The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture

Columbia University’s Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture was founded in 1982. Its mission is to advance the interdisciplinary study of American architecture, urbanism, and landscape. A separately endowed entity within the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, it sponsors research projects, workshops, public programs, publications, and awards.

In recognition of its overlapping constituencies, which include academics, professionals, and the general public, the Buell Center has recently pursued initiatives that explore architecture’s participation in the public sphere. These include an ongoing series of discussions among architects and architectural critics regarding architecture’s responsibilities and potential today, conferences and seminars that explore new approaches to the study of American architecture, and a sustained effort to help catalyze a new, national conversation about issues of general concern such as public housing.

These and other Buell Center projects utilize a variety of formats, such as specialized academic conferences, small meetings, larger public events, and publications, depending on the issues and audience at hand. In all cases, they offer a context for the study of American architecture in a manner that brings underlying issues to light and enables architecture’s various interconnected publics to gain a greater understanding of its cultural significance.