School of Architecture and Planning

Students attending the Crosby Hall opening on the thrid floor exhibition space.

Architecture and Planning are for Everyone

News

The jungle gym mindset and the power the discipline of planning holds—Shawntera Hardy (MUP ’04)
11/19/24
(Un)Defining Korean Architecture: Modernity, Stories, and Transformation
11/12/24
Gresham lecturer talks universal design
11/1/24
2024-25 Banham Fellow Tiffany Xu explores construction through lens of contemporary fiction
10/30/24

More Recent News

Upcoming Events

Department of Architecture Final Reviews
11/25/24
Join us for Department of Architecture student final reviews as we engage in critique and debate around the creative work of our students.
Department of Urban and Regional Planning Final Presentations
11/25/24
Join us as the Department of Urban and Regional Planning hosts final student presentations, featuring engaging discussions on their work.

See all events

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Faces & Voices

It may seem an unlikely place for an architect to land, but Matthew Sama, assistant art director for NBC’s “The Blacklist,” says his UB education uniquely prepared him for what he’s doing today.

2/12/15

Matthew Sama (MArch ’11, Architecture BS ’09)
Assistant Art Director, NBC

“I wanted to live in the middle of nowhere and plant trees,” Jajean Rose-Burney recalls of his hopes for a stint in the Peace Corps. Instead, he wound up behind a desk in a big bureaucracy in Mexico’s fourth-largest city, Puebla.

4/29/14

Jajean Rose-Burney (MUP '07, BAED '05)
Deputy Executive Director, Western New York Land Conservancy

Architect Michael Garz (BA '72) has managed design for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, guided by lessons learned at UB.

2/12/15

Michael Garz (BA '72)
Senior Vice President, STV

"My background in all three fields allows me to approach projects more comprehensively. I’m able to understand the various aspects of each project and can move from one to the other with ease and help mediate conflicts when needed."

1/28/20

Bradley Everdyke (MArch/MUP '17, BAED '13)
Architect focusing in historic preservation, Carmina Wood Morris, Buffalo, NY

After helping UB's NOMAS team place first in a national design competition, this dual master’s grad looks ahead.

2/25/19

Joenette Cobb (MArch/MUP '18)

“My best advice to students: Take every advantage to get practical experience through internships or community work.”

2/12/15

Gary Jastrzab (BA '76)
Executive Director, Philadelphia City Planning Commission

"I adore working toward a common goal. There's a can-do kind of spirit, a lightness at Studio Gang."

5/20/19

Maciej Kaczynski (BS Arch '06)
Project Leader, Studio Gang (Chicago)

A practicing architect, Martinez also works actively to raise awareness of architecture as a career path for traditionally marginalized communities.

10/10/19

Ingrid Martinez (MArch '17, BS Arch '16)
Architectural Designer, Clark Patterson Lee

"The School of Architecture and Planning's open environment and access to professors allowed me to tinker. It’s quite literally what I encourage the staff to do here.”

3/28/18

Kenneth Smith (MArch '85)
Principal, Smith + Associates Architects

Geoffrey Butler’s love of Buffalo led to his work in one of the hardest hit flood areas in the U.S.

2/12/15

Geoffrey Butler (MUP '11)
Planner, Houston Planning and Development

Omar Hakeem has dedicated his career to building social and environmental equality through design and making.

11/26/19

Omar Hakeem (BS Arch '06)
Design Director, bcWorkshop, Washington D.C.

"I would not be the person I am today if it was not for the opportunities and education I had during my time at UB."

10/10/19

Andres Santandreu (MArch '17, BS Arch '16)
Design Associate, Haskell Co., Jacksonville, Fla.

F. Jason Campbell discusses Buffalo as an architectural lens and an influence on his multidimensional career

2/12/15

Jason Campbell (Architecture BS '11)
Designer, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

“I wanted to be in the business of making things happen, of creating a legacy, of creating something that was lasting, creating a sense of place, being an agent of change.”

2/12/15

Richard Perlmutter (BA ’76)
President, Argo Development

"Sometimes you've just got to take a risk."

3/28/18

Doug Swift (MArch '93)
Developer, Buffalo

"The quality of the program and faculty kept me at UB for graduate school and keeps me involved with the school today."

2/4/16

Michael Anderson (MArch '03, BPS '01)
Owner/Architect, Abstract Architecture PC

"I never really knew planning was a career...growing up, my family fostered a love of history and an appreciation for historic buildings. The master’s in urban planning program intrigued that part of me, so even though I never considered myself an excellent student or a strong writer, I took my shot and applied....being a part of the program was the best two years ever.”

10/2/24

Hallie Wright (MUP '24)
Preservation planner focusing in historic preservation, Preservation Studios, Buffalo, NY

As a researcher with China's Development Research Center in Beijing, Xuan Sun brings urban planning solutions to China's rapidly urbanizing cities.

