School of Architecture

Dean

Stanley T. Allen

Director of Graduate Studies

Sarah Whiting, M.Arch. Programs

Beatriz Colomina, Ph.D. Program

M. Christine Boyer, spring

Professor

Stanley T. Allen

M. Christine Boyer

Beatriz Colomina

Elizabeth Diller

Mario I. Gandelsonas

Ralph Lerner

Guy J. Nordenson

Associate Professor

Jesse A. Reiser

Assistant Professor

Edward A. Eigen

Paul Lewis

Spyridon Papapetros

Sarah Whiting

Senior Lecturer

Ronald R. Witte

Lecturer

Robert Gutman

Carles E. Vallhonrat

Associated Faculty

David P. Billington, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Hal Foster, Art and Archaeology

Thomas Y. Levin, German

John A. Pinto, Art and Archaeology

Anson Rabinbach, History

 

The School of Architecture, Princeton’s center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory, offers advanced degrees at both the master’s and the doctoral levels. The curriculum for the master’s degree emphasizes design expertise in the context of architectural scholarship. Architecture is understood as a cultural practice involving both speculative intelligence and practical know-how. Each student constructs a personal course of study around a core of required courses that represent the knowledge essential to the education of an architect today.

The four-year doctoral program focuses on the history, theory, and criticism of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and building technology. The approach is interdisciplinary, covering a broad range of research interests from an architectural perspective. Working closely with the faculty of the school and allied departments in the University, students build individual programs of study involving at least two years of coursework, General Examinations, and a dissertation.

Professional Master’s Degree

The Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) degree, accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), is intended for students who plan to practice architecture professionally. It qualifies them to take the state professional licensing examination after completing the required internship. Refer to the NAAB statement at the end of this section for more information.

Students are eligible for admission to the graduate program whether or not they have had undergraduate work in architecture. The typical duration of the program is three years; students with an undergraduate architecture background may be eligible for advanced standing.

Prerequisites. Applicants must hold a four-year undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university and have taken a year of college-level mathematics, physics, and survey courses in the history of art and architecture. A survey course in the history of art and architecture, covering the architectural history in the west, from ancient Egypt to 20th-century America, and stressing a critical approach to architecture through the analysis of form, content, function, structure, building technology, and theory is particularly recommended. These prerequisites may be fulfilled in the summer between acceptance into the program and enrollment in the fall term.

Prerequisites for Advanced Standing. Applicants must have completed a four-year undergraduate program with a major in architecture. In addition to the prerequisites stated above, these students should have successfully completed between four and six semesters of undergraduate design studio (or its equivalent), and, in the view of the school’s admission committee, their design work should have advanced to a level equivalent to two semesters of graduate design studio. The recognition of advanced standing remains at the discretion of the admission committee. Students admitted with advanced standing typically complete this program in two years.

Post-professional Master’s Degree

A post-professional M.Arch. degree is available to those who hold the degree of Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) or its equivalent from an international institution. That is, these are students who have successfully completed a professional program in architecture and have fulfilled the educational requirements for professional licensing in the state or country in which the degree was granted. Students typically complete this program in one and one-half years. This degree is not accredited by the NAAB.

The master’s degree program is structured around a rigorous sequence of design studios. Studio work is complemented by courses in technology, history, theory, analysis, and representation. Each student constructs an individual program of study to meet course and distribution requirements. Students are also eligible to take elective courses in the school and in other departments of the University.

Programs of Study

Students in the professional M.Arch. program must take a minimum of 24 courses, typically four per term, including one design studio each term and the independent design thesis in the final term. The studio sequence, required technology and professional practice courses, and basic courses in history and theory and urbanism constitute a core that represents the basic knowledge of the discipline. In addition to these required courses, each student must complete distribution requirements within the areas of history and theory, and building technology. In order to encourage the development of an individual program of study, each student may select up to four electives, which may be fulfilled with any course offered within the University and approved by the director of graduate studies.

Students granted advanced standing are usually required to take a minimum of 16 courses within the distributional requirements of the three-year program, including one design studio each term and the independent design thesis in the final term. Because of the differences in the educational backgrounds of students entering with advanced standing, the required number of courses in the areas of distribution is determined by the director of graduate studies after reviewing each student’s transcript and experience.

