ARCHITECTURE

College of Architecture

Storrs Architecture Building

http://www.coa.uncc.edu/

704-687-2358

Degree

Master of Architecture

Program Coordinator

José L.S. Gámez Assistant Professor

Graduate Faculty

Dale Brentrup, Professor

Kelly Carlson-Reddig, Associate Professor

Paul Clark, Assistant Professor

Jose Gamez, Assistant Professor

Lee Gray, Associate Professor, Associate Dean

Chris Grech, Associate Professor

Charles Hight, Professor

Ken Lambla, Professor, Dean

Mark Morris, Visiting Assistant Professor

John Nelson, Associate Professor

Deb Ryan, Associate Professor

Linda Samuels, Assistant Professor

Erci Sauda, Professor

Greg Snyder, Associate Professor

Michael Swisher, Associate Professor

David Thaddeus, Associate Professor

David Walters, Professor

Betsy West, Associate Professor, Chair of Instruction

Peter Wong, Associate Professor

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

Program Description

The Master of Architecture degree (MArch) serves two groups of students: 1) the three-year MArchI Program, which includes two summer sessions accommodates students whose previous degree is outside the field of architecture; and 2) the two-year MArchII Program serves students who have already completed a four-year degree program in architecture at a National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited institution. The courses and options within each program are similar, but the advanced standing of MArchII students allows them to complete the degree requirements in two years. Students in both programs must complete a comprehensive design studio and a thesis project under the advisement of a faculty committee. Full time academic status is expected in both programs.

The MArchI Program involves four primary components: 1) the first year focuses on establishing a strong foundation in fundamental design skills, architectural history and theory, building-to-site relationships, and introductory building technologies; 2) the second year focuses on comprehensive architectural design and its relationship to building systems as well as advanced studies in history, theory, and building technology; 3) the summer study program provides the opportunity to engage international education, research, or design experience; and 4) the third year is focused on the student's thesis research and project execution.

The MArchII Program is tailored through the advising process to the previous educational background of the students and to their individual professional and research goals. The program involves two primary components: 1) the first year focuses on comprehensive architectural building design and topical studios with advanced studies in the area of concentration; and 2) the second year is dedicated to continued study within the area of concentration as well as thesis research and project execution.

Admission Requirements

In addition to the admissions materials required by the Graduate School, the College of Architecture requires the submission of a portfolio of creative work. Applicants to the MArchI program should submit examples of work that offer evidence of creativity, self-motivation and critical appraisal. Such examples are not expected to be architectural in nature. Visual work such as painting, sculpture, furniture making, photography, etc. are acceptable as are fiction writing, poetry, and any other reasonable evidence of sustained creative endeavor. Applicants to the MArchII program may offer similar evidence of any kind of creative endeavor but must also offer significant evidence of a mastery of architectural skill and knowledge.

Students who complete the professional track of the four year Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree program at UNC Charlotte and meet the following criteria will be permitted automatic admission to the MArchII Program:

1) Students must complete their undergraduate degree with a 3.0 grade point average in Architecture.

1) Students must complete their undergraduate degree with a 2.75 grade point average overall, and a junior/senior grade point average of 3.0 overall.

2) Students must complete a Statement of Purpose describing their objectives relative to graduate study.

3) Students must fulfill the university’s Graduate School application requirements in effect at the time of their application.

Students who do not meet the grade point average requirements noted above may submit an application for admission to the MArchII program for consideration with applicants from other architectural programs.

Degree Requirements

Concentrations within the MArchI & MArchII Programs

At the end of the third semester of study, MArchI students are required to choose an area of concentration that will guide their advanced studies. MArchII students are required to choose an area of concentration during their first semester. Concentrations include 1) Architectural Design, Theory, & Practice, 2) Urbanism, and 3) Architectural Technology. Concentration coursework is comprised of three elective courses (selected by the student from a larger set of eligible courses) and one elective studio with a focus similar to that of the concentration (offered as a topical studio). The concentrations from which students can choose are described below:

Architectural Design, Theory, & Practice

This concentration focuses on a sophisticated and detailed study of building and site design involving issues of form, space, order, and typology as well as cultural and physical context, concept, meaning, etc. It includes both investigation and criticism of contemporary practice and practitioners as well as the role of theory and historical precedent relative to the design and making of architecture.

