The Best Master's Degrees

By Marianna Chara

These 50 stunning university buildings demonstrate that function and efficiency need not come at the expense of visual impact and appeal.

nanyang2

Image SourceMethodology

In developing this list, we looked for structures that reflect leadership in sustainability and also have significant visual impact. Many of these projects have earned a formal "green" rating from one agency or another, and most all of them have earned other coveted design awards.

At BestMastersDegrees.com, we believe that this emphasis on the part of a university shows outstanding long-term thinking and has the potential to enrich the lives of students and the surrounding community in profound ways.

We also looked for diversity in function, which is why we've included the likes of field research stations, schools of nursing, transportation centers, student recreation centers, residence halls, science and technology centers, and more.

We'd like to congratulate the institutions whose buildings made this list, and we hope these examples can be a source of inspiration for schools considering such projects in the future.

The 50 Most Impressive Environmentally Friendly University Buildings

#50. University of Pittsburgh – Chevron Annex

Pittsburgh, PA

#49. Mills College Lorry I. Lokey Graduate School of Business

Oakland, CA

#48. University of British Columbia – Sauder School of Business

British Columbia, Canada

#47. New York University – Department of Philosophy

New York, NY

#46. Columbia University – Northwest Corner Building

New York, NY

#45. Arizona State University – ISTB-4

Tempe, AZ

#44. The New School – University Center

New York, NY

#43. Boston University – Student Services Center

Boston, MA

#42. Brandeis University – Mandel Center for the Humanities

Waltham, MA

#41. SUNY Oswego – Rice Creek Field Station

Oswego, NY

#40. Columbia University – Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building

New York, NY

#39. Barnard College – Diana Center

New York, NY

#38. Westchester Community College – Gateway Center

New Rochelle, NY

#37. California State University Chico – Wildcat Recreation Center

Chico, CA

#36. University of California, Davis – Student Health and Wellness Center

Davis, CA

#35. University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School – San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

#34. University of Queensland – Global Change Institute

St. Lucia, Australia

#33. Western Michigan University – Sangren Hall

Kalamazoo, MI

#32. University of Pittsburgh – Mascaro Center for Sustainable Innovation

Pittsburgh, PA

#31. Arizona State University – College of Nursing

Phoenix, AZ

#30. Rice University – McMurtry & Duncan Colleges

Houston, TX

#29. Central Oregon Community College – Science Center

Bend, OR

#28. Leicester College – Abbey Park Campus

Leicester, UK

#27. Rice University – BioScience Research Collaborative

Houston, TX

#26. Clarkson University – Student Center

Potsdam, NY

#25. University of Washington – Transportation Center

Seattle, WA

#24. Karolinska Institutet – Future Learning Environment

Solna, Sweden

#23. New Mexico Highlands University – Student Center

Las Vegas, NM

#22. University of Amsterdam / VU University Amsterdam – Liberal Arts and Sciences College

Amsterdam, Netherlands

#21. Cornell University – Human Ecology Building

Ithaca, NY

#20. Salzburg University of Applied Sciences – Kuchl Campus

Kuchl, Austria

#19. University of Scranton – Loyola Science Center

Scranton, PA

#18. Carnegie Mellon University – Gates and Hillman Centers

Pittsburgh, PA

#17. University of California, Irvine – Medical Education Building

Irvine, CA

#16. Yale University – Kroon Hall

New Haven, CT

#15. Morgan State University – CBEIS

Baltimore, MD

#14. Roosevelt University – Academic Center

Chicago, IL

#13. Bastyr University – Student Village

Kenmore, WA

#12. University of Arizona – Campus Recreation

Tucson, AZ

#11. Clemson University – Lee Hall