Fall Core Courses

Course Title: Water and Steal 

The first design studio of the 3 year March program introduces architectural design as an act of practice.  The course utilizes hands-on and project-based learning, following an iterative process of making, analysis, discussion, presentation and critique.  The studio will prepare students to explore issues of precedent, program, movement, geometry, site, scale, materiality, perception, landscape, order and context among others constituting an intense introductory studio experience to their graduate program. 

Course Title: RE:GEN

Addressing architectural design synthesis, the studio will integrate concept and making, focusing on questions of site planning, programming, construction, and technology. Design work will be informed by engagement with urban and social issues, ecology, precedent, history, and culture as well as materiality and craft. Proposals will be expected to resolve practical matters including structure and environmental systems, life safety, accessibility and material assemblies. Students taking this course are required to take an active and critical position that brings together these wide-ranging and often conflicting considerations into a synthesized proposal that is coherent in conceptual, formal, and practical terms.

The studio focuses on the design of a civic institutional building on an urban site. Through this project, students will be engaged with aesthetic, technical, social, and environmental aspects of design and will consider matters ranging from the scale of the city to the tectonic detail.

Course Title: Architecture in Play (2-year Synthesis Track Graduate Students)

Course Title: Architectural Drawing and Representation (3-year Graduate Students)

This course will expose students to various strategies and methods of architectural representation. Students will explore techniques to communicate spatial conditions and concepts, including forms of drawing, image production, and model-making. Targeted exercises in using both digital and manual tools will help students develop and enhance abilities to analyze and translate spatial observations through processes of visualization and fabrication. Beyond the development of skills, this course will help students discover more nuanced ways of perceiving and interpreting the built environment. Through engaging with theoretical frameworks, this course will challenge students to think critically about representational techniques, and will demonstrate how modes of representation are connected to design process.

Introduces the development of urban and architectural form in a cultural context from the first settlements of Neolithic times to the consolidation of architecture as a discipline in the 1450s.

Overview on interrelationship of the physical environment and buildings, specifically examining site design and environmental technologies, as they relate to environmental building systems design. More specifically, will develop an ability to respond to site characteristics including urban context, developmental patterning, zoning, soils, topography, ecology, climate, and building orientation. Students will also be introduced to the environmental technologies of lighting and acoustics including criteria relating to concepts and analysis in support of building systems design. Includes lectures, labs, field work, readings, exams, and projects.

The second course in the Structure sequence will broadly investigate the relationship between structure and architecture. To discuss the role of structural knowledge on architectural practice, innovative structural design cases will be reviewed in the context of the conversation between the structural engineer and architect. A basic numerical understanding of structural requirements will be studied, with which the concept of force equilibrium, structural stability, loads, member strength design, and serviceability will be explored. Parametric 3d modeling and structural analysis method will be investigated. Structural materials such as Steel and Concrete will be reviewed as gravity and lateral force resisting systems in the context of the contemporary structural design. Critical details in structural design will be reviewed to understand how structural ideas are developed and applied in the construction documentation. Lastly, based on the understanding of structural integrity, students will examine novel cases in various urban dynamics where the function of structural design is evident for the broader impact on human behaviors.

This is the third course in the structures sequence which will attempt to connect the basic understanding of structural behavior acquired in previous courses to the design-related thinking integral to the production of architecture. Although primarily focused on the study of structures, this course will investigate the relationship between structure and architecture. Therefore, the aim will be for students to “see” structure as integral to architecture, and how it forms the basis for understanding both the mechanical and conceptual aspects inherent in the art of building. While it is easy to imagine structures without architecture (i.e. construction cranes and transmission towers whose sole purpose is to keep loads lifted up off the ground), there can be no architecture without structure. Even the layperson could understand, the most obvious and basic function of a structure is its capacity to keep something above the ground by bearing loads, and the practical use gained from that capacity to keep floors, walls, and roofs in an elevated position. Thereby establishing inhabitable space. In many cases in architecture, however, structures are not solely associated with such load-bearing functions.  Ideally, a tight correlation is established between structure, space, and formal expression so that describing and characterizing a structure solely in terms of its load-bearing function is clearly insufficient. To understand structures in a broader sense as being part of an architectural context also means “seeing” their forms as space-defining elements, such as a device that modulates the inflow and quality of daylight, or that reflect today’s cultural concerns, or any number of assigned functions. Hence, structures can serve multiple purposes simultaneously to carrying loads. By drawing from architectural canon, contemporary projects, and material experimentation, we will explore how structures play a role both as provider of necessary stiffness and strength (which are the basic mechanical prerequisites for carrying load safely), and as an instrument for creating architectural spaces that embody certain other qualities as mentioned above.  This object/space duality is the conceptual framework that we will use to identify both mechanical function and spatial function as the two prime concepts that establish the basis for a holistic understanding of structure in the context of architecture. 

Overview of architectural theory and approaches. Examines architectural theory as applied to building design, using architectural theory as a basis for developing design paradigms. Introduces research methods used in architectural theory.

Examines active systems of climate control in buildings and their relation to energy management. Assesses evaluation and selection of mechanical equipment systems, cost implications, and effectiveness. Investigates design considerations of integrating various building systems, including: mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems; heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment; water; and wastewater systems. Introduces sanitation, fire protection, and vertical transportation systems. Considers techniques for solar heating, passive cooling, indoor air quality, and human health.

Course Title: RE:GEN

Addressing architectural design synthesis, the studio will integrate concept and making, focusing on questions of site planning, programming, construction, and technology. Design work will be informed by engagement with urban and social issues, ecology, precedent, history, and culture as well as materiality and craft. Proposals will be expected to resolve practical matters including structure and environmental systems, life safety, accessibility and material assemblies. Students taking this course are required to take an active and critical position that brings together these wide-ranging and often conflicting considerations into a synthesized proposal that is coherent in conceptual, formal, and practical terms.

The studio focuses on the design of a civic institutional building on an urban site. Through this project, students will be engaged with aesthetic, technical, social, and environmental aspects of design and will consider matters ranging from the scale of the city to the tectonic detail.

This course is intended to introduce students to various digital and computational design applications. Will include topics such as image processing, vector drawing, 3D modeling, Parametric Modeling, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and rendering techniques. Sessions are intended to provide students with hands-on instruction in order to assist in developing a comfortable skill level. 

The Portfolio is an important communication tool for architects and designers to share their own project work. During the seminar, the portfolio design process should incorporate the cultivation, selection, edited viewpoint, presentation, etc. of your work which will contribute to a personal statement about who you are. The course objective is to design a portfolio that is a culmination of student work documented in a professional format. Students will learn how to self-evaluate, organize, layout, and edit their work to allow for future maintenance of their portfolios as their professional careers develop.