Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning

Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan seeks to improve the

It's Milan Design Week 2026, and three Taubman College Urban Technology students are currently taking part in the intern...
04/20/2026

It's Milan Design Week 2026, and three Taubman College Urban Technology students are currently taking part in the international UNFOLD competition and showcase at this year's event.

For the 2026 theme of “ENGAGE FRICTION://designing through conflict,” B.S. Urban Tech ’27 students Jack Bernard, Pranav Boopalam, and Elijah Stowell will present their prototype of a user interface for a microgrid energy sharing system. The group’s project, “Community Energy Futures (CEF),” was originally completed for their UT330 course taught by Matthew Wizinsky, associate professor of practice in urban technology.

“(Their project) doesn’t work within the existing rules of this system,” Wizinsky said. “It seems like a really prime project to use interface design and user experience design to study things that don’t exist yet in order to maybe shape policy.”

Read more about the project: https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/news/2026/04/16/urban-technology-students-to-present-microgrid-interface-project-at-milan-design-week/

Congratulations to the three Taubman College students who were selected for the 2026 cohort of the Dow Sustainability Fe...
04/17/2026

Congratulations to the three Taubman College students who were selected for the 2026 cohort of the Dow Sustainability Fellows Program. Mariam Ahmed, M.U.R.P. ’27, Nawres Shaao, M.Arch ’27, and Minza Shahid, M.U.D. ’27, are among 32 U-M graduate students who will receive Dow’s support to foster sustainability leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dow Fellows are selected through a competitive nomination and application process open to graduate students from across the university. All fellows receive a $25,000 stipend, as well as additional funding for their projects, professional development, and opportunities to collaborate with external partners.

The 2026 fellows will work on projects with partners including the Wayne County Sustainability & Innovation Division, City of Ferndale, Refugee Garden Initiatives, and Association for the Sustainable Development of Rural San Jose.

Read more: https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/news/2026/03/13/three-taubman-college-students-named-2026-dow-sustainability-fellows/

Apil KC, a doctoral candidate in Taubman College’s urban and regional planning program, set out to discover how post-dis...
04/10/2026

Apil KC, a doctoral candidate in Taubman College’s urban and regional planning program, set out to discover how post-disaster recovery efforts maximize housing satisfaction amongst homeowners in impacted areas. With help from Larissa Larsen, professor of urban and regional planning, and Sabine Loos, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, the team published an article in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

“By centering recovery around satisfaction, there is the potential to move from a model of structural rebuilding to one of transformative resilience, ensuring that policies respond not just to disasters, but to the everyday needs of those who live through them,” Apil wrote.

Read the article: https://myumi.ch/G2XwM

Three Taubman College faculty-led projects aimed at expanding renewable energy usage in Ann Arbor, rehabbing vacant home...
04/09/2026

Three Taubman College faculty-led projects aimed at expanding renewable energy usage in Ann Arbor, rehabbing vacant homes in Detroit, and converting invasive mussels harvested from the Great Lakes into insulation have received Climate Futures Research Grants. These projects include "Community Energy Futures: Interaction Design to Study New Social Dynamics in Microgrid Energy Sharing" led by Mathew Wizinsky and Zachary Kaiser, Associate Professor of Design, Technology, and Society, Michigan State University; "Home Rehab Kit: Increasing Climate Resilience through DIY Strategies" led by Adam Fure with co-investigators Ellie Abrons, Sharon Haar, Mathew Wizinsky, and Scott TenBrink; and "Softshells: Invasive Entanglements in Passive Biomass Insulation" led by Ana Morcillo Pallares with co-investigators Jonathon Rule, Lars Junghans, and Harvey Bootsma, Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The one-time grant program aims to accelerate faculty-led climate action and/or resilience through research and creative practice. Winning projects reflect the program’s goals of producing strong interdisciplinary and community partnerships, innovative approaches, and clear potential for measurable impact.

Read the full article: https://myumi.ch/QwyPw

A team of Taubman College alumni from the Master of Urban Planning program has published a report from their 2023 capsto...
04/08/2026

A team of Taubman College alumni from the Master of Urban Planning program has published a report from their 2023 capstone project, led by Professor Richard Norton, in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.

M.U.R.P. ’23 graduates Kat Cameron, Catherine Carlberg, Marco Dominguez, Nida Khan, Luke Ranker, Olivia Stillman, Alex Wilkinson, and Elsa Soderberg completed the report, titled "Running the River" as part of their final capstone studio. “Running the River” proposes using tax increment financing (TIF) as a novel strategy to fund improvements to infrastructure along the water trail.