Students in the post-professional master’s degree program are required to take a minimum of 11 courses, including one design studio each term and the independent design thesis in the final term. The courses are distributed across the areas of design studios and a design thesis, history and theory, technology, and elective courses that can be taken throughout the University with the approval of the director of graduate studies.

Computer Requirement

Students entering the M.Arch. programs are required to have a computer, set up at the school as part of their studio equipment, that meets the minimum specifications that are issued to all admitted students following the conclusion of the admission process. In general, the minimum requirement is for a Windows XP Professional workstation that would have a useful life of at least three years, and would be capable of being integrated into the University network and running the suite of software that is distributed to all students connected in the University network. In addition, M.Arch. students are required to pay a yearly $300 computer lab fee for access to the computers, plotters, and printers in the lab and the software on the network server.

Master of Architecture Thesis

The M.Arch. thesis is an independent design project developed in consultation with a faculty member during the student’s final term. The student begins with a thesis statement outlining an area of study or a problem that has consequences for contemporary architectural production. Marking the transition between the academic and professional worlds, the thesis project is an opportunity for each student to define an individual position with regard to a specific aspect of architectural practice. As an integral part of the design process, it is intended that the thesis project will incorporate research, programming, and site definition. The work completed for the thesis project should demonstrate both a technical mastery of the field of architectural design, and a capacity for independent thinking. Through independent research and the production of a viable design proposition, students demonstrate their understanding of the full range of ideas and skills covered in the architectural curriculum.

Doctor of Philosophy

Curriculum. The interdisciplinary nature of the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) program stresses the relationship of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and building technologies to their cultural, social, and political milieux. Supported by strong affiliations with other departments in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, the program has developed a comprehensive approach to the study of the field. Students interact with their peers to sustain their individual projects in a context of collective research. The fields of study are normally, but not exclusively, selected within one of four primary areas: history and theory of architecture, urbanism, landscape, and engineering and building technology.

During the first year of residence, a two-term pro-seminar introduces students to historical research and methodological approaches and guides the development of individual research proposals.

The course requirements for each student are set by the Ph.D. Program Committee according to the student’s previous experience, specialized interests, and progress through the program. For the first two years, each student engages in course work and independent study and is required to take a minimum of four classes each term, including required language and independent reading courses, for a total of 16 courses. The minimum number of courses shall be reduced by one when a student is an assistant in instruction (AI), which is considered an intrinsic part of a scholar’s training. This will not reduce the number of required papers; the AI assignment replaces an audited course.

A student must satisfy the program requirement of a reading knowledge of two foreign languages before the end of the second year in residence. These languages should be relevant to the general history of the discipline or specifically relevant to the student’s area of research. An examination of comprehension is administered by the appropriate language department.

General Examination Requirements. The general examination is designed to ascertain the student’s general knowledge of the subject, acquaintance with scholarly methods of research, and ability to organize and present material. The components of the general examination are assembled sequentially during the student’s period in residence, according to a program overseen and approved by the Ph.D. Program Committee. The general examination is normally taken upon completion of two years of course work (preferably in the fall of the third year in residence).

Students begin this process by requesting that the examination be held and submitting a list of suggested committee members. The next step is the preparation of a dossier of six papers to be presented by the student, including one research paper on the dissertation topic. The research paper must clearly define the field of research; it must comment on the state of existing research in the selected field and explain the contribution to the field that the paper is making. It must make a coherent statement about the archival sources or theoretical objects under examination and the methodological approaches taken. The research paper is either devoted to archival research, or encompasses an original theoretical exploration. An annotated bibliography must be included.

The general examination itself is conducted in two parts: a satisfactory oral defense of the six papers, and the acceptance by the committee of the dissertation proposal, followed by a public presentation. The oral defense is scheduled after the examination committee has read and reviewed the six papers, and confirmed that the language requirement is satisfied and that no incompletes or failing grades remain on the student’s record. Following the successful completion of the oral defense, and within a period of two to three weeks, the student selects a primary dissertation adviser from among the Ph.D. Program Committee, and up to two second readers to guide the dissertation research. The assignment of the advisers is subject to approval by the Ph.D. Program Committee. The student works with the dissertation adviser to develop a proposal that clearly defines the field of research, comments on the state of existing research in the selected field, and explains the contributions to the field the dissertation will make.

