For College Students
The Introduction to Architecture Program for college students is an intensive six-week class that introduces ideas, principles, and methods of exploring architectural problems in a studio setting. Through a graduated sequence of exercises culminating in a final project, students study architectural concepts of space, form, function, environment, and technology. Field trips investigate contemporary architecture within the context of Upstate New York sites of production, fabrication, and resources.
College students spend mornings in lectures and integrated workshops exploring architectural principles including composition, history, preservation, landscape architecture, planning, and urban design. The afternoon studio includes focused seminars featuring discussions of contemporary architectural theories and practices. The studio is taught in the Rem Koolhaas–designed Milstein Hall, by Department of Architecture faculty members and recent graduates of Cornell’s esteemed bachelor's and master's programs. The program also incorporates periodic reviews by invited faculty and guest critics. Intensive individual instruction and regular progress reviews prepare students for a final project presentation.
Concurrent with the studio, drawing classes provide additional support in experimental architectural drawing and pragmatic drafting, while small design seminars and discussion groups contextualize the design process in relation to contemporary architectural practice.
The final portfolio review will strengthen and advise prospective graduate school application portfolios.
Students can expect to learn the fundamentals of the architectural program including:
- The art of making and the importance of craft
- The relationship between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional design
- Drawing and model making as a means of discovery and exploration
- Analog and introductory digital representation
- Conceptual clarity and expression
- The basics of architectural composition
The program is open to college students seeking to study architecture at a graduate level, or as a minor at their home institution. The course requires no specialized knowledge or background beyond a serious interest in architectural design.
- Cornell Summer College tuition and fees
- Summer Session dates and deadlines
- Summer Session registration information
Student Work
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Cube model projecthttps://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/AAP_INTRO_SUMMER%202016-45_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/IMG_0772_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May_cube2_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/IMG_0782_870x450.jpg -
Drawingshttps://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Plan_870x540.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20may%20drawing_3_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Section_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May%20drawings_1_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May%20drawings_2_870x450.jpg -
Cardboard modelhttps://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/IMG_0680_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May_model_2_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May_model_1_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Samuel%20May%20model_3_870x450.jpg -
Landscape modelhttps://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/IMG_9512_870x450.jpg https://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/IMG_9523_870x450.jpg -
Performative modelhttps://aap.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Joanne1_870x450_0.jpg
