ARCH 5201 Professional Practice
Examination of organizational and management theories and practices for delivering professional design services. Includes a historic overview of the profession and a review of the architect’s responsibilities from the pre-contract phase through cost estimating and specifications to construction. Application of computer technology in preparing specifications.
ARCH 5402 Architecture, Culture, and Society
Social and cultural values are both reflected in buildings, landscapes, and cities, and constructed by them. At the same time, this articulation of people and built environments is framed by general socio-economic and political systems of ordering that often transcend locale. This course explores how these complexities might impact design practice, drawing on concepts and methods from disciplines such as anthropology, geography and cultural studies, as well as architectural history and theory, and referring to examples from around the world.
- Architecture as a reflection of social and cultural values
- Built environment as a producer of social meaning
- Socio-economic and political systems shaping design
- Global and cross-cultural architectural comparisons
- Anthropological approaches to space and place
- Geographic and spatial theory in architectural analysis
- Cultural studies frameworks applied to architecture
- Architecture, power, identity, and representation
- Urbanization, globalization, and spatial inequality
- Implications of social theory for design practice
ARCH 5511 Constructed Drawing I
Focuses on bridging hand-drawing and sketching with digital representation as vehicles for design thinking and perception. Observational, analytical, and transformational exercises develop creative proficiency in freehand drawing and orthographic projection, as well as computational thinking. Develops understanding of and proficiency in projective drawing in both analog and digital forms. Students are introduced to a variety of digital representation applications, including modeling, rendering, animation, and scripting.
- Freehand drawing techniques and line quality control
- Curves, contours, and field representations
- Orthographic projection methods
- Descriptive geometry principles
- Axonometric drawing systems
- Surface development and compound curvature
- Spatial transformations and Boolean operations
- Temporal representation (movement, sequencing, time)
- Dimensional color theory and application
- Digital modeling, rendering, animation, and scripting workflows
ARCH 5512 Digital Representation and Fabrication
Develops understanding of and proficiency in projective drawing in both analog and digital forms. Students continue to develop a variety of digital representation applications, including modeling, rendering, animation, and scripting.
- Advanced 3D modeling and geometric transformations
- Parallel and perspective projection systems
- Parametric modeling and rule-based design systems
- Tessellations, aggregation, and recursive pattern generation
- Light, materiality, and photorealistic rendering
- Composite and hybrid drawing techniques
- Animation, time-based media, and motion graphics
- Digital workflows for representation and fabrication
- Computational design thinking and scripting concepts
- Integration of analog and digital drawing methods
ARCH 5611 Environmental Systems I: Introduction to Sustainable Design
This course examines the relationships between building, site, landscape and sustainability through the lens of ecology and systems thinking. Topics include: basic concepts of sustainability, energetic processes, climate, spatial data visualization, global warming, solar geometry, landscape processes, microclimates, site strategies and grading, building footprint & sustainable building metrics.
- Building energy fundamentals and benchmarking (cost, emissions)
- Climate analysis and vernacular environmental strategies
- Solar geometry, radiation, and solar access design
- Daylighting principles, simulations, and visual comfort metrics
- Light physics, photometry, and material optical properties
- Psychrometrics and human thermal comfort
- Heat transfer, insulation materials, and envelope performance
- Window technologies and internal heat gains
- HVAC systems and energy load simulation fundamentals
- Natural ventilation, airflow, and microclimate strategies
- Window Technologies
- Introduction to Energy Load Simulations
- HVAC Systems
- Natural Ventilation, Buoyancy and Wind Driven Flows, Wind
ARCH 5612 Structural Concepts
Fundamental concepts of structural behavior. Statics and strength of materials. Introduction to and analysis of simple structural systems.
- Structural systems, elements, and load paths
- Building stability and structural behavior concepts
- Gravity loads, live loads, and load combinations
- Statics: forces, moments, and equilibrium
- Material properties: stress, strain, elasticity
- Tension elements: cables, ties, hangers, and stays
- Beam behavior: bending, shear, and deflection
- Columns and buckling behavior
- Walls, trusses, space frames, and systems integration
- Preliminary structural analysis and sizing methods
ARCH 5613 Structural Systems
Behavior and design of overall structural systems for buildings. Particular focus on systems used for resisting lateral loads (rigid frames, braced frames, and shear walls) and for spanning long distances (trusses and space frames; cables and membranes; and arches, domes, and shells).
Typical topics covered in the course (may vary by year):
- 3D Structural Systems Overview: Gravity & Lateral Loading
- 3D Structural Systems Overview: Vertical + “Horizontal” Subsystems
- Braced Frame Systems
- Shear Wall Systems
- Rigid Frame Systems
- One-Way & Two-Way Beam Systems
- Plate & Slab Systems
- Truss Systems
- Space Frame Systems
- Vierendeel & Tensegrity Systems
- Cable-Stayed & Suspension Systems
- Cable-Net Systems
- Tension Membrane Systems
- Arch & Vault Systems
- Dome Systems
- Thin Shell and Grid-Shell Systems
- Shell Systems & Folded Plate Systems
ARCH 5614 Building Technology I: Materials and Methods
Building construction is examined from the following standpoints: life safety (including fire safety and zoning constraints on site planning); building service systems (plumbing, electrical, vertical transportation, security, fire protection); materials, sustainability, and life-cycle analysis; accessibility; technical documentation and outline specifications.