The student presents the dissertation proposal by the end of January, if the oral defense took place in the fall, or by the end of April, if the oral defense took place in the winter. After the successful public presentation of the proposal, the examination committee discusses the proposal and other relevant aspects of the program with the student. Successful completion of the two parts of the general examination signals the transition to supervised independent scholarly work on a topic of the student’s choosing.

Dissertation. Readers and advisers read and comment on initial drafts of the student’s dissertation, consult on methods and sources, and approve any changes in the dissertation outline stemming from research discoveries and shifting emphases. The research toward a dissertation normally includes at least one year spent on archival research.

Annual Meeting with Ph.D. Program Committee. Each year in mid-May, Ph.D. students are expected to present a one-page progress report to the Ph.D. Program Committee. The report should list the courses taken during the current academic year (the fall and spring terms) for grade or audit, papers completed, conferences attended, teaching assistantships held, etc. For second-year students, the report should incorporate a prospectus on the materials to be included in the general examination dossier. The prospectus must include a list of the six papers, including the professor, course number, and term taken. In addition, this prospectus must explain the major and minor fields of concentration which these papers reflect. For third- and fourth-year students, the report should include progress on the dissertation proposal, dissertation writing, funding applications, etc. A dissertation chapter or evidence of written material must be submitted each of these last two years.

Computer Requirement. It is strongly suggested that students entering the Ph.D. program have a laptop computer at the school as part of their equipment. Incoming Ph.D. students are eligible to purchase one that is specially priced through the University. Students are asked to visit the Student Computer Initiative Web site at www.princeton.edu/sci/help/faq.htm for more information.

Admission for Graduate Study

Although a personal interview is not required, candidates are encouraged to learn more about the school by visiting and talking to students and faculty members. They should contact the director of graduate studies at least two weeks in advance to arrange for a visit.

Applicants to the Ph.D. program should be aware that a professional degree in architecture is highly desirable, but applications are also accepted from those with academic degrees in appropriate disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. If a candidate does not have prior professional training, he or she may be required to take a special program of study in the processes and working methods of the profession.

Evaluation. Each candidate’s application and academic record is reviewed by a faculty committee to determine the candidate’s accomplishments and academic achievements, and assess other qualifications for graduate study in architecture. Serious consideration is given to letters of recommendation from persons who are in a position to evaluate a candidate’s abilities and estimate the applicant’s promise. Admission to the Graduate School is highly selective. All applicants are considered on a comparative basis, and admission is determined after analyzing the relative merits of all of the candidates applying in the same field. For the Graduate School to operate according to its objectives and methods, enrollment must be limited. Every effort is made to select the most outstanding candidates from among those submitting applications.

Master’s Program. A portfolio of design work is required of all master’s applicants. The portfolio, along with the other application materials, is reviewed by the Admission Committee, which determines the applicant’s qualification for admission and the most suitable program. Applicants should prepare the portfolio carefully to best illustrate their individual potential as a designer. It should be bound into a brochure no larger than 9 by 12 inches (overall size). The Admission Committee is interested in the quality of the work submitted in the portfolio, so applicants are advised not to lavish energy and expense on special or unusual packaging that is likely to be damaged in handling. Applicants are asked to not submit slides, loose sheets, or original drawings. Additional information on the preparation of the portfolio can be found in a brochure available through the School of Architecture.

It is the normal procedure of the School of Architecture to retain the portfolio of those students who are being offered admission to the school. The portfolios become permanent additions to the University archive.

Ph.D. Program. Applicants should submit substantial evidence of their academic qualifications and scholarly interests, including examples of written work, unpublished or published. In the statement of intent, each candidate must write a short essay, carefully describing his or her previous professional and academic experience, and its relevance to future plans for research and teaching. While it is understood that fields of concentration may change during the first two years of pre-generals study, the candidate should attempt to outline a potential area of research in the context of Princeton’s program.

Equipment and Facilities

Architecture Building. Most of the school’s facilities are in the Architecture Building, located on McCosh Walk near the center of campus, which is home to undergraduate and graduate design studios, seminar rooms, Betts Auditorium, an exhibition gallery, faculty and administrative offices, the School of Architecture Library, the Audiovisual Library, and the Computer-aided Design and Imaging Facility.

