NDSU’s architecture program will soon celebrate 100 years of design education and excellence. The program has scheduled “1914-2014: A Century of Design Leaders” for Oct. 17-18, which features a gala event.
“We will mark an important milestone for a program whose humble beginnings answered the need for design professionals back in 1914,” said David Bertolini, chair and professor. “Since then, NDSU Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture graduates have become leaders in both outstanding companies engaged in work around the world and respected award-winning regional firms. We have much to celebrate.”
Renowned architecture educator and writer Witold Rybczynski is scheduled to be the keynote speaker during the festivities. His presentation is set for Friday, Oct. 17, at 4 p.m. at the Fargo Theatre, 314 Broadway. It is free and open to the public.
Rybczynski taught architecture at McGill University in Montreal for 20 years. He is Emeritus Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. His articles have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, New York Review of Books and the New York Times. Rybczynski also has been architecture critic for Saturday Night, Wigwag and Slate.
A reception follows Rybczynski’s presentation at 6:30 p.m. at the Harry D. McGovern Alumni Center. Tickets for the reception are $40.
The centennial celebration will continue with a gathering and student exhibit, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the fifth floor of Renaissance Hall.
The gala is scheduled for Oct. 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Plains Art Museum, 704 1st Ave. N., Fargo. The business attire/black tie event is by reservation only. Tickets are $45. The gala will feature music by a three-piece ensemble led by David C. Ferreira, who has performed as a vocal soloist and guest pianist with the Fargo-Moorhead symphony.
For more information regarding the centennial, contact teresa.enderson@ndsu.edu. The deadline to register is Sept. 30. Visit www.ndsu.edu/ala/centennial/home.php for further information. To register online, visit https://www.ndsualumni.com/ALACentennial.
The celebration honors a program that dates back to 1914, when one faculty member – Raymond Mathews, an instructor in the Division of Mechanical Arts – organized a few classes for a handful of students.
NDSU’s program was later academically aligned with the engineering program until the 1950s. Change occurred in 1969, when the department, led by faculty member Harlyn Thompson, put major curricular shifts in place and sought accreditation. The National Architectural Accrediting Board approved NDSU’s program in 1971.
Today, the NDSU Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture department has 22 full-time faculty and several adjunct faculty teaching an expanding enrollment in world-class facilities at Renaissance Hall and Klai Hall in downtown Fargo.
For additional information about the department, contact Bertolini at david.bertolini@ndsu.edu.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.