News

Fri, 12/12/2025 - 12:00

For the past few decades, the pews at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in New Carrollton, Md., have been slowly emptying. Weekly attendance at the once-thriving, multicultural congregation has dwindled to around three dozen. Frequent flooding of the sanctuary chapel has damaged its foundation and floors. Leadership could scrape together funds to fix the building, but would anyone be there to notice? 

Thu, 12/11/2025 - 12:00

College Park, Md.— The analysis of a towering, 26-story affordable housing project in the South Bronx took first place at the tenth annual Colvin Case Study Challenge on Saturday, Dec. 5. Columbia University returned to College Park for its second victory in the competition’s history, beating out student teams from Virginia Tech, UT Austin and University of Nevada-Las Vegas. 

Thu, 10/30/2025 - 12:00

The park bench Shahrzad Ateffi encountered biking through the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. spoke to her, but it wasn’t an invitation to rest. Lonely and sun-beaten without a shade tree in sight, the wooden plank was more performative than practical, and sent a clear message to the University of Maryland graduate student: “You’re not really meant to stay here.”

Wed, 10/01/2025 - 12:00

In the summer of 2006, University of Maryland Professor Emeritus Lindley Vann and 19 architecture students traveled to the Bay of Naples to explore an ancient city, lost in ash. Over the next 20 years, factions of students returned each summer to participate in a global effort to excavate and document one of the last surviving Italian villas that once catered to the Roman elite. 

Fri, 09/26/2025 - 12:00

A fire station designed from ashes, an homage to a Civil War turning point and a refuge for oyster recovery were just some of the University of Maryland student projects to amass accolades at this year’s AIA Maryland Excellence in Design Awards. They joined nearly a dozen alums and faculty honored for projects that exemplify sustainable and beautiful design and contribute to the public realm.

Mon, 09/22/2025 - 12:00

The design for a Southern California fire station that doubles down on its civic duty blazed a trail to victory this week in the 2025 Concrete Masonry Student Competition. University of Maryland architecture graduate students Alvaro Nunez ‘26 and Wenjie Zhuang ‘26 scorched the competition with Underhill—Encitas Fire Station #01, to take honorable mention in the national contest, sponsored by the Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ASCA).