Architecture Laboratory. The Architecture Laboratory is used by faculty members and students for model making and work related to building systems and construction, and for the testing and analysis of materials and structural models. This hands-on experience helps students develop a deeper understanding of the tectonic aspects of building.

The laboratory houses facilities for building in wood, plastic, metal, and concrete and enables students to learn general model theory, build and test models of actual buildings, and study current building systems and technology. The laboratory is also equipped with some of the latest computer-driven fabrication technology for model making, including a Universal Laser Systems V Class CO2 Laser System. In 2003 the school purchased a second X Class Laser Cutter, and a Precix 9100 Series Large-bed Milling Machine.

School of Architecture Library. The School of Architecture Library is a division of Princeton’s Firestone Library system. Its holdings focus on current publications in architecture, urbanism, and landscape. These holdings include approximately 32,500 volumes, 2,000 pamphlets, and the collections of the former Bureau of Urban Research and the Winton Reading Room. (The Winton Reading Room, a gift from Mrs. C. W. Jones, David J. Winton ’20, and Charles J. Winton Jr. ’22, was the school’s original library until 1968, when the library system was expanded.) The library subscribes to more than 350 domestic and foreign periodicals, ranging from professional journals in the various design disciplines to periodicals covering the history and theory of design.

Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology. The Marquand Library of Art and Archaeology, located in McCormick Hall, is one of the finest art libraries in the world. The collections cover art, archaeology, and architecture worldwide, from cave paintings to video art. The collections number more than 260,000 volumes on site, and another 80,000 volumes in off-site storage. The number of architecture volumes exceeds 40,000. Materials are purchased in all formats and in all languages from around the world. Marquand also has a distinguished rare book collection. The library is open to all members of the Princeton community and visiting scholars every day of the year except for four holidays. Application for assigned carrels or shelves for architecture graduate students may be made through the program secretary. The newly renovated library features 49 public terminals, two scanners, and three mega-printers as well as wireless technology and laptop rentals.

Audiovisual Library. The Audiovisual Library contains more than 64,000 slides, 5,000 digital images, and 300 audiotapes of major lectures and conferences held at the school, as well as a growing collection of videotapes and CD-ROMS on architecture. The history of architecture is covered in the collection, although more emphasis is placed on the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection is international, but it is strongest in American and western European architecture. It is steadily growing in both size and scope. The majority of the collection is devoted to the works of more than 3,000 architects and artists. A section documenting the projects of Princeton students is also maintained. The collection is cataloged in a database that enables the researcher to search for information by architect, building name, site, or other categories. The library contains equipment for making slides for lectures and class presentations. Students may use the equipment to photograph their own work.

The Department of Art and Archaeology also maintains a large slide collection that documents all aspects and periods of Western and non-Western art. Housed in McCormick Hall, the collection is available to students for lectures and class presentations.

Computer-aided Design and Imaging Facility. The Computer-aided Design and Imaging Facility is a cluster of workstations and peripherals maintained for the purpose of helping students and faculty embrace the latest developments in computer-aided design in their work. Computing is an integral part of nearly all aspects of architectural design and research today. The school is committed to training all students in the productive use of the most advanced design and imaging technologies, as well as leading the field in the critical examination of the implications of these new technologies in architecture and urbanism. Drawing on a broad range of sources and expertise, students and faculty engage in an open-ended investigation of the new potentials for computer technology within the specific demands of architecture as a discipline. These include spatial modeling, simulation of program and use, the generation of formal and organizational strategies, and rapid prototyping.

Faculty and support staff are continually reviewing new software and other developments in the field to ensure that the most appropriate and up-to-date software and equipment are available for students to use.

School of Architecture Archive. The School of Architecture Archive houses materials of historic value relating to the history of the school. These include selected students’ thesis projects, student and school files, and the Jean Labatut Collection, which includes papers, slides, and drawings Labatut donated to the school.

The materials housed in the archive are cataloged in a database, and are available for scholarly research with the permission of the dean of the school. The maintenance of the facility is overseen by the assistant school administrator and the audiovisual curator.

Hobart Betts Auditorium. The Hobart Betts Auditorium is used for classroom and special lectures, symposia, and conferences hosted by the school of Architecture and other departments. It contains audiovisual equipment for slide and video projection, video and audio recording, and other presentation aids. The auditorium is at the heart of the school and is an invaluable resource for the entire campus community, due to its outstanding design and central location. It is used frequently throughout the year by other departments and programs at the University, including programs conducted by the Humanities and Alumni Councils.

