A building is meant to be a communal space that represents the needs and wants of its inhabitants. The people who design buildings, however, are increasingly unprepared for a discipline that requires such broad thinking. The architecture program at Cornell has repeatedly abandoned and ignored the need for cross-disciplinary study in favor of courses that keep students within the often-unwelcoming brown brick walls of Rand Hall. A vast divide already exists in the world of professional architecture between the designers and the people for whom they design. We feel that the University — which, as the home of one of the world’s finest architecture programs, serves as an example to the rest of the field — should work to bridge this divide.

Currently, architecture students can only study abroad in one location and only with other architects. Slope Day, one of the few days where the majority of the University comes together, is annually filled with reviews for third-year architects. Out of nearly 100 undergraduate and graduate architecture courses being offered this semester, a mere five are cross-listed with other departments. While undergraduates are granted more freedom to take electives after their first few years, the social distancing between other students has already been created. Furthermore, it is prohibitively difficult for students to double major within the college of Architecture, Art and Planning, and impossible to double major in another college.

A good architect must be able to write and speak well in order to communicate ideas to a crowd of people uneducated in the theory of design. Innovation requires collaboration across a vast array of disciplines. While studios and reviews often force students to collaborate with each other, how can one expect architects to succeed with clients, developers, engineers and those outside the field if they have no experience working alongside fellow students in other colleges?

It is true that upon graduation, many architects will come face to face with a world that does not understand their field of study in the slightest. Often, the academic experience of learning design is the only time when architects will be immersed in study among people who have a communal understanding of the subject. Yet, how can architects begin to bridge the divide between those who design buildings and those who inhabit them unless communication becomes one of the most basic tenets of architecture school?

AAP, as well as the University as a whole, must work to encourage cross-collaboration, and it has a rare opportunity to do so. AAP Dean Kent Kleinman is currently deciding who will chair the architecture department, and an announcement is expected within the next few weeks. As those on the selection committee consider two well-qualified and experienced architects, we implore them to probe the candidates about their views on the collaboration possibilities for the department. Cornell has historically been among the best architecture programs in the world, but its inability to think outside the walls of Rand may threaten future success. Encouraging collaboration will not only allow it to stay on the cutting edge, but also to set an example for the entire field.