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Architecture and Planning - University at Buffalo

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Architecture and Planning - University at Buffalo

The only school of architecture & planning within the 64-campus State University of New York system.

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The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning embraces the grand global cha

llenges of the day as openings for radical action toward more just, resilient, and enriching communities for all. Our deep-rooted traditions in hands-on, activist teaching and research situates our work in the communities around us and translates ideas into built works and realized plans. Embedded in the City of Buffalo, on the western edge of New York State, we engage the transitioning landscapes of our host city in globally relevant investigations in inclusive design, food systems planning, community-based economic development, climate resilient design and sustainable housing. Top-ranked for research among our peers in the Association of American Universities, we collaborate with community and industry partners and across the disciplines at UB, the most comprehensive public research university in the northeastern United States. The only school of architecture and planning in The State University of New York (SUNY), we offer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, including a nationally accredited MArch and MUP, SUNY’s only MS in real estate development and nine dual-degree programs.

05/20/2026

We’re more than just a school — we’re a community. Located in Buffalo, NY with lively urban neighborhoods, historic buildings, a flourishing waterfront, and world-class art galleries, our city is home to extraordinary art and design. Known as the “city of good neighbors,” Buffalo offers our students a rich environment for living and learning.

Our leading-edge facilities empower our think-through-making curriculum. We’ve heard first-hand from students that they chose our school because of our Fabrication Workshop and our modern spaces in Hayes and Crosby Halls. Come see for yourself our flexible, dynamic learning environments built for future architects and planners!

We offer tours on Monday’s throughout the summer. Learn more and RSVP today: https://archplan.buffalo.edu/future-students/prospective-undergraduate/tours-for-prospective-undergrads.html

Photos: Douglas Levere

05/19/2026

On the first day of this semester's “Next-Gen Architect” graduate studio, Randy Fernando, adjunct instructor in the Department of Architecture, posed a question for the students: “What do you think AI will impact in architectural practice?” The general consensus was that it would make their work more efficient, speeding up production and improving outcomes. Over the course of the semester, that assumption would be rigorously put to the test.

Supported by UB’s Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG), the studio was a follow-up to last year’s AI literacy seminar led by Anahita Khodadadi, assistant professor in the Department of Architecture. The grant enabled the studio to use the robust FORMAS.AI platform, which was created specifically for designers, rather than more generic alternatives or free platforms that lack the infrastructure needed to appropriately support the studio’s goals—specifically, an in-depth exploration of how AI can reshape architectural workflows. The focus was not on productivity or output alone, but on process and balance: leveraging computational power while preserving critical thinking, authorship, and design intent.

Continue reading to see more detailed project photos and learn how students developed a critical and informed relationship with AI that empowers them to shape their role in the architectural profession—rather than the other way around. https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2026/next-gen-architecture-studio.html

Acknowledgements:
The studio would like to thank the following people for their contributions via lectures, debates, and discussions during the term: Anahita Khodadadi (assistant professor, Department of Architecture), Manuel Garza (et al. collaborative), Garrett Herbst (Little), Carlos Bañón (FORMAS.AI), Yiping Goh (FORMAS.AI), Rutger Huiberts (MVRDV), Daniel Eizo (MARVEL), Vivian Lee (University of Toronto + LAMAS), Michael Tunkey (adjunct instructor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning/CannonDesign), César Cedano (Architectural Resources), Tatjana Crossley (Wentworth Institute of Technology + ArchiTAG), Christopher Romano (assistant professor, Department Architecture/Studio NORTH Architecture), Michael Hoover (Studio NORTH Architecture), Gabriela Zappi (adjunct instructor, Department of Archtiecture), Eddie Lam (Architectural Resources)

Students:
Areej Aldar, Siena Allen, Alireza Borhani, A***n Cacodcar, Lydia Diboun, Joseph Glatz, Shweta Kakade, Shruti Kunadia, Daniel Palumbo, Ada Rodriguez, Edwin Sanchez, Saurav Shetty

