Approved by: Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee
Implementation Date: Spring 2016
Note: Deletions are strikethroughs. Insertions are underlined.
Catalog Copy
School of
Architecture
http://soa.uncc.edu
The mission of the School of Architecture (SoA) is to advance excellence in architectural education through innovative research, teaching and design practices. The sSchool seeks to is to ffurther the discourse between the theory and practice of architecture through the education and training of students, the work and research of the faculty, and ongoing engagement with the University, the profession, and the community. Architecture in the narrow sense includes important public monuments and, in the broader sense, the constructed environment at all scales.
To prepare undergraduate students to become future community and architectural leaders, the School of Architecture seeks to provide both a liberal and a professional education based on a holistic view of the built environment. The studio/seminar sequence in the Core Program emphasizes both writing and making to introduce students to alternative and complementary methods of investigating design problems. The professional degree path in the Advanced Program culminates in studios that a Comprehensive Architectural Project emphasizeing self-direction and provide individualized directed instruction on matters of importance to contemporary practice and theory, and includes courses in advanced building technology and digital practices..
Admission
All students must first apply and be accepted byto the University. Following acceptance to the University, and submit, a second on-line application is then made to the School of Architecture. The SoA Undergraduate Admission Review includes by: 1) completion and submission of an SoA application; 2) an evaluation of this the UNCC & SoA applications by a faculty committee; 3) , and a personal interview of selected applicants, including a presentation of samples of their creative work; and 4) admissions decisions. All SoA Admission decisions are completed by April 1 for entry beginning in the fall semester.
Undergraduate admission to the School of Architecture is to the Four-Year Bachelor of Arts in Architecture—a pre-professional foundation degree that serves two primary academic tracks that culminate in professional accredited degrees. “4+1”: The first track is the “4+1” one-year Bachelor of Architecture degree (professionally accredited). “4+2”: The second track is the “4+2” two-year Master of Architecture degree (professionally accredited), including further options for dual-degrees and post-professional graduate studies in Urban Design, Geography, and Business/Real Estate Development. Students who do not intend to pursue an accredited professional architecture degree may elect a modified undergraduate curriculum that allows greater academic flexibility.
Students who maintain a minimum grade point average (3.0 in architectural studies through the Fourth Year) are automatically recommended for acceptance into the undergraduate fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture program; students who maintain a minimum grade point average (3.25 in architectural studies through the Fourth Year) are automatically recommended for acceptance into the graduate Master of Architecture program. Students with an “automatic admit” to the BArch or MArch programs may enter the fall semester following completion of the B.A. degree program, or may defer one year and enroll in the subsequent academic year. Students who do not have minimum GPA for the “automatic admit” must submit a separate application for admission to the fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture or the graduate Master of Architecture program.
Accreditation
The School of Architecture maintains accredited status through the National Architectural Accrediting Board, which reviews the curriculum, facility, faculty, and program resources annually. In addition, the NAAB conducts an intensive site visit every six years. The School has maintained full accreditation standards as prescribed by this board and includes the following required statement:
“In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit professional degree programs in architecture offered by institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted an eight-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a preprofessional undergraduate degree in architecture for admission. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.”
“In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
Master’s degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.”
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture
The undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Architecture is a 4-year pre-professional foundation degree, which requires 128 credit hours. Students who wish to become registered architects must also earn a professional NAAB-accredited degree—either a 1-year Bachelor of Architecture (128+30 credit hours) or a 2-year Master of Architecture (128+60 credit hours). Information on the Master of Architecture degree program may be found in UNC Charlotte Graduate Catalog.
Degree Requirements
Core Program
All undergraduate students in the School of Architecture complete a three-year core sequence of courses designed to provide a solid understanding of fundamental issues, knowledge, and skills related to architecture. These courses include a series of coordinated design studios, skill-building seminars, a four-semester sequence of architectural history (three survey courses and one history topic elective), and four courses in building technology (one course in Architectural Materials, two courses in Structures, and one course in Environmental Systems Principles). Students who do not intend to pursue an accredited professional degree (the BArch or MArch) may complete only the Core Program and earn a non-pre-professional version of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This alternative allows greater academic flexibility for students to augment their architectural studies with coursework from other University departments, allowing double major or minor in other disciplines, or to prepare for graduate studies in related fields (such as planning, urban design, landscape architecture, or architectural history).