Urbanism

This concentration focuses on the critical role of architecture in the city - the process and specific intent of physical intervention 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 study and experimentation addressing emerging issues of sustainable design and the creative development of building envelopes and systems that utilize both new and traditional materials, technology, and construction methods in innovative and beautiful ways. Seeking to explore the historical as well as contemporary realms of thermal, tactile and visual issues embedded in this field, students address appropriate material selection, methods of daylighting, passive and active systems for heating and cooling, etc. with consideration of both qualitative and quantitative outcomes.

Master of Architecture I Curriculum

The MArchI program requires a minimum of 93 hours to be completed during three academic years and two summer sessions.

GA Elective General Architectural elective

AH Elective Architectural History elective (minimum of one required during the second year of study)

C Elective Concentration elective (minimum of three required)

Summer (3 hours)

ARCH5050 Introductory Design Experience (3)

Year 1 - Fall (13 hours)

ARCH6111 Design Fundamentals Studio (7)

ARCH5211 Architectural History Survey One (3)

ARCH5601 Ideas in Architecture (3)

Year 1 - Spring (15 hours)

ARCH6112 Design Fundamentals Studio (6)

ARCH5212 Architectural History Survey Two (3)

ARCH5312 Architectural Materials (3)

ARCH6151 Design Methodologies (3)

Year 2 - Fall (14 hours)

ARCH7101 Design Studio (5)

ARCH5313 Structures One (3)

ARCH5315 Environmental Control Systems (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 AH Elective or C Elective (3)

Year 2 - Spring (14 hours)

ARCH7102 Topical Design Studio (5)

ARCH5314 Structures Two (3)

ARCH6050 C Elective (3)

ARCH5214/

ARCH 6050 AH Elective or C Elective (3)

Summer (6 hours)

ARCH7110 Summer Study Program (6)

Year 3 - Fall (14 hours)

ARCH7103 Topical Design Studio (5)

ARCH5317 Building Systems Integration (3)

ARCH7111 Project/Thesis Document Prep (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture or a Directed University Elective (3)

Year 3 - Spring (14 hours)

ARCH7104 Project/Thesis Studio (8)

ARCH5112 Professional Practice (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture (3)

Master of Architecture II Program

The MArchII program requires a minimum of 56 credit hours to be completed during two academic years. If applicants accepted to the MArchII Program are evaluated and found deficient in entry-level competencies, they will be required to enroll in additional course work beyond the 56 credits to complete their degree. Below is a list of expected entry-level competencies.

Expected Entry-Level Competencies for MArchII Candidates:

1) A minimum of six semesters of architectural design studios;

2) A minimum of four semesters of architectural history and/or theory courses;

3) A minimum of four semesters of building technology courses equivalent to the following UNCC College of Architecture courses:

ARCH5312 Architectural Materials

ARCH5313 Structures One

ARCH5314 Structures Two

ARCH5315 Environmental Control Systems.

To ensure that incoming students are evaluated appropriately, the College of Architecture requires candidates for the MArchII program to furnish the Architecture Graduate Admissions Committee and Graduate Program Coordinator relevant course descriptions and syllabi of all architecture courses passed and completed which may satisfy entry-level competencies. The following curriculum is modeled for students accepted to the program who have satisfied all entry-level competencies.

Students who complete professional track of the four year Bachelor of Arts in Architecture degree program at UNC Charlotte and meet the following criteria will be permitted automatic admission to the MArchII Program:

1) Students must complete their undergraduate degree with a 3.0 grade point average in Architecture.

