Archinect - News

The world's best architecture masters programs for 2023, according to BAM

2023-09-19T17:51:00-04:00

The 2023 edition of the Best Architecture Masters (BAM) rankings has just been released, featuring a slate of 19 graduate programs from across the world that were selected using an internal methodology by a 15-member “Expert Committee” of academics.

American Ivy League institutions once again dominated the top tier of the rankings, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking home the first place spot for the fifth consecutive year. BAM says its list was influenced by other rankings guides, including the most recent QS World Universities Architecture / Built Environment subject list, in addition to its internal methodology, adding: “This approach allows us to make an international-comparative study, that reflects the best architecture master’s programs from almost all over the world.”

The Universidade de São Paulo, University of Manchester, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Tsinghua University were new additions to this year's list.

The full BAM rankings...

RISD announces withdrawl from U.S. News & World Report's Best College rankings

2023-02-15T15:40:00-05:00

The Rhode Island School of Design announced its decision to withdraw from the U.S. News & World Report's Best College rankings on February 13, a move that joins more institutions that are turning away from the highly-criticized process.

RISD President, Crystal Williams, explained that "principally, Rhode Island School of Design does not measure the value of our students or our academic programs based on the same factors used by U.S. News & World Report. Our educational model is predicated on three primary ways of learning: visual, material and intellectual."

Hyperallergic's Rhea Nayyar reported on the design school’s decision to abstain from the popular higher education guide, which has come under scrutiny over the last decade owing to claims of favoritism, the broader manipulation of young people along lines of prestige, and presumed career success after ...

Criticism around U.S. News Best College rankings targets a culture of deception at the top of higher education

2022-09-12T16:16:00-04:00

The annual U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges list has just been released, opening up a fresh channel for the ongoing debate over the value of and methodologies used in ranking institutions of higher education.

A focal point of the 2022 rankings is Columbia University, which dropped from 2nd to 18th place after being a mainstay in the top ten for several decades. The decision by U.S. News to demote the Ivy League institution came after the publication of a damning investigation from mathematics professor Michael Thaddeus wherein he outlined a deliberate fabrication of statistics meant to game the already flawed and disputed methodology. The scandal is notably the second in recent memory after a 2012 investigation uncovered similar tactics at George Washington University that went on for a period of decades.

A look at the other top-ranked schools in the 2022–2023 National Universities list with academic degrees in architecture offers a reflection of similar rankings, such as Bes...

The best architecture masters programs of 2022, according to BAM

2022-08-16T14:11:00-04:00

The annual Best Architecture Masters (BAM) ranking has just been published for 2022. Featuring some of the world’s most prestigious and competitive graduate programs, the list has been historically dominated by American Ivy League schools as well as other premier British and European universities. The 2022 cohort is no exception, with Harvard GSD’s Master of Architecture II program taking the top billing for the fifth consecutive year.

BAM shares that its rankings are “aimed to help architects and students to get to know the best International Master’s programs available in the world, thanks to our transparent comparative system.”

Using its internal methodology, BAM’s 13-member “Expert Committee” of academics analyzed programs based on 10 educational-performance indicators and 45 sub-indicators.

Here is the list of BAM's top 17 architecture master’s degree programs in 2022:

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master of Architecture II
Location: Cambridge, MA

2. Columbia University
Program: Maste...

These are the ‘Best Firms to Work For’ in 2022, according to new AEC industry survey

2022-08-08T12:50:00-04:00

The Zweig Group consultancy has returned with its annual list of 'Best Firms to Work For' in the AEC industry.

Recognized companies were selected based on their “workplace practices, employee benefits, [and] employee retention rates,” among other factors. Zweig says their employees' survey accounted for 80% of the rankings.

Three firms were added to last year's list of 11. The winning firms in the Architecture category are as follows:

The winners will be honored during the 2022 Elevate AEC Conference & Awards Gala in Las Vegas from September 14–16. This year’s full list of winners in each category can be found here.

Zweig Group announces list of best firms to work for in 2021

2021-08-20T17:39:00-04:00

AEC management consulting firm Zweig Group recently announced the winners of its 2021 Best Firms To Work For Awards. The program is one of six hosted by the company that together focus on architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firm achievement.

The Best Firms To Work For Awards recognizes excellent workplaces at AEC firms, evaluating them on culture, workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates, professional development, and other qualities, from both management and staff perspectives. Awards were given in multiple categories based on firm size and discipline.

"This is more than a contest, it is a powerful look at what the employee experience looks like in today’s AEC firm," said Zweig Group CEO Chad Clinehens. "Firms can use this ranking and the data it yields as a powerful tool in the recruitment and retention of staff, which is the number one challenge for many AEC firms." He added: "The 2021 winners have a lot to be proud of, and ...