ARCH 1101 Architecture Design Studio I (5)
ARCH 1102 Architecture Design Studio II (5)
ARCH 1601 Recording Observations (2)
ARCH 1602 Components of Form (2)
ARCH 2101 Architecture Design Studio III (3)
ARCH 2102 Architecture Design Studio IV (5)
ARCH 3101 Architecture Design Studio V (5)
ARCH 3102 Architecture Design Studio VI (3)
ARCH 3601 Writing Architecture (W) (3)
ARCH 4050 Architectural Elective (3)
ARCH 4201 Architectural History I (3)
ARCH 4202 Architectural History II (3)
ARCH 4203 Architectural History III (3)
ARCH 4204 Architectural History Elective (3) (W))
ARCH 4301 Material and Assembly Principles (5)
ARCH 4302 Environmental Systems Principles (3)
ARCH 4303 Structural Principles (3)
ARCH 4304 Structural Systems (3)*
ARCH 4604 Computational Methods (3)
Foreign Language 1201 or higher (4)Proficiency at level
Foreign Language 1202 or higher (4-8)
Advanced Program
*Alternative: Students who do not intend to pursue an accredited professional degree (the BArch or MArch) maymay complete a the Advanced Program and earn a pre-professional version of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This alternative modified version of the above curriculum to earn a non-pre-professional version of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This alternative allows greater academic flexibility for students to augment their architectural studies with coursework from other University departments, allowing double major or minor in other disciplines, or to prepare for graduate studies in related fields (such as planning, urban design, landscape architecture, or architectural history). This alternative path requires 128 credit hours, and includes the above curriculum except for the following courses (marked with *): ARCH 4304, ARCH 4101, ARCH 4102, and two ARCH 4050 electives. To complete the credit hour requirements for the degree, students must substitute 19 credit hours of coursework in other areas to replace these credits.
Undergraduate students begin the Advanced Program in their fourth year of study. The Advanced Program presents opportunities for greater depth of inquiry, breadth of understanding and synthesis through architectural advanced architectural design and advanced electives. In Mostly but not entirely Cconcentrated in the Fourth Year of study, the Advanced Program includes an intensive building design studio, in which students learn advanced computing skills, various topical design studios, in which faculty steer focused are offered which research agendaspermi, as well as additional courses in technology, history, and other topics that engage contemporary architecture. The following courses are not not required for the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree, but are required for the subsequent accredited degrees--Bachelor of Architecture (5th year) or Master of Architecture at UNC Charlotte.highly recommended for students who plan to pursue a professional degree.t specific focused design exploration in areas such as: digital design, urban and community design, tectonic issues, lighting and energy use, landscape and site, and contemporary issues in architectural design.
ARCH 4050 Architecture Elective (3)*
ARCH 4050 Architecture Elective (3)*
ARCH 4101 Topical Architecture Studio VII: Advanced Building Design (5)*
ARCH 4102 Architecture Studio Topical Arch Studio VIII: Topical (5)*
ARCH 4203 Architectural History III (3)
ARCH 4204 Architectural History Elective (3) (W)ARCH 4304 Structural Systems (3)*
Foreign Language 1201 or higher (4)
Foreign Language 1202 or higher (4)
*Alternative: Students who do not intend to pursue an accredited professional degree (the BArch or MArch) may complete a modified version of the above curriculum to earn a non-pre-professional version of the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This alternative allows greater academic flexibility for students to augment their architectural studies with coursework from other University departments, allowing double major or minor in other disciplines, or to prepare for graduate studies in related fields (such as planning, urban design, landscape architecture, or architectural history). This alternative path requires 128 credit hours, and includes the above curriculum except for the following courses (marked with *): ARCH 4304, ARCH 4101, ARCH 4102, and two ARCH 4050 electives. To complete the credit hour requirements for the degree, students must substitute 19 credit hours of coursework in other areas to replace these credits.