Exhibition Gallery. The school’s exhibition gallery, looking out on McCosh Walk, hosts exhibitions throughout the academic year. The exhibitions range from overviews of contemporary architects’ work to artists’ installations. The gallery is also used for thesis juries and to exhibit students’ projects.

Lectures and Symposia

The school sponsors several special lectures and symposia throughout the year, inviting noted speakers from around the world to lecture on a variety of topics related to architecture. Sponsored lectures include the annual Kassler Lecture, which invites architects of international renown to the school, and the annual lecture jointly sponsored by the School of Architecture and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Recent and upcoming lecturers include: Henry N. Cobb, Jean-Louis Cohen, Neil Denari, Kenneth Frampton, Frank O. Gehry, Adrian Geuze, Elizabeth Grosz, Steven Holl, Jeffrey Kipnis, Greg Lynn, Toshiko Mori, Wolf D. Prix, Leslie Robertson, Andrew Ross, Kazuyo Sejima, Bernard Tschumi, and Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.

In recent years, the school’s Ph.D. students have been the recipients of a grant from the Graham Foundation that has enabled them to hold a series of symposia throughout the year. In this series prominent speakers have been invited to present their research to small, informal groups of students. Recent speakers have included Christoph Asendorf, Benjamin Buchloh, Mark Cousins, Jonathan Crary, Elizabeth Grosz, Denis Hollier, Frédéric Migayrou, Monique Mosser, Antoine Picon, and Slovaj Zizek.

The most up-to-date listing of events, lectures, exhibitions, symposia, courses, and faculty can be accessed on the Web at www.princeton.edu/~soa.

Princeton Papers on Architecture

The school publishes the proceedings of its conferences, symposia, and other special events in the Princeton Papers on Architecture, published by the Princeton Architectural Press. The first in the series is Sexuality and Space (Spring 1992), edited by Beatriz Colomina, which documents a conference held in 1990. Sweet Disorder and the Carefully Careless: Theory and Criticism in Architecture, a book of essays by former Dean Robert Maxwell, was published in the fall of 1993. Shanghai Reflections: Architecture, Urbanism and the Search for an Alternative Modernity, edited by Mario Gandelsonas, with essays by Ackbar Abbas and M. Christine Boyer, was published in the spring of 2002. Architecture and the Sciences: Exchanging Metaphors, edited by Antoine Picon and Alessandre Ponte, documents a conference held in 2000 and was published in June 2003. Cold War, Hot Houses: Inventing Postwar Culture, from Plastics to Playboy, edited by Beatriz Colomina, AnnMarie Brennan, and Jeannie Kim, is based on a series of seminars focusing on the impact of the Cold War on the built environment and was published in July 2004.

International Programs

In the past several years, the school has initiated international programs that have proven beneficial for all of the students and faculty members involved. A formal five-year program started in the fall of 1996, it was organized as a joint design studio with different Chinese universities. This first joint design studio included students and faculty from the University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture, the Tongji University School of Architecture, and Princeton. As part of the program, Princeton students traveled to Hong Kong and Shanghai for a week of exchange and discussion. This program will continue for the next several years, under the direction of Mario Gandelsonas.

In 2001, the school entered into a unique partnership, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, to establish a forum for the exchange of expertise and pedagogical methods between a transatlantic group of six schools of architecture. In addition to Princeton University, the partners in this exchange program include the Rice School of Architecture, the Department of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of California at Los Angeles, Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB), École d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. Students from each school travel to a host institution to participate in an intense week-long charrette. The goal of this initiative is to enrich emerging modes of international architectural practice, build up innovative curricula for architectural education, and accelerate the movement toward a single international standard for professional accreditation in architecture.

Courses

The courses listed below have been specifically designed to serve the educational needs of students preparing for careers in architecture and planning. They are supplemented by graduate courses and seminars selected from the offerings of other departments, especially in anthropology, engineering, history, and public affairs. Additionally, graduate students may enroll in upper-level undergraduate courses (300- and 400-level) as part of their graduate curriculum.

ARC 501, 502 Architecture Design Studio

Jessee A. Reiser, Ronald R. Witte

A two-term sequence in which fundamental design skills are taught in the context of the architect’s wider responsibilities to society, culture, and the environment. Students acquire a command of the techniques of design and representation through a series of specific architectural problems of increasing complexity. Both terms are required for professional M.Arch. students.

