Introduction to digital technology. Through lectures and laboratory assignments, students learn the basics of digital drawing, modeling, and rendering. Focus on software such as Rhino, AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and others.

The first in a sequence of four core design studios, this course introduces students to critical thinking, the fundamental principles of sustainable design, professional drawing conventions and model making techniques. The subject of domestic architecture is explored with special emphasis on the relationship between building and site in non-urban contexts. Through the investigation of landform and climate as well as the social dimensions of dwelling, students explore architecture as a negotiation between cultural and natural environments. All exercises are designed to develop the student’s abilities to translate spatial concepts into physical design proposals.

This is the first of a four-semester sequence that examines the physical forms of world architecture and related arts. It analyzes the built environment in response to place, politics, culture, and the people who use it. This semester students will study architecture from the Neolithic period to the 14th century in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Two lectures and an advanced seminar are required weekly.

An investigation into the systems, techniques, and materials employed in the making of architecture. Focus on case studies in wood, masonry, and other construction materials.

The study of urban patterns, environmental context, and the natural environment; technical instruction concerns surveying, grading, drainage and layout, and fundamentals of city planning for architects; theoretical basis for site planning investigated with site plan prototypes in varied urban contexts.

Building upon the lessons and skills learned in Digital Techniques, students sharpen their critical representation skills with a series of multi-media drawing and model-making exercises.

The second core studio builds upon the experience of the previous studio through a series of increasingly demanding design problems.

Using Manhattan as a laboratory, students are introduced to the urban context and address a medium-scale institutional building with a nuanced and complex program. Through the rigorous study of building precedents and site visits, students address the role of architecture in the public realm.

This is the second of a four-semester sequence that examines the physical forms of world architecture and related arts. It analyzes the built environment in response to place, politics, culture, and the people who use it. This semester students will study architecture from the 15th to the 18th centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Two lectures and an advanced seminar are required weekly.

An investigation into the systems, techniques, and materials employed in the making of architecture. Focus on case studies in concrete, steel and other construction materials.

The first of a three-semester sequence focusing on mechanics as an analytical subject, utilizing mathematics, including algebra, trigonometry and geometry. The principles of statics will be covered, with application to statically determinate structures such as beams, trusses and three-pin arches, enabling determination of reactions and internal moments. Strength of materials will include the properties of structural sections such as moment of inertia and radius of gyration leading to the calculation of axial, bending, shear stresses and deflections in beams. Approximate methods of analysis are presented for frames, continuous beams and statically indeterminate structures, allowing students to comprehend the broader sense of structural compositions of buildings.

The third core studio focuses on building systems integration, structural systems, and technical documentation. In this comprehensive design studio students develop a building from schematic design through design development, and finally through the construction documents phase. With an emphasis on energy efficiency, this studio provides students with an opportunity to synthesize the knowledge they have acquired in their first year of study with respect to program preparation, sustainable design and building technology.

This is the third of a four-semester sequence that examines the physical forms of world architecture and related arts. It analyzes the built environment in response to place, politics, culture, and the people who use it. This semester, students will study architecture in the 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. Two lectures and an advanced seminar are required weekly.

Concepts, methods, current techniques and application of Building Information Modeling (BIM) including creating digital models of buildings and building systems for measurement, analysis and evaluation of performance and appearance.

The second course of a three-semester sequence that introduces the design of timber and masonry buildings. Masonry units made of concrete or clay, mortar, grout and reinforcing steel are the primary materials in reinforced masonry and combined with wood framing are a basic structural composition of buildings throughout the world. Students will develop an understanding of the nature and behavior of timber and masonry structures and learn contemporary methods of their design and engineering.

The fourth and final studio in the four-semester core sequence focuses on sustainable housing. In turn, the emergent scales and patterns of sustainable housing become the operative means to address and examine larger urban design concerns. Students work in teams and consider socio-economic factors, urban density and morphology in the design of housing solutions in complex and multi-layered urban contexts. Emphasis is placed on the research of urban and building precedents as well as on the use of environmental modeling and visualization tools to measure and integrate complex data into housing solutions.

This is the fourth in a four-semester sequence that examines the physical forms of world architecture and related arts. It analyzes the built environment in response to place, politics, culture, and the people who use it. This semester students will study architecture in the 20th and 21st centuries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania. Two lectures and an advanced seminar are required weekly.

This course will focus on the performance of buildings relative to environmental impact and operational response. Starting with the building’s skin, systems will be understood as being in contact and in manipulated exchange with the thermal, luminous and acoustic environment surrounding them, to serve the ambiance and comfort of the interior. Basic knowledge of exchange, distribution and regulation will be related to construction and mechanical systems. The goal is to integrate structural, mechanical and spatial requirements to make appropriate choices during the design phase, allowing students to understand the building as a holistic regulated environment.

This course, the third of a three-semester sequence, is an introduction to the design of steel and concrete structures. Basic structural analysis of steel and concrete buildings and their components are discussed along with various building analyses and the behavior of structural systems. The methods to design structural members are presented as part of an overall building design that is safe, functional, economical, and aesthetical.

Students explore a range of research-driven advanced studio options developed to engage topics within the expansive discipline of architecture, and reflective of the expertise and interests of the full design faculty. Studio project sizes, types and sites will vary, along with pedagogical methods. Course is taken two times in sequence to meet third-year M Arch program requirements.

This required seminar course focuses on special topics of study that support and broaden the third-year M Arch design curriculum.

Builds upon the digital skills students have acquired over the 4 semesters of the core and introduces them to advanced topics in computing. Emphasis is on scripting, parametric modeling, and data visualization and covers such software as Revit, Grasshopper, Solid Works, and Ecotect.

This course introduces students to the professional practice of architecture with a special emphasis on the challenges facing architects that maintain a strong design emphasis. This course covers the general organization of the profession and its relation to client, community, and the construction industry; new management techniques, information organization and retrieval, project delivery, construction and construction documents, cost control, legal surety, contracts, and financial management.

There are numerous elective offerings each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule.

Students explore a range of research-driven advanced studio options developed to engage topics within the expansive discipline of architecture, and reflective of the expertise and interests of the full design faculty. Studio project sizes, types and sites will vary, along with pedagogical methods. Course is taken two times in sequence to meet third-year M Arch program requirements.

This required seminar course focuses on special topics of study that support and broaden the third-year M Arch design curriculum.

There are numerous elective offerings each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule.

There are numerous elective offerings each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule.

There are numerous elective offerings each semester. For a sampling of recent electives, refer to the school schedule.