The Department of Architecture, along with our partner in SALA, Landscape Architecture, is home to an array of significant accomplishments and research agendas in the area of sustainability and “green architecture.” 

SALA’s particular strength in sustainable design has been that our faculty conduct research and creative work with an emphasis on the integration of cultural and natural system implications of sustainability  In the Department of Architecture, James Wines (Green Architecture), David Gissen (Big and Green), and Dan Willis (The Emerald City) have all written books  addressing the cultural and environmental impacts of architecture, and architectural processes that endure.

Our Rome program gives us the opportunity to study one of the most enduring urban environments—that of the Eternal City. This intersection of cultural and natural systems forms one of the strongest areas of collaboration between the Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

• SALA’s Stuckeman Family Building will be the first LEED-rated building on campus
• American Indian Housing Initiative research into sustainable building practices
• Hamer Center initiatives, such as Philadelphia Unbuild/Rebuild
• Sede di Roma: our "laboratory" in the ultimate sustainable urban environment