CAP Centennial Celebration

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The first architecture course was offered at the University of Colorado. The course was offered through the Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering program in the Department of Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering at CU Boulder.

The University of Colorado graduates its first class of architectural engineering students, with five students.

The National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB) was established by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) to accredit schools of architecture nationally, supporting architecture programs as they prepare students for professional licensure.

The CU Board of Regents approved new Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree in 1949, accepting the first students into the program in the fall of 1951.

The CU Board of Regents approved the establishment of a Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering within the College of Engineering at CU Boulder, naming Thomas L. Hansen the first professor and head of the program. 

DeVon Carlson, acting head of the Department of Architecture and Architectural Engineering and practicing architect, led an effort to develop an accreditable architecture program (following a previously rejected attempt at NAAB accreditation in 1958). In 1962, the CU Board of Regents approved a new, separate School of Architecture and Carlson was named dean of the new school. 

That same year, the CU Board of Regents gave full degree granting power to the Denver and Colorado Springs Extension Centers. 

In 1965, NAAB granted the CU School of Architecture provisional accreditation, and by 1967, the school received full accreditation.

In 1967, the University of Colorado established an organization to provide university help for Colorado communities—the Center for Community Development and Design (CCCD), now known as the University Technical Assistance Program (UTAP). 

The CU program was modeled after the UC Berkeley model and was officially realized in 1969. The program remodel included renaming the School of Architecture to the College of Environmental Design and replaying the BArch with a bachelor's in environmental design, Master of Architecture, and additional new graduate degrees. 

Also in 1969, the Master of Urban Design becomes the first graduate degree program for the built environment offered at the University of Colorado Denver Extension Center.

CU Boulder launched their undergraduate degree program in environmental design in 1970. 

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning program was established in 1971 on the Denver Center campus (now known as the CU Denver campus).

The Master of Architecture degree began operating in Denver.

*A NAAB report shows that the M.Arch was operating in Boulder in 1972 and university records show that the M.Arch was operating in Denver and Boulder in 1973.

CU Denver is officially established as a campus within the University of Colorado System. 

The Master of Landscape Architecture program was established at CU Denver. 

The University of Colorado introduced a master's degree in interior design.

That same year, CU Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the Community College of Denver came together on the new Auraria Campus (formerly known as the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC). 

The College of Environmental Design was renamed the College of Design and Planning with a School of Environmental design for undergraduate work at CU Boulder and a Graduate School of Design and Planning at CU Denver.

Following a report from NAAB during the Master of Architecture's re-accreditation year, concerns were expressed that the college's two campus design was unsustainable. In May, the University of Colorado Board of Regents dissolved the College of Design and Planning and created two separate, independent entities—the School of Architecture and Planning in Denver and Environmental Design in Boulder.

The CU Denver School of Architecture and Planning moves into the CU Denver Building (formerly known as the Dravo Building.)

In 1992, the School of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver and the College of Environmental Design at CU Boulder merge to form the College of Architecture and Planning at CU Denver.

The idea at the time would unify the two campuses with CU Boulder offering undergraduate courses in architecture and a Bachelor of Environmental Design and CU Denver offering graduate architecture, urban and regional planning, urban design, and landscape architecture. 

The college faculty unanimously agree to organize into three departments in 1996—the Department of Architecture, the Department of Planning and Design, and the Program in Landscape Architecture.  

The college established its PhD program in 1997.

Professor Lois Brink established Learning Landscapes, a renown program that connects design and construction to urban public spaces with healthy initiatives. 

 

Professor Julee Herdt lead architecture students participating in the first-ever Solar Decathlon to victory. Herdt led a second group of students to win a second Solar Decathlon in 2005.

In 2008, Professor Kat Vlahos became director of the newly named Center of Preservation Research (CoPR). 

In 2009, the ColoradoBuildingWorkshop directed by Rick Sommerfeld completed the design build certificate program's first project, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art.  

See almost two decades-worth of ColoradoBuildingWorkshop projects. 

The Master of Science in Historic Preservation program at CU Denver was established. 

The University of Colorado moved to house the College of Architecture and Planning fully at CU Denver with the Bachelor of Environmental Design offered fully at CU Boulder in 2011.

Also in 2011, the Aspen Workshop was founded, offering students a unique opportunity to work in the offices of local architecture firms and alongside some of the nation's leading architects in Colorado's Roaring Fork region, gaining insights into their design processes, studio culture, and professional practice.

The Bachelor of Science in Architecture program was established. 

In 2022, the College of Architecture and Planning Dana Crawford Preservation Program was named in honor of the legendary Dana Crawford, a trailblazer for historic preservation and urban revitalization in Colorado. 

Also in 2022, the College of Architecture and Planning introduced a new graduate certificate and minor in interior design. The new courses of study further enhance CAP's encouragement of interdisciplinary study. View our graduate certificate programs and dual degree options.

Dean Emeritus and Professor Nan Ellin and Architect Don Ruggles co-convened the Design/HEALth Initiative to improve design at every scale—from home to the biome—to enhance the health and wellbeing of all people and our planet.

Join us in celebrating 100 years of built environment education in Colorado!

From the first course in architectural engineering offered in the academic year, 1926-1927, to this academic year, 2026-2027, alumni, students, faculty, staff, friends, and partners of the built environment, let's come together to celebrate and look ahead toward the next 100 years.