A good design education can make for a great career. Azure looks at which schoo ls offer the most in terms of hands-on collaboration, groundbreak ing techno logy and inspiring facu lty By Pa ige Magarrey ABOUT OUR SURVEY CORNELL UNIVERSITY at desks on the various levels, they Ithaca, New York I Bachelor of can view and comment on others' We polled arch1tects and ARCHITECTURE architecture (five years) I US$43,200 work. This enables them to share designers across Canada COWMBIA GRADUATE SCHOOL per year I 275 students new ideas, theories and concepts, and the US, and heard from OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING Situated in the recently completed imparted by Harvard's renowned top professionals regarding AND PRESERVATION LEED Gold Milstein Hall, designed professors and visiting critics and the strongest bachelor's New York f Master of architecture by OMA, Cornell's architecture theorists from around the world. and master's programs. Our (three years) I US$44,400 per year I department is one of the oldest in STAR FACULTY: Earmarked by our listings highlight over 40 260 students the United States. The undergradu­ respondents as the school with the Columbia emphasizes analysis of ate professional degree teaches best teaching staff, Harvard's faculty schools that offer a unique, architecture's history, overarching communication skills, socio-economic includes Jacques Herzog, Rem innovation oriented educa theories and future directions. On the context and practical building tech­ Koolhaas and Toshiko Mori. tion We also cite honourable research end, architecture students niques, to foster a basis for further NOTABLE ALUMNI: Frank Gehry, Thorn mentions and international collaborate with those specializing education. Interdisciplinary study Mayne, Joshua Prince-Ramus schools that have earned in landscape and urban design on is also encouraged; students take a WHATTHE PROS SAY: "All classes and stellar reputations Wh il e not over 35 exhibitions, publications and quarter of their courses in other disciplines ore together in one large an exhaustive survey our other projects each year. On the more departments, and may also spend space, resulting in an opportunity experimental side, they have access a semester studying in Rome or for an exchange of ideas and great overview, supp emented by to over 15 labs, focusing on every­ New York. energy:'- alumnus Michael Taylor of our own research, presents thing from Chinese megacities to STAR FACULTY: Visiting critics include Taylor Smyth Architects the current state of design sustainable urbanism, including the Shigeru Ban and Peter Cook. education. And with new Studio-X global network of research NOTABLE ALUMNI: Peter Eisenman, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA program options 1n urban hubs (see page 71). Enrique Norten, Chad Oppenheim INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE planning and sustainable and STAR FACULTY: Michael Bell, Laurie Los Angeles I Master of architecture socia l design, 1t also speaks Hawkinson, Enrique Walker HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL (two or three years) I US$34,000 per NOTABLE ALUMNI: Winka Dubbeldam, OF DESIGN year 1250 students to what the future of the Charles Renfro Cambridge, Massachusetts I SCI-Arc is committed to fostering Industry holds WHATTHE PROS SAY: "Columbia Master of architecture (3.5 years) I advanced research that rethinks how best combines a world approach to US$40,400 per year I 265 students we build structures. With an approach research into the most advanced Focusing on the studio as the core of that focuses on learning through technological issues faced by archi­ design education, Harvard sets up its making, it boasts such facilities as tects, and a fresh, often polemical 500 graduate students to study vari­ the new 93-square-metre Robot debate on the role of the avant-garde ous specializations in the Trays, a House, where students work w ith today:' - former faculty member studio space in Gund Hall arranged the latest digital design and rapid Bernard Tschumi like a giant set of stairs. Working prototyping technology to develop •Tur t1on and class sizes are approx1mate WORDS OF WISDOM uTrave~ experience~ observe~ draw. Creative urban design doesn~t emerge from books orfrom the mind.n Oouq Su ~man, Su srnon Urban [)p';lgn, e>onlo Mon1co, Colif<Jmlo WORDS OF WISDOM ul always hear students talk about I how they want to CORNEU cchange the system Interior of Milstein Hall,the I from within.~ Ifyou newly opened architectljre want to change campus building by OMA. things~ you have to do itfrom outside Tha~s the system. Canadian architecture school w it h an programs in the U.S., and the campus scary and hard, international facility abroad, its Rome itself was designed by a roster of INTERIOR DESIGN but tha~sjust the campus , where fourth-year students outstanding architects, including way itis.