As cities around the world confront questions of growth, livability, and equity, Sungduck Lee, Assistant Professor and Director of the Geosocial Visualization Lab at the College of Design, offers a new way to think about the impacts of density and the communities it affects. Her new co-authored book, Urban Density Contextualized: Design Strategies for Building Density in Cities (Routledge), examines how design can foster more inclusive, resilient, and human-centered urban environments.

When Fraser Hall reopened in the Fall of 2025, it redefined how the University of Minnesota teaches chemistry. Architect and professor at the College of Design, Jennifer Yoos, shares how her team at VJAA transformed the historic building into a collaborative, sustainable space for student learning.

Richard Graves, associate professor of architecture and research director at the Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR), has received the University of Minnesota’s Innovation Impact Case Award for advancing sustainable building practices. His work helped shape the Minnesota B3 Sustainable Building Guidelines, launched in response to the state’s Next Generation Energy Act to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Today, B3 continues to set the standard for energy efficiency, resilience, and net-zero goals in state-funded buildings.

Jessica Garcia Fritz, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Minnesota and Citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Inspires Future Indigenous Designers

Each year, the College of Design proudly honors exceptional students, faculty, and staff whose remarkable contributions have enriched our academic community. Award recipients are nominated across multiple categories by their peers, including faculty, students, and staff.

Assistant Professor of Architecture Dingliang Yang has been named a recipient of the 2025-2027 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, marking the first time a U of M architecture faculty member has received this prestigious award since its establishment in 1987.

College of Design students teamed up with the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE) to create a refreshed design for the group's signature graduation stoles.

Pig’s Eye Lake at the Mississippi River in St. Paul, a site of historical pollution with significant Indigenous heritage and ecological importance, will serve as a catalyst project of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” studio.