Mission & Vision

Sutton Hall ceiling mosaic
MISSION & VISION

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture has a long and historic legacy in providing next-generation leadership for design and planning education. Always aware of our role as stewards of the built environment, we meld principle and practice to foster innovation while remaining always grounded in serving our communities.
 
Our disciplines play a key role in addressing complex local, regional, national, and global issues while advancing a better quality of life for all of society's members. A diverse learning environment that welcomes a variety of perspectives and backgrounds is crucial to addressing these collective concerns.
 
Located in Austin, Texas, one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. – and one that is widely recognized for its creative community and entrepreneurial spirit – School of Architecture students are uniquely positioned to gain first-hand experience with a rapidly growing and changing built environment. As part of one of the world’s leading public research universities with over 170 fields of study, students and faculty have access to a dynamic range of expertise available on the UT Austin campus. While we engage with our campus and community, we also extend our influence globally through studios and seminars that develop projects in Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia, and through an extensive network of alumni leaders worldwide.

AT A GLANCE, UTSOA IS:

  • A diverse and vibrant community with a broad range of expertise and interest in the built environment.
  • Shaped by award-winning faculty experienced in both academic and professional realms.
  • Grounded in the Austin region and the state of Texas, with international reach and consequence.
  • Committed to interdisciplinary teaching and research, both within the School of Architecture and across the university.
  • Addressing important societal issues facing the built environment, urbanization, energy and resource consumption, transportation, healthy living, diversity, and equity.
  • Instagram Post
    Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction class recently visited the @continentalcutstone quarry just outside Liberty Hill.<br />
    @utsoa

    Associate Professor Cisco Gomes’ Construction class recently visited the @continentalcutstone quarry just outside Liberty Hill.

  • Instagram Post
    Join us on Wednesday for a lecture from our new Professor of Practice Dora Epstein Jones. The lecture, “The Order of the Orders,” kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall. Link in bio.<br />
    @utsoa

    Join us on Wednesday for a lecture from our new Professor of Practice Dora Epstein Jones. The lecture, “The Order of the Orders,” kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall. Link in bio.

  • Instagram Post
    On Monday at 5:00 p.m., Frank Barkow (@fbarkow) of Barkow Liebinger joins us in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall for his lecture “Sticks and Stones.” <br />
    @utsoa

    On Monday at 5:00 p.m., Frank Barkow (@fbarkow) of Barkow Liebinger joins us in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall for his lecture “Sticks and Stones.”

  • Instagram Post
    Multispecies Lounge is a series of urban furnishings on display in downtown Toronto through Sept. 24 that invites interspecies encounters with urban wildlife. <br />
    @utsoa

    Multispecies Lounge is a series of urban furnishings on display in downtown Toronto through Sept. 24 that invites interspecies encounters with urban wildlife.

  • Instagram Post
    Congratulations to our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle, whose Spring 2023 Advanced Studio “Time for Timber” received an Honorable Mention in the @acsanational / Softwood Lumber Board 2023 Timber Education Prize!<br />
    @utsoa

    Congratulations to our 2022-24 Emerging Scholar Tyler Swingle, whose Spring 2023 Advanced Studio “Time for Timber” received an Honorable Mention in the @acsanational / Softwood Lumber Board 2023 Timber Education Prize!

  • Instagram Post
    Next Monday, September 11, @craigdykers and  @elainemolinar of @snohetta kick off our Fall 2023 lecture series with their lecture “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.” The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Jessen Auditorium. <br />
    @utsoa

    Next Monday, September 11, @craigdykers and @elainemolinar of @snohetta kick off our Fall 2023 lecture series with their lecture “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom.” The lecture is free and open to the public and will take place at 5:00 p.m. in Jessen Auditorium.

  • Instagram Post
    Housing Aggregate by Nate Albers @natealbers for Associate Professor Kory Bieg’s @kory_bieg Horizontal Studio // 2021-22 Design Excellence Award Winner<br />
    @utsoa

    Housing Aggregate by Nate Albers @natealbers for Associate Professor Kory Bieg’s @kory_bieg Horizontal Studio // 2021-22 Design Excellence Award Winner

  • Instagram Post
    Announcing our Fall 2023 Lecture Series ✨ Starting Monday, September 11 and continuing throughout the semester, speakers representing a broad cross-section of cultural practices will explore contemporary topics vital to the study and practice of architecture, design, and the built environment—across
    @utsoa

    Announcing our Fall 2023 Lecture Series ✨ Starting Monday, September 11 and continuing throughout the semester, speakers representing a broad cross-section of cultural practices will explore contemporary topics vital to the study and practice of architecture, design, and the built environment—across

  • Instagram Post
    Next week, several faculty members will travel to Mexico City for @unam_mx’s  La Feria Internacional del Libro de las Universitarias y los Universitarios 2023, or FILUNI. <br />
    @utsoa

    Next week, several faculty members will travel to Mexico City for @unam_mx’s La Feria Internacional del Libro de las Universitarias y los Universitarios 2023, or FILUNI.