Grade Requirements
One grade of D in any studio is permissible. A second grade of D or F in a subsequent studio requires repeating the course. Successive D and/or F grades in a studio which that is taken for a second time results in suspension from the Architecture program.
To graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree, an overall GPA of 2.0 must be achieved in all courses offered by the School.
A student may not repeat an ARCH course more than once. Students are permitted one opportunity to repeat any architecture course. Earning a grade of F in the same course twice results in suspension from the Architecture program.
Suggested Curriculum
For a suggested curriculum for this degree to map out a path toward completing the major, please see the Academic Plan of Study available online at academics.uncc.edu.
Bachelor of Architecture
(Professional Accredited Degree)
Students who complete the pre-professional four-year Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, including all requirements outlined above for both the Core and Advanced Programs, are eligible for admissionto apply for into the fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture degree program. The Bachelor of Architecture Program at UNC Charlotte School of Architecture offers students who have already completed a bBachelor degree an opportunity to continue their architectural education within a vibrant urban community that includes civic and cultural institutions, residential fabrics, social infrastructures, international businesses, and a broad collection of architectural practices, consultant firms, and other design-related resources. The location of the program in the Center City Building embeds students and faculty within the lifeblood of the profession, and the program is structured in order to take advantage of the personal and material resources of the city. The serendipity of the urban realm and the ability to witness the workings of the profession in situ drive the objective of the program to produce civic-minded and technologically-adept young professionals. Students who complete the Bachelor of Architecture Program at UNC Charlotte School of Architecture receive the Bachelor of Architecture degree, which is the professional undergraduate degree accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB). This degree qualifies graduates to complete their professional internship and take the Architecture Registration Exam and, in turn, become a licensed Architect. The mechanism of licensure is the Internship Development Program (IDP) run by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).
The two-semester curriculum of the Bachelor of Architecture program at at UNC Charlotte consists of 30 credits, in addition to the 128 hours for the B.A. in Architecture, for a total of 158 hours. The Fifth Year is composed of a two-semester sequence of linked studios that are focused on an individual Comprehensive Architectural Project involving design research and development. The Fifth Year also includes one technology course (Building Systems Integration), one course in Professional Practice, one course in advanced Computational Practice, as well as architecture electives.
The Bachelor of Architecture requires an additional 30 credit hours of coursework, in addition to the 128 hours for the B.A. in Architecture, for a total of 158 hours. The Bachelor of Architecture curriculum at UNC Charlotteprogram includes the four-year Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Advanced Program curriculum outlined above, plus an additional year with the following courses:
ARCH 4050 Architecture Elective (3)
ARCH 4050 Architecture Elective (3)
ARCH 4103 Architecture Studio IX: Comprehensive Architectural Project SchematicIntegrated Building Design (6)
ARCH 4104 Architecture Studio X: Project DesignDesign Inquiry Studio (6)
ARCH 4205 Architectural History Elective (3) (W)
ARCH 4206 Professional Practice (3)
ARCH 4305 Building Systems Integration (3)
ARCH 4605 Computational Practice (3)
Each semester of the program is designed as a “package” of courses that integrates NAAB requirements into a wholistic vision of the profession, which includes a synthesis of technological and social concerns, as well as the production of compelling analytical visualizations of architecture and its context at multiple scales. The studio sequence is designed to initiate students on a career path of design-as-research. In ARCH 4103, students complete a special requirement of the accredited professional degree in architecture, which is the demonstration of the ability to execute an Iintegrated Ddesign pProject. Instructors provide section-specific sites, program guidelines, and architectural themes, and students work in pairs to complete a fully resolved building design that addresses contemporary matters of architecture and the city, utilizing the most current computational methods. In ARCH 4104, students delve deeply into individually-defined investigations of specific themes of contemporary architecture. Students take advantage of the proximity of the program to the professional community of Charlotte in order to develop relationships that have both short term (i.e., project-related) and long term (i.e., career-related) benefits.
The School also offers a fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture program for students who have a four-year architectural or environmental design degree from another NAAB accredited institution. Following an assessment of curriculum for equivalence with the UNC Charlotte B.A. in Architecture Advanced Programprogram, students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credit hours, including 12 hours of architectural studio and 18 hours of other architectural courses. Students entering the fifth-year Bachelor of Architecture program from other architecture programs who have curriculum deficiencies will be required to complete additional coursework and credit hours. No transfer credit is accepted for this program.
