Republic file photo The exterior of the Republic building, now home to the Indiana University J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
The Indiana University J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design will host a community celebration on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. on the grounds of The Republic Building, 333 Second St. in Columbus.
Members of the public are invited to help kick off the 2024-25 academic year and mark the program’s accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Announced in May after a five-year review process, the designation confirms that the program’s M. Arch degree meets the education requirement for registration as an architect in all U.S. jurisdictions. The accreditation extends retroactively to all degrees granted by the program since May 2021, when the program’s first cohort of students graduated.
At the event, school leaders will honor the program’s founding director Associate Professor T. Kelly Wilson and present its new director, Assistant Professor Daniel Martinez. Those attending may browse student work made over the summer in the Welcome Back Show, on view in the Miller Gallery. Food and beverages will be available, and the event will proceed rain or shine.
“Accreditation represents a goal that was on the distant horizon when our beloved architecture program got its start,” said Eskenazi School Founding Dean Peg Faimon. “It is truly gratifying for our program to be recognized among its peers in higher education.”
Approved by the state in 2017 and having welcomed its first students in 2018, the Miller Master of Architecture (M. Arch) Program offers a unique pedagogical approach linking architecture training with studio art practice. The program draws upon Columbus’ renowned built environment comprising over eighty significant works of architecture as a living urban laboratory for academic exploration. It also leverages the city’s culture of public-private coalition-building for collaborative problem-solving opportunities in the community. An extensive study-abroad component also distinguishes the program: the Nomadic Studio immerses students at two points in their course of study in architecturally notable cities around the world, where they navigate the urban landscape via sketchbook.
NAAB accreditation is based on a program’s compliance with numerous criteria, relating to curriculum, student learning objectives, the program’s resources, and its relationship to its institutional, geographic, and community setting. As part of the application for accreditation, program administrators must provide evidence of the program’s commitment to ensuring students’ understanding of issues from technical knowledge and health, safety, and welfare in the built environment to architectural and urban history, ecological responsibility, and social equity, among other areas. Additionally, a program must demonstrate sound organizational and planning processes as well as adequate human, physical, information, and financial resources.
The Miller Architecture Program received distinction for its curricular model and its emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The program’s exceptional physical infrastructure and community access were also noted as merits. The accreditation process involved three site visits by NAAB teams, starting in 2019. A subsequent site visit and reevaluation will take place in 2027, with scheduled opportunities for accreditation renewal every eight years henceforth.
“The Miller M. Arch program is unique amongst architectural design programs for our curricular pairing of art and architecture, our international study component, our legendary architectural milieu, and our relationship and collaboration with the Columbus community,” said Wilson. “Our students tell us that these attributes attracted and have retained them. Now, NAAB accreditation confirms our approach as foundational for tomorrow’s architects.”
The origins of IU’s architecture program date back to 2011, when the university partnered with the Community Education Coalition (CEC) of Columbus under the direction of John Burnett and Jack Hess to found IU Center for Art + Design. The center was established to create design education opportunities for IU students as well as a hub for arts and design in the community. Recognized internationally, the built environment of Columbus includes modernist landmarks by Eero Saarinen, Harry Weese, and I.M. Pei, among others, commissioned through an architectural program implemented by Cummins Corporation President J. Irwin Miller.
In early 2018 IU purchased the building that had once housed operations of Columbus’ daily newspaper to house the architecture program. Designed in 1971 by Myron Goldsmith, The Republic Building is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks. The city and a cohort of community members donated $2 million to adapt the modernist landmark to its new use. The building houses studios, classroom, offices, an auditorium, a fully equipped woodshop, and the Miller M. Arch Gallery.
