University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning


The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, commonly referred to as DAAP, is a college of the University of Cincinnati. Located in the university's main campus in Cincinnati, Ohio, DAAP is consistently ranked as one of the most prestigious design schools in the U.S. and the world. The University of Cincinnati was also the only public school listed in I.D. Magazine's list of the top ten design schools worldwide.
For 2005, the graduate architecture program was ranked second in the nation after Harvard and ranked as the most innovative architecture program in the nation. Two of "The New York Five" architects attended the University of Cincinnati: Michael Graves and John Hejduk.
In 2008, the interior design program was ranked first in the nation for the ninth consecutive year in "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools", published by DesignIntelligence. New to the list in 2006 was the school's industrial design program ranking at No. 2, besting the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and second only to the prestigious Art Center College of Design in California. The combination of these three top-ranking disciplines gave the college of DAAP the title as the Best Art College in the nation.
In 2012, Business Insider ranked the world’s best 25 design schools listing DAAP as third, second only to RISD and MIT.
The college is also known for having the only School of Planning in the U.S. to have accredited programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels. Born out of the School of Architecture in 1961, their postgraduate degrees have been ranked at near the top in the Midwest as well as in the top 20 nationwide.
The college is distinguished for its mandatory co-operative education program, which was first conceived at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering in 1906. Students alternate between working as paid employees in design firms and attending classes, giving them experience that enables them to easily enter the workplace after graduation. Students are required to spend a certain amount of time in the workplace, usually adding up to several years of job experience, before they are able to graduate. This extends most of the programs that would normally be four-year programs into five or more years.

Facilities

The college is housed in a facility consisting of four buildings: Frederick H. and Eleanora C.U. Alms Memorial Hall, DAA Addition, the Wolfson Center for Environmental Design, and the newest addition, the Aronoff Center. The Aronoff Center, which ties together the three older buildings and houses the college library, cafeteria, auditorium, art supply store, and photography lab, was designed by Peter Eisenman and opened in 1996.

Programs