- Life safety systems and fire protection principles
- Building codes, zoning, and regulatory constraints
- Plumbing, electrical, and vertical transportation systems
- Security and building service infrastructure
- Building materials, assemblies, and construction methods
- Sustainability, durability, and life-cycle analysis
- Accessibility and universal design requirements
- Envelope systems and moisture/thermal performance
- Technical documentation and construction detailing
- Outline specifications and construction coordination
ARCH 5615 Building Technology II: Construction Elements
Concepts and procedures for the design, manufacture, and construction of structural components (e.g., walls, columns, beams, slabs) in steel, concrete, masonry, and timber.
Typical topics covered in the course (may vary by year):
Wood
- Review of statics and strength of materials
- Wood properties
- Wood systems
- Wood beam design principles
- Design of other wood elements
- Mass timber
Steel
- Steel properties
- Steel systems
- Steel beam design principles
- Design of other steel elements
- Steel building details
Masonry, reinforced concrete
- Load-bearing masonry properties and systems (I)
- Load-bearing masonry properties and systems (II)
- Reinforced concrete beam design principles
- Reinforced concrete shear, deflection, columns
- Reinforced concrete properties
- Reinforced concrete systems
ARCH 5616 Environmental Systems II: Building Dynamics
This course examines the design and analysis of the building envelope, focusing on the material and energetic transformations taking place at the boundary between architecture and the environment. Topics include comfort, building thermodynamics, envelope assemblies, thermal modeling, active and passive control systems, daylighting, and architectural acoustics.
Typical topics covered in the course (may vary by year):
- Climate, Site, Context
- Solar form-finding, ray-casting methods, sun exposure analysis
- Sustainability concepts, energy, and renewables, carbon footprint
- PV systems, Single zone energy modeling.
- Energy modeling, Embodied Carbon
- Energy modeling, Embodied Carbon, continued
- HVAC systems
- Facades, passive systems, natural ventilation, case study
- Detailing, thermal bridging
- Moisture control
- Daylight systems, visual comfort, view
- Electric lighting
- Acoustics
ARCH 5801 History of Architecture I
The history of the built environment as social and cultural expression from the earliest times to the beginning of the modern period is studied through selected examples from across the world. Themes, theories, and ideas in architecture and urban design are explored through texts, artifacts, buildings, cities, and landscapes.
- Architecture as social, cultural, and environmental expression
- Early river-valley civilizations and urban form
- Greek and Roman architectural traditions
- Asian empires and cross-civilizational exchanges
- African, Islamic, and pre-Columbian architectural histories
- Medieval European and Gothic traditions
- Renaissance urbanism, landscapes, and gardens
- Religion, empire, and trade shaping built form
- Climate, ecology, and environmental adaptation in history
- Global historical methods and comparative frameworks
ARCH 5802 History of Architecture II
The history of the built environment as social and cultural expression from the modern period to the present day is studied through selected examples from across the world. Architecture and urban design themes, theories, and ideas are explored through texts, artifacts, buildings, cities, and landscapes.
Typical topics covered in the course (may vary by year):
- Enlightenment and architecture in Europe
- Enlightenment, race and architecture in the colonial and postcolonial Americas
- Panopticism
- Plantations and production architecture across the Atlantic
- French Revolution and architecture
- American Revolution and architecture
- Haitian Revolution and architecture
- Indigenous architectures of Americas
- Edo Japan
- Nationalism and Historicism
- Gothic Ideal
- Late Ottoman Architecture
- Industrial Revolution and racial capitalism in architecture
- Global use of Steel, Glass, Iron: World Fairs, bridges, transportation infrastructures, railways and the early skyscrapers
- Orientalism and colonization in North Africa
- Colonization in Asia
- Socialism and architecture
- Urbanization and design in Europe
- Global Art Nouveau,
- Avant-gardes and architecture: Futurism, Expressionism, De Stijl, Constructivism, etc…
- The Werkbund and the Bauhaus
- Taylorism and Scientific Management
- Latin American vanguards
- Early 20th century Modernism in Western Europe
- Early 20th century Modernism in Central and Southern Europe
- Early 20th century Modernism in Russia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe
- Early 20th century Modernism in the Americas: USA, Canada, Latin America
- Early 20th century Modernism in Asia
- Early 20th century Modernism in Middle East and Africa
- Land settlement and collective housing in Europe and North America
- Land settlement and collective housing in Asia, South America, Africa
- Domesticity, home technologies, and gender
- Fascism and architecture in Germany, Italy and Spain
- Post-war new monumentalities and counter-monumentalities
- Architecture and developmentalism in Asia, Africa and the Americas
- The post-war radical architecture
- Post-war office in USA
- Post- and-cold-war house and housing in Cold-War’s Western Block
- Post-and-cold-war house and housing in Cold-War’s Eastern Block
- Decolonization and Independence in Asia and Africa
- Post-1960 revivalism, typology and postmodern style in Europe and N. America
- Post 1960 revivalism in Asia
- Post 1960 environmentalism in Europe and North America
- Post 1960 environmentalism in Asia and Africa
- Poststructuralist turn (Deconstruction, etc.).
- Globalization and contemporary architecture around the world
- Digitalization, computation, cybernetics and architecture
- Informal settlements and contemporary architectural responses