2) Students must complete their undergraduate degree with a 2.75 grade point average overall, and a junior/senior grade point average of 3.0 overall.

3) Students must complete a Statement of Purpose describing their objectives relative to graduate study.

4) Students must fulfill the university’s Graduate School application requirements in effect at the time of their application.

Students who do not meet the grade point average requirements noted above may submit an application for admission to the MArchII program for consideration with applicants from other architectural programs.

Master of Architecture II Curriculum

GA Elective General Architectural elective

AH Elective Architectural History elective (minimum of one required during the second year of study)

C Elective Concentration elective (minimum of three required)

Year 1 - Fall (14 hours)

ARCH7101 Design Studio (5)

ARCH5213 AH Elective (3)

ARCH5317 Building Systems Integration (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture (3)

Year 1 - Spring (14 hours)

ARCH7102 Design Studio (5)

ARCH6151 Design Methodologies (3)

ARCH6050 C Elective (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture (3)

Summer (3-5 hours - Optional)

ARCH7120 Graduate Summer International Study (Optional) (3)

ARCH7950 Graduate Summer Research Study (Optional) (3)

Year 2 - Fall (14 hours)

ARCH7103 Design Studio (5)

ARCH7111 Project/Thesis Document Prep (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture or a Directed University Elective (3)

Year 2 - Spring (14 hours)

ARCH7104 Project/Thesis Studio (8)

ARCH5112 Professional Practice (3)

ARCH5213/

ARCH6050 Any Elective within the College of Architecture or a Directed University Elective (3)

Requisite & Capstone Experiences

Comprehensive Design Project

The Comprehensive Design Project serves as the requisite studio experience that bridges between foundational studios and advanced studios for MArchI students. The Comprehensive Design Project serves as the point of entry into the program for MArchII students. Taken in the third semester of enrollment for MArchI students and in the first semester of enrollment for MArchII students, the Comprehensive Design Project is defined as an architectural building design project that comprehensively demonstrates the student’s ability to conceptualize, prepare, organize, and design a building having a specific programmatic type. All students must demonstrate comprehensive design competency before they enroll in Topical or Elective studios.

Thesis

The normative capstone project for both MArchI and MArchII students is the Thesis. For MArchI students, a thesis is defined as an architectural design project that demonstrates the student’s ability to independently identify and engage a specific set of issues, a building type, and a site. For MArchII students, a thesis is defined as an architectural research project that engages and explicates primary source material leading to project work possessing an original argument. This type of project may include design-related materials as part of the final submission. Primary source material is data and information gathered from original texts and documents, interviews, raw data resulting from experiments, demographic data, etc. An original argument is a proposition that leads to original idea(s) in the discipline arising out of primary source material.

For the Thesis, the student identifies the issue(s) to be engaged and the research and/or design methods through which this engagement will take place. The student works independently with a committee during the final year of study to complete the Thesis. All students must demonstrate comprehensive design competency before they engage a Thesis.

Graduate Advising

A critical component of any successful graduate program is academic advising and guidance during the course of a student's program of study. The primary advisor for all graduate students in the College of Architecture will be the Associate Dean in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator. Students entering their final year will be asked to complete a Plan of Study and identify committee members from the faculty to serve as advisors for their thesis.

Transfer Credit

Transfer credit is normally limited to a maximum of six hours of graduate credit. Under special circumstances, a greater number of hours may be transferred if a student can demonstrate that the courses to be transferred meet or exceed the content and rigor of graduate curricula offered by the College.

Waiver Credit

Waiver credit may be allowed if a student can demonstrate that a course or courses taken in his or her undergraduate curriculum equals or exceeds in both content and rigor of a course or courses required in the graduate curriculum. If a required course in the curriculum is waived, the student will be allowed to fill those credit hours with another course as advised by the Associate Dean in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

Committees

For thesis, each student identifies three (3) College of Architecture faculty members who will contribute to his or her interests, research, and final project. In addition, one (1) committee member from outside the College of Architecture faculty is required. Additional individuals relevant to a student’s final project may also participate as ex-officio members.