ARC 503, 504 Integrated Building Studios

Staff and Visiting Critics

Integrated design studios approach architecture from a synthetic perspective. Considerations of structure, environmental technology, building materials and systems, exterior envelope, and site design are integrated directly into the design process through the participation of technical faculty and outside advisers in critiques and reviews. Projects are developed to a high level of detail. At least one course is required for professional M.Arch. students.

ARC 505, 506 Architecture Design Studio

Staff and Visiting Critics

Vertical Design Studios examine architecture as cultural production, taking into account its capacity to structure both physical environments and social organizations. Projects include a broad range of project types, including individual buildings, urban districts, and landscapes. Two vertical studios are required for all M.Arch. students. Three-year students are required to complete digital media workshops before entering the Vertical Design Studio sequence.

ARC 507, 508 Thesis Studio

Sarah Whiting, Ronald R. Witte

An independent design project on a theme selected by the student. The thesis project is an opportunity for each student to define an individual position with regard to a specific aspect of architectural practice. As an integral part of the design process, it is intended that the thesis project will incorporate research, programming, and site definition. One course is required for all M.Arch. students. Completion of prethesis workshops is required for entry into the Thesis Studio.

ARC 510 Structural Analysis for Architecture

Guy J. Nordenson

An introduction to the analysis and design of structural systems for buildings, including beams, columns, arches, and other structural members. The structural behavior of individual elements and simple structural systems is studied and analyzed quantitatively.

ARC 511 Structural Design

Nat Oppenheimer

Analysis and design of structural systems, including frames, arches, plates, and shells. Primarily considers reinforced concrete, prestressed concrete, and structural steel. Structural behavior is studied and analyzed by means of small-scale models. The design and construction of existing major structures are analyzed in some detail.

ARC 514, 515 The Environmental Engineering of Buildings, Parts I and II

Daniel Nall, Mahadev Raman

A study of the needs and means of environmental control in buildings and urban developments, including environmental control systems and equipment in relation to structural and other components of construction. Either course may be offered in either term.

ARC 516 Architectural Acoustics and Lighting

Jerry Kugler, Carl Rosenberg

A study of the needs and means of environmental control, including the luminous and acoustic aspects of buildings and urban developments. Examines daylight and electric light in relation to architectural spatial relations, as well as materials and construction that affect our aural experience in the environment.

ARC 518 Construction and Interpretation

Guy J. Nordenson

The seminar examines the relation of construction, structure, and building services to the production of meaning through a series of case studies of buildings and bridges, as well as general surveys of the work of specific engineers and architects.

ARC 525 Mapping the City (also ART 524)

M. Christine Boyer

A seminar focusing on city imagery and architectural entertainments by examining different methods of framing the city through travel, in the theater, through the invention of traditions, at the museum, from the cinema, or through its architectural composition and spatial configuration.

ARC 547 Introduction to Formal Analysis

Miles Ritter

An introduction to critical methods and principles of architectural analysis, considered through an in-depth investigation of historically significant buildings, landscapes, and urban spaces. Precedents are analyzed according to their underlying formal structure and spatial organization, as well as in terms of the cultural and historical forces that helped shape their architectural form and meaning.

ARC 548 History and Theories of Architecture: 18th and 19th Centuries (also ART 548)

Edward A. Eigen

Acquaints students with the best that has been known and built, to paraphrase Pater, between 1690 and 1870. The course focuses on a series of 11 designs and/or buildings in relation to distinct cultural and critical texts, defining “best” as their ability to sustain historical and theoretical debate and to enact conceptual migrations across diverse fields of inquiry. Special emphasis is given to the role architecture has played in the emergence of new institutional forms and the reconfiguration of urban, industrial, and pastoral landscapes.

ARC 549 History and Theories of Architecture: 20th Century

Spyridon Papapetros

An overview of the major themes running through modern architecture in the 20th century. The seminar is based on a close reading of selected buildings and texts, both by prominent and less prominent figures of the modern movement and its aftermath. Special emphasis is given to the historiography and the history of the reception of modern architecture, as well as the cultural, aesthetic, and scientific theories that have informed modern architectural debates, including organicism, vitalism, functionalism, structuralism, historicism, and their opposites. Testing chronological and other limits between the various movements, the course identifies themes that recur in several moments of the 20th century.

