From the Dean
Find out what it means to live a life of design by exploring our website.
Your visit to this website is a first step in crafting your education and career. That education and career will have a big impact on your life. It will shape how you think, who you meet, how you spend your time, where you live. It will be deeply rewarding and equally challenging. It will require the best you have to offer and enrich your life and the lives of those you serve.
The college is here to help you begin your journey in the design life. Our highly ranked programs not only teach professional excellence, but also help you learn important life skills, such as teamwork, collaboration, creative inquiry, crafting and making, and research. In short, you will learn to balance intuition with evidence as you design solutions to the confounding challenges we face.
We offer degrees in Architecture, Graphic & Experience Design, Industrial Design, Media Arts, Design and Technology, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and Design Studies and have focused applications in the built environment, product design, textile and fiber design, user experience, animation and multimedia, as well as creative practice through the exploration of mediums, composition, and storytelling. All ideas start with design thinking, which is a process that takes a human-centered approach to problem-solving.
No matter what degree program you choose, our faculty and staff are here to support you and provide a safe place for you to experiment, learn from mistakes, and begin your life in design.
So once again, welcome and here’s to great design!
Mark Elison Hoversten, PhD, FASLA, FCELA, AICP, Assoc. AIA
Our Strategic Plan
POV: It’s 2003, and you just set your AIM away message because it`s time to kick it with your friends in the studio. 🐺🤘
📸 Feeling nostalgic? #HowlBack, and tag us in your favorite throwback pic from your time at the COD!
Our 🧠 is saying don`t slip on the bricks but our ❤️ is wondering which hill is best for sledding.
Seriously, though. Please be careful with the bricks.
To Tatiana Veloso, design has a powerful ability to connect individuals to each other and to the places they inhabit.
From Rio de Janeiro to NC State, Tatiana’s journey as a designer is as inspiring as it is impactful. A 2024 graduate of the Master of Landscape Architecture program, Tatiana’s work bridges the gap between art, science and community engagement.
Driven by her passion for creating better cities, Tatiana’s design philosophy centers on systems and relationships—whether between people, spaces or the environment.
Her master’s research focuses on co-creating climate resilience in informal settlements, particularly in Rio’s densely populated communities. These areas face heightened risks from landslides and flooding, exacerbated by climate change. Tatiana envisions a collaborative approach, one that incorporates the insights and innovations of local residents. “Landscape architecture has the potential to mitigate impacts, save lives and improve communities through partnership and understanding,” she explains.
Tatiana’s time at NC State has been marked by meaningful collaborations and transformative experiences. “You learn so much from the faculty and your cohort,” she shares. “It’s a collaborative environment where everyone supports and pushes each other forward.”
Currently, Tatiana is applying her expertise at a local design firm specializing in active transportation and urban mobility. She’s also advancing her climate resilience research as a 2024 @lafoundation National Olmsted Scholar finalist, which funds impactful projects like hers.
For Tatiana, the lessons of NC State are just the beginning of a lifelong commitment to making cities more sustainable, inclusive and connected—proof that design is truly a global force for good.
New friends. New designs. New messes that are just magic in disguise. Happy #FDOC, designers! ❤️