Photos: Randy Fernando

05/18/2026

The WNY APA held their annual awards event last week, where they awarded Ernest Sternberg, professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, the 2026 Planner Emeritus Award. The organization also awarded the WNY APA Best Practice Student Group award to Kerry Traynor, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and her studio team for “The Daylight District: Driving Adaptive Reuse at the Pierce-Arrow Factory.” Two students, Adam Zinnedin and Rishabh Chopra, under the leadership of Assistant Professors Alissa Ujie Diamond and Kelly Gregg, won the WNY APA 2026 Best Practice Individual Student Award and the WNY APA 2026 Master Planning Individual Student Award, respectively.

Congratulations to everyone involved in these transformative projects!

05/15/2026

"What your education has given you is more than a degree. It has given you a way of seeing, thinking, and acting. This matters now more than ever. The world needs designers who can engage complexity with imagination and conviction." - Dean Julia Czerniak

Congratulations Class of 2026! Happy Commencement Day!

05/14/2026

A staggering four generations of Lillian Radel’s (a double-degree student in Environmental Design and Environmental Studies) family have attended the University at Buffalo. However, among all those fellow Bulls, she stands alone as the first in her family to receive the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence — the highest honor SUNY bestows upon its students (and for the 2025-2026 academic year, just 15 UB students were selected for the award).

In her capstone studio this year, Lily’s group tackled a project centered on the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood on Buffalo’s East Side. The focus was on revitalizing the area adjacent to the Buffalo Central Terminal and finding ways to connect that historic structure with the surrounding neighborhood as its redevelopment progresses. “There was a lot of discussion around street trees and bike paths, urban agriculture, and urban forestry,” she recalled. “I loved seeing how those connections could be applied in a real-life scenario.”

Keep reading for more on Lily and her experiences at UB: https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2026/lillian-radel-2026-chancellors-award.html

05/12/2026

Budding social entrepreneur Tendaji Ya'Ukuu (MUP '27, BAED '25) was recognized this semester with a University at Buffalo Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Award for their proposal, “Informal Social Infrastructure in Downtown Buffalo, NY.” A community-driven design initiative showing how residents can transform unused parking lots into inclusive public gathering places, this project was developed for the Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design capstone studio in Fall 2025 under the direction of Assistant Professor Xuanyi Nie.

Tendaji's proposal focuses on the transformative power of “informal social infrastructure,” or the everyday ways people collectively use, manage, and care for shared space, particularly in places shaped by disinvestment. Rather than just an abstraction, Tendaji argues that organized social capital can serve as functional infrastructure. “When planners recognize and support these informal systems, they can design spaces that strengthen cooperation rather than disrupt it.”

The plaza would be anchored by East Side Stewards, a community organization and workers co-op mobilizing community-led revitalization on Buffalo’s East Side that Tendaji co-founded in 2024 to promote ecological justice through the transformation of unbuilt lots into vibrant, sustainable spaces.

Learn more about Tendaji and how our Master of Urban Planning program has helped mobilize their convictions into action: https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2026/tendaji-yaukku-studioaward.html

05/08/2026

Frustrated by a lack of action in an age of gun violence, Eberhard Research Fellow Alli Presutti (MArch '26, BS Arch '25) is working to mobilize design for student security and well-being. Using her own high school as a case study, Alli focused her research this semester on the postwar school building.

Employing a layered organizational strategy, Alli’s design recommendations focus on the concept of porosity – or the strategic use of openings and permeable borders – to create clarity in circulation and access and strategically enhance visibility for security, connection, and community-building.

"I started my thesis with a worry about how schools could be more secure in the age of gun violence and saw that current solutions rely heavily on control, regulation, and the creation of prison-like environments," Alli reflected. "I ended up learning about how a sense of safety must precede the anxieties of security and the spatial burdens that brings to educational spaces. Architecture cannot solve gun violence, but it can reduce confusion, support trust, and create moments of refuge while reinforcing conditions for learning to thrive."