The members of the committee should offer specific areas of expertise and insight relative to the proposed project. Members of this committee should be involved with the project beginning with the preparation of the research document undertaken in ARCH 7111 (Research Document) in the Fall semester.

The responsibility of each committee member involves the following:

4) Review and provide feedback on three (3) successive versions of the student’s written research document produced in ARCH7111 (Research/Thesis Document).

5) Be present and provide feedback at all public presentations (4-5) conducted in ARCH 7104 (Comprehensive Design/Thesis Project Studio).

6) Provide feedback on other occasions as requested by the student.

7) Meet with instructors of ARCH7111 and ARCH7104 as required for coordination.

8) Deliberate with other committee members on the report concerning degree conferral.

Application for Degree

In order to meet UNC Charlotte’s Graduate School requirements for degree candidacy, all graduate students must receive a written certification from their department confirming successful Thesis defense. This report requires approvals from members of each student’s committee as well as an endorsement from the Chair of Instruction. The completion of this report results in the granting of the degree.

Research Opportunities

MArchI students must take ARCH7110 in the summer prior to their final year. The premise of this course is to allow students to tailor a summer experience to support their growing knowledge of architecture and architectural discourse. This experience is intended to inform and motivate possible interests that the students might pursue in their final year of study. As such, it is an ideal opportunity for research. A similar opportunity exists for MArchII students who take ARCH7120 or ARCH7950. There are three study options that students may engage:

1. Funded Research Option:

Students may elect to work with faculty and/or other researchers who are conducting professional, scholarly, applied, and/or creative research within specialized fields of architecture theory, history, technology, etc. Current research initiatives include lighting and energy studies, building envelope studies, urban studies, and design/theory studies. These activities are engaged through the Lighting & Energy Technology Lab, the Digital Design Center, the Charlotte Community Design Center, and through individual faculty research projects and ongoing architectural practice. Students may also complete the requirements by securing their own grants and funding to study a well-defined and focused architectural issue. Student initiated research of this type must be approved both by the student’s Academic Advisor and by the Graduate Program Coordinator.

2. Independent Design Option:

Students may elect to receive credit for this class by completing and entering a regional, national, or international architectural competition. This option is intended to further students’ study of ideas and issues relevant to their thesis project and area of Concentration.

3. Off-Campus and/or International Study Option:

Students may elect to enroll in College of Architecture off-campus or international study programs, and/or enroll in similar programs offered by other NAAB accredited institutions. The College has long-standing study/travel programs in both Italy and Spain. Students have also pursued study opportunities in the Netherlands, Australia, Canada, etc. Glenn Murcutt’s Master Class (Australia) and Brian MacKay Lyons’ Ghost Project (Canada) are among the international study options that students may undertake.

Assistantships, Tuition Differentials, and Scholarships

A number of teaching assistantships, scholarships, tuition differentials, and tuition waivers are available to both MArchI and MArchII candidates. Awards are based on the applicant's academic merit or promise of academic merit, and/or on demonstration of need.

Program Accreditation

National Architectural Accrediting Board

All graduate programs of the UNC Charlotte College of Architecture are fully accredited by NAAB as professional degree programs leading to licensure. The NAAB defines an accredited degree as described below:

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 two types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture and the Master of Architecture. A program may be granted a six-year, three-year, or two-year term of accreditation, depending on its degree of conformance with established educational standards.

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

Following the completion of a professional degree program accredited by the NAAB, most states require the future architect to complete an internship working for a registered architect before sitting for the licensing examination.

