“Hello, I’m Your New Tree,” reads the colorful tag soon to be hung on a Cherry tree sapling set for planting in a barren street tree bin on Buffalo's East Side. The friendly introduction – complete with caretaking instructions and a QR code to learn more about the tree and its benefits – will welcome the latest leafy resident to set its roots in one of the city’s most distressed communities as part of the Buffalo Street Trees initiative.

Alireza Borhani (MArch '27) was awarded first place in the Porada International Design Award, Students Category, for his project "Phoenix," developed during the Next-Gen Architect graduate studio, led by Randy Fernando, adjunct instructor in the Department of Architecture.

On the front lawn of the historic Medina High School stands artist James Beckett’s largest North American project to date—a collaboration with the UB School of Architecture and Planning titled A Good Wall. It was conceived as part of the inaugural 2026 Medina Triennial, a site-responsive contemporary art exhibition that seeks to activate the landscapes and histories of Medina, NY and the surrounding Western New York region. 

This year marked a full-circle moment for Ehler Htoo (END ’22, MUP ’25, MArch ’25), who returned to the University at Buffalo—not as a student, but as the instructor of a course she had taken just a few years before. Now an adjunct professor at her alma mater, her story began half a world away at the turn of the millennium.

Beloved by students and colleagues alike for the enthusiasm, empathy, and inclusiveness he brings to the classroom, Emmanuel Frimpong Boamah, chair and associate professor of urban and regional planning at UB, has been awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Li Yin, an urban planner who applies the tools of technology and spatial modeling to understand the interplay of human activity and urban space, has been promoted to full professor in UB’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning. The elevation to the highest academic rank possible recognizes sustained excellence and impact in research, teaching, and service at an international level.

Now more than ever, designing for resilience requires architects to interpret and act upon expanding domains of data that track everything from building energy use, to greenhouse gas emissions, to clean energy production.   

Research shows that the way we design neighborhood streets—and the materials that we use in public spaces—undermine efforts to combat the effects of climatic shifts in urban neighborhoods. While government officials largely recognize the need for change, practical barriers, such as logistical challenges and funding constraints, often prevent the implementation of solutions that could cool neighborhoods and strengthen long-term resilience.

This year’s Best Final Project in the Master of Urban Planning program is a set of recommendations that could help the Town of Cheektowaga and other municipalities across New York State address rising demand for high-capacity Battery Energy Storage Systems, a central but increasingly controversial component of local and state climate action planning for renewable energy storage and grid stabilization.

On the first day of the Next-Gen Architect graduate studio, Randy Fernando, adjunct instructor in the Department of Architecture, posed a question for the students: “What do you think AI will impact in architectural practice?” The general consensus was that it would make their work more efficient, speeding up production and improving outcomes. Over the course of the semester, that assumption would be rigorously put to the test.