BAM releases their 2019 rankings for top master of architecture programs

2019-08-02T19:29:00-04:00

The rankings are in! With the upcoming school term quickly approaching, where do the world's master of architecture programs stack up? This year, Best Architecture Masters Ranking (BAM) has released their list of top programs. Coming in at the top once again is Harvard GSD's Master's degree in Architecture II program.

According to BAM, the top 30 postgraduate programs have been selected and evaluated using their rating system: eleven key indicators are used to evaluate and rank each school. (view BAM ranking methodology here)

Below is a list of the top fifteen master's degree programs.

1. Harvard GSD
Program: Master's degree in Architecture II
Location: Boston, MA

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Program: Master of Science in Architecture and Urbanism
Location: Boston, MA

3. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid + ETH Zurich
Program: Master's degree in Collective Housing
Location: Madrid, Spain

4. Delft University of Technology
Program: The Berlage post-master's degree in Archit...

Starchitects and emerging designers make it on the 2018 list of London's most influential people

2018-10-12T19:46:00-04:00

The 2018 edition of the annual The Progress 1000: London's most influential people list has been released, and among the myriad of categories from the worlds of politics, entertainment, art, philanthropy, sports, technology, or science, there is (phew) also a list of architects who made the most significant impact on London.

Donning the cover pic, and listed first, is Eva Franch i Gilabert, the new, and first female, director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture, immediately followed by some of the (expected) biggest names in British architecture, such as David Chipperfield, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster, David Adjaye, Amanda Levete, Thomas Heatherwick, and Patrik Schumacher.

Refreshing to see are names of architects who have been consistently putting out solid work and are now getting the wider recognition they deserve, including Frida Escobedo, the youngest architect yet to be invited to design the Serpentine Gallery’s summer pavilion, Deborah Saunt and David ...

Harvard GSD tops graduate school ranking

2018-08-08T14:58:00-04:00

Harvard GSD's Master in Architecture 2 program has been ranked number one on the 2018 BAM (Best Architecture Masters) Ranking. Different postgraduate study programs have been selected from the best architecture schools in the world in this year edition of the QS Ranking by Subjects – Architecture / Built Environment. Out of these, 20 programs were selected in this year's BAM Ranking, reflecting the best masters programs from around the world.

The Complete University Guide ranks 10 best UK universities to study architecture

2018-08-07T12:53:00-04:00

Every year, a host of lists emerge ranking architecture schools around the world. For some, they serve as a useful guide to choosing where to pursue their studies. For others, the lists are subjective and have little real value.

The Complete University Guide, which ranks university courses according to graduate prospects, entry standards, research quality and student satisfaction, has just released its 2019 rankings for studies in architecture. You can check out the full list or rankings here.

Here, we list the top schools for studies in architecture, according to the Complete University Guide.

Bartlett voted best UK architecture school for 15th year by Architects' Journal

2018-06-07T16:10:00-04:00

The Bartlett has been named as the architecture school of choice by AJ100 practices for the 15th successive year. University College London’s architecture faculty came out top when the UK’s largest practices were asked their favourite school as part of the AJ’s annual poll. This comes despite the Bartlett slipping to fourth in the Guardian’s league table, behind Sheffield, Cambridge and Bath.

Over a fifth of AJ100 practices chose UCL's Bartlett with Bath close behind and no other establishment receiving more than 5% of the votes. The Bartlett was also ranked as the 2nd best architecture school by the higher education network QS.

The AJ100 top five architecture schools:

1. The Bartlett, University College London
2. University of Bath
3. Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art
4. University of Nottingham
5. University of Sheffield

Melbourne named world’s most liveable city for seventh consecutive year

2017-08-18T18:38:00-04:00

Melbourne, Australia has been ranked as the most “liveable” city in the world for the seventh consecutive year by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The EIU’s benchmark annual report titled “The Global Liveability Report 2017,” ranks 140 cities in order of best living conditions. Melbourne’s 97.5 score is down to perfect assessments in health care, education, and infrastructure, as well as hitting over 95 in stability, and culture and environment.

As in previous years, the top 10 list is mostly comprised of major cities in Australia and Canada, while Vienna — once again — barely misses the first spot by 0.1 percentage points overall. Auckland, Helsinki, and Hamburg manage to claim some coveted spots at the top for their respective countries.