Courses in Architecture

Studio Courses

ARCH 5050. Introductory Design Experience. (3) Prerequisite: B.A., B.S. or equivalent college degree. This introductory graduate course in architecture is intended for students newly admitted to the College of Architecture's MArchI professional program. This three week, intensive studio-based course includes an introduction to freehand drawing, 2-D composition, 3-D modeling, and visual theory. In addition, the course offers an introduction to a variety of related topics (history, structure, lighting, materials, etc.) that serve as critical departure points for understanding and making architectural projects. (Summer)

ARCH 6111. Design Fundamentals/Skills. (7) Corequisite: ARCH5601. This introductory architectural design studio focuses on fundamental concepts of architecture as well as the acquisition and practice of a wide range of technical and graphic skills and media. It is intended to complement the reading and writing engaged in ARCH5601 (Ideas in Architecture) and to serve as an arena to explore and test the issues encountered in that course through the act of making. (Fall)

ARCH 6112. Design Fundamentals/Skills. (6) Prerequisite: ARCH6111. This introductory architectural design studio focuses on the development of site, space, and design process issues as well as the continued acquisition and practice of a variety of technical and graphic skills. Exploration into the creative and appropriate use of a variety of media is addressed. (Spring)

ARCH 7101. Comprehensive Design Studio. (5) Prerequisite ARCH6112. This design studio focuses on a site-specific project emphasizing technological and systemic issues that lead toward a comprehensive building design. (Fall)

ARCH 7102. Topical Design Studio. (5) Prerequisite: ARCH7101. This design studio focuses on issues relevant to current architectural practice and/or exploration of architectural theory. Students choose from among several sections of this studio, each of which addresses a different set of issues. The issues addressed as well as the pedagogical approach of these studios are defined by the faculty teaching them. All students must take a minimum of one Topical Design Studio within their area of Concentration. (Spring)

ARCH 7103. Topical Design Studio. (5) Prerequisite: ARCH7102. This design studio focuses on issues relevant to current architectural practice and/or exploration of architectural theory. Students choose from among several sections of this studio, each of which addresses a different set of issues. The issues addressed as well as the pedagogical approach of these studios are defined by the faculty teaching them. All students must take a minimum of one Topical Design Studio within their area of Concentration. (Fall)

ARCH 7104. Thesis Studio. (8) Prerequisite: ARCH7103. This studio offers support and structure for students undertaking their individualized thesis project in either the MArchI or the MArchII program. For MArchI students, this studio will focus upon an individually defined architectural design project; for MArchII students, this studio will focus upon an individually defined research project (see Requisite & Capstone Experiences for more details). The faculty member teaching ARCH7104 coordinates the activities of the students and their advisory committees. (Spring)

Core Courses

ARCH 5112. Professional Practice. (3) This course serves as an introduction to the objectives of the practice of architecture, its responsibilities and procedures, and emerging alternative forms of practice and as they pertain to the role of the architect. (Spring)

ARCH 5211. Architectural History I. (3) This course is a survey of the theoretical, technical, and cultural background of architecture and urban design from prehistory to 1750. (Fall)

ARCH 5212. Architectural History II. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH5211. This course is a survey of the theoretical, technical, and cultural background of architecture and urban design from 1750 to present. (Spring)

ARCH 5312. Architectural Materials. (3) This course introduces the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of architectural materials, systems, and processes. Students will be introduced to the physical properties of materials relevant to their application in construction, assembly, and detail systems. Topics will include masonry, concrete, wood, steel, glass, cladding, and roofing and flooring materials and their assemblies. (Spring)

ARCH 5313. Structures One. (3) Prerequisite ARCH5312. This course introduces issues relevant to the fundamentals of structures including statics, strength, and stability of materials. Students will be introduced to structural concepts, systems, and the tracing of structural loads through basic principles, physical modeling, and theoretical and analytical methods. Topics will include interrelationship between strain, stress, and stability, as well as the implications of tension, compression, shear, torsion, and bending. (Fall)

