UVA Architecture

Save the Date | The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture (to be announced soon) will give a public talk on April 14 in Newcomb Theater

Alum in Action | Courtney Spearman (MLA '05, MArH '06) introduces "Fieldwork" — a new initiative to support rural places and communities

Jeanne Gang, FAIA—Founding Partner of Studio Gang @studiogang—has been named the 2026 recipient of UVA’s Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, its highest external honor in the field. She’ll give a public talk April 14 at 3:30 pm at Newcomb Theater. Learn more: arch.virginia.edu/events/tj-2026

From April 16 - 24, 2026, the UVA School of Architecture will host a selection of works from the recent international exhibition Beyond Zero: Nordic Architecture on the Road Towards Renewed Practices. The exhibition was co-designed by current Assistant Professor of Architecture and Virginia Architecture Fellow Tuomas Siitonen (with Johannes Nieminen / Kombo Office) and was originally designed to conclude the "Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus" — a one and a half years project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers and coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment Finland.

As the world faces an increasingly urgent climate crisis, there is growing pressure for the construction industry to reduce its carbon emissions, prompting a wholesale rethink of the way buildings are developed. With a longstanding emphasis on sustainability, MVRDV are strongly aligned with the principles of this change. But what does that mean in practice? In Carbon Confessions, MVRDV tells their story from the heart of what Germans call the Bauwende, or construction revolution. The exhibition shows the ideas, ideals, everyday actions – and yes, the missteps and missed opportunities – of their quest for carbon reductions.

Doctoral researcher Ipsita Datta is exploring how living materials, specifically fungal networks, might reshape the future of construction. As a PhD candidate in the Constructed Environment program at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, her research investigates how mycelium-based building materials can be combined with soil and construction waste and fabricated using robotic additive manufacturing to create regenerative architectural systems. Learn More: arch.virginia.edu/news/student-s…

"Wild Nature in Cities: Design for a Post-Pandemic World," written by Timothy Beatley and JD Brown, collects the many stories, experiences, and innovative policies and strategies by which cities and local governments have helped to facilitate and strengthen essential pandemic-era nature connections. It makes the central point that contact with nature and the outdoors was (and is) an essential element of a healthy, resilient city.

On Virginia’s Eastern Shore, communities are grappling with sea level rise, shoreline erosion, and the long-term impacts of economic disinvestment. Last fall, students in the University of Virginia School of Architecture’s Neighborhood Planning Studio partnered with local leaders to explore how planning tools—from ecological restoration to historic preservation—might help communities navigate these challenges. Read More: arch.virginia.edu/news/community…

Tess Johnston (Ed' 61, Col '63) leaves a legacy by sharing her passion for the architecture of Shanghai with UVA. Read the Full Story: giving.virginia.edu/stories/recove…

Italian architectural historian Guido Beltramini provides a keynote lecture on 'a new landscape for Palladio studies' Register Here: arch.virginia.edu/events/creatin…

Artist Yuko Nishikawa melds sustainable processes and handmade forms to transform Campbell Hall's Corner Gallery. Learn More: arch.virginia.edu/news/media-and…

For 40 years, Richard Guy Wilson has had a major impact on countless students through his knowledge, teaching, mentorship— and his wit. Out of admiration for Professor Wilson’s teaching, Mallory Walker, an alumnus from the College of Arts & Sciences, has endowed the Richard Guy Wilson Prize for Excellence in The Study of Buildings, Landscapes and Places. Read More: arch.virginia.edu/about/rgw-prize

In Search of Spatial Scripts by Peter Waldman is a re-collection of improvisational stories and stage sets that traces two construction sites: Parcel X Encampment (1994), Waldman’s self-designed home in North Garden, Virginia, and The Goodwin Memorial(2004) situated on the North Terrace of the UVA School of Architecture’s Campbell Hall. The latter pays tribute to former A-School student Eric Goodwin, who passed away during his final year of study in 2002. Waldman and his then students Sam Beall, Jennifer Findlay, and Justin Walton designed and built the memorial.

What does a “green” energy transition look like on the ground—and who and what does it depend on? In Atlas of Green Energy Transitions: Power, Conflict, and Possibilities, editor Matthew Seibert brings together scholars, artists, and activists to examine the landscapes, materials, and communities entangled in the infrastructures of renewable energy. Read More: arch.virginia.edu/news/newly-rel…

Open Door: Sanda Iliescu In the fourth episode of Open Door, we step inside Professor Sanda Iliescu’s art studio. In the fourth episode of Open Door, we step inside Professor Sanda Iliescu’s art studio. Watch Here: youtube.com/watch?v=tunP4k…

Alum in Action | As UVA School of Architecture celebrates Career Week, we’re spotlighting two alumni whose professional paths reflect the lasting impact of the A-School externship program. Christina Dikas Brobst, AICP (MArH ’07) and Sarah E. Brummett, AIA (B.ArH ’09, MArch ’15) both began their journeys with externships that shaped their understanding of practice — and today, they serve as leaders at Page & Turnbull, a nationally recognized preservation architecture and planning firm, where they now host A-School externs of their own. Read More: arch.virginia.edu/news/alum-acti…

Call for Nominations | Distinguished Alumni Award The A-School Distinguished Alumni Award is an opportunity to celebrate the exceptional contributions that the UVA School of Architecture alumni community has made through the recognition of an outstanding alumnus or alumna every year. Learn More: arch.virginia.edu/alumni/aschool…

Ipsita Datta, candidate in the PhD in the Constructed Environment program, joins sixty-two scholars worldwide, whose critical essays have been selected as part of the 2026 UIA World Congress of Architects digital proceedings. Her scholarship, titled "Mycelium Architectures for Circular and Living Construction," was chosen through a two-phase double-blinded peer review process from nearly 800 submissions, evaluated in a final phase by a renowned international jury composed on six distinguished scholars—Keller Easterling, Samia Henni, Lydia Kallipoliti, Marina Otero, Raquel Rolnik, and Philip Ursprung. Read More: arch.virginia.edu/news/phd-const…

Alum in Action | Recent graduate Atheeni Eacharath (MUD '24) was recently selected to receive the R. Corey Clayborne, FAIA Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) Scholarship by the American Institute of Architects Virginia Chapter (AIA VA). The award, which recognizes exceptional emerging leaders in the field of architecture, provides financial support towards career mentorship and development.

Ali Fard, Assistant Professor of Architecture, has been awarded the 2025 Research Prize by the SOM Foundation. The award supports his work that examines the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail, a critical infrastructural corridor and converted rail line in Northern Virginia, and asks: how can design reassess the potential of secondary mobility corridors at the edge of major urban areas as alternatives to car-centric networks?