About the School of Architecture & Design

Mission and Vision

Our mission within the School of Architecture and Design is to provide a design- and technology-based 21st-century professional education that enables leadership in the profession and within the community. We’ve identified three core values, or educational aspirations, to guide our approach:

• Design Intelligence, which refers to broad-based skills and intellectual rigor you’ll earn by completing a challenging curriculum that emphasizes individual creativity as well as an appreciation of history, culture, and the contributions made by architects to the art and science of building.
• Building Technology, which establishes the importance we place on technology within our coursework and approach. This value is manifested in a well-developed, hands-on curriculum in structures, environmental systems, sustainability, and building construction.
• Leadership, an attribute of character that we aspire to instill in all of our graduates. This is cultivated in many aspects of their education, including the inclusion of program-wide team projects that demand cohesive interaction and the establishment of clear organizational structures to achieve project goals. Leadership is also developed through the holistic and ethical foundations of your New York Tech educational experience. We actively participate in national and international initiatives where you’ll gain self-confidence by working in collaboration with other institutions and organizations.

Lecture Series

Program Philosophy

Located at both New York campuses, New York Tech offers degrees in Architecture, Computational Technologies, Digital Arts, Graphic Design, Health and Design, Interior Design, Urban Design, and more. Our programs reflect our mission to deliver a 21st-century design education that is technology-infused and culturally meaningful, and to provide unique and affordable educational experiences that emphasize:

1. Academics – Rigorous academics, critical thinking, and advanced specializations for professional education, personal development, and lifelong learning, which include lending mentorship and support post-graduation to the next generations of students.
2. Technology – Development and deployment of technology resources to optimize our creative and professional work. 
3. Environment – Harnessing professional resources and practices to address the reciprocal impacts between climate, natural, and built environments. 
4. Community Building – Access to top professional development and networking resources. 
5. Equity – Expanding opportunities for diverse communities for integrative research and open-source sharing. 
6. Innovation – Distribution of experimental approaches to stimulate transformative thinking to benefit society.
7. Professional Leadership – Professionalism, ethics, and public engagement.

Design is increasingly shaped by today’s innovators, collaborators, and leaders, equipped with knowledge and experience with which to create culturally transformative, ethically and ecologically sound buildings, communities, and cities. We prepare our students for their future professional careers with a sequence of intensive design studios, alongside courses focusing on the acquisition of knowledge and skills in advanced technologies for design, fabrication, and construction, history, theory, and liberal arts.

Our programs emphasize the exploration of creative design solutions in an intimate, ambitious, and nurturing environment. We aim to create globally engaged, environmentally sensitive, professionally accredited designers with intellectual and artistic sensibility and technical proficiency.

History 

The history of the School of Architecture and Design has been closely associated with the development of New York Tech as an institution of higher education. Today, we are, in many respects, in the best position we have ever been in. Of note:

• Accomplished adjunct and full-time faculty are infusing the classrooms and curriculum with new, invigorating levels of expertise.
• We collaborate on projects with other universities, community groups, government officials, professional associations, and interdisciplinary partners.
• Our Advisory Board is comprised of world-class leaders in the profession who provide valuable advice and guidance.
• Our students and faculty receive patents, awards, and invitations to lecture or consult, and have even been invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives on the importance of renewable energy.
• Alumni participation and support have risen to record levels.

Historic Milestones of the School of Architecture and Design

1973: The New York Board of Regents of the State of New York authorized New York Tech to offer a five-year professional architecture program. The degree path is implemented as an option in the third year of the existing four-year curriculum. 

1984: The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design program gains professional accreditation from the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER). FIDER was eventually renamed CIDA; the Interior Design Program currently possesses CIDA accreditation status. 

1997: The New York Board of Regents of the State of New York authorizes the offering of a post-professional Master of Architecture in Urban and Regional Design.

2001: Following a national search, New York Tech President Edward Guiliano appoints Judith DiMaio, then an associate professor at Yale University’s School of Architecture and the director of the undergraduate major in Architecture at Yale College, as dean of the NYIT School of Architecture and Design.

2010: The School of Architecture and Design realigns its foundation courses to facilitate greater interdisciplinary/collaborative alignment with the B.F.A. in interior design, the B.Arch., and B.S.A.T. degrees.