Stories
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.
Tribute to Europe's Lost Synagogues Is an Artist's Labor of Love
Cornell AAP alumna Andrea Strongwater (B.F.A. '70) is profiled for her 15-year artistic and historical effort to document 77 destroyed European synagogues as an act of cultural memory and architectural preservation.
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.
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.
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.
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 AAP Receives Gift to Endow Judith Kinnard Early Career Design Fellow in Architecture
With a gift from two AAP alumni, the college has established a position meant to be a "powerful running start" for emerging design educators.
Ratan N. Tata Posthumously Honored with Inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award
Milstein Hall's auditorium was at capacity for the April ceremony, during which speakers shared personal reflections on Tata's wide-ranging impact and legacy.
Autodesk Gives Jointly to Cornell's Colleges of Engineering and Architecture, Art, and Planning
To advance teaching, research, student experience, and post-graduate success in Cornell Engineering and Cornell AAP, Autodesk gifts $4.3M to be shared by the two colleges.
Robinson-Appel Award Recipients Create Community-Engaged Solutions to Social Challenges
Keishaun Wade (B.S. URS '25) received a Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award to honor his significant involvement in community engagement. The $2,500 award goes toward innovative, community-engaged learning projects dedicated to tackling social challenges.
Colors of the Wind: Dragon Day Beast Gets an Artistic Twist
For Dragon Day 2025, the first-year architecture student tradition resulted in a blank canvas beast that marched to the Arts Quad to be met with a kaleidoscope of vibrant hues.
Architecture Students Set to Show "How to Build Your Dragon"
The Cornell Chronicle previews the annual Dragon Day parade, which is expected to feature an 80-foot dragon designed by first-year architecture students that will glide through campus aided by sail-like wings.
Trailblazing Architect Kimberly Dowdell (B.Arch. '06) Aims to Inspire Others
Kimberly Dowdell (B.Arch. '06), Director of Strategic Relationships and Principal at the global architectural firm HOK and a leading voice on the importance of diverse perspectives in her field, shares her story with Cornellians.
An Open Invitation: AAP's Spring 2025 Semester Highlights
With the start of a new semester comes a fresh opportunity to engage with AAP colleagues and guests, explore concepts on campus and in the field, and find inspiration in the work and ideas on display at every turn.
Cornell Opens Doors to the World: First-gen Artist David Legrand (B.F.A. '23)
AAP Art alumnus David Legrand (B.F.A. '23) shares his story about his home in Haiti, discovering and passionately pursuing art, and coming to Cornell to push his critical thinking and develop his creative practice.
Cornell AAP Establishes Ratan N. Tata Distinguished Alumni Award
The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning has established a new award for AAP alumni in honor of Ratan Tata's ('59, B.Arch. '62) decades-long commitment to philanthropy that improved lives in his home country of India and made a deep and lasting impact at Cornell and around the world.
Industrialist and Philanthropist Ratan N. Tata ('59, B.Arch. '62) Dies at 86
A dear member of our alumni community and AAP Advisory Council, philanthropist Ratan N. Tata ('59, B.Arch. '62) died October 9. Over many decades, he supported a number of critical initiatives at Cornell and improved lives in his home country of India and around the world.
Impact and Connection, by Design
In the AAP Alumni Archive, learn more about the life and work of Denise Korn (B.F.A. '87), a prominent creative strategist and activist in design.
