Facilities & Makerspaces 

The Tyler experience is defined in part by access to exceptional facilities. Graduate students have the space, the technology and the tools they need to go wherever their creative vision takes them, including 

  • dedicated practice studio spaces for architecture, environmental design, and graphic and interactive design graduate students; and  
  • individual practice studios for MFA students.Ìý

Tyler's 255,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility on 51¶¯Âþ’s Main Campus is home to makerspaces of all shapes and sizes to support graduate students in their studies. These include 

  • an acid room for copper etching; 
  • an 18-station wheel throwing room;  
  • computer studios; 
  • digital fabrication labs; 
  • high-ceilinged, light-drenched painting studios;  
  • hot and cold glass shops; 
  • a media output center; 
  • two large wet labs and darkrooms; and 
  • wood and metal fabrication shops.Ìý

Spaces also include an outdoor classroom, study nooks, café, spacious green courtyard with natural dye garden, exhibition galleries and —Tyler's visionary center for exhibitions and public programming.Ìý 

Painting Facilities

The painting program is housed in more than 18,000 square feet of studio space designed specifically for painting and drawing, with six large top-floor studio rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and northern light, each more than 1,000 square feet.Ìý

Each studio room includes painting racks that can accommodate large-scale canvases, 12’ doorways between rooms, modeling stands, and the usual complement of heavy-duty painting and drawing equipment. The painting area includes 16 graduate studios, storage area, model changing room, critique area with projection capability, conference room and paintbrush washing tubs.Ìý 

Loretta C. Duckworth Scholars Studio

The Loretta C. Duckworth Scholar’s Studio at 51¶¯Âþ’s Charles Library provides a space for collaborative work and individual research, offering technology for textual analysis, mining big data, working in and creating 3D spaces, geospatial technology, gaming, visualizations, and more. Its makerspace, VR Lab, Specialized Computing Lab and Tech Sandbox provide students with tools to stretch their creativity.

Research Opportunities

Tyler graduate students have access to the abundant resources of a large, tier-one public research university and accomplished faculty who model a culture of inquiry through their own research and professional practice.Ìý

Graduate students can participate in research opportunities in areas as diverse as sculpture, art history, architecture, environmental design, city/regional planning and community development, and visual studies.

Faculty research spans diverse categories, including climate change, cultural landscapes, ecological recovery, seed germination, social equity in urban design, urban ecology and health, virtual and augmented reality, and visual representation. .Ìý

Tyler and 51¶¯Âþ are closely tied to the city of Philadelphia, providing opportunities for graduate students to participate in hands-on, collaborative opportunities in the city. The richness of arts practice, architecture, landscape architecture, planning and allied professional fields across the Philadelphia region offers limitless possibilities for experiential learning. Learn more about research opportunities for Tyler students.  

Research Funding

In 2016, the National Science Foundation placed 51¶¯Âþ among the top 100 in terms of research expenditures, which amounted to $242 million. .