DCP was established in 1925 and today is one of the largest design, planning, and construction institutions in the country with more than 1,500 students.
The Department of Architecture was founded in 1925, and for the first half of its existence, it was an autonomous unit called "The University of Florida School of Architecture." Over the years, related programs developed separate professional identities: Landscape Architecture (1933), Building Construction (1935), Interior Design (1952), and Urban and Regional Planning (1974).
In 1949 the School of Architecture was renamed "College of Architecture and Allied Arts," and departments of Architecture, Building Construction, Art and Music were included in a single administrative unit. The present identity dates from 1975 when the "College of Architecture and Fine Arts" was split into two separate entities, the "College of Architecture" and "College of Fine Arts." A new dean was appointed in 1976 and the current organization evolved soon afterward.
In May of 2000 the College of Architecture was renamed the College of Design, Construction and Planning and the Department of Architecture was renamed the School of Architecture.
At present DCP is composed of six academic units: the School of Architecture, the M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Building Construction, the Departments of Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Urban and Regional Planning, and the DCP Doctoral Program. With a student body of approximately 1,500 and around 100 faculty members, DCP is one of the largest programs nationally, and its funded research ranks in the top five. The interdisciplinary nature of the professions is reflected in the fact that the first design studio in the undergraduate sequence is taught to architecture, landscape architecture, and interior design students by the departmental faculty, using an interdisciplinary program, and that a number of graduate studios and seminars in recent years have been taught to combined groups of students.
DCP's research centers reach effectively across disciplinary lines in a way that addresses the complex and changing disciplinary definitions in today's world. DCP acts as a proponent of multi-faceted environmental design education and research, taking a leadership role in the definition of environmental and architectural preservation, as well as developing appropriate visions for the future of the built environment in Florida, in the nation and in the world.