ARCH 5314. Structures Two. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH5313. This course introduces specific structural applications of wood, steel, concrete, and masonry systems commonly used in small-scale commercial/institutional buildings. Students will be introduced to the design of beams, columns, walls, joinery, and connections appropriate to each material type through theoretical, analytical, and computer simulation methods. (Spring)

ARCH 5315. Environmental Control Systems. (3) Prerequisite ARCH5312 and co-requisite ARCH5313. This course 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. Students will be introduced to the interplay between climatic events, patterns of building use, and the architectural variables that inform the appropriate application of building systems technology. Topics will include building envelope performance, and the introduction of passive and mechanical systems for heating, cooling, illuminating, and ventilating buildings. (Fall)

ARCH 5317. Building Systems Integration. (3) Prerequisites: ARCH5314 and ARCH5315. This course will introduce a set of advanced issues related to the comprehensive, systemic integration of building technology systems commonly used in large-scale buildings through case study, analytical, and simulation methods. Topics will address the resolution of building structure, materials, environmental systems, mechanical systems, electrical systems, life safety, building water supply and waste, and conveying systems in building design. (Fall)

ARCH 5601. Ideas in Architecture. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH 5050. Corequisite: ARCH6111. This seminar class concentrates on fundamental concepts, issues, and working knowledge specific to design in architecture. It is intended to complement the design problems encountered in ARCH6111 (studio) and to serve as a critical platform to raise issues that are not always evident in studio making alone. Primary topics addressed include order, form and space, site, type, and architectural meaning. (Fall)

ARCH 6151. Design Methodologies. (3) This course focuses on examination of analytic and synthetic models including information processing, programming, and implementation activities used to structure the architect's design process, conjectural models, and methods specific to the architect's creative skills. (Spring)

ARCH 7110. Summer Study Program. (6) Prerequisite: completion of the first two years of the COA MArchI Program (or equal). There are three study options for ARCH7110 that MArchI students may engage in the summer prior to their final year: Research, Independent Design, and International Study. The premise of this course is to allow graduate students to tailor a summer experience to support their growing knowledge of architecture and architectural discourse. This experience is intended to inform and motivate possible interests that the students might pursue in their final year of study. (Summer)

ARCH 7111. Research Document. (3) This course provides structure for the formation and exploration of the ideas and issues relevant to the thesis project in either the MArchI or MArchII programs. This project is to be undertaken individually by students in their final year of study. This course results in the documentation of relevant research in preparation for the execution of the project, which is carried out in ARCH7104. (Fall)

ARCH 7120. Graduate Summer International Study. (5) Prerequisite: completion of first year of the MArchII Program (or equal). ARCH7120 is an optional International Study course that MArchII students may engage in the summer prior to their final year. The premise of this course is to allow graduate students to engage a summer experience abroad to support their growing knowledge of architecture and architectural discourse. This experience is intended to inform and motivate possible interests that the students might pursue in their final year of study. (Summer)

ARCH 7950. Graduate Summer Research Study. (3) Prerequisite: completion of first year of the MArchII Program (or equal). ARCH7950 is an optional opportunity for research that MArchII students may engage in the summer prior to their final year. The premise of this course is to allow graduate students to engage research activities to support their growing knowledge of architecture and architectural discourse. This experience is intended to inform and motivate possible interests that the students might pursue in their final year of study. (Summer)

Concentration Electives

Concentration Electives are those non-studio courses that fulfill the requirement for coursework within a student’s chosen area of Concentration. Possible areas of Concentration are 1.) Architectural Design, Theory, & Practice, 2.) Urbanism, and 3.) Architectural Technology. Three non-studio courses in the student’s chosen area of Concentration are required to complete the curriculum. (See current College of Architecture Prospectus for a complete listing of courses.)

Architectural Design, Theory, & Practice

ARCH 6050. Objects and Analysis. (3) Prerequisite: ARCH4050 (Furniture Making) or ARCH4050 (Making Simple Tools). This course is an examination of the identity of objects and furniture in relation to ritual and space. Through coursework students will develop a historical ground and analytical methods that will extend into the making of an object. This making will involve the exercise of fine craftsmanship in a combination of media.