The world's top cities for liveability in 2017 are:

Melbourne, Australia
Vienna, Austria
Vancouver, Canada
Toronto, Canada
Calgary, Canada
Adelaide, Australia
Perth, Australia
Auckland, New Zealand
Helsinki, Finland
Hamburg, Germany

2017's 10 best gas stations, worldwide, as ranked by Design Curial

2017-05-18T15:58:00-04:00

Angelenos may be mildly alarmed to learn that local favorites Johnston Marklee Architects's striking Helios House (co-designed with Office dA) has slipped two spots to eighth place from its ranking on last year's top ten global filling stations as assembled by Design Curial. However, it's for a good cause: new entrants are fueling some alternative aesthetic takes on the usually quotidian gas station. Here are the winners:

FIRST PLACE: REST AREA NIEMENHARJU, by Studio Puisto Architects, in Niemenharju, Finland

SECOND PLACE: POPS ARCADIA ROUTE 66, by Elliott + Associates Architects, in Oklahoma, USA

THIRD PLACE: BATUMI PETROL STATION, by Giorgi Khmaladze, in Batumi, Georgia

FOURTH PLACE: NP GAS STATION, by Moneo Brock Studio, in Madrid, Spain

FIFTH PLACE: ORIVAL GAS STATION, by Samyn and Partners, in Orival, Belgium

SIXTH PLACE: ESSO MOBIL STATION, by Eliot Noyes, in Leicestershire, UK

SEVENTH PLACE: HOUTEN SERVICE STATION, by Samyn and Partners, in Houten, Netherlands

EIGHTH PL...

Architecture named seventh best job in the "engineering" category (out of eight)

2017-04-03T12:38:00-04:00

U.S. News released a “Best Job” rankings from a variety of different industries and architecture came in seventh – in the “engineering” category. Out of eight. Following cartographer. And not even listed on the general 100 “Best Jobs” list.

The rankings are produced by looking at a variety of different criteria: median salary, employment rate, 10-year growth volume (number of new jobs created), 10-year growth percentage (percentage growth rate of new jobs), future job prospects (number of openings vs. number of job seekers), stress level, and work-life balance.

Of course, a number of these, like stress level, are subjective. More broadly speaking, the value of rankings like this are questionable. As even the ranking itself notes, “Choosing an occupation is personal, and of course, there is no ideal way to determine the best job overall.”

Read why architecture came out as number seven here.

Top 10 U.S. architecture schools of 2017, according to Design Intelligence

2016-09-09T14:52:00-04:00

Since 2010, Cornell has topped DI's Undergraduate rankings (except for 2014, when Cal Poly San Louis Obispo was first), with Harvard consistently being first in Graduate programs (excluding 2011, when University of Michigan got the top spot). How 2017's top 10 schools compare to one another since 2010 can be seen below:

The rankings are formed under the following methodology, according to a report in Architectural Record:

DesignIntelligence sent surveys to CEOs, managing partners, and human-resource directors asking about their findings in hiring architecture graduates. The respondents could select up to 10 National Architectural Accrediting Board–certified undergraduate and graduate programs in each category. Each survey response was checked for authenticity and validated by the research staff at DesignIntelligence. In cases of dubious or unreliable information that could not be confirmed, researchers eliminated the questionable return. Researchers also confirmed that the person resp...

ZGF Architects tops 2016's Architect 50 "top firms of the year"

2016-09-08T12:35:00-04:00

Beating out SOM and Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the Portland-based firm ZGF Architects has taken the number one spot in Architect Magazine's annual ranking of the fifty best architectural firms. The ranking, which evaluates firms using the criteria of Business, Sustainability, and Design, listed William Rawn Associates as achieving the highest score in business, while Marlon Blackwell Architects nabbed the highest design ranking.

ZGF, which had the highest sustainability score, is known chiefly for its healthcare and hospitality buildings, including the Federal Center South Building 1202, which won the AIA COTE 2015 Top Ten Plus Award. Since its founding, the firm has added five additional offices in the U.S. and Canada, all of which follow a design philosophy that "is centered on the premise that design excellence should be reflected in each and every aspect of a building—its fit with the community, its function and relationship to its users, its building systems, and i...

MIT named #1 architecture school in the world

2016-04-05T14:24:00-04:00

For the second year in a row, MIT has been named the top university in the world for architecture/built environment in the latest subject rankings from QS World University Rankings. In art and design, the Institute ranked No. 2 globally, a jump from fourth position in 2015. Ten other subject areas at MIT were ranked No. 1. “This ranking is testament to the success of the MIT model of research and teaching and its global commitment to address complex societal problems,” says [Dean] Hashim Sarkis

In related news:

These are the most economically distressed cities in the United States

2016-03-01T17:52:00-05:00

While cities like Dallas and San Francisco have rebounded strongly since the recession, many other places are still struggling for economic growth and prosperity. As time goes on, we're seeing a divergence between successful parts of the country and the non-successful parts. More than 50 million Americans live in "distressed" ZIP codes, according to a new report from the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington D.C. think-tank.

