The Carnegie Mellon Architecture Newsletter comes out three times per semester. It includes interviews with CM-A alumni and faculty and deep dives into research, events, projects and work happening at the school. Started in 2010 as a print publication known as "Span," it moved online under the name "e-SPAN" before coming to be known as the CM-A Newsletter.
In this edition of the newsletter, we congratulate and bid farewell to our 2026 CM-A undergraduate, master's and Ph.D. graduates. We interview our 2026 Architecture Diploma Ceremonies alumni speaker Rachel Zsembery (B.Arch ’00) and share memories from the diploma ceremony celebrations. We also share a video of this year's final reviews and thesis show.
In this edition of the newsletter, we take a deep dive into the Remaking Cities Institute, one of the major research platforms within CM–A. We also share photos from this year's Spring Carnival pavilion and an announcement about the spring award winners.
This edition of the newsletter celebrates the community and work of Carnegie Mellon Architecture. Head of School Omar Khan reflects on how architectural education at CMU contributes to a bright view of the future. We also share videos and photography from school celebrations this spring, including the PJ Dick Innovation Fund Faculty Grants Program showcase and the "x-change" publication launch and welcome back celebration.
In our last edition of the year, the CM—A Newsletter dives into the Computational Design Laboratory (CodeLab). We talk to its director, Daniel Cardoso Llach, and alum Lydia Schweitzer (MSCD '21) who now works in research at NASA. We also share exciting news: the school launched a publishing imprint, in otherwards, and its inaugural publication "after school"; this year's "x-change" publication will soon be available; and in January, we will celebrate the second round of PJ Dick Innovation Fund awardees.
In this edition of the Carnegie Mellon Architecture Newsletter, we explore the legacy of the Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, one of the most storied research centers at the school. We hear from co-directors Vivian Loftness, Erica Cochran Hameen and Azadeh O. Sawyer, as well as an alum of the program, Siliang Lu (PhD-BPD '19). We also learn about research from the M.Arch Travel Awards winners, who presented their work at an exhibition and Pecha Kucha presentation on October 27.
In this edition of the Carnegie Mellon Architecture Newsletter, we introduce our theme for the coming year: the many forms of research that take place at Carnegie Mellon Architecture and the ways that CM–A researchers, research centers and alumni are changing the world through policy and practice. We also share photographs from our annual student exhibition, this year themed "Cabinets of Curiosities" and remembrances of architect, educator and alumnus Art Lubetz (1940-2025).
In this issue of e-SPAN, we say farewell to Mary-Lou Arscott, Associate Studio Professor and Associate Head for Design Fundamentals, who retired this spring after 18 years with the school. We include the story of her unconventional architecture path in her own words. We also share images from this year's Spring Thesis Exhibition, Commencement and the inaugural Building Performance and Diagnostics Symposium which took place at CMU in April.
In this issue of e-SPAN, we explore how industry partnerships can strengthen the research at Carnegie Mellon Architecture by talking to three faculty recipients of the PJ Dick Innovation Fund Faculty Grants Program: Azadeh Sawyer, Vernelle A. A. Noel and Juney Lee. We also invite alumni and friends to join us this year during Spring Carnival Weekend, April 3-5. Finally, we see some images from student travel over spring break.
In this issue of e-SPAN, we dive into a niche area of AI in architectural practice: Building Information Modeling (BIM). We talk to a PhD student, Yael Nester (PhD-AECM ’27), who feels confident that AI cannot replace the human architect's judgment. We then speak with alumnus Jared Friedman (B.Arch ’10) who describes some of the innovative ways he uses BIM and AI in his work as a Computational Product Manager at Walter P Moore. We also get to see work from Tannaz Afshar's (PhD-AECM ’26) in-progress dissertation about deconstruction and material reuse on a university campus. Finally, we recap some exciting recent celebrations, including NOMA Pittsburgh's 10th anniversary gala, where faculty, students and alumni won awards, and the PJ Dick Innovation Fund Faculty Grants Program round one showcase.
In this issue of e-SPAN, we talk to the student organizers of the 2024 AIAS Northeast Quad Conference, "DES[AI]GN: Artificial Intelligence in Architecture,” which took place from October 31 to November 2 at CMU. We preview some upcoming course offerings related to artificial intelligence and share news about the 2024 Fall Awards cycle, which saw exciting proposals from students and faculty for their research and travel activities. And we catch up with the Master of Urban Design students to learn about their field trip to the Sweet Water Foundation in Chicago, where the group was hosted by Emmanuel Pratt, the inaugural Watson Chair in Architecture at Carnegie Mellon Architecture.
