Strengths

A distinctly modern stance on design and a strong commitment to international and urban studies through numerous off-campus opportunities

Overview

Space-making at the Virginia Tech College of Architecture and Urban Studies School of Architecture + Design is done through drawing, diagramming, sketching and crafting as well as digital and computer-generative methods and parametric investigations. (State-of-the-art fabrication tools include CNC machines, laser cutters, 3D printers and robotics.) Beyond the main Blacksburg campus, the Architecture school partners with the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center in Alexandria, the Steger Center for International Scholarship on Lake Lugano in Switzerland and the Chicago Studio to allow upper-level students to live, work and study elsewhere. Fourth-year undergrads can earn academic credit through work in an architectural practice. (The BArch is a five-year course. The MArch offers two-year and three-year career-change options or a post-professional one-year program. The PhD is awarded in Architectural Design Research.)

Notable alumni

Michael Paladino of Richard Meier & Partners, former AIA president Helene Combs Dreiling, filmmaker and DreamWorks editor John Carnochan, Lee Polisano of PLP Architecture, Allan Kehrt of KSS Architects, Kirsten R. Murray of Olson Kundig Architects