"These areas—largely concentrated in the South, Southwest, and the Rust Belt—are suffering a "recovery gap" driven by low home investment, shuttering businesses, and poor job opportunities."

According to the report, economic opportunities are intimately tethered to geography in the United States. In turn, the regions most susceptible to job loss remain those with a history of financial woes, in particular former manufacturing hubs.

The report ranked cities based on economic indications such as the percentage of the population with a high school degree; housing vacancy rates; unemployment rates among adults; poverty rates; median income rations; percent changes in the number of available jobs; and percent changes in the number of businesses.

Here are the 10 most "distressed" cities in the United States:

1. Cleveland, Ohio

2. Detroit, Michigan

3. Newark, New Jersey

4. Toledo, Ohio

5. San Bernardino, California

6. Stockton, California

7. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

8. Buffalo, New York

9. ...

Cornell, Harvard and Louisiana State top Design Intelligence's Best Architecture & Design Schools of 2016

2015-11-10T20:32:00-05:00

For every year since 2007, Cornell has held first place for undergraduate architecture (save for being supplanted by Virgina Tech in 2008 and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2014), and Harvard has consistently held first place for graduate. In the 2016 rankings for landscape architecture, Louisiana State University took the top undergraduate position, with Harvard as the #1 graduate school.

For all Design Intelligence 2016 rankings in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and industrial design, please see the image gallery below.

Check out previous years' rankings below:

Update 9/9/2016: an earlier version of this piece incorrectly listed Cal Poly SLO as the top undergraduate program in 2016, when that spot belongs to Cornell.

Melbourne is world’s most liveable city for fifth consecutive year

2015-08-20T15:24:00-04:00

In any event, it's as you were for the "haves" at the top of list, with Melbourne taking the top spot for a fifth year running, with Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide/Calgary (tied at 5) completing the top five most livable cities in 2015. [...] these cities have "relatively few challenges to living standards," and enjoy a good infrastructure, healthcare system and a low murder rate. Unsurprisingly, Damascus remains the least livable city, with Syria embroiled in a bloody civil war.

Other articles related to liveability on Archinect:

New York & London ranked highest in 2015 Global Cities Index

2015-05-21T14:45:00-04:00

New York and London remain the world’s most global cities, as they are the only cities to rank in the top 10 of both the Global Cities Index and the Global Cities Outlook according to the A.T. Kearney Global Cities 2015 [...]. San Francisco leads the Global Cities Outlook due to its strength in innovation. Other cities ranking at the top of the Global Cities Outlook include London (#2), Boston (#3), New York (#4), and Zurich (#5).

For lovers of city rankings:

For skeptics: The Top 6 Reasons to Be Wary of City Rankings, Ranked

Melbourne named world’s most liveable city for fourth consecutive year

2014-08-19T19:10:00-04:00

The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) claims its annual Liveability Survey could be used to "assign a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages," among other things. But that needn't apply to those in Melbourne, which for the fourth year running has been declared the best city in the world to live. The Australian culture hub was buoyed by superlative healthcare, infrastructure and education as well as a murder rate of 3.1 per 100,000 people, half the global average of 6.2.

While three Canadian cities made the ranking's top 10 (again), U.S. cities keep failing to score high.

The world's top cities for liveability are:

1. Melbourne, Australia

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Vancouver, Canada

4. Toronto, Canada

=5. Adelaide, Australia

=5. Calgary, Canada

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Helsinki, Finland

9. Perth, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

Forbes Releases Baffling "Coolest Cities" List

2014-08-06T14:46:00-04:00

Flooded with politicos and political junkies, Washington, D.C. often comes off as a city steeped in raw ambition. But the nation’s capital deserves to be known for something else: coolness. While “cool” might not be the first word that comes to mind when contemplating the latest standoff in Congress, D.C. nonetheless has a lot to offer those who call it home.

Today, Forbes released its most recent ranking of American cities, this time based on the vague, unscientific, and seemingly ridiculous category of "coolness." What, you may ask, are the determining factors of coolness?

Pay attention high school students:

Entertainment options
Bars and restaurants per capita
"Foodie culture" ie. farmer's markets
Breweries per capita
Cultural/ethnic diversity
Youth population

Wait, what? Personally, these criteria signal "yuppy" more than "cool" to me, but I guess it's all relative. Washington DC topped the list, followed by Seattle, Austin, Houston, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Riverside (yes, Riverside is much much cooler than L.A.), Boston, Dallas.

Call me crazy but it seems odd that New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago (or even New Orleans or Detroit!) don't make the top ten. I guess Forbes is rebelling against norms, which itself is a classic (albeit unlisted) signifier of coolness.

What are your thoughts? Can coolness be quantified? What are America...