~~ develop an exhibition that travels Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Peter PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL back to Canada . Eisenman, Thom Mayne and Bernard FOR DESIGN - Steven Dole Creative Urban STAR FACULTY Philip Beesley, Adrian Tschumi. New York I Bachelor of fine arts Proiects, Toronto Blackwell, Janna Levitt in interior design (four years) I NOTABLE ALUMNI: Brigitte Shim, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA US$39,300 per year / 70 students Peter Clewes, Omer Arbel , Paul Raff, PennDesign's program, with instruc­ Part of t he multi-disciplinary School Stephen Teeple tors such as Enrique Norten, Winka of Constructed Environments, this is WHATTHE PROS SAY:"Programs Dubbeldam and Witold Rybczynski , the oldest interior design program experimental architectural concepts. that offer co -op placements, such offers students two advanced in the United States (founded in 1906). The study-abroad program connects as Waterloo's, offer real -wor ld experi­ research labs, includ ing the Bu ilding It prepares its grads for the ever­ them with top schools to share and ence between academic terms, Simulation Group, which explores changing industry with research­ engage in new research projects. which provides a good foundation computational models and other intensive coursework, and rigourous STAR FACULTY· Eric Owen Moss, for practical ski/Is."- alumnus Arriz innovative technologies. group projects where students Kevin Daly, Patrick Tighe Hassam of 3rd Uncle collaborate closely with instructors UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO to develop culturally sensitive design UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO HONOURABLE MENTIONS Master's students at the Daniels concepts for various building types. Waterloo, Ontario I Professional CAL POLY SAN WIS OBISPO Faculty of Arch itecture, Landscape Senior students can apply to join the degree: four-year bachelor of This California school is consistently and Design benefit from diverse Design Workshop to develop and con­ architectural studies, one-year commended for its dedication to instructors, among them the Frank struct pavil ions, green spaces and master of architecture I $7,500 sustainable design practices, cross­ Gehry International Visiting Chair other projects for non-profit cl ients. per year, $31,700 for international / disciplinary teamwork and hands-on in Architectural Design, who teaches STAR FACULTY. Jeremy Barbour 450 students construction skills. Its yearly experi­ a studio to third-year students; NOTABLE ALUMNI Antonia Hollerbach, Our respondents rated Waterloo mental structures competition invites previous chairs include Jurgen Mayer Scott Saunders, Sarah Roberts among the top Canadian schools, students from across the U.S. to Hand Dan iel Libeskind. Students WHAT THE PROS SAY: ':Just about every thanks to its co-op program. It pre­ design dwellings made from materials also have access to the Responsive firm wants an employee with the sort pares students for the job market with that can be carried by hand for a mile. Architecture lab, which develops ofskill sets these students are given.· paid placements in such studios as high-tech projects with an interactive - faculty member Antonio di Oronzo Arquitectonica International in New UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI element . of Bluarch York and Diamond Schmitt Architects The school of architecture and interior in Toronto, as well as firms in Japan, design's master of architecture is Germany and Spain It's also the only ranked among the best professional 88 NOV/DEC 2012 AZUREMAGAZINE COM WORDS OF WISDOM uGotohappy hour - but not at the architecture school. Meet businesspeople and lawyers: your future clients.)) - Matth1as Hollw1ch, HWKN, New York PRATI INSTITUTE SPECIALIZATION VERSUS New York I Master in intenor design (two years) I US$33,600 per year I GENERALIZATION 170 students Does the future l1e in programs Pratt's program examines how scale , that offer interdisciplinary proportion, materials and colours stud1es (th1nk MIT) or- in honing relate to human experience. Students one specialty? Architects and are encouraged to supplement their designers weigh in practical education with electives from other departments, a testa­ ment to the school's interdisciplinary method. For their final thesis project, they choose between testing their practical skills In the field , or taking a research-based approach to an emerging issue in the industry. STAR FACULTY: Ike Cheung, Mel issa Cicetti, Tetsu Ohara, Aki Ishida NOTABLE ALUMN I: Joe O'Urso, Judith Stockman RYERSON UNIVERSITY Toronto I Bachelor of interior design (four years) / $7,000 per year, $19,700 for international / 400 students With relatively small class sizes and plenty of one-on -one t ime with faculty, Ryerson balances theoreti­ cal learning with intensive, hands-on practical experience. Case in point: the internship program calls for 400 hours of work time, which is at the high-end of the spectrum. Students praise the yearly Vertical Studio NOV/DEC 2012 69 OCAD UNIVERSITY stewardship, and encourages stu­ Toronto dents to seek "long-term solutions An established, well-rounded concerning land health, human approach defines OCAD University's dignity and aesthetic quality~ Fourth­ four-year undergraduate indus­ year students can either undertake trial design program, which keeps a 28-week internship at a firm , or students focused on global design opt to spend their second semester trends and practical techniques.