9/3/19

Xuan Sun (MUP '13)
Researcher, Development Research Center of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China

Michael Nelson, performing arts center (PAC) design guru, reflects on creating the "living rooms" of our communities.

11/4/19

Michael Nelson (MArch '83, BPS '81)
Architect and co-founder, designel, Palm Springs, Fla.

“In thirty-five years following my graduation from UB, I have always stayed connected, collaborative and collegial. I believe that I cultivated a rigorous attitude toward constructing links between the discipline and practice of architecture through my studies in the MArch program. ”

3/30/20

Murat Soygenis, FAIA, MArch '85
Founding Partner S+ ARCHITECTURE, Professor, Istanbul

"I arrived at Buffalo with the idea that architecture was a way that I could both understand and intervene in the world."

9/7/18

Gabrielle Printz (MArch '14)
Architectural researcher, writer and designer

"I have the opportunity to try to gain more visibility for females in both the STEM field and in professional sports."

10/29/19

Kimberly Sass (MArch ’16)
Job Captain, HLW; Goaltender and Board Member, Professional Women's Hockey Players' Association

"I have always been very proud to be a graduate from this school and cherish the years that I spent in Buffalo. I discovered so much about the person I was and wanted to become."

3/4/20

Diane Georgopulos, FAIA (BA '73)
Retired director of housing and construction for MassHousing

"Real estate development is a tool, a potentially powerful tool, that can effectuate meaningful change in society, in cities, towns and communities, and in the lives of individuals."

2/8/21

Connor Kenney (MSRED '18)
Real Estate Developer, SAA/EVI.

Rana Abu Ghazaleh is a passionate advocate for and international leader in social justice and equality for women.

3/4/19

Rana Abu Ghazaleh (MUP '08)
Urban planner and global activist

Quardean Lewis-Allen (Architecture BS ’09) has been recognized nationally for his social entrepreneurship in design education for at-risk youth in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn.

2/12/15

Quardean Lewis-Allen (Architecture BS ’09)
Founder, Made in Browsnville

“At UB, you hone your design skills. And you are also trained to have a full understanding of the coordination of the systems of a building."

2/12/15

Suzanne Musho (MArch '93, BA '90)
Vice President, Zubatkin Owner Representation

"I decided to combine my planning skills and technical training in community development with public health to create the concept of healthy places for healthy people."

11/21/19

Dean S. Seneca (BAED '90)
Senior public health specialist and CEO, Seneca Scientific Solutions+ LLC, Buffalo, NY

"The ability to come up with practical ways to engage the general public in terms they can understand is a valuable and essential asset to any preservation organization. During my time at UB, I learned practical solutions and ways to address this."

10/1/19

Katharine Hewlings (MS Arch '18)
Historic Buildings and Structures Survey Coordinator, History Nebraska

“The general attitude of the school is not to project things onto the students, but to have them go out and discover things on their own. You might not have the answer, but you know how to get it. That skill set really prepares you for a career in anything.”

3/13/15

Courtney Creenan-Chorley (MArch/MUP '12, BAED '08)
Architect, Flynn Battaglia Architects

"We see a lot of cities and nonprofits thinking creatively on how federal dollars can go the furthest. Personally I find that exciting."

9/20/19

Taylor Hawes (MUP/JD '12)
Attorney - Advisor, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fort Worth, TX

Real estate developer Daniel Crowther combines interest in design and collaborative facility as manager of projects across the region.

5/20/19

Daniel Crowther (MSRED, BAED '15)
Project Manager, TM Montante

"Our biggest challenge moving forward is creating more equitable outcomes and improving our cities."

2/21/19

Samuel Wells (MUP '14)
Neighborhood Stabilization Coordinator, City of Albany

“We need to think about how to pull these ‘digital materials’ into our set of design tools and expertise...to create a world where it makes sense to interact with physical space and digital things, and still be relevant for an architectural practice.”

2/12/15

Adam Laskowitz (MArch/MFA ’12, Architecture BS ’09)
Director of User Experience, Target Corp.

"Placemaking in Black communities should take a context sensitive approach to customs and cultural values and their effects on the Black family nuclei."

2/23/21

Byron Nicholas (MUP '13, BAED '11)
Creator of Black + Urban; Supervising Transportation Planner, Hudson County, NJ

“The things I learned at UB were essential to the job I do now. But even more important to me were the relationships I cultivated there."

2/12/15

Lisa Hicks (MS in Real Estate Development '17)
Director of Development, City of Buffalo, Office of Strategic Planning

William Gates and a UB engineering alum play lead role in the design and construction of food gardens for the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.

2/12/15

William Gates (MArch ‘01)
Professor, New York School of Interior Design

Meet our Alumni Principals at Gensler

10/15/15

Alumni Marc Bruffett (BAED '92) and Eric Ginsburg (Architecture BS '01) have taken on leadership roles for global architecture, design and planning firm Gensler.