While celebrating our 80th anniversary this year, we were reminded that honoring our past is essential and understanding how that legacy shapes what comes next is equally important. This issue of DIMENSION explores that connection, examining the influence of history, the emergence of new ideas, and the path we are charting forward, including the launch of our historic preservation and cultural sustainability initiative.

On Friday, November 14, the Hines College community gathered on campus to celebrate the College’s 80th anniversary in an unconventional way – with an un-gala. Designed to capture the energy and joy of a gala without the formality, the un-gala invited alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students to reconnect while raising funds for emerging design technologies at the College.

With three new full-time faculty this academic year, the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design is deepening its expertise in historic preservation, design and urbanism, and user experience and user interaction design (UX/UI), advancing its mission to lead and innovate in these pivotal areas.