The Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is also home to the Masters of Science program in Advanced Architectural Design, Computational Design Practice, Critical Curatorial & Conceptual Practices, Historic Preservation, Real Estate Development, Urban Design, and Urban Planning.
The school's resources include the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, the United States' largest architectural library and home to some of the first books published on architecture, as well as the origin of the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.
Recent deans of the school include architects James Stewart Polshek (1972–1987), Bernard Tschumi (1988–2003), Mark Wigley (2004–2014), Amale Andraos (2014–2021), Weiping Wu (interim dean, 2022), and Andrés Jaque (2022–present).
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History
The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation has evolved over more than a century. It was transformed from a department within the Columbia School of Mines into a formal School of Architecture by William Robert Ware in 1881, making it one of the first such professional programs in the country.
While the number of specialized programs being offered by the school has increased over the years, architecture remains the intellectual core of the school.
Rankings
Columbia GSAPP has been ranked #2 of the Top Architecture Graduate Programs five times over the past ten years on Design Intelligence's ranking of programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, including in the 2020 rankings.
Notable faculty
Research centers
Center for Spatial Research
The Spatial Research Center was established in 2015 as a center for urban research that combines design, architecture, urbanism, humanities, and data science. It sponsors research, and curricular activities built around new technologies of mapping, data visualization, data collection and data analysis.
Center for Urban Real Estate
The Center for Urban Real Estate was founded in 2011 in order to address the challenges of an urbanization and the complex problems of the real estate industry. From inequitable socio-economic outcomes in the urban environment, through the revitalization of urban centers, to creating technological systems for optimized investment decisions, the Center serves as a forum for discussions and analysis by real estate professionals and scholars. A focus of the Center is the development of technology that meets needs of the real estate industry, integrated with advanced research and resources in technology within the Columbia University ecosystem.
Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture
The Buell Center was founded in 1982. Its mission is to advance the interdisciplinary study of American architecture, urbanism, and landscape. In recent years, the Center has convened issue-oriented conversations around matters of public concern, such as housing, that are addressed to overlapping constituencies including academics, students, professionals, and members of the general public. The Center's research and programming articulate facts and frameworks that modify key assumptions in which public analysis and debate about architecture and urbanism takes place. The center is located in Buell Hall.
Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting
Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting (also known as C-Lab) was founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Inaba. It is an experimental research unit which investigates how cities would evolve and studies urban and architecture issues related to new technologies.