Blending with Nature Between the Oculus and the gradually sloping green roof, the library offers a unique experience to become an urban plaza for Durham and push the boundaries for what a library could be. It leans into the idea that libraries or core public gathering places that contribute to the city’s urban fabric. The view from the street shows the way the building begins the blend into the context by intentionally interacting with nature and creating open spaces for people to gather.

October 20, 2026

NC State Architecture Student Ethan Hall Wins 2026 Pendulum Prize

Architecture Student Ethan Hall received the Pendulum Prize for his proposal for Forest Branch Library, which explores how a public library can respond simultaneously to environmental conditions, the social history of its site and the everyday civic role of a library.

October 16, 2026

Incoming Faculty Spotlight: Margaret Kirk

Margaret Kirk’s research explores the intersection of interdisciplinary collaboration, computational design, digital fabrication, building technology and responsive systems to investigate new modes of architectural inquiry and spatial experience.

landscape architecture and architecture students lean over series of drawings to mark them up

October 15, 2026

Exploring Global Urban Resilience

What does it mean for a city to become safer and adapt to earthquakes, other natural hazards,and changing climatic risks without losing communities, housing, culture, memories and identities? This central question guides the fall 2026 design studio titled Hasköy in Transition: Resilience, Relocation, and Urban Transformation, which brings together landscape architecture and architecture students at the NC State College of Design

October 05, 2026

Made to be Seen: MADTech Students Take Their Stories to ICON13

Finishing a film is only half the work. Three MADTech student animations that began as senior capstones ended up on screen at ICON13 in Baltimore. For the students involved, it was an opportunity to put deeply personal work in front of an audience beyond NC State for the first time, as well as fight the inner voices that make many creatives hesitate to share.

Graphic designer Jarrett Fuller with book cover, Graphic Designers After Graphic Design. The cover features a bright blue and yellow cover with a gradient feature.

September 29, 2026

Blurring the lines between graphic design and what lays beyond: Fuller’s new book explores the changing nature of graphic design

What does it mean to be a graphic designer today? That question is one that Jarrett Fuller – designer, educator, writer – has been exploring in his own work. His latest book, Graphic Designers After Graphic Design, explores this concept through a series of interviews, case studies, and profiles of mid-career individuals who identify as graphic designers, but whose work doesn’t necessarily match our traditional views of graphic design.

September 25, 2026

Partnership with Purpose: A Summer in El Salvador

Over the summer, Bella Templeton, a second-year graphic design student and Social Innovation Fellow, traveled to El Salvador to work alongside Perseverancia, an NC State alumni-founded nonprofit dedicated to expanding…

The statues at the global courtyard, abstract shapes of metal

September 18, 2026

Advancing Global Learning at Home: 2026-2027 Funded Projects

The Office of Global Engagement is pleased to announce five faculty and staff projects funded through its Advancing Global Learning at Home program, which supports innovative campus-based initiatives that bring international perspectives and global skills development to NC State students. Jason Bocarro, College of Natural Resources – Global Perspectives in Sport, Events, and Tourism Management…

September 16, 2026

The Crossover at The Corner

From a 64th-scale model to a full-scale gathering space in just 11 weeks, NC State College of Design students brought The Crossover to life on Centennial Campus, learning firsthand how design, construction and collaboration come together in the real world.

September 01, 2026

NC State Design Students Bring Global Perspective Home from Kenya Studio

Over Spring Break 2026, a group of NC State University College of Design students traded studio desks for muddy shoes and boat rides, spending March 12–22 immersed in community life on Maya Island in Kilifi County, Kenya. The trip was a part of Studio Kenya: Visioning Spatial Future of Maya Community, a new interdisciplinary Spring 2026 studio in partnership with Pwani University.

Meg Calkins, details and materials for resilient sites

August 28, 2026

COTE Book Talk and Review with Meg Calkins

Shawn Swisher reviews Professor Meg Calkin’s latest book, Details and Materials for Resilient Sites, which explores the connections between the carbon cycle and the built environment.

group photo of design and build students in final structure

August 14, 2026

More Than a Studio: 15 Years of Teaching Students the Design, Make, Design Loop

After more than 15 years of teaching the design, make, design loop where students experience the direct (and sometimes brutal) consequences of their design decisions, instructors Randy Lanou and Erik Mehlman are stepping back from the program they helped found. Now, a new generation of instructors will lead students in this experiential summer program.

August 14, 2026

The 2026 Designlife Magazine

The 2026 issue of the annual Designlife Magazine is here! Read about what our students, faculty and alumni have been up to over the past year.

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NC State Architecture Student Ethan Hall Wins 2026 Pendulum Prize