Designing the Future: Introducing James Madison University’s Architectural Design Program 

Posted on by Delaney Ogden

Harrisonburg, VA — James Madison University’s Architectural Design (ARCD) program is steadily emerging as a distinctive presence within Virginia’s architectural education landscape. Housed in the School of Art, Design and Art History, ARCD offers a pre-professional Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Architectural Design grounded in studio culture, liberal arts inquiry, and environmental responsibility. The program evolved out of interior design around 10 years ago and is now one of the fastest growing majors at JMU. 

ARCD’s curriculum reflects the evolving demands of the discipline. The program positions architecture as both a cultural and material practice. Students complete a four-year, studio-centered curriculum supported by coursework in architectural history and theory, materials and methods,digital representation and professional design practice. The sequence emphasizes design as a disciplined process of investigation—through drawing, modeling, material study, and site-based research.Recently the program has offered courses in environmental systems, structures, resilience and advanced digital representation.

“Architecture is both a cultural and environmental act,” says Professor Jori Erdman, architect and Associate Director of the School of Art, Design and Art History. “At JMU, we encourage our students to see design as a process of engagement—with people, materials, places, and ideas. We aim to prepare them not only for graduate study and licensure, but also for thoughtful, responsible work in the world.”

The studio-based curriculum encourages hands-on exploration and interdisciplinary collaboration. Students often work across disciplines, participating in research projects with faculty from engineering, environmental science, history, and community engagement. In recent years, ARCD students have contributed to projects focused on coastal resilience in the Chesapeake Bay, design-build projects on campus, and environmental investigations in downtown Staunton. Faculty and students alike are active in broader disciplinary conversations through organizations like AIA Virginia, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, American Institute of Architecture Students and National Organization of Minority Architecture Students.

The program has been participating in the AIA VA Virginia Prize over the last 3 years, including authoring this year’s brief for a Third Space in Bridgewater, Virginia. Faculty members Nick Brinen, AIA, and Jori Erdman, AIA, serve on the AIA VA Design Committee and Outreach Advisory Committee respectively. 

One of the distinctive features of the program is its close-knit studio culture. Faculty members are practicing architects, researchers, and educators who mentor students through intensive feedback and individualized instruction. The program’s structure culminates in a capstone design project in the senior year, where students develop an individually conceived architectural proposal grounded in site, program, and research.

Graduates of ARCD pursue a range of paths. Many continue their education in NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture programs at institutions including the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Harvard, Yale, the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis, and the Rhode Island School of Design. Others enter architecture and related design fields, bringing with them a foundation in critical inquiry, environmental thinking, and material exploration. 

2020 graduate Caitlin Morgan has been working in the field since she graduated, including service on the AIA VA Board of Directors and the AIA National Associates Committee. She notes, “Since graduating from JMU, I’ve seen first-hand how closely the ARCD program is working with industry leaders to prepare students for our evolving challenges. Our studios’ adaptive program nurtures conversations that have strengthened our alumni network and speaks volumes about how JMU is reframing architectural education.”

As architectural education continues to evolve across the Commonwealth, JMU’s ARCD program contributes a studio-driven, research-oriented BFA model rooted in the liberal arts tradition. With its strong emphasis on critical inquiry and social engagement, the program equips students with the skills and sensibilities needed to navigate—and shape—the complex built environments of today and tomorrow.

AIA Virginia members are invited to mentor, hire, and collaborate with JMU’s ARCD students, faculty, and graduates. Their broad education—grounded in thinking through making—has prepared them to contribute thoughtfully and critically to the architectural profession.

Contact:

Professor Jori Erdman, AIA, Program Coordinator and Associate Director
JMU School of Art, Design and Art History
Architectural Design Program
erdmanja@jmu.edu 

The 2025 Virginia Prize Awarded

Posted on by cguske

Public toilets in the vicinity of the King Street Metro Station

“Inequality in access to public toilets has taken on an increasingly urban/suburban divide. In suburbia, bathrooms in privately owned businesses such as gas stations, fast-food restaurants, or big-box stores stand in for public toilets. In contrast, fewer establishments in the city allow access to toilet facilities, particularly for non-customers.” So states the brief for this year’s Virginia Prize, written by faculty from Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (the WAAC), which afforded students the opportunity to design a public toilet for the local municipality of Alexandria, Virginia in the vicinity of the King Street Metro Station.

