All News

Dec 22, 2020

Masters of Art + Design Program Recognized for Excellence in Assessment

The Masters of Art + Design program has been recognized by the NC State Graduate School as a 2019-2020 Excellence in Assessment Honoree.

Dec 16, 2020

Three Students Receive the Shawcroft Drawing Prize

The Brian Shawcroft Prize is awarded every year to an architecture student nominated by a faculty member for her/his excellent hand drawing skills.

Dec 10, 2020

Mirrors and Mentors: Reaching Back for the Next Generation

ClayVon Lowe, Reggie Howell and Britt Davis are all graduates of the College of Design. By paying the act of mentorship forward, they have not only formed a bond that continues to shape their own lives and careers, but those of other young minds as well.

Dec 3, 2020

Congratulations, Ph.D. Graduates!

Dean Mark Hoversten provides encouraging words to our recent Ph.D. graduates.

Dec 3, 2020

Congratulations, Graduates!

For our 2020 graduates, this year's commencement ceremony was like no other. It began with a video of Dean Hoversten searching the campus for our students. Then, the department heads shared words of encouragement with the students, commending them for their outstanding work this year.

Dec 1, 2020

Deborah Littlejohn wins a 2020 Design Incubation Award

Deborah Littlejohn won a 2020 Design Incubation Award for her work in her GD303 course, which incorporates augmented reality into textbooks.

Nov 30, 2020

COVID-19 Can’t Stop LEED Lab

When the fall semester took an unexpected turn to online instruction, LEED Lab shifted to embrace the new learning opportunity.

Nov 21, 2020

Coastal Dynamics Design Lab Continues Community Flood Work with Two New Grants

The Coastal Dynamics Design Lab continues its work throughout the State of North Carolina with two new grants received.

Nov 10, 2020

Leader, Mentor, Mother: Marva Motley Honored for Commitment to Black Students Via Endowed Scholarship

Countless black students have described Motley as an advocate for them, cheering them on within the college, and helping them navigate any college challenge, whether it was financial aid or help attending a national conference. It was exactly that degree of support that shaped Tim Allen’s College of Design experience and led him to develop a new fund in her honor.

Nov 9, 2020

Dean’s Five Year Review

View a copy of Dean Hoversten's five-year review.

Nov 4, 2020

Alumni, Faculty and Lecturers Win AIA NC Design and Chapter Awards

Over 100 projects were submitted to this year's program and 21 were awarded. Of those awarded, many had team members who are alumni of NC State's College of Design.

Nov 4, 2020

Duke University, NC State College of Design, and five NC counties partner to use behavioral science and design to improve county COVID responses

The Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University has partnered with the NC State College of Design and five North Carolina counties to form a multidisciplinary collaboration aiming to use behavioral science and design to improve county COVID responses.

Nov 3, 2020

2019-20 Awards and Honors

NC State faculty, staff, students and alumni garnered significant recognition for their accomplishments over the past year. Here are a few highlights.

Oct 19, 2020

Virtual Three Minute Thesis Finalists

Ten graduate students will compete Dec. 2 in NC State’s first virtual Three Minute Thesis competition.

Oct 14, 2020

Remembering Susan Toplikar

Susan taught, trained, and mentored rising artists, designers, and architects for over 30 years at the College of Design at NC State University. In addition to teaching, Susan maintained a rigorous studio presence. She was very prolific, creating works in the studio when she wasn’t in the classroom, and completed an astonishing body of work.

Oct 8, 2020

In the Name of Freedom

Professor Victoria Gallagher and student diversity coordinator Joe Johnson are on the board of directors for the new Freedom Park planned for downtown Raleigh.

Oct 7, 2020

Architecture Students Compete in Sigmon Memorial Scholarship Design Competition

The student team of Grace Polo-Wood, Ben Stradling, Myiam Nestor, and Taylor Ligon have won the Annual NCMCA Sigmon Memorial Scholarship Design Competition at North Carolina State University. The 2020 competition marks its twentieth year at NC State, sponsored by the North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association (NCMA).

Oct 2, 2020

Important Academic Calendar Updates

Upcoming and important dates for the remainder of the fall 2020 semester include the drop deadline, spring enrollment, and the S/U grading option.

Oct 2, 2020

Finally, a Home: Industrial Design Program to Get Dedicated Space

The College of Design Industrial Design Program will get a new home after 40 years, moving into the first floor of 111 Lampe Drive.

