STUDENT AWARDS

The School of Architecture recognizes exceptional work by students in the design disciplines through semesterly and annual student awards processes.

DEAN'S DESIGN DISTINCTION

Dean’s Design Distinction recognizes cumulative excellence in design as an outcome from the Undergraduate Portfolio Review processes. With input from the semester’s Portfolio Review teams, each Portfolio Review studio instructor may nominate up to two students for Dean’s Design Distinction. The Program Directors for Architecture and Interior Design* then review and confirm Dean’s Design Distinction selections.
*Beginning in Spring 2021. 

DESIGN EXCELLENCE

Design Excellence is a collaborative process among the Program Directors for Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Student Affairs. Design Excellence winners are selected by a jury each academic year, and represent an exceptional level of accomplishment across our design disciplines and studio levels.

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  • Instagram Post
    Kicked off the first of three orientation sessions this summer with an incredible group of new students. Welcome to UTSOA!
    @utsoa

    Kicked off the first of three orientation sessions this summer with an incredible group of new students. Welcome to UTSOA!

  • Instagram Post
    An outstanding leader, architect, teacher, and a radiant positive force in our field, it’s no surprise that Professor Elizabeth Danze has been named one of the 2025 #Texas10 by @texasexes.<br>
    @utsoa

    An outstanding leader, architect, teacher, and a radiant positive force in our field, it’s no surprise that Professor Elizabeth Danze has been named one of the 2025 #Texas10 by @texasexes.

  • Instagram Post
    Reimagining the Post-Industrial: AI and Material Assemblage<br>
    @utsoa

    Reimagining the Post-Industrial: AI and Material Assemblage

  • Instagram Post
    The 3rd Île-de-France Architecture and Landscape Biennial (@bapidf) invited Associate Professors Nerea Feliz (@feliz_nerea) and Clay Odom (@studiomodo) to lead their students in exploring how vernacular strategies from warmer climates—such as the southern U.S.—might inform climate-adaptive design ap
    @utsoa

    The 3rd Île-de-France Architecture and Landscape Biennial (@bapidf) invited Associate Professors Nerea Feliz (@feliz_nerea) and Clay Odom (@studiomodo) to lead their students in exploring how vernacular strategies from warmer climates—such as the southern U.S.—might inform climate-adaptive design ap

  • Instagram Post
    Plant Potential ATX South 🌱 <br>
    @utsoa

    Plant Potential ATX South 🌱

  • Instagram Post
    We’re thrilled to share that visiting faculty Cory Henry (@ateliercoryhenry) has been awarded the 2025-26 #RomePrize in Architecture by the @amacademyrome for his project, “Borders of Belonging: Rome’s Public Spaces as Arenas of Democracy and Dissent.” <br>
    @utsoa

    We’re thrilled to share that visiting faculty Cory Henry (@ateliercoryhenry) has been awarded the 2025-26 #RomePrize in Architecture by the @amacademyrome for his project, “Borders of Belonging: Rome’s Public Spaces as Arenas of Democracy and Dissent.”

  • Instagram Post
    Where thoughtful design meets campus legacy.<br><br>Interior Design undergrad Valerie Balderas is one of two students from a university-wide competition selected to reimagine the Cactus Yearbook bookshelf for the Office of the Dean of Students.<br>
    @utsoa

    Where thoughtful design meets campus legacy.

    Interior Design undergrad Valerie Balderas is one of two students from a university-wide competition selected to reimagine the Cactus Yearbook bookshelf for the Office of the Dean of Students.

  • Instagram Post
    Congratulations to @phoebelickwar’s @forgelandscape and Michael Averitt’s @_delineator for receiving 2025 Merit Awards from @texasasla!<br>
    @utsoa

    Congratulations to @phoebelickwar’s @forgelandscape and Michael Averitt’s @_delineator for receiving 2025 Merit Awards from @texasasla!

  • Instagram Post
    The Tren Maya is a monumental new passenger rail system traversing nearly a thousand miles of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
    @utsoa

    The Tren Maya is a monumental new passenger rail system traversing nearly a thousand miles of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.