History of NC State’s College of Design

The North Carolina State University School of Design was established in 1948 with two original academic components: the Department of Architecture and the Department of Landscape Architecture. In the late 1950s the school added a third degree-granting unit, the Department of Product Design. In its early years, under the leadership of founding Dean Henry L. Kamphoefner, the School of Design experienced a remarkable period of creative and intellectual development. Designers and theorists such as Buckminster Fuller, Matthew Nowicki, Lewis Mumford, and Eduardo Catalano joined the faculty and helped build a reputation for innovation and experimentation. Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Louis I. Kahn, Pier Luigi Nervi, Charles Eames, Marcel Breuer, and numerous other internationally prominent figures came to lecture, to conduct design experiments, and to inspire a new generation of designers. The legacy of imagination, diversity, and excellence set by this first generation has continued throughout the school’s history.

During the School of Design’s early history its students won numerous national recognitions, including Prix de Rome, Fulbright scholarships, and five Paris prizes. They initiated an outstanding student publication reflecting the school’s experimental posture. Many went on to the nation’s leading graduate schools and assumed positions in architectural practice and education. Recent graduates continue this illustrious tradition, readily gaining admission to prestigious graduate programs and quickly entering positions of leadership in the profession. On the retirement of founding Dean Kamphoefner in 1973, the administrative leadership of the School of Design passed on the Dean Claude E. McKinney. J. Thomas Regan, who had previously served as dean at the University of Miami was appointed Dean in 1990.

In 1994 Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, was appointed as Dean Regan’s successor. During Dean Malecha’s tenure the School of Design has experienced a remarkable period of expanding academic programs, service, and research initiatives, and the school’s ties to the university community, its alumni, and professional constituencies have been greatly strengthened. Technical and academic resources have been greatly expanded. Media laboratories, workshops, design library, and other support facilities are among the best in the nation. Recent accomplishments have included the creation of the Prague Institute and the Raleigh Downtown Design Studio.

In 2000 the School of Design evolved into the College of Design. The Department of Architecture was re-named the School of Architecture in anticipation of expanding its degree and program opportunities.

History of NC State’s School of Architecture

Since it was founded in 1948, the NC State’s School of Architecture has earned a national reputation for the depth and breadth of its programs. Founded in part on Bauhaus educational principles, the school emphasized the interrelationship of the design disciplines, materials and craft, and social responsibility. According to the late Emeritus Professor of Architecture Robert Burns, FAIA, "At the core of the school in these early years was an uncompromising belief that comprehensive design would produce a healthy environment, an improved society, and a better way of life for all. Experimental in nature, the school was open to new ideas and challenges. It identified with the progressive aspirations of the New South, but its perspective was global. Unlike many of its peer institutions emerging from traditional academic positions, the school’s zeal for the new was balanced by an uncommon concern for the broad development of the individual student who was expected to assume a formative role as a creative leader and committed citizen."

In its early years the Department of Architecture offered a single degree: the five-year Bachelor of Architecture. In the late 1960s, it added a 4+2 professional Master of Architecture curriculum. This new structure was seen as a way to address many newly emerging professional and academic issues and provide broader opportunities for students to pursue alternative as well as traditional career paths. The 4+2 curriculum encouraged diversity and increased student choice in shaping their future roles in architecture. 

Since the 1980s the Department of Architecture has offered three degrees: the four-year, pre-professional Bachelor of Environment Design in Architecture (BEDA), the professional 4+1 Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.), and the Master of Architecture (M. Arch.). The latter two-degree programs are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board and as such, satisfy the educational requirements for architectural licensure in North Carolina and throughout the nation.

A new generation of architecture faculty and students has furthered the tradition of innovation and commitment to excellence established in the college’s formative period. The sister departments of Landscape Architecture, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, and Art and Design offer architecture students opportunities for educational enrichment. A variety of foreign study programs are available in many parts of the world.

In the last 20 years, the School of Architecture has been ably guided by a succession of department heads and directors, including Robert Burns, FAIA, from 1983 to 1991; Dr. Paul Tesar from 1991 to 1992; Christos Saccopoulos, AIA, from 1992 to 1997; Dr. Fatih A. Rifki from 1997 to 2001; Robert Burns, FAIA, from 2001 to 2002; Thomas Barrie, AIA from 2002-2007.

Paul Tesar was appointed director in 2007.