The brief was distributed to students at Hampton University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech (both in Blacksburg and at the WAAC), William & Mary, and James Madison University at 5 PM on Friday 31 January. Submissions were due at 9 AM Monday 3 February. Over those scant sixty-four hours, students developed their entries.

Each school selected no more than ten of their best entries for further consideration by a jury consisting of Julie Nelson, AIA, David Kubik, AIA, Harpreet Dhaliwal, AIA and Todd Poisson, AIA from the New York City-based firm BKSK Architects.

BKSK Architects is an accomplished firm designing across a broad range of markets with expertise in sustainability, preservation, community impact, and planning. Their projects include Battery Playscape, an intentionally flexible framework that supports open-ended play informed by the local ecology, which was nominated for the Best Public Playground in the United States. Principal Julie Nelson, who received Honorable Mention in a past edition of the Virginia Prize while studying at UVA, offered that the firm “has a surprisingly large portfolio of public restroom facilities including several in New York City Parks and a large restroom project at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter,” and suggested that it was “great to see this program as the focus of a design competition and the care the students put into the design solutions.”   

The jury “appreciated submissions that were easy to understand graphically, particularly those that had a legible site plan and floor plan.  This allowed us to understand how the proposed projects engaged with the context, the Metro station and the plaza.” They were “drawn to designs where the form grew out of site conditions and program, rather than being a predetermined form that ‘landed’ on the site.” And they “appreciated those submissions that considered the project holistically, thinking about not only form-making but also the user experience and environmental impact.”

As a result of their deliberations, the jury commended “the variety of responses and the thoughtfulness that the students brought to the brief, despite the short weekend timeframe” and awarded the following prizes.

  

First Prize: Taylor Wypyski (VT) “Washington D.P(ee)” – $3,000

The jury appreciated that this project was ambitious in its design while intelligently addressing functionality.  The connection to the existing Metro at two levels and the use of stormwater runoff from the large station roof to serve the bathrooms was particularly notable.  The inventive form marked a gateway to the station while serving the variety of functions required by the program.   The color of the finish material was found to be sympathetic to the surrounding context and a nod to the color of Virginia clay.

  

Second Prize: Ethan Turner (UVA) “King Street Comfort Station” – $1,500 

This project was considered to be thoughtful in its urbanistic approach and in its execution.  The jury appreciated not only the presentation, but also the siting, which used the bathroom structure to create a transition between Old Town and the Metro Plaza.  Its circulation was considered to be particularly successful – circulation both directly through the structure and along the paths that accessed the restrooms, lavatories, and bike parking.  The use of recycled materials was found to be sympathetic to the context while reducing environmental impact.

  

Third Prize: Eleanor Dedrick (UVA) “Go with the Flow” - $1,000 

The jury discerned that the design solution grew out of an understanding of the commuters’ existing circulation patterns.  They appreciated how the colorful palette and playful forms enlivened and successfully engaged with the existing concrete structure.  They also enjoyed the addition of the swirling light fixtures and confetti, noting that these simple design elements add to the sense of play.  And they noted that the written description of this submission was clear and effective in conveying the design intent.

  

Honorable Mention: 

Kristina Dickey (UVA) “Tree Toilet”

This project was described by the jury as “the restroom we would most like to use.”

Addison Mainer (Hampton) “The Hive” 

The jury noted that “anyone who has been in the DC Metro knows the signature floor tiles used throughout the system.  We loved that these served as the point of departure for this proposal.”

Rifat Mostofa (VT – WAAC) “Social Lounge”

“We loved the energy of this scheme and the way the interventions permeated the site, inside and out.  The bathroom facility layout was well done.”

Marie Zenzie (VT) (no title)

“The project was notable for its quality of presentation and clarity of idea.” The pencil drawings of the curvilinear glass block scheme were “simple yet evocative.”

Congratulations to those who were recognized. Gratitude to the jury. And appreciation to all who entered.