Courses

Creative and critical thinking in architecture occurs through both visual representation (drawings, models, etc.) and full-scale construction. 

Media 2 builds on the techniques of basic architectural representation covered in the previous course.  As a primary learning objective, students will produce detailed 2D representations with vector-based design tools used to construct digital drawings.

The course gives students the opportunity to learn the basic aspects of a skill that can prove of extraordinary value not only for representing real-life objects or scenes, but also for thinking and observing. Through a series of lectures and weekly practical exercises, students will be able to sketch throughout the semester, from live scenes to abstraction and imagination.

This course introduces basic concepts and techniques for designing, constructing, and programming objects, spaces, and media that sense and respond to their physical surroundings. 

Landscapes are sites that people often take for granted; they are frequently understood as spaces in-between other things, or places that somehow exist in suspension: unchanging and untransformed. When we look more closely however, we find that landscapes are neither neutral nor empty. They are, rather, teeming with complexity and life. Indeed, landscapes are sites of intervention and negotiation: among humans, and also between humans and numerous living others.

This course will explore how mass media communicate ideas, attitudes and values about the built environment to the public. Human experience and perceptions are documented and communicated in mass media, particularly those incorporating moving images. 

This course will explore a variety of techniques in ceramic fabrication that cross digital craft and traditional production methods. This course requires a willingness to experiment with both analog and digital fabrication methods. 

This course will investigate the theoretical frameworks of architectural materiality as they emerged during the era known as the “Enlightenment” (modernity, in other words), leading to the suspicion towards that commitment that emerged in the post-WWII period.

Students will be asked to work collaboratively & develop ideas for design competitions.

The final course in the media sequence exposes students to more advanced parametric modeling techniques as they pertain to architectural design and representation. Building on the introductory skill-building exercises in Media 5, this course is structured into a series of in-class workshops that provide students with hands-on experience with Grasshopper 3D. 

This course focuses on construction materials, systems and integrated design.  Through the careful study of buildings that relate concept to construction systems and tectonics, students develop an appreciation for the value of fully resolved execution.  This study locates architecture at the juncture of design intention and technical means. 

This course provides an introduction to the environmental and the design aspects of architectural lighting and acoustics. The series presents both qualitative criteria relating to architectural concepts and computational analysis to assist design. Students will develop an understanding of interior lighting, daylighting, room acoustics and noise control as components of architectural design through a structured program of lectures, readings, exams and projects. 

This course will focus on the professional practice of architecture including (the following are the NAAB Student Performance Criteria addressed in the class) an understanding of the fundamentals of building costs, such as acquisition costs, project financing and funding, financial feasibility, operational costs, and construction estimating with an emphasis on life-cycle cost accounting.

In this course students will then learn how to build a model from start to finish using Autodesk Revit to create construction documents and details, model custom components, link models together, create renderings and walkthroughs, and touch on site placement. 

How do we formulate our position as architects? This seminar will ask you to critically reflect on your practice thus far, and to develop a working manifesto outlining your approach to architectural design. You will begin by considering the imminent demolition of a completed studio project (probably from third or fourth year). Through the prism of this impending demise, you will invent a narrative for your work at large, deploying the ghost of a disappeared architecture in the service of renewed interest in and reinvigoration of your young, promising architectural practice.

This course provides an introduction to the planning, design, and development of cities, communities, and the natural environments in which they are situated, with the creation of sustainable communities as the overall goal. Through urban and environmental planning, sustainable neighborhoods are seen as places which maintain and restore our natural and built environments, thereby creating a higher quality of life for residents.

By 2050, the world’s urban population will likely double. As urbanization proceeds rapidly, how do cities across the globe ensure the wellbeing of inhabitants? This course explores the many ways in which planning and design processes promote (or, hinder) food and health equity in urban settings.

The student has the opportunity to engage the city and region actively as they develop a critical capacity to evaluate such plans from the standpoint of history, the opportunities and challenges in our region, and the theories of placemaking.

What drives growth and development? How are land use patterns prescribed? What tools do planners use to shape the environment? This course examines factors contributing to land use with a focus on how policy mechanisms are used to steer development. 

This course is intended to introduce student to diverse health issues which are related with urban/physical environments in contemporary cities and stimulate interest in what is fascinating and challenging about this broad subject.