New York City’s Pratt Institute announced today that its School of Architecture has been recommended for validation by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Offering undergrad and graduate degrees, Pratt’s NAAB-accredited School of Architecture is the only architecture school in the United States to receive such a recommendation.
As detailed in a press release issued this afternoon by Pratt, the university’s Undergraduate Architecture Program has been recommended for Part I and Part II validation status while the Graduate Architecture Program has been recommended for Part II validation status. The recommendations are subject to the approval of the RIBA Education Committee. If ultimately sanctioned, this means that students from 120 RIBA-validated architecture programs across the globe would be able to join Pratt for graduate study; the validation would also “support graduates from Pratt to study and work internationally in the future,” according to the school.
“We look forward to welcoming new forms of partnership, collaboration and exchange with new international allies, and to attracting the most talented professors as well as students to study and to teach in our School,” said Harriet Harriss, dean of the School of Architecture.
“At a time when we are eager to return to sharing knowledge through global interaction and exchange, I believe strengthening the connection between architecture schools and professional associations can greatly enhance a student’s understanding of design practices internationally,” added Benjamin Prosky, executive director of AIA New York, in a statement. “AIA York is thrilled that Pratt’s School of Architecture has taken the initiative to become the first RIBA accredited architecture program in the United States, and we will be eager to collaborate with both institutions as this new partnership is explored.”
Based out of Higgins Hall, a building adjacent to Pratt’s historic main campus in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, the School of Architecture ranked seventh in “Most Admired Architecture Schools 2020” by Design Intelligence Rankings. Pratt School of Architecture student and faculty alumni include a celebrated range of architects and academics including Peter Zumthor, Annabelle Selldorf, Rodney Leon, Sharon Egretta Sutton, Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, and William Van Allen.
