Architecture & Allied Arts: Sustainability!

Designing for sustainable cities and environments is a way of life at the UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Programs in architecture, landscape architecture, community and regional planning, historic preservation and interior architecture focus on the integration of ecology, healthy communities, and environmental design.

A special edition of the journal DesignIntelligence ranked the architecture program as the No. 1 program in the United States. The interior architecture and landscape architecture were ranked second and fourth, respectively, in sustainable design practices and principles. The publication ranks the country’s top architecture and design schools each year.

“Sustainable design and green building are deeply integrated into our programs," said Christine Theodoropoulos, head of the architecture department. "There is a shared commitment among students and faculty that every project must be sustainable, in theory and in practice.”

Putting in action this commitment to green design, the UO launched the Sustainable Cities Initiative this fall and chose as its first project a year-long collaboration with the City of Gresham, located east of Portland, Ore. The initiative consists of a concentration of interdisciplinary courses with the single focus on sustainability for Oregon’s fourth largest city. More than 250 UO students and 14 professors are collaborating with the city to further sustainable design and planning approaches. The program provides students with real-world experience to apply their training and serve a city that is ready to transition to a more-sustainable and accessible future.

The Sustainable Cities Initiative is one of five interdisciplinary themes, coined “Big Ideas,” that are shaping the future academic priorities at the UO as a result of a campus-wide discussion and selection process. University faculty members and students are champions in sustainable design, helping create healthier and greener communities.

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Green design and research also come together in the work of architect Ihab Elzeyadi’s Green Classroom Toolbox project. Elzeyadi’s mission is to adapt K-12 school facilities to be more environmentally conscious. This year, he’s working on Portland's public schools to reduce their carbon footprint. Elzeyadi is showing that his green ideas from the Green Classroom Toolbox aren't just beneficial for students, but are going above and beyond to rethink the way classroom and learning should be designed.

After analyzing 30- to 50-year-old schools, he assessed they were “worse than prisons,” prompting him to seek a solution where students could thrive in a “green spaces” learning environment.

Providing evidence-based design guidelines to retrofit existing classrooms to adhere to climate zones and the carbon impact on the environment, as well as student’s health and academic performance, Elzeyadi’s Green Classroom Toolbox is taking on the task of trying to make others re-think the way classrooms should be designed and managed.