Grade Requirements
A grade of C is the minimum passing grade forin both Fifth Year studios, ARCH 4103 and 4104. A grade of D in ARCH 4103 prohibits a student from entering ARCH 4104; a grade of D in ARCH 4104 prohibits a student from graduating. Courses for which a grade of D is received must be taken again; any student receiving less than a grade of C when repeating a studio course will be suspended from enrollment in the School of Architecture.
A grade of F in either ARCH 4103 or 4104 requires a student to reapply to the Fifth Year program.
To graduate with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, all students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 in Fifth-Year coursework offered by the School.
Students who are suspended from the University due to deficiencies in their academic performance will be suspended from the Architecture program. If a student is readmitted to the university, they are not automatically readmitted into the Architecture program; they must appeal to the School of Architecture for reinstatement. Students who are readmitted to the university under the “Two-Year Rule” or the “Associates Degree Rule” must also appeal to the School of Architecture for reinstatement into the architecture program.
Suggested Curriculum
For a suggested curriculum for this degree to map out a path toward completing the major, please see the Academic Plan of Study available online at academics.uncc.edu.
Areas of Academic Focus
The School of Architecture faculty offer expertise and instruction in the following areas:
Architectural Design Studios and Seminars
Studios and seminars provide both analytical and synthetic educational experiences along with the opportunity to pursue intense study of physical-environmental subject(s). These courses link humanistic, physical phenomena, social-psychological, behavioral, perceptional, and aesthetic studies.
Building Technology Courses
These courses provide a quantitative and qualitative understanding of building materials, structural theory and design, environmental systems issues and principles, and building systems integration.
Architectural History Courses
These courses provide an understanding of the relationships between culture and its physical architectural manifestations from ancient to contemporary times.
Computation Courses
These courses provide practical and theoretical training on matters of basic and advanced computational practices, including instruction in scripting and digital fabrication.
Architectural Electives and Opportunities
Elective courses provide opportunities for topical study of issues, both current and historic to architectural practices: theoretical concerns, urban design, landscape, representation, building technology, digital practice and fabrication, environmental issues, community practice, and constructional/making concerns. Many electives are organized around the following four themes or concentrations:
- Architectural Design, Theory, & Practice
This concentration focuses on a sophisticated and detailed study of building and site design arising from the re-presentational methods intrinsic to architecture. The areas of focus include: graphic description, historical and/or theoretical inquiries, as well as digital design and fabrication. This concentration includes both investigation and criticism of contemporary practice and practitioners as it pertains to the understanding, design, and making of architecture.
- Urbanism
This concentration focuses on the critical role of architecture in the city -- the processes and specific intents of physical interventions in urban landscapes and infrastructures. Through the design of groups of buildings as well as larger scale urban areas, issues of policy, politics, finance, planning, place, and culture are introduced as part of the essential conception and history of the city fabric.
- Architectural Technology
This concentration focuses on emerging issues of sustainable design and the development of innovative building envelopes and systems that utilize both new and traditional materials, technology, and construction methods. Seeking to explore the historical as well as contemporary realms of thermal, tactile and visual issues of architectural technology, students address appropriate material selection, methods of daylighting, and passive and active systems for heating and cooling with consideration of both qualitative and quantitative outcomes.
- Digital Design, Fabrication, and Visualization
This concentration focuses on computation as it affects materiality, process, and interaction. Work in this concentration focuses on the responsible material constraints of digital manufacturing techniques, the ways in which our methodologies are affected by computation, and the ways in which digital technology is changing the expectations for interaction in our designed spaces and urban conditions.
Independent Studies
When appropriate, a student may earn credit by pursuing a self-directed, faculty-approved study of a particular, significant architectural topic or subject.
Research Studies
A student may earn credit through participation in directed faculty research projects.
General University Requirements and Directed Electives
Courses to meet the University's General Education requirements and elective studies are incorporated in the curriculum structure.