Alli defended her final thesis research on May 4 to an audience of faculty advisors, students, and visiting critics including educators and architects specializing in school design. Her thesis committee was chaired by Erkin Özay, associate professor and chair of The Department of Architecture, alongside committee member Beth Tauke, a now-retired associate professor of architecture and internationally recognized expert on design education and inclusive design.

Continue learning about Alli’s research -https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2026/alli-presutti-schooldesign.html

05/06/2026

This semester, Professor Ernest Sternberg’s URP581/582: Graduate Urban Planning Studio worked to develop a comprehensive Parks and Recreation plan for the City of North Tonawanda, looking to improve existing parks, strengthen trail and greenway connections, and create a more accessible and connected recreational system. Using community input, existing infrastructure, and current parks and trail layouts, our students are helping to make North Tonawanda an even better place to live, work, and play!

The studio is proposing improvements including new trail connections, park enhancements, and recreational amenities that are distributed equitably across the city. Students will be presenting their conclusions and recommendations of the studio in a public forum at the North Tonawanda City Hall on Monday, May 11 at 6:30 PM.

Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki

05/05/2026

Final reviews are in full swing! Here's just a snapshot of ARC 302: "Stones & Structure."

Lead Instructors: Ken MacKay, Elaine Chow, Rachel Martin, Jon Spielman, Brad Wales, Justina Zifchock, Christopher Romano

External Critics: Scott J. Archambault (Architectural Resources), Jeffrey Bailey (Jeffrey Bailey Architect), Michael Conroe (Elev8 Architecture), Anne Dafchik (Town of Amherst), Justina Dziama (Architectural Resources), Daniel Eizo (MARVEL), Josh Erni (CPL Architecture), Rachel Mourdant (Elev8 Architecture), Samira Sheikholeslami (UB Campus Planning), Michael Tunkey (CannonDesign), Michael Tuzzo (Architectural Resources), Ed Watts, Jr. (Watts Architecture & Engineering)

Photos: Ken MacKay, Haneen Dalla-Ali, Eric Streeter, Darra Kubera

05/04/2026

29 students living in the Architecture Living Learning Community recently visited houses around Buffalo designed by Frank Lloyd Wright along with a tour of the Darwin Martin House.

The Architecture Living Learning Community is a collaborative effort between the School of Architecture and Planning and UB’s Campus Living. Its location on South Campus gives students easy access to studio spaces and other resources in the School, while connecting them with their peers and campus resources. Academic Assistants organize extracurricular activities, like this one, that fit architecture students’ schedules and link them to a supportive network of staff, faculty, and administrators.

Thanks to Greg Delaney, clinical associate professor in the Department of Architecture and director of Experiential Learning, and Eric Streeter, assistant dean for Enrollment, Advisement, and Student Success, for leading this excursion!

05/01/2026

The lobby of UB’s Hayes Hall got a new floor this month—but it’s temporary. The 2026 Banham Fellow Exhibition — an installation by Celia Chaussabel titled “Objectile Adventures: The Floor” — celebrated its opening on April 20 (and is on view through July 27). Testing methods for designing, building, and telling stories with reused building materials, the project challenges us to consider the narratives embedded in the objects around us and how that affects our perception and use of them.

The Peter Reyner Banham Fellowship is a yearlong visiting faculty position at the UB School of Architecture and Planning that honors Banham’s legacy of experimental criticism, culminating in a final exhibition. Celia Chaussabel, the 2025-26 Banham Fellow, holds a master of science from MIT and a bachelor of architecture from California Polytechnic State University. Before coming to UB, she worked in design offices in New York and San Francisco as well as conducted research on material use with a Belgian cooperative called Rotor.

Learn more: https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2026/banham-exhibition-2026.html

Photos: Douglas Levere

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Buffalo, NY
14214

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Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm

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