Barcelona
Fall Independent Travel
2025-10-22 to 2025-11-2
Independent travel with a purpose! Students explored cities and countries of their choosing, taking a deep dive into history and sites, and capturing it all in their sketchbooks.
#architecture #archatillinois #sketching #iasapbv
Class Field Trip Day 3
2025-11-14
We spent our last day of our field trip in Reus! Did you know that the city was the financial hub in the Tarragona area?
We were able to see two
Modernista buildings today:
• Instituto Pere Mara
• Casa Navas
We are now back home and ready for our week ahead, prepare for more fun photos and videos as you keep up with us in Barcelona!
#architecture #archatillinois
#sketching #iasapbv
Class Field Trip Day 2
2025-11-13
The class was able to continue our travels in Tarragona today! Some buildings we saw were:
- Gobierno Civil Building
- Tarragona’s Cathedral
- Tarragona’s Roman Amphitheater
Tomorrow, we head off to Reus!
#architecture #archatillinois #sketching #iasapbv
Class Field Trip Day 1
2025-11-12
Today the class began the first day of the field trip to the Tarragona region. Some highlights include:
- Monastery of Poblet
- Vistabella Church
- Cellar Ardernats
Stay tuned for the rest of our trip!
El Vapor de Prodis
2025-11-7
This space was once a factory that is now restored into a multipurpose educational facility. The iron and brick on the exterior blends into a welcoming wood framing interior — something that all the students were able to photograph and draw while visiting the site!
#barcelona #architecture #iasapbv #archatillinois
Casa Llotja de Mar
2025-11-5
Yesterday, the architecture history class visited the former stock exchange for a field trip. They could see the blend of gothic and neoclassical architecture elements up close.
#barcelona #architecture #iasapbv
Domesticity Workshop
2025-9-30 to 2025-10-14
Over the past couple of weeks students have participated in exercises to educate them on the minimal comfortable spacial requirements for everyday living.
#architecture #archatillinois #studyabroad #students
Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar
2025-10-20
Our class spent the day studying the Gothic elements of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar.
#archatillinois #sketching #barcelona
Arch
XPO Portfolio Review Sessions
We are pleased to announce the next Career XPO event, the Portfolio Review Sessions.
What: 15 minute sessions with Architecture faculty to receive personalized feedback on your resumes, portfolios, and presentations skills.
When:
Tuesday, 11/18/2025
Wednesday, 11/19/2025
Thursday, 11/20/2025
Online: Zoom
How: Register at https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C094BAEA929A0F5CF8-60356316-portfolio
ACSA Winner of the 2025 Design for Freedom Competition
2ND PLACE
CATEGORY II: MATERIAL RESEARCH
Behind the Rubber
Student: Xingyu Liu
Faculty Sponsor: Patricia Saldaña Natke
Juror Comments: Behind the Rubber impressed the jury with the comprehensive research and strong emphasis on policy, presenting a well-developed and innovative concept that introduces fresh perspectives of unconventional thinking. The students demonstrate a clear commitment to consumer understanding, using thoughtful storytelling to make complex systems more transparent. A key strength of the design is the clear and thorough articulation of the proposed ecosystem.
ACSA Winner of the 2025 Concrete Masonry Student Competition
3RD PLACE
FLASH POINT
Student: Michael Zemaitis
Faculty Sponsor: Erik Hemingway
Juror Comments
Flash Point offers a thoughtful reinterpretation of the contemporary fire station’s role in regions vulnerable to wildfires. The use of concrete masonry is especially commendable, used and designed with intelligence and care. The student’s modern interpretation of a breeze block screen wall is masterfully articulated. The design creatively incorporates deployable pods and a luminous lookout tower, transforming the station into both a lifesaving command center and a welcoming community refuge.
ACSA Winner of the 2025 Design for Freedom Competition
1ST PLACE
CATEGORY I: DESIGN PROJECT
Peace Museum – Beyond the Scars
Students: Nidhi Naik & Shamita Shyam Honawar
Faculty Sponsors: Patricia Saldaña Natke & Soumya Dasgupta
Juror Comments: Peace Museum – Beyond the Scars is recognized as a first place winner for the powerful and deeply principled design that places ethical material sourcing and labor equity at the heart of the architectural design. By weaving the story through material choices and labor practices, the students ground their concept in a meaningful, real-world context. The use of cartoon bubbles is both inventive and engaging, offering a compelling way to communicate the project’s narrative that can be easily understood by a non-architect.
Thank you to all who viewed “Édifices de Rome Moderne” hosted by the School of Architecture Exhibit Committee. This exhibit featured the reproductions of engravings and original photographs documenting buildings of Renaissance and Baroque Rome as depicted by Paul Marie Letarouilly in his three volume Édifices de Rome Moderne. The main body of research was done from 2003- 2006. An exhibition of 100 black and white plates and 5 oversized color images has been created to tour the United States beginning in the fall of 2008. Plates are 17” x 22” framed images. A hyperlinked matrix including project, plate and rione (district in Rome) information, address location and photographs has been compiled to accompany the investigation.
Édifices de Rome Moderne forms the basis for an investigation of Rome – then and now, a comparison of the Rome depicted by Paul Marie Letarouilly and the existing state of the edifices. The research conducted by Kevin Hinders with Research Assistants Carole Pekney, Michael Waters, Cory Colman and Magdalena P. Zdankiewicz locates and documents the existing structures and the present state of the buildings depicted in 354 plates. The subsequent investigations illustrate both historic changes and original misrepresentations.
#archatillinois #wedesign
As founder and principal of Ross Barney Architects, she has maintained that dedication to a socially responsible vision for the built environment. Among her many accolades, she won the 2015 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Illinois’ prestigious Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor, for outstanding lifetime service to architecture.
Ross Barney’s portfolio ranges from large government and educational projects to the smaller, overlooked spaces of everyday life. “Lately, my studio has been interested in infrastructure: bus stations, power stations—the ‘guts’ of a city. We can make those spaces look and feel ordered.” Indeed, if you’ve ever waited at the Cermak-McCormick CTA station or strolled the Chicago Riverwalk, you have experienced her work.
#archatillinois #wedesign
Congratulations to our talented students for their outstanding achievements at the 2025 Society of American Registered Architects (SARA), New York Council Design Awards!
Their creativity and dedication have earned top honors across multiple categories: a true reflection of innovation and design excellence.
Design Awards of Excellence
-Anish Sahu, Zhe Tan, Jiren Zhou, & Samruddhi Shridhankar | Where the Creatures Play
-Nupur Agarwal, Himanshi Rathod, & Aditi Narayan Panji | The Aviary
Design Awards of Honor
-Muntasir Hakim & Ryan Chip | Peace Museum
Design Awards of Merit
-Muntasir Hakim, Michael Zemaitis, & Anam Haque | Dwell78
-Arpit Amarseda, Khwaeesh Desai, & Shengjie Li | Cradle – A Visionary Multispecies Design for Migratory Birds
We’re so proud of your creativity, vision, and impact in shaping the future of design.
#archatillinois #wedesign @saranycouncil
Join us for our Graduate Open House on November 14th at 8am CST!
This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the programs we offer here at Illinois, and a chance to begin building your future at the Illinois School of Architecture.
Please register using the QR code above or by typing in this url below:
https://illinois.zoom.us/meeting/register/Mb1qVY6_QmaFg8cmoP1T0w
