A rapidly changing world needs more leaders who can tackle issues related to the climate crisis, socioeconomical change and issues of social justice and tectonic technology changes.
In Kent, Ohio, one university is preparing and empowering students with the right set of skills to fill these roles: Kent State University.
Its College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) is making an impact on the lives of those that will make an impact on the world. An education here nurtures responsible professionals committed to improving the quality of life, enhancing the physical environment and protecting the public welfare through the design of the built environment.
Programs on Architecture, Urban Design, Construction Management and Landscape Architecture develop professional values of ethics, social justice, functionality, economics, aesthetics and technology.
“I came here because of the strength of the programs, the exceptional faculty, the vision of our president, the commitment to access and value, and the fact that we’re a multi-disciplinary college that’s the future,” says Dean Mark Mistur.
Prepare for the future with CAED. Start with one of these programs:
Architecture
The Master of Architecture (M.Arch) programs welcome students with diverse backgrounds. It is designed to nurture progressive leaders in architecture by helping them develop technical skills, professional knowledge, and design creativity through project-based learning.
What’s even better? The university is located in Northeast Ohio – a dynamic urban landscape rich with history that serves as the perfect setting for academic learning. For more inspiration, they can head for a study abroad stint in Florence, Italy.
Whether in Ohio or abroad, all students gain professional values including reason, independent thought, productivity, honesty, integrity, justice, self-esteem, teamwork and mutual supportiveness. Within a balanced curriculum of technology, visualisation, history, theory and design studio coursework, they have a platform for scholarship, constructive discourse, project-based learning and debate.
Construction Management
The Master of Science in Construction Management sets students up to become leaders in the architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) industry. The program is ranked second in the nation (first in Ohio) by Great Business Schools – 2021.
More collaboration is needed among AEC industry professionals, as is multidisciplinary understanding. This is increasingly important at the pre-construction phase that demands increased cross-sector integration.
The MSCM program, with its unique opportunities for exposure to collaborative learning experience among construction and design academics, construction professionals, and design practitioners, prepares students for this new reality. Add job site visits, team collaborations, networking events, and professional association student chapters, and MSCM students are primed for professional success.
Dr Suat Gunhan Construction Management – YouTube
Master of Urban Design
The Master of Urban Design program aims to produce knowledgeable, industry-ready specialists who engage the complex challenges of demographic change, sustainability and equity in the development of cities. Students will be exposed to projects ranging from neighbourhood plans to large scale urban and regional initiatives — all while addressing cultural and environmental concerns.
Take graduate Alan O’Connell, for instance. Although he held a master’s degree in city and regional planning, he sought more to help him achieve his dream of becoming the city planning director of Cleveland, Ohio.
The Master of Urban Design helped him gain three important skills: Adobe Creative Suite, 3D modelling/rendering and GIS. “These three skills –– along with my experience in facilitating community focus and design charrettes as the President of Downtown Cleveland Residents –– are the ones I use every day. I wouldn’t have gotten the job I have today without them,” he says.
Master of Landscape Architecture
The Master of Landscape Architecture is a multi-layered program designed to prepare graduates with methodologies that are focused on issues surrounding urban landscapes, ecologies and social concerns. The program aims to educate and empower students for active, creative, and leadership roles in the landscape architecture profession.
To get there, they can rely on the MLA to help them develop critical understanding while establishing a design process that’s firmly based upon research, technology and artistic expression. Some key areas of focus include: Urban Freshwater, Stormwater and Climate in the Great Lakes; Public Spaces, Urban Parks and Cultural Landscapes; as well as Green Urban Infrastructure, Ecologies and Social Concerns of Equity, Health and Pollution.
Students will also engage in issues ranging from hydrology in the Great Lakes – Ohio River Basins watershed to the role of urban landscapes associated with industrial cities, among others.
CAED Studio Culture
CAED celebrates its students at the CAED X Gallery. Here, exhibitions of work associated with CAED students, faculty and invited guests are featured. Whether concurrent or past, these works are exemplary — examples of the extraordinary accomplishments that are coming out of workshops, courses and studios.
Here, visitors will find “The Bend.” This is the student project that won The Architect’s Newspaper’s “Honourable Mention” for the 2020 Best of Design Awards in the Student Work – Group category. “The Bend” prototype was constructed using the college’s Fabrication Lab for its site on Kent’s State campus [directly off of Campus Center Drive] that offers freedom to test the prototype within the relatively loose confines of public space.
Visitors will also find a memorial of the events that took place inside the campus on May 4, 1970. Students were asked to to identify three additional words to guide their design in response to today’s civil unrest and how the anniversary of the 1970 events connects to our current community and climate. The words “inquire, learn, reflect” are carved into the current memorial.
Explore more amazing work here. Apply to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design now.
Follow Kent State University’s College of Architecture and Environmental design on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube