FAA
✨ Now showing at Krannert Art Museum: "Memorias de la Mujer Lotina: Arpilleras, Women, and Coal in Chile" (on view through Sep 5) curated by Magdalena Novoa, professor of Urban & Regional Planning.
"Arpilleras are a radical feminist practice of storytelling and protest that became prominent in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990) when women used them to denounce their relatives’ disappearances and political violence. Today, women experiencing marginalization continue to create arpilleras depicting poverty, gender violence, and survival strategies. The arpilleras have colorful stitching, applique, and embroidery; and they are created in group sessions where women share experiences, talking as they sew."
Read more ➡️ link in bio!
The Women`s Collective who created these narrative textiles will be visiting from Chile and in residence the last week of March. Visit kam.illinois.edu for more details. @kamillinois
Curious about being able to eat Vegetarian or Vegan in the Dining Halls? 🥕🍅🌽
@illinihousing has your back! Plant-based diets are growing in popularity, and University Housing’s dining halls and retail locations make it easy to enjoy a strictly vegetarian or vegan diet – or an occasional meat-free meal. For every meal in each dining hall, we serve at least one vegan or vegetarian entrée and side dish.
Learn more about dietary accommodations at the link in our bio 🔗!
Spring break mode: activated. ☀️
Have a restful and safe week, everyone!
Studying abroad can feel exciting but also overwhelming.
FAA student intern Aditi Khandelwal is studying abroad this semester in Florence, Italy at the Instituto Lorenzo de` Medici. Studying ceramics, sketching, and the history of art crime, Aditi has been learning and exploring all across the city and she`s developed some great tips for first-time study abroad travelers! ✈️🚄🌎👣
Check out the link in bio for more!
This trend 🤝 Plot twist: the kids with crayons grew up to design the world.
👶🖍️ @faastudents
@illinoislandarch @sustainabledesignil @illinoistheatre @illinoismusic @archatillinois @illinois_artanddesign
Take a peek inside Design Illinois 2026!
At Design Illinois 2026, students explored "the arc of a design career," connecting with alumni, faculty, and industry leaders across graphic, industrial, and sustainable design. From panels to portfolio reviews and real interviews with future employers, it was a day of inspiration and opportunity. @faastudents @uiucgd @illinois_artanddesign @sustainabledesignil
What could the future of the Urbana Civic Center look like?
Students with the School of Architecture worked with the City of Urbana and Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District to explore how the site could become part of a new transit hub, while preserving the historic structure through adaptive reuse.
“I think that adaptive reuse is, as I teach to my students, one of the most impactful and important practices when it comes to thinking about a more sustainable future for our city and the world.” --professor Joseph Altshuler
“Bus, Stop, and Enjoyself” is an undergraduate core architecture studio focused on adaptive reuse and civic life in Urbana, Illinois, coordinated by Joseph Altshuler and taught with Gideon Schwartzman, John Clark, Carmen Mata Pradera, Yazmín Crespo-Claudio, Wekeana Lassiter. Illinois School of Architecture, Fall 2025.
Read more in the News Gazette with the link in bio 🔗
@archatillinois
@cityofurbana
@ridemtd
Image Credits:
1: Illinois School of Architecture third undergraduate students tour the closed Urbana Civic Center, September 2025. Special thanks to the City of Urbana Public Works team. Photo by Joseph Altshuler.
2: Illinois School of Architecture third undergraduate students tour the closed Urbana Civic Center, September 2025. Special thanks to the City of Urbana Public Works team. Photo by Joseph Altshuler.
3: Undergraduate students Reese Bechtlofft and Leaheey Jamen, working with faculty instructor Gideon Schwartzman and faculty coordinator Joseph Altshuler.
4: The Urbana Civic Center opened to the public on May 3, 1970. It was originally intended to be the first phase of a larger civic complex that was never built. Illinois School of Architecture third undergraduate students partnered imagined scenarios of adaptive re-use of the existing building alongside a new addition to accommodate a bus transit center for the MTD. Program cover for speculative future re-opening. Drawing credit: student Margaret Schmidt with faculty coordinator Joseph Altshuler.
5: Undergraduate students Brianne Baird and Brianna Parziale, working with faculty instructor Gideon Schwartzman and faculty coordinator Joseph Altshuler.
In welcoming our new admits, we Invite you to Illinois Bound: Admitted Student Day!! 🎉
Admitted Student Day, March 28, focuses on exploring your college of choice and meeting fellow future classmates. You`ll also tour facilities, connect with resources and current students, and eat in our dining areas.
Registration is open! Sign up at the link in our bio 🔗
BSSD
BSSD students check out what`s happening!
🖼️ March 10-24 | ARTD 326 Exhibition at Siebel Center for Design (SCD) Visit SCD to see the projects that BSSD and ID students have created for ARTD 326 Sustainability & Manufacturing, taught by Assistant Professor Savio Mukachirayil! This work is the culmination of a group research project where students work together to research and develop an innovative product solution using mycelium.
☀️ March 14-22 | Spring Break! The BSSD office will be closed on Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20 over spring break. Please expect slow or no response to emails during this time. We will respond to all emails when the office opens again on March 24. If you have an urgent academic question please contact the FAA Academic Affairs office at faa-uaa@illinois.edu. For non-academic questions and support needs, please visit the Connie Frank CARE Center. You may schedule an appointment by calling 217-333-0050, emailing helpdeal@illinois.edu, or visit during drop-in hours: Thursday & Friday, 10 AM – 3 PM. The CARE Center is located at 300 Turner Student Services Building (610 E John St, Champaign).
📚 March 23 | Second half (POT B) courses begin
👥 March 23 | Student Sustainability Committee Board Member
Application Deadline: March 23, 11:59 PM. If you`re looking to get involved with the Student Sustainability Committee as a board member, applications are due Monday, March 23rd at 11:59pm and can be found on the Student Sustainability Committee LinkTree. SSC recommends attending the Board Member Basics event to learn about the everyday responsibilities, goals, and practices of a board member. @ssc_illinois
💵 March 23 | Student Sustainability Committee Funding Step 1 Application Due: March 23, 11:59 PM. Any proposed student-led project requesting more than $10,000 in funding, as well as any staff- or faculty-led projects of any amount, must apply through the Step 1 funding path. Note that each project team must present their project at a Student Sustainability Committee working group meeting to be eligible to submit their application. Student-led project applications under $10,000 are accepted on a rolling basis! @ssc_illinois
🖼️ Have you checked out the ARTD 326 exhibition in the Siebel Center for Design? Stop by before March 24th to see the amazing mycelium projects made by Sustainable Design and Industrial Design students this semester! ARTD 326 Sustainability & Manufacturing is taught by Assistant Professor Savio Mukachirayil! This work is the culmination of a group research project where students work together to research and develop innovative product solutions using mycelium.
🌱 Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting student accomplishments supported by a Fall 2025 BSSD Opportunity Scholarship. This week, we look at Ethan Anderson`s project: "Kingfisher Composting Community-Driven Waste Reduction and Soil Renewal!"
BSSD: Tell us about your project and the progress you`ve made thus far.
🌱 EA: “Last fall, Kingfisher Composting ran a pilot where, once a week, breakfast food scraps were collected from 3-4 classrooms at Yankee Ridge Elementary School and composted in our Black Soldier Fly bins. Students interacted hands-on with the system and participated in presentations by the team about composting, circularity, and sustainability. This spring, we’re expanding our pilot to the lunchroom, with the goal of expanding our impact within the school.”
BSSD: How has the Scholarship supported your development?
🌱 EA: The Scholarship provided resources to implement a food waste design intervention in a community setting. This has required working with teachers, students, community members, school administration, grounds and maintenance, etc., to see through the successful implementation. Navigating these relationships and logistical challenges has strengthened my project management, stakeholder communication, and systems-thinking skills in ways that coursework alone could not.
BSSD: What are your future goals or plans for the project?
🌱 EA: This spring, we are expanding our pilot from classroom breakfast scraps to the school lunchroom at Yankee Ridge Elementary, significantly increasing our waste diversion and educational impact. Longer term, I plan to use the data and relationships built through this project to advocate for composting infrastructure at the district level and to connect Kingfischer Composting’s school programs with university sustainability research and outreach efforts. With the neighborhood curbside pickup program, I`ll look to sustain it for the time being while exploring ways to increase the system`s efficiency so it can handle future expansion.
Congrats, Ethan! We`re excited to follow along as the project progresses!
📢 Make sure you are aware of these important deadlines on March 13
⏰ Deadline to drop POT 1 (full semester) course via Student Self-Service without a grade of W
⏰ Deadline to remove an incomplete grade from the previous semester to prevent a change to an F grade
⏰ Deadline to elect credit/no credit or change credit/no credit to a regular grade basis in POT 1 course
⏰ Deadline to file intent to use Campus Grade Replacement option in POT 1 course
⏰ Deadline to withdraw from the Spring 2026 semester (drop all courses) without a grade of W
📢 Join us for our first BSSD Brown Bag Seminar: How to Ask for Everything: Getting What You Want from Your College Experience! Wednesday, March 11th from12:30-1:30 pm in the BSSD Office (210C Architecture)
👥 Have you ever found yourself stuck but unsure how to ask for help? You`re not alone! Join BSSD students as they share how they`ve built meaningful support networks and shaped their college journeys. Come hear their stories, learn practical support-seeking strategies, and cultivate your own support network!
🍎 Bring your lunch and share in the community!
🍏 BSSD Brown Bag Seminars are informal, student-centered gatherings where you can discuss compelling topics and connect with peers who share your curiosity. This is a space to explore ideas, ask questions, and learn from one another.
Then save the date for the next two programs in the series:
April 6: Getting involved: RSOs, study abroad, design competitions, and community engagement
April 29: Grad School: Why am I thinking about it, and how can I prepare?
@arthistoryatuiuc In conjunction with the exhibition Another Place: Storymaking the Entangled Prairie.
Please come hear the conversation about putting exhibitions together — from concept to collaboration, from research to installation. We’ll also be thinking about who exhibitions are for, how viewers shape meaning, and what it means to create space with — not just for — the public.
Hope to see you there!!
Sustainable Design Students, this will be a great conversation between Design historians and thinking about audiences!
BSSD students check out what`s happening!
📚 March 2- Shannon Mattern Artist Lecture | on Zoom | 5:30 pm
Shannon Mattern is the Director of Creative Research at the Metropolitan New York Library Council. In this talk, she will explore the cross-disciplinary design practice through which the Metropolitan New York Library Council’s new Library Field project is coming into fruition. We’ll examine how myriad design fields — from traffic and water engineering, to landscape and interface design, to wayfinding and media curation — converge in this project, sited on a plot of land just north of New York City. Go to the link in bio to register in advance.
🖇️ March 6- Supply Chain Management Conference | 8:30 am
The focus of this conference is sustainable and socially responsible supply chains. This conference will 1.) bring together leading academic researchers and industry professionals who are committed to sustainable and socially responsible supply chains, 2.) provide a platform for students to learn about recent research and development in these areas. https://giesbusiness.illinois.edu/business-administration/supply-chain-management-conference
📐 March 8- Deadline to apply for Architecture Minor
🍁 March 9- Summer and Fall class schedules are available on Course Explorer
📖 March 13- Registration Deadline for Undergraduate Research Symposium
Are you interested in presenting your design research to a larger audience, connecting with fellow researchers across campus, gaining valuable feedback on your designs, and bolstering your resume? Design projects are welcome, and students can present individually or in groups. Applications, including title and abstract, are due March 13th, and the symposium takes place on April 30th. Learn more and apply here: https://undergradresearch.illinois.edu/symposium.html
🏖️ March 14- Spring Break!
As career month wraps up, we`re looking back with appreciation for the alumni who kicked us off with a BSSD mentorship event and round table. Here, they share some of the skills they`ve found essential working in the Sustainable Design field.