ARC 550 Urbanism and the City of Modernity: 1870–1970

M. Christine Boyer

The course examines the field of urbanism through case studies that range from, for example, the city as pathological space and the definition of urbanism in 1870; to psychological space and the Metropolis circa 1900; to the functional space of the city of modernity and Neues Bauen; to ludic space and postwar urban trauma; to the space of information and the cybernetic city; and, finally, to the space of memory and the historic city. Students are responsible for seminar discussions and developing a research paper.

ARC 562 The Professional Practice of Architecture

J. Robert Hillier

Explores the professional activities of architects and their responsibilities in society. Examines the relationship of the architect to the building industry; the selection process and realities of the marketplace; the organization of professional practice and building operations; the use of zoning ordinances, building codes, and standards; contracts, contract documents, and specifications; construction administration; and legal considerations. There are weekly seminars.

ARC 563 Starting, Building, and Operating an Architectural Practice

J. Robert Hillier

A review and analysis of the dynamics and process inherent in starting, developing, managing, and operating an architectural practice, including marketing, finance, human resources, project process, liability, insurance, and general management. One three-hour seminar.

ARC 565 History and Theory of Landscape Design (also ART 569)

Edward Eigen

A study of the principles of landscape architecture and an investigation of human response to land form, water, plant materials, and other materials of landscape design, and studies the effect of these materials upon planned landscapes.

ARC 570 The Sociology of Contemporary Design

Robert Gutman

Examines those aspects of architecture and contemporary design that can be understood in terms of the social processes of industrialization, urbanization, bureaucratization, and the growth of mass culture. Particular attention is given to the way in which the structure of the construction industry, the organization of the architectural profession, and the rise of popular culture have influenced the role, motivation, and ideology of architects.

ARC 571, 572 Research in Architecture (also ART 581, 582)

M. Christine Boyer, Beatriz Colomina

A research seminar in selected areas of aesthetics, art criticism, and architectural theory from the 18th to the 20th centuries on the notion of representation in art and architecture. This seminar is given to students in the doctoral program at the School of Architecture as well as doctoral candidates in other departments.

ARC 574 Computing and Imaging in Architecture

Miles Ritter

A seminar focusing on the formal analysis of buildings and the familiarizing of students with two- and three-dimensional computer graphics through the use of the microcomputer cluster in the School of Architecture. Students use AutoCAD in their analyses of buildings. Lecture, tutorial, seminar.

ARC 575 Advanced Topics of Modern Architecture: The Historical Avant-Garde

Staff

Case studies in the 20th-century avant-garde. Individual buildings belonging to specific building types are subjected to comparative analysis in terms of their formal organization and cultural and ideological context. There are six weekly lectures, followed by student reports and discussion.

ARC 576 Advanced Topics in Modern Architecture

Beatriz Colomina

Explores the critical transformation in the relationship between interior and exterior space in modern architecture. This transformation is most evident in the domestic space, which ceases to be simply bounded territory in opposition to the outside, whether physical or social. An analysis of modern houses is used as a frame to register contemporary displacements of the relationship between private and public space and the convolution of boundaries between inside and outside, instigated by the emerging reality of the technologies of communication, including newspaper, telephone, radio, film, and television.

ARC 577 Topics in Contemporary Architectural Theory (also ART 561)

Staff

Explores recent changes in architectural history, theory, criticism, and practice by examining the effects of contemporary critical theory on architectural discourse. Particular attention is given to the ways in which architectural theory has influenced the critical theory of other disciplines, and vice versa.

ARC 588 Dynamical Logics in Architecture

Jesse A. Reiser

This course is concerned with an architecture derived from the organization of matter and material techniques. Through a series of intensive design projects and related readings, students seek to reveal and develop the intimate correspondences between material logics and the cultural/technological contexts that play across them.

National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) Statement

In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit United States professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes two types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) and the Master of Architecture (M.Arch.). A program may be granted a five-year, a three-year, or a two-year term of accreditation, depending upon its degree of conformance with established educational standards.

Master’s degree programs may consist of a preprofessional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree, which, when earned sequentially, comprise an accredited professional education. However, the preprofessional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.