Sep 22, 2020

New Name, Continued Direction: Landscape Architecture’s Name Change Reflects Continued Work with Communities

“This change better aligns our department with both our curriculum offerings and the work our faculty have been doing, both researched-based and in the community, over the last several years” said Meg Calkins, department head of landscape architecture and environmental planning.

Sep 16, 2020

Architecture Students Sweep 2020 Design Awards

Students from the College of Design won three out of four awards from the AIA South Atlantic Region Aspire 2020 Design Awards.

Sep 13, 2020

NC State Creatives: Sara Fisher

To Sara, the gaming world is more than just a space for entertainment - it's a space for empathy and connection. Using VR and motion-sensing software, Sara's work aims to bring feelings of curiosity, exploration and compassion to interactive design.

Sep 13, 2020

NC State Creatives: Annie McDonald

Industrial design is about the user, and Annie is taking advantage of every tool at her disposal to create solutions everywhere she can. Whether it's VR training for medical staff or product development for accessible travel, Annie wants to make a huge impact wherever she goes.

Sep 13, 2020

NC State Creatives: Yash Shah

Great architecture serves a purpose. For Yash Shah, that purpose is to promote mediation, collaboration and representation between social groups.

Sep 9, 2020

The Henry W. and Lorene R. Johnston Design + Build Program

While there are other Design + Build programs across the country, there’s one thing that makes the Henry W. and Lorene R. Johnston Design + Build stand alone: each project, from conceptualization to completion, takes place over the span of 11 weeks.

Sep 7, 2020

Switching Back the Code: A Q&A with Jemima Liteli

Jemima Liteli is a junior studying graphic design at NC State. Attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs) for the majority of her life has caused her to feel the otherness, isolation and disconnection that other BIPOC students often feel. When she first came to the College of Design, Jemima found it hard to break the habits of assimilation she developed over the years. She credits the community she found at NC State for her growth and empowerment as an activist and a designer.

Sep 4, 2020

Exploring Coastal Conservation: Students and Faculty Win ASLA Awards to Preserve NC

Three submissions were selected for Honor Awards as part of the 2020 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Professional and Student Awards.

Sep 3, 2020

Triangle Modern Architecture Features College of Design’s Influence on Local Architecture

Victoria Ballard Bell's new book features a comprehesive look at modern architecture in the Triangle, including many alumni and faculty from the College of Design.

Aug 25, 2020

Students Take Top Prize in National Concrete Masonry Association Competition

Joshua Albert and Clayton Johnson, under advisor Vincent Petrarca, won first place in the NCMA 2020 Unit Design Competition.

Aug 25, 2020

Climate Change and the Challenge of Community Relocation

Climate change will profoundly affect how people move and where people live. Coastal communities, home to approximately 40% of the U.S. population, face the prospect of continuing sea level rise. Inland areas are not immune, faced as they are with the potential for flooding rivers and the prospect of wetter, slower-moving storms like hurricanes Harvey and Florence. Melting permafrost and increasingly intense wildfires pose challenges for communities from Alaska to Australia.

Aug 20, 2020

Designlife Podcast: Justin Johnson

Today we are discussing how gaming, especially in a virtual reality setting, can be applied to treating post traumatic stress disorder. We’re joined by NC State College of Design Assistant Professor and Doctor of Design student practitioner, Justin Johnson. As a combat veteran and lifelong gamer, Justin has been researching how the natural environment can…

Aug 19, 2020

Meet the Newest Members of the Pack

This year’s first-year and transfer students are facing a new kind of fall, but they’re ready to work hard, have fun and make the most of every opportunity.

Aug 14, 2020

Chandra Cox Contributes Illustrations to ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy’

Chandra Cox's illustration appears in Tony Medina’s book, 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Boy, in which Medina’s poems are illustrated by depicting thirteen views of everyday life: young boys dressed in their Sunday best, running to catch a bus, growing up to be teachers, and much more.

Aug 14, 2020

Designlife Podcast: Elen Deming

The Doctor of Design (DDes) was established in 2016, making it one of the newest programs the college has to offer. It is also the only one of its kind in the country that offers a blended online learning model for design research.  The Doctor of Design has garnered attention and enrollment from students across…

Aug 12, 2020

College of Design Develops New Graduate Certificate in Disaster Resilient Policy, Engineering and Design

The certificate will educate the next generation of practitioners and scholars to reduce the rise in disaster losses and assist communities to adapt to a changing climate.

