NATIONAL
DESIGN STUDIO
GRANTS

The National Design Studio Grant program supports ways for faculty, students and community partners to bridge different forms of expertise, challenge conventional approaches and advance climate adaptation.

Design faculty running design studios that explore adaptive solutions to climate change in dialogue with their communities in rural, urban or mid-sized communities are invited to apply. Studios focused on developing short- and long-term interventions that approach the intersecting issues of housing, materiality, energy, environmental justice and transportation will be prioritized. 

Applications for the 2026-2027 academic year have closed.

WHO CAN APPLY

The grant is open to faculty from public and private universities and community colleges offering design studio courses in architecture, landscape architecture, urban or city planning and environmental design.

Studio courses must include a framework and approach that emphasizes collaborative partnerships, whether new or existing, with communities and key stakeholders in the university’s local rural, urban or mid-sized community that specifically address design challenges related to climate change.

Grant Criteria

Successful applications for the National Design Studio Grant program will include:

  • Interdisciplinary collaboration within a single studio
  • A unique approach to developing short- and long-term interventions and visions for climate futures for the benefit of communities
  • A commitment to training the next generation of design practitioners in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration 
  • Holistic approaches to complex challenges and transformative designs that respond to accelerating environmental changes
  • Plans to feature innovative graphics and communication strategies in final deliverables utilizing a variety of accessible and engaging media formats tailored to resonate with the local community
  • Graduate-level studios will be prioritized though undergraduate programs will be considered
  • Applying university must be a registered 501(c)(3), or hold an equivalency determination

Grant Application Timeline

Applications open Monday, May 11, 2026

Applications due Friday, July 3, 2026

Recipients announced late August 2026

We encourage those with questions to reach out via email at communications@envisionresilience.org

Grantees

National Design Studio Grants fund university-based faculty advancing climate resilience through undergraduate and graduate design studios. By supporting studio-based work on a national scale, the program extends Envision Resilience’s support of design education while empowering faculty to pursue climate solutions most relevant to their own communities and fields of study.

In 2025, grantees of landscape architecture, architecture and planning studios explored climate adaptation across distinct regional challenges, from drought and water scarcity in the Colorado River Watershed to wetland restoration in Washington and post-oil futures along the Gulf Coast. The 2026 cohort builds on this breadth of inquiry, working with community partners on a range of climate challenges including food systems, water sovereignty, urban heat, ecological restoration and community-led relocation.

2026 Grantees

  • Boston Architectural College led by faculty Adrian Fehrmann, PLA, ASLA, CELA and Yufan Gao, PLA, ASLA, CELA
  • Carnegie Mellon University, led by faculty Matthew Huber
  • Harvard Graduate School of Design, led by faculty Hannah Teicher, Ph.D., Department of Urban Planning and Design
  • Ohio State University, led by faculty Forbes Lipschitz, Knowlton School of Architecture
  • Parsons School of Design, led by faculty Mark Gardner and Hyon Woo Scott Chung
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa, led by faculty Felipe Igualt, D.Arch., School of Architecture
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, led by faculty Zhihan Tao
  • University of New Mexico, led by faculty Anthony Fettes, PLA, ASLA, PDC, School of Architecture and Planning, Landscape Architecture Department
  • University of Texas at Arlington, led by faculty Amy Trick, RA, AIA and Julia Lindgren, School of Architecture
  • University of Virginia, led by faculty C.L. Bohannon, Ph.D., FASLA, School of Architecture

2025 Grantees

  • Mississippi State University, led by faculty Sa Min Han, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
  • University of Arizona, led by faculty Brendan Sullivan Shea, Assistant Professor of Architecture
  • University of Houston, led by faculty Melanie Louterbach Rippe, Assistant Professor
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst, led by faculty Carolina Aragón,
    Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture & Associate Department Chair and Robert Ryan, FASLA
    Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
  • University of Texas at Arlington, led by faculty Joowon Im, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
  • University of Washington, led by Celina Balderas Guzmán, Ph.D, Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture
  • Wentworth Institute of Technology, led by faculty Igacio Cardona, Ph.D., Associate Professor
  • Yale University, led by faculty Andrei Harwell, AIA, Senior Critic at the Yale School of Architecture