier to Ahmedabad

Architecture Associate Professor Lily Chi in collaboration with architect and educator Sarosh Anklesaria (M.Arch. II ’08) coedited this collection of essays examining the cultural center’s ambitious beginning, present precarity, and possible futures.

Announcements Museum of Emotions / Edition #7 Architecture Competition

Buildner’s Museum of Emotions / Edition #7 architecture competition awarded an honorable mention to Chung-Yu (Brandon) Chen (B.Arch. ’28), and recognizes Jiajing Li (B.Arch. ’28), Yijia Liu (B.Arch. ’28), and Tanqing Cheng (M.Arch. ’27) as shortlisted finalists.

Interactive Entertainment Architecture: Culture Lab, Toronto 1991–1994

Collage of still frame clips from archival video.

Curated by Architecture Assistant Professor Farzin Lotfi-Jam, view an exhibition at the Canadian Centre for Architecture that revisits Culture Lab, architect Brian Boigon’s radical interdisciplinary intervention in design and architectural discourse.