The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) awards the annual prize each year for projects that show a creative marriage of classroom ideas and real-life challenges.

One of Clemson's winning entries explored how innovative architecture improves healthcare environments. The other localized global climate change by illustrating how Charleston's historic peninsula might be defended against the twin threats of rising sea level and increased storm severity.

To illustrate the work of the Architecture + Health program at Clemson, three projects were entered as examples:

* a proposal for a green health clinic for the Joseph P. Sullivan Center linked programming, health administration and studio courses
* a patient room prototype brought together architecture, industrial design and fine arts students
* a studio/seminar explored a New Orleans project to rebuild medical facilities lost to Katrina. Students twice visited the 74-acre site in New Orleans and helped officials and the community visualize plans for a new medical center planned by Louisiana State University and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In all of these Architecture + Health projects, students interacted with professionals in a variety of ways.

David J. Allison is director of the Architecture + Health program. He worked with associate professor Dina Battisto and professor Stephen Verderber on the submitted projects.

The NCARB Prize to the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston was earned on the strength of its study "Global Climate Change and the Charleston Peninsula."

Based on the January 2007 report of the International Panel on Climate Change, students worked with scientific consultation from Greg Carbone of the University of South Carolina's department of geography to examine the primary urban design impact on the peninsula. They produced proposals at four levels of magnitude that showed how planners could manage increasingly severe storm events, a rising water table and the incursion of seawater.

The Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston is under the direction of Robert Miller, professor and architect. Ray Huff, assistant professor and a practicing architect in Charleston, helped lead the project.

Each of the prizes earned $7,500. The $25,000 grand prize went to California State Polytechnic University. Other winners were Arizona State, Savannah College of Art and Design and a joint submission from the University of Arkansas and Washington University in St. Louis.

NCARB is a non-profit federation of architectural licensing boards. The NCARB Prize for Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy supports excellence and innovation. Submissions must represent unique efforts to integrate education and practice while allowing students to earn academic credit.

For more information about Clemson's graduate programs in architecture, visit: www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/Arch/index.php.

The November issue of Architect ranks Clemson in a three-way tie with Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin for 10th in the nation. The top two positions are held by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A four-page feature in the magazine also includes a profile of Clemson President Jim Barker, an architect, former dean of architecture at Clemson and an alumnus of the undergraduate program. The story also is on the magazine's website.

Lee Hall is home to Clemson's architecture school. In a brief description of Clemson's graduate program, the magazine cited its fluid campus concept as one reason Clemson is set apart from many others. Clemson architecture students are strongly encouraged to spend at least one semester in one of its centers in Charleston; Genoa, Italy; or Barcelona, Spain. Some spend a semester in each, enabling them not only to see great architecture, but to live and feel the culture that supports it.

According to Ted Cavanagh, chairman of the Clemson University School of Architecture, the fluid campus is unique among architecture schools. While many programs send students on trips to Europe, Clemson owns a building in Genoa and faculty stay there the entire year. The centers in Charleston and Barcelona are staffed in rented space, although plans are under way to establish a permanent site in Charleston's historic district.

The magazine rankings were compiled from 130 architecture firms, 46 architecture deans and 740 architecture students who responded to a national survey.

"We are gratified to see Clemson returning to national recognition," Cavanagh said. "All the hard work of alumni, faculty and students is paying off. Looking to the future, this should help us attract more top students and faculty to the school."

Cavanagh said he believes the fluid campus and the School of Architecture's unusual alignment with other disciplines in the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities enables the program to develop students ready to contribute to a multifaceted world.

"We teach our students about locality and the unique aspects of places, so they're able to operate in different local environments, which is important in today's global architecture profession," Cavanagh said.

Architect magazine ranked Columbia University and Cornell in a tie for third, Washington University in St. Louis in a tie with Virginia Tech for fifth, University of Cincinnati at seventh, and the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley in a tie for eighth. Runners-up are Princeton, Yale, the University of Virginia, Kansas State and Syracuse University.

For more information about Clemson's programs in architecture, visit www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/Arch.

The Carbon Neutral Clemson project challenged about 300 architecture students to spend their first five days back in class working on proposals to meet the goal of a carbon-neutral campus.

English architect Graham Farmer from the University of Nottingham and Canadian architect Richard Kroeker of Halifax served as judges. At the conclusion of the project, the judges presented some of the best proposals back to the students and named three winners: "Bringing Life Into Death Valley," "Maximizing Landscapes" and "The Harvest."

The student teams won $250 each for the effort, but the real value of the project was found in the exercise itself and in the quality of the proposals.

"Many of these proposals are such good ideas you should see if you can get them built," Farmer said. "The best of the entries show clear, simple ideas supported by an understanding of the technical aspects needed to make them work."

"Bringing Life Into Death Valley" by Nic Fonner, Will Wingfield, Tim Hoskins and Meg Chandler, calls for fitting "Solar Tree" photovoltaic cells onto the foldable backs of stadium seats. When the stadium is unoccupied the seats would be folded down to absorb solar energy and produce electricity.

"The Harvest" by Nathan Missel, Mandy Mobley, Clint Riddle and Alisha White would make the most of campus trees after they die. Their proposal calls for cutting the dead trees into slats that would be woven, like a basket, into a rooftop gallery on Lee Hall. The structure would support vegetation that would protect the building from ultraviolet rays.

"Maximizing Landscapes" by Paul Kennedy, Ashley Ortmann, Shawn McKeever and Thomas Weir, explored ways to minimize consumption and maximize landscapes to create an overall more sustainable campus.

"What a great way to begin the term," said Ted Cavanagh, chairman of the School of Architecture. "It brings every student in the school together to respond to a common challenge. The bar has been set high. It shows that the whole school has made a commitment to treat sustainability as the main focus of building."

A Carbon Neutral Clemson challenged students to create designs where absorption of carbon is equal to or greater than emission.

The McMahan Awards for Sustainability are supported by Clemson University's McMahan Fund for Excellence.

For more information about Clemson's graduate programs in architecture, please visit www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/Arch.