The curriculum in architecture was established in 1907, making Auburn one of the first universities in the nation, and the first in the South, to offer architecture as a major. Over the past century, the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (APLA) has grown to include four allied degree programs:
APLA is committed to a model of professional education that embraces design and planning creativity, social responsibility, historical perspective, technical competence, and global environmental consciousness, and prepares our students for leadership in their respective disciplines, and in their communities. The programs of APLA have enjoyed a strong reputation for the abilities of our graduates and the quality of our faculty, and are consistently ranked among the best in the country in their respective disciplines.
APLA has two off-campus programs which operate within the Program of Architecture: The
Rural Studio (located in Newbern, AL) and the
Urban Studio (located in Birmingham, AL). In addition to providing enriched environments for the study of architecture, these programs involve students in intensive community-based, service learning activities.
The coalition of programs within APLA (and with the CADC) exemplifies interdisciplinary collaboration as a model of professional activity; insures that students have an overview of the various components in the design and building process; and promotes the connection between planning, landscape architecture, interior architecture, and architecture as interdependent practices. Further, APLA provides our students a context for understanding how these four elements of the building process integrate into the larger wholes of the community and urban context, and the planning, design, and construction industry. The relationship between the programs in the college also allows for joint degree programs that extend the students professional opportunities.
