Stories
Cornell AAP Architecture Professor Esra Akcan released a new book this fall 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.
New Cohorts of Engaged Fellows Contribute to Campus Community-Engaged Learning Network
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.
Using Found Objects, California Artist Turns Trash to Treasure
Cornell AAP alumnus Alvaro Alvarez (B.Arch. '15) is profiled for transforming discarded materials from the US-Mexico border region into sculptural artworks that reframe waste, abandonment, and environmental neglect as sources of beauty, memory, and renewal.
At COP30, Floating Plaza Shifts Perspective of Sea-Level Rise
AquaPraça, a collaboration between AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon (B.Arch. '95), Eric Höweler (B.Arch. '94, M.Arch. '96) (Höweler + Yoon Architecture), and Carlo Ratti Associati, has arrived at this year's UN climate summit in Belèm, Brazil.
Cornell AAP to Launch First New York City-based High School Summer Program
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) is adding a new summer intensive for high schoolers interested in studying the collective aspirations, methodologies, and processes involved in the design of cities.
Gensler Family AAP NYC Center Opens Doors, Possibilities on Cornell Tech Campus
After a decade at 26 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, the center's move to Roosevelt Island affords new opportunities for connection and collaboration.
Built on Curiosity: Architecture and the Public Realm
Rubacha Featured Speakers Susan Rodriguez ('81, B.Arch. '82) and Michael Manfredi (M.Arch. '80) will deliver lectures on Thursday, October 23, at 5:30 p.m. in the Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium on Cornell's Ithaca campus. In advance of their talks, Rodriguez and Manfredi share insights drawn from their professional trajectories.
Midwest Art Installation Pushes Boundaries of Urban Space
Architecture faculty Suzanne Lettieri and Michael Jefferson, in collaboration with Visiting Critic Ryan Whitby, present their public installation, Apart, Together, at this year's Exhibit Columbus. Other contributors include alumni Andrew Fu (B.Arch. '15), Aaron Goldstein (B.Arch. '15), Aleksandr Mergold (B.Arch. '00), and Studio Cooke John, founded by Nina Cooke John (B.Arch. '95).
Teens' Portraits Celebrate Toni Morrison as Community-Builder
Architecture Assistant Professor Peter Robinson is featured in the Cornell Chronicle for leading a collaborative mural project with Ithaca and New York City students, whose visual tributes to Toni Morrison now hang in Morrison Hall to honor her legacy and inspire cross-generational dialogue.
Rooms with a 'View Score': Software Aids Building Designers
The Cornell Chronicle featured Ph.D. student in Systems Engineering Jaeha Kim (M.S. AAD '21), who has advanced research in collaboration with Architecture and Design Tech Associate Professor Timur Dogan and Architecture Lecturer Katharina Kral on the development of Viewscore.io, a tool that measures window view quality to guide better building design and sustainability standards.
En Route to Brazil, AquaPraça Floats New Responses to Rising Seas in Venice
An international coalition of architects, including AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon and alumnus Eric Höweler, governmental agencies, NGOs, and other partners unveiled AquaPraça, a submersible public plaza designed to advance civic discourse on climate change, at La Biennale di Venezia before the project departs for COP30 in Brazil.
Pursuing Purpose, Building Knowledge: AAP Embarks on the Fall 2025 Semester
Aligned with an ongoing mission to advance research, scholarship, and creative practices, Cornell's College of Architecture, Art, and Planning begins a vibrant semester of critical and creative work that invites students, faculty, and staff to explore ideas across disciplines in pursuit of a more sustainable and equitable world.
Advancing the Mission: New Faculty Continue Expanding Expertise Across Disciplines
Through endowed visiting and long-term department positions, incoming educators bring fresh perspectives, strengthening AAP's core values and commitment to innovative research and teaching.
Building Energy Model Offers Cities Decarbonization Roadmap
Architecture Associate Professor Timur Dogan and his team used Ithaca as a case study to demonstrate a software tool that models building energy use and identifies cost-effective strategies to improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
Engaged Opportunity Grants Connect Students with Hands-On Community Projects
Assistant Professor of Architecture Farzin Lotfi-Jam is featured for co-leading a student-supported project that uses augmented and virtual reality to enhance radiation therapy education.
In Memoriam: Architecture Professor Emeritus George E. Hascup (1942–2025)
George Hascup passed away after dedicating over five decades of his life to teaching architecture and design at Cornell AAP, contributing to the built environment of the Finger Lakes region, and building a home, family, and dance community in Ithaca.
Cornell Atkinson Awards Catalyze Solutions in Food, Climate, Clean Energy
Architecture faculty Felix Heisel, director of the Circular Construction Lab and Faculty Fellow with the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, was recently announced as a 2025 recipient of the Academic Venture Fund at Cornell Atkinson.
The international exhibition, curated by Carlo Ratti and featuring more than 750 participants drawn from a wide range of expertise, invites cross-disciplinary conversation and experimentation.
In NYC's Central Park, AAP Alum Leads a Stunning Transformation
Architecture alum Susan Rodriguez ('81, B.Arch. '82) spearheaded the design of a recreation center on the Harlem Meer, enhancing accessibility and reconnecting the park's north-end landscape and water features to the neighborhood.
Cornell Student Entrepreneurs Take First Place at Kellogg Real Estate Venture Competition
An interdisciplinary architecture and real estate graduate student team took home Cornell's first-ever top prize in the competition's history this spring.
