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Work from Architecture Studios

Below are examples of current studio work from students in our Arch 201, 201, 301, 302, 401, 402, 403, 404 and DSN S 546 courses (undergraduate), as well as Arch 505, 506, 507, 601, 602, 603, 604, and DSN S 546 studios (graduate).

Arch 201 Architectural Design I

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: Completion of the pre-professional program and admission into the professional program in Architecture
Introduction to architectural design. Introduction to architectural design, including precedent research, drawing conventions, model making, and diagramming. Studio projects focus on investigating the impact of specific site conditions on design, threshold conditions, and small-scale domestic space. Students will learn skills in problem solving, visualization, and written, oral, and graphic communication. Field trips to relevant architectural sites.

Arch 202 Architectural Design II

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. S. Prereq: ARCH 201; MATH 142; PHYS 111

Continuation of fundamental architectural design exploration. Studio projects focus on the generation of ideas based on experience and an understanding of urban spaces. Emphasis on systematic analysis of urban culture, scale, materiality, and networks. Students work in groups and individually. Representational methods expand on architectural conventions through experimentation. Fieldtrips to relevant architectural sites.

Arch 301 Architectural Design III

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: ARCH 202
Consideration of landscape as a constructed, cultural artifact. Projects address the perceptual aspects and strategies of situation and location; examination of environmental phenomena and patterns of use and settlement as revealed and affected by the architectural artifact. Development of a critical design process is stressed.

Arch 302 Architectural Design IV

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. S. Prereq: ARCH 301 and minimum 2.0 GPA in previous studio courses
Continuation of ARCH 301, examining housing in the urban situation; diverse scales of use and occupation within the city as shaped by cultural tendencies. Projects examine collective and individual identities related by the condition of adjacency, the ability to consider varieties of scale within a project, and a further development of critical and technical methods.

Arch 401 Architectural Design V

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: ARCH 302
A rigorous examination of how buildings participate sustainably in socio-political and environmental systems. Student projects consider in a comprehensive proposal how issues of physical site, socio-economic context, programming, structure, form, materiality, and building systems are interconnected through the design process and within the built environment. Projects typically focus on a smaller scale urban public building that is closely connected to its physical, environmental, and social context.

DSN S 546 Interdisciplinary Design Studio or Arch 402-IT Architectural Design VI

Course Descriptions

DSN S 546

(0-12) Cr. 4-6. Repeatable, maximum of 18 credits.  Prereq: Graduate or senior standing in the College of Design and permission of instructor
Advanced interdisciplinary design projects.

Arch 402-IT

(1-15) Cr. 6. S. Prereq: ARCH 401 and minimum 2.0 GPA in previous studio courses
An examination of the relationship between architecture and the city. Studio projects stress analysis and interpretation of the diverse forces and conditions that impact and inform architecture in the urban environment. Urban design project. Study abroad option.
Meets International Perspectives Requirement.

Arch 403 Architectural Design VII

Course Description

(1-15) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: ARCH 402
A rigorous examination of architecture’s relationship with culture and technology. Studio projects stress the interpretation and integration of contextual and historical considerations, as well as structural, environmental, and communication systems, in a comprehensive design proposal.

DSN S 546 Architectural Design VIII

Course Description

(0-12) Cr. 4-6. Repeatable, maximum of 18 credits.  Prereq: Graduate or senior standing in the College of Design and permission of instructor
Advanced interdisciplinary design projects.

ARCH 505 Architectural Design and Media I: Mapping, Programming, Building

ARCH 505. Architectural Design and Media I: Mapping, Programming, Building.

(0-10) Cr. 5. F. Prereq: Admission to the M Arch program. Concurrent enrollment in ARCH 541 and ARCH 595
An introduction to comprehensive architectural design projects that focuses on three interrelated design skills: mapping, programming and building. Projects establish a framework for designing buildings that considers multiple factors such as environmental forces, construction methods, building codes, urban regulations, social relationships, and cultural values.



ARCH 506 Architectural Design and Media II: Materiality and Representation

Course Description


(0-10) Cr. 5. S. Prereq: ARCH 505, ARCH 541, ARCH 595 and concurrent enrollment in ARCH 542 and ARCH 596
Small-scale architectural design projects that investigate design representation through analogue and digital means. The projects explore different representation strategies to help students develop an understanding of the particular modes of architectural representation that advance the designer’s knowledge of space as a complex interaction between materials with inherent physical characteristics, mobile socializing bodies, and changing environmental cycles.





ARCH 507 Architectural Design and Media III: Design in Detail


Course Description


(0-10) Cr. 5. SS. Prereq: ARCH 506, ARCH 542, ARCH 596 and concurrent enrollment in ARCH 581
Design projects that emphasize the multi-faceted role of the architectural detail in the design process through first, understanding the historical specificity of building construction and detailing; second, utilizing working drawing as a mode of communication; and third, designing with details. The term-long project will consider a set of working drawings of past buildings as a site for design intervention.




ARCH 601 Sustainable Building Design

Course Description


(0-12) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: ARCH 507, ARCH 542, ARCH 596 and concurrent enrollment in ARCH 643
Design projects that are developed through integrative design strategies that explore the relationship between buildings and environmental forces to maximize non-wasteful, efficient use of resources such as energy, water and building materials. Projects will include investigations of the impact of solar energy, airflow, building materials, passive and active systems and wall sections on spatial quality and form making. Design decisions will be quantitatively validated through energy modeling and performance simulation.





ARCH 603 Comprehensive Design

Course Description


(0-12) Cr. 6. F. Prereq: ARCH 601
Rigorous examination of architecture’s relationship with culture and technology. Studio projects stress the interpretation of contextual and historical considerations, as well as structural, environmental, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, in a comprehensive design proposal. This course fulfills the Graduate College Creative Component Requirement.