Knowlton School of Architecture

“The Water Grant University: How the Civil War, Western Water Rights, and Tribal Water Security Are Foundational to the US Public Education System”

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture John Davis and Associate Professor in CEGE at Ohio State’s Jim Stagge have been awarded a Sustainability Research Seed Grant for their proposal, “The Water Grant University: How the Civil War, Western Water Rights, and Tribal Water Security Are Foundational to the US Public Education System.”

---

The Morrill Act (1862) funded land-grant universities through the sale of western lands taken from Indigenous peoples, likely conferring senior water rights. Using newly available water rights databases, this project will quantify those transfers and assess their lasting impacts, informing sustainable and equitable water governance amid growing western water scarcity.

---

Sustainability Research Seed Grant Program funds interdisciplinary research teams exploring topics in one or more of the Ohio State Sustainability Institute’s research priority areas.

Read more
https://bit.ly/4dUbBLS

Machines in the Landscape—This year’s Gui Competition partnered with and asked students to examine the “middle landscape”—neither urban nor rural—and the presence of the highly technical artifacts that dot the landscape in those spaces.

Students were asked how architecture can enhance these places and their communities.

First-place awardee Megan Pawlowski’s project addresses the byproducts of large-scale industrial processes. Pawlowski identified waste slurries where “oils, plastics, and sweat mix with the soil runoff and heavy metals,” and her project captures that waste and redirects it to productive reuse.

Read more
https://bit.ly/49AUpKc

The Knowlton School is pleased to announce the inaugural cohort of the Office Associateship Internship Program.

Five students from the Master of Architecture program were selected from qualified candidates and will hold paid internships with participating Office Associateship firms from summer 2026 through spring 2027.

— Sydney Bezich, The Collaborative + Acock
— Gabriel Borisa, Wellogy
— Antoine Gray, DLR Group
— Zofia Jagerova, DesignGroup
— Alonzo Waugh, AECOM

The program grew out of the Office Associateship Program, with the goal of providing expanded professional experience at nationally recognized design firms for exceptional graduate students in their final year in addition to the financial support previously provided by the program.

Rising G3 students complete an application during the autumn term of their G2 year, and participating firms review applicants and conduct interviews before selecting students.

Read more
https://knowlton.osu.edu/news/2026/05/inaugural-office-associateship-program-intern-cohort-announced?utm_campaign=eng_marketing-activity_fy26&utm_content=1779394021&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Architecture Iman Ansari who received the Charles E. MacQuigg Award for Outstanding Teaching as part of the Spring 2026 College of Engineering Faculty Awards Ceremony.

Ansari was recognized for “blending humor, rigor and, innovation, elevating the architecture curriculum while centering student voices, offering meaningful insight into the future of the field, and providing support beyond the classroom.”

The annual award is presented in recognition of faculty members’ outstanding teaching ability, willingness to help students, and interest in improving the high reputation of The Ohio State University College of Engineering.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3RBR8UC

The Knowlton School is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Architecture Research Travel Awards.

Seventeen Knowlton students were awarded Architecture Research Travel Awards to conduct research in locations like Italy, China, Singapore, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico, the Balkans, and Brazil.

The ARTA program was established with generous support from the Columbus Foundation to encourage independent travel and research by students from all Knowlton degree programs.

---

-- Nick Antonelli + Korbin Steinbrunner, BSLA
"China + South Korea + Japan"

-- Noah DeRochie, MCRP
"Social Ownership to Market Housing: The Evolution and Future of Public Housing in the Central Balkans"

-- Maria Gammoh, MArch
"Three Regions, One Tradition: Understanding Sacred Architecture Across Greece"

-- Maxly Gasca, MCRP
"Comparing the Migrant Experience through Plazas in Ciudad de Mexico"

-- Adam Goldberg, MLA
"Narrative Ethnography as Landscape Design: Advancing Direct Experience Through Writing and Walking"

