Posted on March 30, 2026
As cherry blossoms bloom across the University of Washington campus, the College of Built Environments enters a new season of activity and reflection. This Spring Quarter spotlight highlights upcoming events and includes a recap of just a few of our engaging winter programs, showcasing the lectures, exhibitions and gatherings that continue to shape our community and the future of the built environment.
Opportunities to Engage | Spring Quarter
Events
UW/CBE Graduate Prospective Student and Admitted Students Day
CBE will be hosting programming for recently admitted undergraduate and graduate students to help them explore pathways in the built environments. On Friday, April 3, students who have applied to graduate programs are invited to join us for a day of programming to learn more about opportunities at the College. We will also be hosting three sessions led by academic advisors and student-led tours as part of Admitted Students Day at the UW on Saturday, April 4.
From Ideas to Impact: CBE Research Showcase
From April 9 through 10, CBE is honoring the legacy of Anne Vernez Moudon by hosting a research showcase at Gould Hall, featuring faculty, staff and student research in the built environments. The symposium is focused on three themes: Urban Morphology and Design, Transportation and Mobility and Active Living and Public Health. Dr. Gary Hack, Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning and former Dean of the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, and Anne’s close friend and former colleague at MIT, will be the keynote speaker of this symposium. This event is open to the public, but registration is required.
CBE Department Graduation Celebrations and UW Commencement
CBE is proud to celebrate the Class of 2026 with department-specific graduation ceremonies held June 11–13, 2026. Family, friends, and members of the CBE community are invited to join us in Gould Hall and Architecture Hall as we honor our graduates, recognize their achievements, and mark this important milestone. Each ceremony will include the reading of graduate names, a walk across the stage, and remarks from college and department leadership.
The University of Washington Commencement Ceremony will be held on June 13, 2026.
Lectures & Workshops
UDP PAC Spring Lecture | When Driving is Not an Option with Author and Advocate Anna Zivarts
The Urban Design & Planning Professional Advisory Council is hosting a lecture and reception on April 20 with Anna Letitia Zivarts, low-vision mom, disability advocate and author of When Driving is Not an Option. She will shine light on the reality for people who are unable to drive in our communities and explain how improving our transportation system with nondrivers in mind will create a better quality of life for everyone. This event is open to the public, but registration is required.
Urban Sketching Lecture and Workshop by Mario Linhares
More information to come!
LA PAC Spring Lecture | Surges + Floods with Maura Rockcastle, TEN x TEN
On April 29, join the UW Department of Landscape Architecture and partners for a free PAC Spring Lecture, Surges + Floods, featuring Maura Rockcastle of TEN x TEN. The event explores stewardship and resilience along the Mississippi River, focusing on Indigenous legacy, environmental systems, and community-driven design. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m., and attendees can earn one LA/CES credit with advance registration.
Exhibitions
Designing, Crafting and Building Community: 30 Years of Practicing a Design/Build Learning Model
From March 30 to May 1, the Department of Landscape Architecture will present an immersive multimedia exhibition at the Gould Gallery — along with an accompanying reception on Tuesday, April 14. Designing, Crafting and Building Community highlights the program’s 30-year commitment to social justice, green building, ecological and sustainable design while showcasing the diversity of design/build projects, partnerships and award-winning student work. This exhibition is open to the public. Those who wish to attend the reception on April 14 are required to RSVP prior to the event.
Design exCHANGE 2026
On April 3, the Department of Architecture Professionals Advisory Council (PAC) will host its annual spring exhibition, Design exCHANGE 2026. This exhibition is open to members of CBE and invited members of the Seattle built environments community and showcases in-progress work, serving as an important platform for connecting professional practice with architectural education.
City Erased: Mapping Seattle’s Highway Cut
Come join us this May for CITY ERASED, an exhibition exploring the legacy of urban revision and displacement caused by the construction of Interstate-5 in Seattle. This exhibition collects work from ARCH 498/598, a research seminar taught by Elisa Renouard, showcasing how the project that reshaped neighborhoods, divided communities, and radically altered the landscape in the name of progress. CITY ERASED will be on display from May 7 to the 29 in Gould Gallery.
AIAS Frameworks Exhibition
In conjunction with our CBE Mentor Program End of Year Celebration on May 13, the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is presenting FrameWorks, an interdisciplinary celebration and exhibition of student design work in the College of Built Environments. From studio projects to individual explorations, FrameWorks highlights the diverse ideas shaping the future of design. The exhibition will be on display from May 11 to 13 in Gould Court.
Event Recap | Winter Quarter 2026
Design-Milled: Furniture from Campus Trees
During the month of January, the Department of Landscape Architecture hosted an exhibition and reception in Gould Gallery that celebrates and showcases furniture created by students in the Landscape Architecture Furniture Studio led by Lecturer Chad Robertson. Through hands-on design and fabrication, students transformed salvaged wood from the UW campus into functional pieces that reflect sustainability, craftsmanship and material innovation.
10 Critical Elements that Will Make Tomorrow’s Downtowns
Commissioner Mitchell Silver joined the Department of Urban Design & Planning on February 11 to give insight into the ten critical elements shaping tomorrow’s downtowns. He shared key insights that help guide the planning, design and development of vibrant urban centers in the decades ahead.
Watch 10 Critical Elements that Will Make Tomorrow’s Downtowns on our Vimeo.
College of Built Environments Career Fair
On Wednesday February 18, over 30 employers and hundreds of students convened for the CBE Annual Career Fair, which provides current students and recent alumni the opportunity to connect with employers looking to fill full-time, part-time and internship positions in fields including architecture, ecological design, landscape architecture, planning, fabrication, construction management and real estate.
Architecture in the Age of AI
The Department of Architecture held an engaging panel discussion on Wednesday, February 25, that explored current and potential future applications of AI in architecture. The event, the first of several on the topic to be hosted by the department, drew 250 attendees. Four panelists joined moderator and Associate Professor Tomás Méndez Echenagucia to discuss emerging opportunities, key questions around ethics and creativity, and how graduates entering the profession can respond. Panelists included Shariful Anik, Associate and Computational Designer at Mithun; Blair Payson, AIA, Principal and Owner of Olson Kundig; Chris Grammens, Associate and BIM Manager at Miller Hull and Simon Manning, Associate and Design Technology Integration Leader at NBBJ.
“The overwhelming interest in the event speaks volumes to the scale and speed of AI’s impact on architecture and allied professions and this is likely to continue,” says Rick Mohler, Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture.
Watch Architecture in the Age of AI on our Vimeo.
Engineered Living Materials for the Built Environment
In February, CBE hosted the first part of an exhibition series and reception that explores emerging advances in 3D printing that use specially-designed microbes as building materials, offering new possibilities for sustainability. Featuring work by researchers from the UW, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of California, Davis, the exhibition highlighted collaborative research and student-led exploration across the Department of Chemistry, the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering and the Department of Architecture into the future of the built environment.
Watch the lecture on Engineering Living Materials on our Vimeo.
Explore events at CBE
View more opportunities to engage at CBE on our events page.