Aug 12, 2020

DDes Student Researching How to Design VR That Heals

Justin Johnson is researching how VR can be used to treat PTSD and promote cognitive restoration.

Jul 28, 2020

Susan Toplikar, Former Art + Design Faculty, Dies

Susan Margaret Toplikar, passionate teacher, gifted artist, and dedicated community-arts activist, passed away July 20, 2020, from complications associated with Parkinson's disease.

Jul 28, 2020

Continuities and Transformations: Evolving a Home Over Four Decades

Paul Tesar has been designing his home over the past 40 years. Since 1979 he has been collaborating with former students from the College of Design to shape the gradual evolution of his house to “home.” He embraces building as a process, rather than a product, interwoven with the lives of its inhabitants, its place and those who built it, and his home is a true reflection of that.

Jul 21, 2020

Designlife Podcast: Anne Spafford

If you’re spending a lot more time at home and not in the office lately, there’s a chance you have become much more aware of how you value the outdoors. You might be spending more time on your local greenway, sprucing up the garden in your back yard, or just taking a few minutes away…

Jul 17, 2020

From Architecture to Augmented Reality

A lack of access to information, language barriers, excessive time costs and a poor implementation of two-way communication methods are just a few of the reasons why residents across the country don’t speak up during public municipal government hearings. These reasons not only affect how communities develop and are granted resources, but they also have a direct correlation to the health and well-being of certain neighborhoods.

Jul 13, 2020

DDes Student Puts Research into Practice as Town Manager

As a student practitioner in the DDes program, Moore gets to explore ways in which the town has the capacity and the capability to change as new residents and new economic decisions come into play.

Jul 8, 2020

Coastal Dynamic Design Lab Wins Top Honor from NCASLA

The College of Design's Coastal Dynamics Design Lab won the NCASLA 2020 Award for its Twin Creeks project in the research category.

Jul 2, 2020

New Landscaping Design Guide Features Native Coastal NC Plants

A new set of landscaping design templates is available online from the Coastal Landscapes Initiative. The 10 designs feature plants native to coastal North Carolina and are intended for anyone interested in updating their yard or garden.

Jul 2, 2020

Annie McDonald Wins IDSA Student Merit Award

“This is an extraordinary accomplishment, and I could not be prouder of Annie” said Tsailu Liu, head of the Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design, and Professor of Industrial Design. “This process was competitive, and the caliber of the students chosen to win awards reflects Annie’s place among the nation’s top industrial design students.”…

Jun 29, 2020

Black Design Matters: A Q&A with Demarcus Williams

He was the only Black student to graduate that year with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, and one of seven Black students in his class accepted into the College of Design out of 120.

Jun 24, 2020

Teamwork that Addresses Flooding Challenges

Small towns in the United States’ mid-Atlantic Coast region have been ravaged in recent years by hurricanes and flooding, and often have little funding in reserve to address the issues that follow behind these natural disasters. Recognizing a need, two College of Design faculty members at NC State established the Coastal Dynamics Design Lab (CDDL) in 2013. Through the lab, an interdisciplinary research and design team helps communities recover and plan for the future by bringing together architects, landscape architects, graphic designers, engineers, scientists and students to create a holistic approach.

Jun 23, 2020

Teamwork that Addresses Flooding Challenges

Philanthropy helps support the work of NC State’s Coastal Dynamics Lab, which helps communities recover from events such as hurricanes and plan for a better future.

Jun 19, 2020

Land loss has plagued black America since emancipation – is it time to look again at ‘black commons’ and collective ownership?

This is a repost from The Conversation. Authors: Kofi Boone, professor of landscape architecture, College of Design, North Carolina State University; Julian Agyeman, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, Tufts University Underlying the recent unrest sweeping U.S. cities over police brutality is a fundamental inequity in wealth, land and power that has circumscribed black lives…

Jun 16, 2020

Strange, Unfamiliar, Marvelous: Explore the Art2Wear Digital Showcase

COVID-19 may have shut down the catwalk, but student designers are still unveiling their dazzling creations from home.

Jun 16, 2020

Opinion Piece: To fight racism, throw out neighborhood zoning laws

This article first appeared in the Raleigh News&Observer and was written by College of Design faculty member Tom Barrie. To fight racism, throw out neighborhood zoning laws that lead to segregated housing The national protests of the past weeks were powerful demands to dismantle systemic racism. The next battles must be fought in the planning…