University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning Unveils New Brand Identity | News

This post is brought to you by The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning (UBSAP)

Since their founding in 1967, the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning (UBSAP) has used their disciplines to question everything and build better futures. Over the last year, they’ve partnered with Pentagram — the largest independently-owned design consultancy in the world — to lead the evolution of the School’s visual and verbal brand expression along with a new website. 

Through a process of collective self-discovery and reconnection, UBSAP clarified their purpose and brand persona – the values, character traits and behaviors that set them apart – and are now ready to articulate their story through a bold platform of creative expression. 

Over the last year, the School worked with Pentagram through campus visits, interviews, surveys, and auditing current marketing materials. With a focus on learning about all of UBSAP’s offerings — undergrad and graduate education, research, events, local partnerships, faculty projects and initiatives, cutting-edge facilities, and national thought leadership — the agency could gain a greater understanding of the broader issues UBSAP engages in, including design forward creative work, climate resiliency, affordable housing, food systems, and more.

It was clear they needed a unifying brand strategy — actionable tools that could help UBSAP communicate what they do, how it’s different, and why it matters. That’s where their brand statement comes in, “We make design matter,” as the highest and most succinct articulation of UBSAP’s distinct point of view. UBSAP believes in their community, field, and disciplines. They have a mission greater than themselves. With an intrepid spirit and a bias towards action, they embody a culture of making. At the intersection of architecture, planning, and real estate, UBSAP believes in the power of transformation with a focus on impact. They are committed to their state, region, and the world with optimism for a more inclusive and resilient future.  

UBSAP cultivates a culture of opportunity and possibility from the moment students arrive. With access to a community of makers and doers alongside experiential learning opportunities, they prepare upcoming designers to build better futures through the following values:   

Question everything. 
UBSAP belongs to a legacy of innovation. Inspired by their renegade origins, they continue to foster a culture of creative experimentation on the margins of the status quo. Without fear of failure, they problematize convention: in design, in the field, and in the profession. 
 Start here. Go anywhere.  
What starts at UBSAP can change the world. Using their own backyard as a testbed, they apply local and international expertise to improve the lives of real people and the places they inhabit, whether around the globe or right at home in Buffalo, NY. 
 Think through making.  
As a community of makers and doers, UBSAP’s knowledge is more than theoretical. They engage directly with the real materials and processes which construct the built environment. From their world-class fabrication lab to out in the field, they give discovery physical shape.  
 Build better futures. 
In the face of societal and planetary crises, they’re not just imagining a better world. They’re already building it. Balancing optimism with pragmatism, UBSAP uses the power of architecture and planning to prototype more just, equitable, and resilient futures.  

These values are embedded in each of UBSAP’s degree programs, where innovation is inherent, entrepreneurship is every day, making is second nature, and grand global challenges are always top of mind.  

As the only NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture program in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, and a PAB-accredited Master of Urban Planning program, UBSAP prepares students to see the full implications of what architecture and planning can do for the built environment. Both programs are also STEM designated; international students will be eligible for a 24-month extension of their Optional Practical Training, in addition to the standard 12 months. This provides UBSAP students with more time to gain work experience in the U.S. and potentially find an employer for H-1B visa sponsorship.  

Both the Department of Architecture and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning engage the city of Buffalo as a hub for innovation and are primary contributors to the region in everything from climate-related planning to industry-applied design technologies. Residing on UB’s historic South Campus, UBSAP has state-of-the-art facilities, including the recently renovated Hayes and Crosby Halls in addition to a Fabrication Workshop. As one of the premier fabrication facilities in the region, the Fabrication Workshop is the hub of UBSAP’s learning-through-making curriculum. Equipped for fabrication of all types, the shop serves both as a space to execute coursework and as a think-tank and makerspace for collaborative research with design practice and industry.  

UBSAP takes its role as part of a public research university seriously. Their mission is tied to serving the community and being a forum for public debate. Through their lecture series, fellowships, sponsored chairs, community engagement, and research, UBSAP invites the public to engage their students and faculty to discuss local and global issues as they affect the design of the contemporary and future built environment. Buffalo is a city of tenacity, grit, and reinvention. It is a place of industry, artistry, and making – where the challenges are complex and dynamic, and the opportunities transformative. UBSAP mirrors these attributes which shape their approach to architectural and planning education. 

Follow along this week on UBSAP’s social media pages as they reveal their new brand identity and stay tuned for their new website, coming soon!