Campaign Georgia Tech

Supporting the College of Architecture

A Message from the Dean

As alumni and friends of Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture, you have given shape to our distinguished past and in many ways ignited aspirations for the future. The College was built on the foundation prepared by ambitious visionaries a century ago, and today it leads nationally and internationally in widening the conceptual frameworks and practical applications of architecture, building construction, city and regional planning, industrial design, and music technology.

As the Institute seeks to define the technological research university of the twenty-first century, the College of Architecture must commit wholly and with courage to deliver research and education that aims to improve the human condition.  Together professionals and academics must uncover means to actively combat the destructive effect of uncontrolled development and of auto-centric realities that cannot survive in a resource-starved world.  There is a chronic need for inspiring environments that have effective and sustainable structures and are open to all levels of society as a model for the nation (and beyond), and it is clear that energy efficiency must govern all.

Currently, our pursuit of that efficiency comes from too many directions.  Too many different specialists work too far from each other.  We must view these conditions as unacceptable for surely they are unsustainable. At an institution such as Georgia Tech, founded to solve practical problems, we have a special opportunity, in fact an obligation, to bridge these widening gaps.

The College is at a critical juncture. We have enjoyed a decade of phenomenal growth, and now we must harness the remarkable set of expertise that is unique to us. We must expand and improve our facilities to accommodate students, and to advance the interdisciplinary research agendas of faculty members. Above all, we must continue to attract and retain the absolute best teacher-scholar-practitioners in these areas, specifically through endowed professorships and chairs. Strengthening our world-class faculty will most certainly enhance the College’s standing. And, by only settling for top-tier graduate students we will take our place at the very top among this country’s best innovators.

We have come a great distance in a short time. But this is only the beginning of a challenging, exciting process of lifting the College of Architecture to soaring heights. With your support, enthusiasm, and engagement, the possibilities for realizing all of our visionary goals—and more—are limitless. Please join us in this vital effort and help us accelerate our ascent.

 

Sincerely,

Alan Balfour
Professor and Dean

 

Where Inspiration and Innovation Intersect

Since 1908, when the Institute initiated architectural instruction, architecture at Georgia Tech has embodied the rigorous, expansive approach to problem solving that is a hallmark of the university. Over the past century, faculty leaders have widened their scope to incorporate industrial design, city planning, and building construction, boldly pursuing new technological paths to advance their disciplines.

Today the College of Architecture is a wellspring of exceptional innovation in architecture, design, planning, and building, further enhanced by research in music technology, universal design, digital manufacturing, and geospatial technologies, to name a few. It is  extending  the tradition of joining technology, science, and the applied arts, with a clear vision for equipping—and inspiring—students with the tools and the inventiveness to address the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century.

In order to meet its ambitious long-term goals, the College must have the support of friends and alumni who share a commitment to bringing a world-class faculty to our studios and classrooms; enhancing our facilities; and furthering interdisciplinary research. Support through private philanthropy has never been more crucial to securing the College’s success for generations to come.

Meeting the Design Imperatives of the Twenty-First Century

Architecture, construction, and planning are integral to anticipating the impact of population growth and managing increased urbanization and the rapacious strain on natural resources affecting nations around the globe. The College of Architecture is committed to meeting the design imperatives of the twenty-first century, through the creation of effective and sustainable communities, sound planning policy, reinventing the tools of day-to-day life, organizing the spaces in which people live and conduct business, and bringing ideas to life through intelligent, innovative design and building.

Graduates of the College’s programs are able to utilize and master the tools and information created by digital technologies, and to view their knowledge, creativity, and talent as essential and relevant to global as well as local practice. They also possess the ability to communicate the elegance of ideas across many fields.

The key to this level of achievement is faculty. These men and women, eminent in their fields, share their expertise, knowledge, and passion with undergraduate and graduate students—the leaders of tomorrow. To attract and sustain a world-class faculty, the College can only compete with peer institutions by increasing the number of endowed professorships and chairs. With the most talented teacher-scholars, the College’s ability to draw top-tier graduate students and support cutting-edge research will be second to none.

