Portland State University School of Architecture

Portland State University School of Architecture We also offer a three-year track of the Master of Architecture and a Graduate Certificate in Public Interest Design.

PSU's School of Architecture, located in the urban center of Portland, offers the common 4+2 structure for architectural education, which includes the four-year BA/BS pre-professional undergraduate
major and the two-year professional Master of Architecture. These degree programs aim to develop the creative identity of each student while nurturing civic responsibility, critical judgment, and the
re

presentational and technical ability to translate ideas into plausible architectural propositions. Through our connections with local architecture firms, we offer an initiation into the world of architectural practice and preparation for a career as a licensed professional. Our goal is to provoke the design of compelling architecture through acts of creative fabrication, which are inspired by a critical attitude toward cultural context and fostered within a collaborative
environment of speculation and experiment. Making architecture is an act of communication through which we interpret the richness and complexities of our shared lives into the material and spatial settings in which they unfold. Three primary emphases motivate our teaching:

Material Imagination and the Poetics of Making

Design through fabrication in which the communicative capacities of materials are explored through questions of poetic representation, crafting, media manipulation, and tectonic assembly. The City and Urban Situation

Exploration of cultural context through engagement with topical urban issues, professional and community resources and organizations, and critical questioning of contemporary theories and practices. Cultural Identity and Community Engagement

Creative collaboration with community partners, fostered by dialogue and collective participation with local and remote organizations and groups, including the professional architectural community. To learn more about our programs, visit our website: www.pdx.edu/the-arts/architecture or contact us at [email protected].

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specia...
03/03/2026

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specializing in the built environment of Oregon. She will talk specifically about the 2021 book she published on Oregon’s Mt. Angel Abbey library building, designed by Alvar Aalto, and her current position as the Architecture & Design Project Archivist at the Oregon Historical Society. Architectural archives are representations of our built (and unbuilt) environment that have value as historical documents, contractual records between architects and clients, and are works of art in their own right. Svenson brings a historian’s perspective to the design discipline that values the archival record and the stories it tells (and doesn’t tell) about what we build, what we don’t build, and why.

March 6th 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

More info in bio link

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specia...
03/03/2026

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specializing in the built environment of Oregon. She will talk specifically about the 2021 book she published on Oregon’s Mt. Angel Abbey library building, designed by Alvar Aalto, and her current position as the Architecture & Design Project Archivist at the Oregon Historical Society. Architectural archives are representations of our built (and unbuilt) environment that have value as historical documents, contractual records between architects and clients, and are works of art in their own right. Svenson brings a historian’s perspective to the design discipline that values the archival record and the stories it tells (and doesn’t tell) about what we build, what we don’t build, and why.

March 6th 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

More info in bio link

Join us for this week’s Fridays@1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist special...
03/03/2026

Join us for this week’s Fridays@1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specializing in the built environment of Oregon. She will talk specifically about the 2021 book she published on Oregon’s Mt. Angel Abbey library building, designed by Alvar Aalto, and her current position as the Architecture & Design Project Archivist at the Oregon Historical Society. Architectural archives are representations of our built (and unbuilt) environment that have value as historical documents, contractual records between architects and clients, and are works of art in their own right. Svenson brings a historian’s perspective to the design discipline that values the archival record and the stories it tells (and doesn’t tell) about what we build, what we don’t build, and why.

March 6th 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specia...
03/03/2026

Join us for this week’s Fridays @1 as Hope Svenson discusses her work as an architectural historian and archivist specializing in the built environment of Oregon. She will talk specifically about the 2021 book she published on Oregon’s Mt. Angel Abbey library building, designed by Alvar Aalto, and her current position as the Architecture & Design Project Archivist at the Oregon Historical Society. Architectural archives are representations of our built (and unbuilt) environment that have value as historical documents, contractual records between architects and clients, and are works of art in their own right. Svenson brings a historian’s perspective to the design discipline that values the archival record and the stories it tells (and doesn’t tell) about what we build, what we don’t build, and why.

March 6th 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

More info in bio link.

For this week’s Fridays@1, we invite you to join us for a special Thesis Open House in the School of Architecture. From ...
02/26/2026

For this week’s Fridays@1, we invite you to join us for a special Thesis Open House in the School of Architecture. From 1:00–2:00 PM, Shattuck Hall second floor hallway and Room 212 will transform into an exhibition space featuring the work of our thesis students. Their projects will be pinned up, offering a glimpse into the ideas, research, drawings, models, and design investigations they have been developing so far. This is a walk-through event, giving you the opportunity to move freely and engage with the work at your own pace, and speak directly with the students about their projects. Each thesis student will be present beside their work to share their process, explain their concepts, and answer questions.

Friday, February 27th 2026 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Location
Shattuck Hall 2nd Floor Hallway and Room 212
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

Find more information through the link in bio

Concepts tested, feedback incoming.
02/26/2026

Concepts tested, feedback incoming.



Thank you to Leah Martin for joining us at today’s Friday@1 and sharing insights on practicing Architecture Plus. Expand...
02/21/2026

Thank you to Leah Martin for joining us at today’s Friday@1 and sharing insights on practicing Architecture Plus. Expanding architecture beyond design to include advocacy, policy, development, and finance.

Join us this Friday @ 1 as Leah Martin, co-founder of Allied8, discusses Architecture Plus, expanding architecture beyon...
02/19/2026

Join us this Friday @ 1 as Leah Martin, co-founder of Allied8, discusses Architecture Plus, expanding architecture beyond design into development, advocacy, policy, and finance.

How can architects shape systems, communities, and futures in a time of climate and housing challenges? Find out this Friday.

Feb.20 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201
More info in bio link

Join us this Friday @ 1 as Leah Martin, co-founder of Allied8, discusses Architecture Plus, expanding architecture beyon...
02/19/2026

Join us this Friday @ 1 as Leah Martin, co-founder of Allied8, discusses Architecture Plus, expanding architecture beyond design into development, advocacy, policy, and finance.

How can architects shape systems, communities, and futures in a time of climate and housing challenges? Find out this Friday.

Feb.20 1pm-2pm
Shattuck Hall Annex
SW Broadway at Hall Street
1914 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR 97201

More info in bio link

A collection of pinups and midterm reviews from our graduate studios and 4th-year undergraduate cohorts.
02/14/2026

A collection of pinups and midterm reviews from our graduate studios and 4th-year undergraduate cohorts.

Address

Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97201

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm

Website

https://linktr.ee/psuarchitecture

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