Wed, 05/22/2019 - 12:00

Bill Bonstra, FAIA (B.ARCH ’83) has spent his career as an architect seeking to enrich people’s lives through thoughtful design, a philosophy he has extended to his relationship with the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation for over 30 years. This past month, Bonstra, who has supported the school over the years financially and as an advisor, mentor and teacher, pledged a $30,000 endowment through UMD’s New TerpStart Matching Scholarship Program.

Fri, 04/12/2019 - 12:00

MAPP is proud to announce that Ariel Bierbaum, along with her team of three other researchers, has secured $50,000 in research grant funding from the Spencer Foundation’s Small Research Grants Program. The grant will allow continuing work into the socioeconomic impact of public school closures in Philadelphia, and will look specifically at issues of school reuse and/or demolition.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

Towards the end of a difficult spring semester in 1985, Chris McCabe (B.S. Architecture ’85, M.ARCH ’87) was at a crossroads. Having studied architecture at UMD for four years, she was uncertain as to whether she had the talent and confidence needed to tackle the Master’s program in architecture. For Chris, the announcement of Professor Tom Schumacher’s inaugural Study Abroad Program in Rome was not only good timing, it proved to be life-changing.

Fri, 05/24/2019 - 12:00

The Colvin Institute at the University of Maryland is proud to announce the 1st Annual Colvin Case Study Challenge.  The Challenge is a national real estate paper competition, where projects are judged on the depth of understanding of markets, project valuation, finance, urban design, entitlement processes and operational issues by leading real estate professionals. This is a retrospective written case study documenting a recently completed (within 5 years) project in your region.Competition Highlights: 

Thu, 11/03/2022 - 12:00

Of all the iconic places conceived by SHoP Architects along New York City’s skyline, the one that gives Founding Principal Corie Sharples ‘87 the most satisfaction is the place she once vowed never to return: South Street Seaport’s Pier 17, a slice of Manhattan’s East River Waterfront that once housed a windowless marketplace of souvenir shops and chain restaurants.

Wed, 11/16/2022 - 12:00

When James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Grace Young was asked to reflect on the best meal she ate last week, her mind gravitated to Hop Lee, a longstanding Cantonese restaurant in the heart of New York’s Chinatown. On any given weekday, its pastel dining room bustles with teachers, postal workers and residents who commune over plates of stir-fry and noodles.“It’s a feeling of warmth to just be there; I call it the ‘Cheers’ of Chinese restaurants,” she said. “And the food is wonderful.”

Thu, 10/06/2022 - 12:00

New affordable housing near transit stops, improved pedestrian safety and small business preservation along the coming Purple Line are needed to protect and strengthen the surrounding communities, according to a new report released Wednesday to federal, state and local stakeholders by the Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) and the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth.

Mon, 12/27/2021 - 12:00

One of the most challenging roles an urban planner must play is that of a soothsayer: prognosticating the future of a community in the face of almost impossibly unpredictable forces like climate change, the economy or a pandemic. But a fall studio by urban planning and historic preservation students at the University of Maryland attempted to do just that for one suburb in Montgomery County, Maryland, in advance of its revamped master plan, visualizing what life in Fairland/Briggs Chaney would look like for residents under three alternative futures.

Fri, 11/18/2022 - 12:00

A Fall 2021 urban planning studio that used scenario planning to chart a thriving, sustainable future for one Montgomery County community and a UMD-led initiative to bring sustainable, equitable growth along the Purple Line light rail corridor have been honored by the Maryland Department of Planning in this year’s Sustainable Growth Awards.