The Convergence of Technology and Design

Situated within one of the nation’s premier technological research universities, the College is well positioned to apply the latest scientific and technical knowledge to design, building, and planning. Moving forward, the College must commit to fostering those strengths that are unique among its peers. Becoming a center for experts across academic fields, the College can offer extraordinary opportunities to for graduate students to make a meaningful impact:

• High Performance Buildings is absolutely essential to building sustainable cities. Faculty and students are developing methods of analyzing energy performance and environmental impacts of buildings, and integrating these measures into innovative architectural designs. Georgia Tech’s ability to lead globally in high performance building came to the fore at the U.S. Department of Energy’s international Solar Decathlon Competition, where Georgia Tech, led by the College of Architecture, took sixth place overall and third in design.
• Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Analysis connects planners, engineers, and municipalities to effectively manage and protect communities using geospatial technologies that represent, analyze, and model the built environment. Over the past two decades the College of Architecture has developed unique depth and breadth in this discipline and has established strong ties to the College of Computing, the School of Mechanical Engineering, and the School of Chemical Engineering.
• Healthy Environments encompasses the use of design to improve quality of life, including evidence-based design, indoor air quality, and design for healthy aging, to name a few. Georgia Tech faculty have forged regional, national and international alliances to focus on these issues.
• Digital Design and Fabrication is changing our conception of buildings and how they are designed and constructed, but form generated without embedded fabrication expertise usually cannot be realized. Experts in the College of Architecture are building a leading body of knowledge in parametric design that can close the gap between conceptualization and realization.
• Urban Design is a nationally recognized strength, and College of Architecture researchers are trusted experts in the ongoing debates about contemporary cities. In addition, transformative ideas like Atlantic Station and the Atlanta Beltline had their beginnings in our graduate studios.
• Architecture/Engineering/Construction Integration combines data with design, structural planning, and construction to streamline processes. Core to AEC integration is Building Information Modeling (BIM), an advanced computing tool that merges two-dimensional and three-dimensional drawings, giving designers and builders unprecedented mechanical and structural precision. The College of Architecture is at the forefront of this technology, fostering discourse through workshops and collaborations with both government and corporate entities.

This convergence of technology and design is transforming the field—and the way people view space and the built environment. It is within these areas and the intersections between them that the full intellectual firepower of the College and Georgia Tech can be harnessed.

Facing the Challenges

The College of Architecture’s achievements over the past decade have fostered tremendous growth—in the number of students and faculty members, programs, and funded research. But its instructional and studio space have not kept pace. This challenge must be addressed in order for the College to continue building on its strengths in design, technology, and research. 

In order to meet critical space needs for architecture, city planning, industrial design, and doctoral programs, the Hinman Building must be updated and expanded. Originally known as the Research Building of Georgia Tech, Hinman provides an architectural corridor linking three of the College’s buildings to each other. With extensive renovation, it will also provide much-needed additional gallery, exhibition, and research space. In addition to restoring the original architectural integrity of the Hinman Building, modernizing the building will enhance its environmental, sustainable materials, and energy performance.

Constructing a Smarter Future

For one hundred years, architecture at Georgia Tech has fostered creative connections between technology, science, and the arts to improve the quality of life. Never before has this mission been more salient, and the College of Architecture is absolutely dedicated to the multidisciplinary importance of design, the cohesion of human and natural environments, and the sustainability of these environments that must endure one hundred years hence.

Fortifying the quality of research programs and building a community of world-class faculty and students requires significant investment. Private philanthropy must provide the means to ensure that the College of Architecture remains a world leader in joining technological innovation with artistic imagination to construct a brighter future. 

 

For more information, contact Lucie André, Director of Development, College of Architecture