Read the article: https://myumi.ch/bVkwy

"Forms of Refuge" - Ryan BritainARCH 552: Institutions with Adam Fure and Tess Clancy"Forms of Refuge" creates a variety...
04/04/2026

"Forms of Refuge" - Ryan Britain

ARCH 552: Institutions with Adam Fure and Tess Clancy

"Forms of Refuge" creates a variety of elevated and sunken sanctuary spaces that perch above and connect between the existing mixed-use residential/commercial site. The project's early stages involved extensive form-finding and model-making exercises, resulting in the accompanying parti diagram used to guide the collective living intervention. Shared housing units are lifted above the existing structures and arranged with a spatial proximity that echoes the familiar neighborhood arrangement. These units feature overhanging pitched roofs, central stairs, and sunken patios that pe*****te through a buffer zone—a lifted interior space containing shared amenities and enabling movement between units.

"Rarified!" - Mira AbdullaARCH 552: Institutions with McLain ClutterThe Rarified! cinema draws inspiration from Raree sh...
04/03/2026

"Rarified!" - Mira Abdulla

ARCH 552: Institutions with McLain Clutter

The Rarified! cinema draws inspiration from Raree show boxes - 19th-century furniture-like street objects that carried worlds. Named for their rarity, these novel, multisensory show-boxes captivated people worldwide, but have since faded into obscurity. Examining the rarities of our time, this cinema choreographs a sequential journey through oddly-scaled objects, satirically highlighting modern cinema’s extremes. This leads us to wonder: When did larger-than-life images and immersive soundscapes become so ordinary to us? How can architecture recapture the sense of wonder that once accompanied cinematic experiences? And, ultimately how can we begin to challenge norms that are deeply ingrained in our psyche?

Congratulations to Leigh House, a doctoral candidate in Taubman College’s architecture program, received a Life-Changing...
04/03/2026

Congratulations to Leigh House, a doctoral candidate in Taubman College’s architecture program, received a Life-Changing Education Grant to research the impact of super-philanthropy on the built environment, as public funding for civic institutions has decreased over the years and been replaced by private donors.

As part of the project, Leigh will host a public workshop with Detroit's Midwest-Tireman neighborhood community, UM students, and community organizations, including Equity Alliance, Neighborhood Art School, and Sanctuary Farms. By engaging in community-based research, Leigh hopes to critically examine citizens' rights to the city and the institutions that facilitate or diminish the civil liberties of underrepresented communities.

Read the full article: https://myumi.ch/w92Mz

Taubman College's María Arquero de Alarcón, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban & Regional Planning, is joinin...
04/02/2026

Taubman College's María Arquero de Alarcón, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban & Regional Planning, is joining forces with peers from Michigan's R1 Universities to work on five interdisciplinary projects designed to protect and strengthen Michigan's water systems, communities, and economies. “Rewilding Urban Waters: Scaling-up Nature-based Solutions through Sustainable Operations & Management Regimes," led by Arquero de Alarcón focuses on restoring natural water processes and reconnecting habitats in urban areas to improve the quality of life and resilience against climate risks in Michigan.

The program is administered by the U-M Office of the Vice President for Research and has awarded more than $400,000 in initial Livable Futures Initiative Water Collaboration Grants.

Read the full article: https://myumi.ch/P3Pyd

An anthology of case studies, including work by Taubman College’s Andrew Herscher, was awarded the 2025 Colvin Prize by ...
04/01/2026

An anthology of case studies, including work by Taubman College’s Andrew Herscher, was awarded the 2025 Colvin Prize by the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain for the year’s outstanding work of reference in architectural history and heritage, broadly defined.

Herscher's contribution included a collaboration with Ana María León documenting "Decolonizing the Chicago Cultural Center," a project carried out by their research collective, the Settler Colonial City Project, at the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial in partnership with the American Indian Center of Chicago. The project connects architectural history to the history of U.S. settler colonialism, and reflects on its ongoing participation in colonial extraction.

Read the full article: https://myumi.ch/4m77Z

Congratulations to the three Taubman College alumni who have been elevated to The American Institute of Architects (AIA)...
03/31/2026

Congratulations to the three Taubman College alumni who have been elevated to The American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows (FAIA) for 2026. This distinction represents the AIA’s highest membership honor, recognizing architects for their outstanding achievements and impact on both the field of architecture and society. It is held by less than three percent of AIA members.

Michael L. Perry, B.S. Arch ’80, M.Arch ’82, Daimian Hines, B.S. Arch ’99, M.Arch ’01, and Efrie Escott, M.Arch ’14, were among the 78 architects selected for 2026.

Michael L. Perry, FAIA
Progressive Companies
B.S. Arch ’80, M.Arch ’82
AIA Michigan

Daimian Hines, FAIA, NOMA
Hines Architecture + Design
B.S. Arch ’99, M.Arch ’01
AIA Texas Society of Architects

Efrie Escott, FAIA
Schneider Electric
M.Arch ’14
AIA Pennsylvania

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