-- Danielle Holop, BSLA
"United Kingdom"

-- Chloe Lu, BSArch
"Cultural Districts and Social Sustainability in Singapore"

-- Stephanie McCauley, BSCRP
"Urban Form and Governance: Organic Growth and Intentional Design Frameworks in Portugal and Comparative European Cities"

-- Nadia Ndematebem, BSLA
"Sacred Before Scaled: The Intersectionality of Capitalism and Culture in Sacred Landscapes "

-- Sophia Novo, BSLA
"Landscapes of Narration: A Study of Colonialism, Migration, and Diaspora’s Long-standing Impact on Brazilian Design and Life Today"

-- Aniyah Rosales + Bemnet Shewaye, BSArch
"Controlled vs Uncontrolled"

-- Vera Stone, MCRP
"Fruterías: Fruit, People, and Design in Urban Life"

-- Haley Trolio, BSLA
"Ecology, Beauty, and Resilience in Scandinavian Landscape Practices"

-- Michael Wade, MArch
"Museums that Move Us"

-- Christopher Willauer, MLA
"Routes of Stone and Passage: Geodiversity, Movement, and Sacred Infrastructure in the Simbruini Mountains"

Read more
https://bit.ly/4f3soi7

We're happy to share that Frank Jacobus will be the next director of the Knowlton School of Architecture! An architect, designer, artist and educator, Jacobus currently serves as head of the Department of Architecture in Penn State University’s Stuckeman School. With 19 years of experience in higher education, he also was associate department head in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. https://engineering.osu.edu/news/2026/05/college-engineering-names-new-knowlton-school-director

Housed in the College of Engineering and comprised of the Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and City and Regional Planning sections, the Knowlton School is home to nearly 900 students and more than 40 full-time faculty across three undergraduate and four graduate degree programs.

“With both academic and industry experience, Frank understands and appreciates the synergies between architecture, city and regional planning, landscape architecture, and engineering,” said College of Engineering Dean Ayanna Howard. “I am confident his interdisciplinary perspective and solutions-based approach will amplify the Knowlton School’s excellence.”

https://engineering.osu.edu/news/2026/05/college-engineering-names-new-knowlton-school-director

🎓 🎓 🎓

Thanks to all who joined us for today’s 2026 Knowlton School Commencement Breakfast.

Congratulations to the Knowlton School Class of 2026! You did it—now go show them what a Knowlton alum can do.

Special thanks to today’s speakers:

— Leah Evans (MCRP ’01), Homeport
— Marlee Rossero, Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture
— Diego Phoyú Solares, Bachelor of Science in City and Regional Planning
— Faith Folarin (BSArch ’22), Master of Architecture

🎓 🎓 🎓

Final Reviews — Master of Landscape Architecture, Directed Research

1. Jackson Pastore
2. Maura McMahon and Jue Jue Thaw
3. Maura McMahon
4. Morgan Downey
5. Allison Swanka
6. Morgan Maughan
7. Alejandro Vergara Kniveton
8. Christopher Willauer
9. Gabi Lacerda Gadelha

Jaxx Cheline
2025-2026 Knowlton Ambassador

Meet Jaxx! Jaxx is majoring in Landscape Architecture, and is also a part of MUNDO!

Jaxx answered a few questions for us about being a student at Knowlton.

---

What do you enjoy most about being a Knowlton student?

My favorite part about Knowlton is how involved and passionate the professors are. In just the last two years, I’ve learned so much about my prospective field and really enjoyed doing so. It is a great place to study any of the three majors offered there.

What do you wish you had been told as a high school student? What advice would you give?

Investigate what career paths your major leads to, and talk to professionals in that field. Often, folks are happy to have a informational interview with a curious high schooler.

Read more about Jaxx: https://bit.ly/425M9h8

Final Reviews — Day 6 and 7

1–5. ARCH UG4 — Gui Competition
6–10. ARCH G3 — Syn.Thesis