Foreign Language Requirement
All students who earn a degree in the School of Architecture are required to be proficient in the language of their choice through the 1202 level.
Proficiency can be demonstrated in the following ways: (1) Completing the required coursework (ARCH 1201 and 1202; 8 credit hours each) at UNC Charlotte; (2) Completing three years of the same language in high school through Level Three; (3) Achieving a satisfactory score on the foreign languages placement test; (4) Approved transfer or transient credit earned at other accredited institutions; or (5) A combination of the above methods (e.g., placing out of or earning transfer or transient credit for 1201 and completing the 1202 course, completing 1201 and placing out of or earning transfer or transient credit for 1202).
Education Abroad Programs
The School conducts international field-study summer programs in a range of countries including, but not limited to, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, Finland, and China. In addition, exchange arrangements exist through the Office for International Programs for students to study architecture for one or two semesters at: University of Copenhagen (Denmark); Kingston University (London, England); Lund Institute of Technology, (Lunds, Sweden); University of Technology, (Delft, Netherlands); Tongji University, (Shanghai, China), The University of Applied Science, (Aachen, Germany); Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, (Copenhagen, Denmark); and the Henry van de Velde Institute (Antwerp, Belgium).
Advising
The advising program consists of two tiers: Staff Academic Advisor (Core Program advising) and Associate Director (Advanced Program advising).
Architecture (ARCH)
ARCH 1101. Architecture Design Studio I. (5) Co-requisite: ARCH 1601. This course begins the core architecture design sequence, which consists of six theme-based studios. The theme of this studio is “Form, Space, and Order.” It The studio allowsprovides students with to gain a working knowledge of important studio skills, processes and methods, and it develops creative and independent thinking through two-and three-dimensional design problems.
ARCH 1102. Architecture Design Studio II. (5) Prerequisites: ARCH 1101 & ARCH 1601. Co-requisite: ARCH 1602. This course continues the architecture design studio sequence by focusing on the theme of “Precedent Analysis.” Students interrogate projects of historical and contemporary architecture that reify and expand upon formal investigations initiated in ARCH 1101, and apply those lessons to a design project. This studio, expandsing the base of architectural skills, processes, methods, principles, and issues which that affect the built environment we inhabit.. Design is introduced as a conceptual discipline involving analysis, interpretation, syntheses, and transformation of the physical environment.
ARCH 1601. Recording Observations. (2) Co-requisite: ARCH 1101. Projects, lectures, demonstrations, and exercises are used to introduce the skill of freehand drawing. The aim is to understand drawing as a vital means to see, represent, and understand essential aspects of the visual environment.
ARCH 1602. Components of Form. (2) Prerequisites: ARCH 1101 & ARCH 1601. Co-requisite: ARCH 1102. Projects, lectures, demonstrations, and exercises are used to introduce the skill of freehand drawing. The aim is to understand drawing as a vital means to see, represent, and understand essential aspects of the visual environment.
ARCH 2101. Architecture Design Studio III. (5) Prerequisites: ARCH 1102 and 1602. Co-requisite: ARCH 4301. This course continues the architecture design studio sequence by focusing on the theme of “Site.” Students interrogate matters of physical and cultural context, site-specific material strategies, and environmental impact/responsiveness through both analysis and design projects. This studio also initiates the instruction of computational design skills and methods.Studios emphasizing the significant purposes for building; understanding the theoretical, technical and symbolic consideration of the environment relative to intervention, and intentions from behavioral information toward a comprehensive design process.
ARCH 2102. Architecture Design Studio IV. (5) Prerequisites: ARCH 2101. . Co-requisite: ARCH 4302. This course continues the architecture design studio sequence by focusing on the theme of “Program.” Students interrogate matters of spatial organization, circulation, and planned/unplanned uses of space through both analysis and design projects. Instruction includes further development of computational design skills and methods.
Studios concentrating on the development, experimentation, and understanding of the range, potential, materials, systems, and methods in the use of architectural technologies.
ARCH 3601. Writing Architecture. (3) (W) Prerequisite: ARCH 3101. Co-requisite: ARCH 3102. This seminar introduces genres of writing--observation, analysis, reflection, critique, manifesto, and narrative--that are used within the architectural design process and within criticism. Students will develop skills with reading architectural texts, and engage successive iterations of critical writing exercises.
