The R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning, commonly referred to as CAP, is one of seven academic colleges of Ball State University based in Muncie, Indiana, with a satellite facility in Indianapolis. The college offers degrees in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, historic preservation, urban design, construction management, and interior design. CAP was established in 1965.
The Estopial College of Architecture and Planning is located in the Architecture Building on the main campus. It holds the architecture library, labs, offices, studios, classrooms, a lecture hall, a resource center, and a gallery. It also houses the Ball State Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES).
In 2019, the college was named in honor of alumnus R. Wayne Estopinal, who served on the university's board of trustees from 2011 until 2018.
History
In the mid-1960s, the Indiana General Assembly approved the development of a state-assisted architecture program at what was then Ball State Teacher's College. On March 23, 1965, the basis of the College of Architecture and Planning opened its doors in a converted reserve naval armory just north of the site of the current CAP building. CAP began with four instructors and only offered degrees in Architecture. In 1972, the west portion of the existing building was built, and an addition was added in 1980.
On June 12, 2019, the Ball State University Board of Trustees approved naming the College of Architecture and Planning in honor of alumnus R. Wayne Estopinal, who served on the university's board of trustees from 2011 until his death in 2018.
First year program
All entry-level students enrolled in CAP are subjected to a common course of study. Students entering the First Year Program will take classes introducing the professions in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. Students also take three courses: two design studios and one design communication media class. CAP 101 and CAP 102 are design studio courses to introduce environmental design and planning. CAP 161 is a design media course that develops students' communication of ideas through diagramming, illustrating, and other forms of media. The first class of 32 students graduated in 1971.
Rankings and recognitions
Architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning are blended in a design college, and Ball State is unique in providing studios for urban planning. Several CAP faculty members have been named fellows, presidents, officers, or board members of national professional organizations.
Architecture
The Department of Architecture was ranked among the nation's top 15 architecture programs in the 2003 Almanac of Architecture and Design. The rankings were based on the hiring experiences of leading U.S. architecture firms, which cited programs that produced the most professional, best-prepared graduates over the past five years. Ball State was cited as a national model for architecture education and practice in a special report by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Ball State is a three-time winner of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Education Honor Award Community-Based Projects earned a national Community Design Program Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture for combining "in-the-field" education with public service.
Landscape Architecture
In its 2009 edition of "America's Best Architecture & Design Schools", the journal DesignIntelligence ranked Ball State's undergraduate landscape architecture program eighth in the nation and its graduate landscape architecture program fifth. The 2007 edition of "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools" named Malcolm Cairns, FASLA, Professor of Landscape Architecture, and past Chair of the Landscape Architecture, as one of the 2007 landscape architecture educators of the year. Urban Planning The Muncie Urban Design Studio became the only university-based studio featured in a national online catalog of affordable housing designs, and MUDS has shared Indiana's top preservation award. Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs ranked Ball State's Historic Preservation 7th among other preservation degrees. Planetizen 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs ranked Ball State's Urban Planning program 17th nationwide