1. ArchDaily
  2. California Polytechnic State University

California Polytechnic State University: The Latest Architecture and News

America's Most Admired Architectural Schools 2020 Ranked

The annual DesignIntelligence architecture school ranking for 2020 classified the establishments according to the “most admired” rather than the “best”, for the second year in a row. The subjective classification is based on the responses of hiring professionals.  

A Definitive List of the Best U.S. Architecture Schools 2019

Earlier this month, we published the results of DesignIntelligence’s annual ranking of U.S. architecture schools, listing the top Undergraduate and Graduate schools for 2019. Using feedback from architecture and interior design professionals, the full analysis delves deeper than a generic “Most Admired Architecture Schools” list, and instead breaks the rankings down into twelve categories, focusing on technology, design theory, and more.

Free and open to the public, the full list on DesignIntelligence’s website offers comprehensive top-10 listings at both Undergraduate and Graduate level across the twelve categories, attained from surveys from approximately 6000 professionals, 360 academics, and 5500 students. Below, we have summarized the findings in a top-5 format, with the full listings ready to be explored on the official website here.

And the Best US Architecture Schools for 2015 Are…

DesignIntelligence has released their 2015 rankings of the Best US Architecture Schools for both undergraduate and graduate programs. Over 1,400 professional practice organizations were surveyed and asked to respond to the question: “In your firm’s hiring experience in the past five years, which of the following schools are best preparing students for success in the profession?” In addition, more than 3,800 architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and industrial design students were also surveyed about their education, in data presented separately from the rankings.

However, perhaps more enlightening than the ranking itself are the firms' responses to several additional issues raised in the report.  For example, 54.6% of the firms surveyed selected sustainability and climate change as the professions’ biggest concern, while maintaining design quality was a close second.  Firms also provided insights on the most important qualities of new graduates entering the workplace, with an overwhelming 70.1% selecting attitude/personality as the most important attribute. 

Read on after the break for the Top 10 undergraduate and graduate programs.

Are Ivy League Schools Really Offering the Best Architectural Education?

In Design Intelligence's annual rankings of US Architecture Schools, released earlier this month, there is certainly a lot to talk about. Of course, plenty will be said about what is shown immediately by the statistics, and rightly so - but just as interesting is what is revealed between the lines of this report, about the schools themselves and the culture they exist within. By taking the opinions of professional architects, teachers and students, the Design Intelligence report exposes a complex network which, when examined closely enough, reveals what some might see as a worrying trend within architectural education.