University of Utah College of Architecture and Planning

The University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning is an academic college of the University of Utah, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture, city and metropolitan planning and multi-disciplinary design. The College also offers graduate certificates in historic preservation, urban planning, real estate development and urban design.The College is the only accredited architecture program in the state of Utah.College HistoryThe Department of Architecture was organized in 1949 within the College of Fine Arts, and authorized to grant the Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degrees. The program received initial NAAB accreditation in 1954, and has been accredited continuously since. Roger Bailey, FAIA, developed the program and served as head of the department from 1949-63. Bailey brought a variety of young faculty members to Utah, including Charles Moore, Gordon Heck, and James Acland.In 1963, Robert L. Bliss, FAIA, was appointed head, and then served as dean from 1974-86. In 1967, in the forefront of many schools of architecture nationally, the school chose to offer the (three year +) Master of Architecture as the primary professional degree. The Bachelor of Architecture degree was discontinued in 1972 and no undergraduate major in architecture was offered. In 1974 the Department of Architecture became a separate academic unit, the Graduate School of Architecture (GSA), operating as a college within the university system.In 1970 the GSA moved into its new building, a fine example of "brutalist" architecture by the local firm of Edwards and Daniels Architects. This facility continues to successfully house the program. In 1969, through the joint sponsorship of the school and the Utah Society of the American Institute of Architects, ASSIST, Inc., an independent, non-profit community design center was founded. In the early 1970s the school installed its first data processing unit, under the directorship of emeritus professor Edward “Ted” Smith, FAIA, making it among the first schools in the country to begin experimenting with computer applications in architecture.