All News

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…

May 27, 2020

Berreth, Fitzgerald and Polyak to Present at Prestigious SIGGRAPH 2020

It all started with some wooden spools. Brooks Hall was being rewired for internet, and a faculty member stumbled across 20 wooden spools lying in the breezeway between two buildings.

May 26, 2020

Final Design Projects from Prague on Virtual Display

The spring semester at NC State University’s European Center in Prague started with 52 students who were enthusiastic and engaged in their classes.

May 20, 2020

Derek Ham Appointed Department Head of Art + Design

Ham has been at the College of Design since June 2015 and was recently promoted from assistant professor.

May 18, 2020

Animation Program Ranked in the Top 20 Nationally by Animation Career Review

The College of Design has again ranked in the top public schools in the nation for its animation program. #2 in North Carolina for Animation Schools #20 for Animation Schools offering a BA Nationally #35 among the Top 40 Animation Public Schools and Colleges Over 200 schools across the country were ranked. To see the full list of…

May 15, 2020

New Ph.D. Students Present Their Research Areas

Four Ph.D. students in the College of Design Ph.D. program successfully presented their research interest areas on May 7 to over 50 members of faculty, staff, and students in the College of Design. The presentation of research interest areas is an introductory presentation for first-year students and introduces these individuals to the Ph.D. community. The…

May 11, 2020

Congratulations, Class of 2020!

The College of Design is excited to celebrate the graduating class of 2020.

May 8, 2020

The Class of 2020 Writes Their Own Story

Members of the class of 2020, you’ve heard over and over that you’re missing your big moment. No walk across the stage this spring, no cap toss for now. But that’s only part of the story. We wanted you to tell the rest. So we asked for your memories, photos and plans for the future,…

May 5, 2020

Dean Emeritus Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, DPACSA, Dies at 70

Marvin Malecha (1949-2020) The College of Design is saddened by the loss of Marvin Malecha, who served as dean from 1994-2015. After a long wait for a new heart, and a successful transplant, he passed away on May 4, 2020. In his 21 years at the college, he shaped not only the campus surrounding him,…

May 5, 2020

Natural Learning Initiative Takes Education Outdoors with WolfWare Outreach

April 29, 2020  |  Lily Fandel The Natural Learning Initiative (NLI) is reinventing what it means to play outside. Today’s children grow up with a number of obstacles to outdoor play, from overly structured lifestyles to state-mandated curricula that neglect the outdoors. Additionally, many outdoor play spaces overlook nature — a powerful agent in children’s healthy development. NLI, a…

May 4, 2020

A Message from Dean Hoversten

A Message from Dean Hoversten May 4, 2020 As we look forward to the fall semester, I wanted to take a moment to reassure you that we are hoping and planning on holding face-to-face instruction in the fall, while making classes as safe and as normal as possible for our students. As this pandemic continues…

May 4, 2020

Julia Littleton: Balancing Cheer, Design and Graduation During COVID-19

The worlds of design and athletics are equally demanding. Both require discipline, extensive training and a never-ending learning curve. To Julia Littleton, a senior in design studies and a member of NC State’s Cheer team, combining those two worlds took some getting used to. However, they both play invaluable roles in her journey.

Apr 29, 2020

Natural Learning Initiative Takes Education Outdoors with WolfWare Outreach

The Natural Learning Initiative offers two asynchronous certificate programs for professional development in WolfWare Outreach. The certificate programs are tailored to early childhood and landscape design professionals who want to improve children’s outdoor learning environments.

Apr 28, 2020

ARC 503 Student wins Precast Concrete Competition

What might a future high school football stadium look like? That was the design competition for Project Precast 2020. Just in its second year, the competition brought college and university students together with industry mentors for three days in Fort Worth, TX, the site of PCI’s annual Precast Show. “The students had no idea what…

Apr 24, 2020

Design Faculty Win NC State Awards

Five College of Design faculty were recently honored with university-level awards from the chancellor, provost, and alumni association. The award winners are listed below. University Faculty Scholar Derek Ham, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Affiliated Assistant Research Professor of Architecture Derek Ham was chosen as a University Faculty Scholar for 2020. The program, established…

Apr 23, 2020

Wayne Place Wins University Top Honor

Wayne Place, Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor of Architecture in the College of Design, is one of three honorees to receive the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by NC State and the university’s Board of Trustees. The award was named in honor of Alexander Quarles Holladay, NC State’s first professor of history…

Apr 23, 2020

Three Faculty Win Holladay Medal

Three faculty members have been selected to receive the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by NC State and the university’s Board of Trustees. These faculty will be honored and receive their medals at the Celebration of Faculty Excellence, tentatively scheduled for September 1.

Apr 20, 2020

Peter Batchelor, Professor Emeritus, Dies at 85

The College of Design is saddened to learn of the death of Professor Emeritus Peter Batchelor, who passed away on April 15, 2020. Born in London, England, on May 22, 1934, Batchelor earned a Bachelor of Architecture (honors) from the University of British Columbia in 1960, Masters of Architecture and City Planning from the University…

Apr 16, 2020

Voting in the 21st Century with Mobile Blockchain Technology

verification of your identity, and using an outdated voting machine are relics of a bygone era. Now, more than ever, there is a need to bring voting into the 21st century. A trio of students in the College of Design are proposing to do just that. Students Camden Conekin, Palmer Fox and Kenneth Wical tackled voting using mobile blockchain technology as part of a project for their Graphic Design 301 studio.

Apr 14, 2020

Alumna Maggie Snoke Designs Masks for Under Armour

For Maggie Snoke, design thinking wasn’t just a product of her time in school. As a successful designer on the apparel innovation team for Under Armour, she and a team of designers brainstormed ways to support healthcare workers with masks, gowns, and supply kits.

Apr 10, 2020

Lizabeth Wardzinski: The Love for Building with Purpose

Lizabeth Wardzinski, a PhD candidate at the College of Design, has recently been awarded the Dumbarton Oaks Junior Fellowship in Urban Landscape Studies for the 2020-21 academic year. The fellowship program is widely considered a leader in fostering research in the humanities and provides substantial financial and academic resources over the course of nine months so candidates can focus solely on their studies.

Apr 7, 2020

A Message from Dean Hoversten

A Message from Dean Hoversten April 7, 2020 Although we have moved our classes and studios online to protect our students, faculty, and staff during the current crisis, we are open for business and thriving. Students are learning their craft and discipline, faculty are pursuing important research, and staff are providing the important support necessary…

Apr 6, 2020

LEED Lab Wins 2020 Sustainability Award

The LEED Lab course, led by Traci Rose Rider, recently won an NC State Sustainability Award for 2020 in the Innovation and Impact category. Each spring Sustainability Award winners are selected for outstanding achievement in sustainability on campus, in the community or globally. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, the awards are offered by the Sustainability Council in the…