ARCH 3101. Architecture Design Studio V. (5) Prerequisites: ARCH 2102. This course continues the architecture design studio sequence by focusing on the theme of “Material and Structural Assemblies.” Students interrogate matters of tectonics, structural systems and material strategies. Physical and computational modeling are emphasized as complementary modes of inquiryThird year design studios continue the five-year studio sequence with a focus on three areas of inquiry: tectonics - defined as the material, detail, and structure as form-generating influences; enclosure - defined as making space with regard to use and human ritual; and envelope - defined as building edge and surface in technical terms and signification..
ARCH 3102. Architecture Design Studio VI. (5) Prerequisite: ARCH 3101. The final studio in the Core Program examines the focuses on the theme of “Systems Integration.” Students interrogate matters of mechanical systems and building envelopes, as well as information systems and new media technologies, foregrounding their impact on sustainability and spatial organization and occupation.
relationship of building to site and context in both environmental and social terms. Site planning, adjacency, contextualism, land and landscape, building grouping, and urban occupancy are included in projects.
ARCH 4050. Architecture Elective - Topics. (3) Concentrated, in-depth study of selected topic. Topics vary according to faculty expertise and often include contemporary theoretical, social, technological, and design issues.
ARCH 4101. Topical Architecture Design Studio VII: Advanced Building Design. (5) Prerequisite: ARCH 3102. This studio conducts an integrated building design project that synthesizes all six themes and many of the graphic methods of the core program. Students interrogate a complex program on a complex urban site through the use of advanced computation methods, including Building Information Modeling.
Various studio topics are offered with different emphasis and subject concentration to allow in-depth studio experiences in particular areas of study. May be repeated with permission of department.
ARCH 4102. Topical Architectural Studio VIII Architecture Design Studio VIII: Topical. (5) Prerequisite: ARCH 4101. Various studio topics are offered with different emphasis and subject concentration to allow in-depth studio experiences in particular areas of studyy.. May be repeated with permission of department.
ARCH 4103. Architecture Design Studio IX: Comprehensive Architectural Project Schematic Integrated Building Design. (6) Prerequisite: ARCH 4101. In this studio, students execute an integrated design project that fulfills a primary requirement of the accredited professional degree in architecture. Instructors provide sites, program guidelines, and architectural themes, and students work in pairs or small groups to complete a fully resolved building design that addresses contemporary matters of architecture and the city. This studio is the first of a two-semester sequence dedicated to the design of a “Comprehensive Architectural Project.” The first semester includes preliminary design research and analysis, the development of a Schematic Design, and completion of a Project Document which provides for design research, analysis, development and synthesis (oral, written, and graphics) of a building program, site, and design premise.
ARCH 4104. Architecture Design Studio X: Comprehensive Architectural Project Design Inquiry. (6) Prerequisite: ARCH 4103. In this studio, students delve deeply into individually-defined investigations of specific themes of contemporary relevance. Students take advantage of the proximity of the program to the professional community of Charlotte in order to develop relationships that have both short term (i.e., project-related) and long term (i.e., career-related) benefits. Rooted in, but also independent of, the projects from ARCH 4103, design-as-research projects culminate in a Project Document that distills the student’s research. This studio is the second of a two-semester sequence dedicated to the design of a “Comprehensive Architectural Project.” The second semester involves design development including resolution of material, structural, and environmental systems, and its representation through drawings, models, verbal presentations, and refinement of ARCH 4103.
ARCH 4201. Architectural History I: Prehistory-1750. (3) Global survey of architecture and urbanism from prehistory to 1750. Explores key examples of buildings and cities as well as the theoretical, environmental, political, economic, technological, and cultural contexts in which they were built. Provides a general knowledge of the formal, spatial and ornamental characteristics that distinguish the built environment of distinct historic and traditional building cultures.
ARCH 4202. Architectural History II: 1750-Present. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 4201 or permission of instructor. Global survey of architecture and urbanism from 1750 to the present. Explores key architectural and urban ideas, designers, buildings, and urban projects as well as how they were shaped by their environmental, political, economic, technological, and cultural context.
