Bard Hosts Symposium for Architecture and Sustainable Infrastructure
Bard College’s North Campus Residence Complex. Photo by Bilyana Dimitrova ’99
On Sunday, October 13, the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), a leading nonprofit professional association aimed at advancing excellence in higher education planning, held a symposium at Bard’s Annandale campus. The symposium featured the College’s unique history of both historical architectural preservation and forward-looking deployment of innovative sustainable infrastructure. This included tours of both Bard’s high-efficiency student housing and Passive House dormitories, and its successful integration of high-tech performing arts facilities such as the Fisher Center and Performing Arts Lab within the rural context of Annandale-on-Hudson.
“For over a century, Bard College has served as a dynamic laboratory for campus design, successfully weaving 19th century historical estates with avant-garde contemporary architecture and cutting-edge sustainable infrastructure,” reads a statement from SCUP.
Featured speakers included Acting President Jonathan Becker, Vice President for Administration Coleen Murphy Alexander, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Fisher Center, Gideon Lester. Representatives from the fields of architecture and sustainable development also gave presentations, such as architects from KPF, the firm that designed the Passive House-compliant campus center and four north campus residence halls, adding rooms for over 400 students while also complementing the existing architecture on Bard’s campus.
Post Date: 10-13-2026
“For over a century, Bard College has served as a dynamic laboratory for campus design, successfully weaving 19th century historical estates with avant-garde contemporary architecture and cutting-edge sustainable infrastructure,” reads a statement from SCUP.
Featured speakers included Acting President Jonathan Becker, Vice President for Administration Coleen Murphy Alexander, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Fisher Center, Gideon Lester. Representatives from the fields of architecture and sustainable development also gave presentations, such as architects from KPF, the firm that designed the Passive House-compliant campus center and four north campus residence halls, adding rooms for over 400 students while also complementing the existing architecture on Bard’s campus.
Post Date: 10-13-2026