ARCH 4203. Architectural History III: Survey of Contemporary Theory (1950-Present). (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 4202 or permission of instructor. Survey of architectural theory from 1950 to the present. Focuses on the key ideas, texts, debates, and discourse that have informed architectural practice in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
ARCH 4204. Architectural History Topic. (3) (W) Prerequisite: ARCH 4202 or permission of instructor. Study of topical areas of history and theory of architecture. These courses are required for architecture majors (3 credit hours of ARCH 4204/ARCH 4205 in the B.A. and 3 credit hours in the B.Arch) to complement the required survey courses (ARCH 4201, ARCH 4202, and ARCH 4203) to develop in-depth research, writing, and presentation skills. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
ARCH 4205. Architectural History Topic. (3) (W) Prerequisite: ARCH 4202 or permission of instructor. Study of topical areas of history and theory of architecture. These courses are required for architecture majors (3 credit hours of ARCH 4204/ARCH 4205 in the B.A. and 3 credit hours in the B.Arch) to complement the required survey courses (ARCH 4201, ARCH 4202, and ARCH 4203) to develop in-depth research, writing, and presentation skills. May be repeated for credit with change of topic.
ARCH 4206. Professional Practice. (3) Corequisite: ARCH 4104. Learning objectives include an understanding of the practice of architecture today, its responsibilities and procedures, and emerging alternative forms of practice and roles of the architect.
ARCH 4301. Material and Assembly Principles. (3) Introduces quantitative and qualitative characteristics of architectural materials, systems, and processes. Also introduces the physical properties of materials relevant to their application in construction, assembly, and detail systems. Topics include: masonry, concrete, wood, steel, glass, cladding, roofing and flooring materials, and their assemblies.
ARCH 4302. Environmental Systems Principles. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 4301. Introduces qualitative and quantitative analytical methods commonly used to assess the impact of environmental forces on occupant thermal and luminous comfort, energy performance, and regional sustainability. Also introduces the interplay between climatic events, building use, and the architectural variables that inform the appropriate application of building systems technology. Topics include: Building envelope performance, and the introduction of passive and mechanical systems for heating, cooling, illuminating, and ventilating buildings.
ARCH 4303. Structural Principles. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 4301. Introduces issues relevant to the fundamentals of structures including statics, strength and stability of materials. Also introduces structural concepts, systems, and the tracing of structural loads through basic principles, physical modeling, and theoretical and analytical methods. Topics include: the interrelationship between strain, stress, and stability, as well as the implications of tension, compression, shear, torsion, and bending.
ARCH 4304. Structural Systems. (3) Prerequisites: ARCH 4301 and ARCH 4303. Introduces specific structural applications of wood, steel, concrete, and masonry systems commonly used in small-scale commercial/institutional buildings. Also introduces design of beams, columns, walls, joinery, and connections appropriate to each material type through theoretical, analytical, and computer simulation methods.
ARCH 4305. Building Systems Integration. (3) Prerequisites: ARCH 4304 and ARCH 4302. Introduces a set of advanced issues related to the comprehensive, systematic integration of building technology systems commonly used in large-scale buildings through case study, analytical, and simulation methods. Topics address the resolution of the building structure, materials, environmental systems, mechanical systems, electrical systems, life safety, building water supply and waste, and conveying systems in building design.
ARCH 4604. Computational Methods. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 2102 or permission of instructor. Advances computation in architecture by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various kinds of computing and their role in design. Course content included: advanced 3D modeling, basic parametrics, basic scripting, and the importance of digital inquiry. Also introduces computational concepts, their history, and how they relate to design and architecture.
ARCH 4605. Computational Practice. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 4604 or permission of instructor. Capstone course for digital and computational studies in the 5th-Year program. The objectives of the course are to provide the use of advanced digital tools, digital fabrication, advanced visualization techniques, scripting, as well as parametric and building information modeling tools.
ARCH 4890. Directed Independent Study. (1-3) Prerequisite: Architecture major and permission of chair of instruction. Designed to allow students to pursue faculty-directed independent study topics not provided by other college offerings. May be repeated for credit with permission of college.