ARCH 6050. Architecture/Culture/Discourse. (3) This course traces ideological movements that have informed the discipline of architecture both past and present. In this sense, this course provides a historical vantage point from which to view how theories of architecture and the city develop as inter-related ideas, practices, and traditions through the persistence of specific themes over time and space.

ARCH 6050. Methods and Meaning. (3). This course examines a range of architectural ideas with an emphasis on developments from the late 1960s to the present. Attention will be paid to the interrelation between theory and practice and how clusters of ideas formulate the discourse as trends both mainstream and marginal. Emphasis will be placed on texts and their interpretation alongside examples of work inspired by the same. This survey means to formulate a broad understanding of contemporary architectural culture.

ARCH 6050. Representation: Exploits of the Architectural Image. (3) This course offers an exploration of design themes in the two-dimensional, image-based world of the architect. It defines contemporary architectural representations and surveys ideas that center on drawing in architectural practice.

ARCH 6050. The Art of Technology. (3) This course engages the innovative, artful use of materials and technology and their underlying design theories/principles. Using the case studies, the course critically explores the design principles and theories of this century’s leading designers who use materials and technology to create a new, more responsive, more provocative architecture.

ARCH 6050. Form Z (3-D computer modeling). (3) As the profession of architecture becomes increasingly computer reliant, the need to acquire skills and proficiency to operate computer aided drawings applications, becomes a necessity. This course will explore Form Z - a three-dimensional modeling program.

ARCH 6050. Animated Design Methods. (3) This course is collaboration between the College and a group of young architects in Charlotte who have demonstrated skills in integrating design with the use of FormZ as well as other sophisticated computer programs. The course will begin with a series of workshop introducing advanced capabilities in FormZ, Cinema 4D and Poser. The bulk of the course will be individual collaborations between young practicing architects and students on a invited design competition for interventions in Charlotte that will be displayed on a web site as well as video kiosk installations at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design and other sites.

Urbanism

ARCH 6050. Urban Settlements. (3) An urban settlement, for the purposes of this course, is a city, town or a part of either, in which inhabitants live, work, learn, recreate and worship in close proximity to one another. To make a building is to make a constituent part of a settlement. To make a settlement is to consider the location, form and meaning of its constituent parts both as positive forms (masses) and the interstitial spaces (voids) they make This course will explore the discipline of Urban Design as an extension of the disciplines of both Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

ARCH 6050. Community Planning Workshop. (3) This course serves to acquaint students with contemporary theory and practice in planning and urban design; to give students experience in applying planning and urban design theory and methods to actual problems; to provide students with experience in compiling and analyzing community scale data, working with citizens, professional planners and designers, and elected officials, to provide students with experience in the preparation of oral reports and technical documents; and to examine what it means for the planner and urban designer to demonstrate ethical responsibility to the public interest, to clients and employers, and to colleagues and oneself.

ARCH 6050. Shaping The American City. (3) Throughout the Twentieth Century urban politics, policies, and programs have shaped the space of the American City, including the architecture of urban settlement patterns, public space, transportation, and housing. An understanding of the political/social/historical/spatial foundations of urban policies in relation to the American City is critical in understanding the development of our current urban patterns, the spatial distribution of people and resources, and the future production of architecture and design in urban settings. Issues will be framed in the interstices of the space/knowledge/power triad.

ARCH 6050. Strategies for the Public Realm. (3) Contemporary theories and practices in urban design underscore the connection between the citizen and the public realm and between the physical and social attributes of the city. Urban design is not so much an aesthetic as it is a strategy for change, transformation, dialogue, and interaction. Urban design is the link between architecture and urbanism, tying together the city’s disparate parts and celebrating the complexity and connectedness of space.

ARCH 6050. Dilemmas of Modern City Planning. (3) The patterns of man’s settlement are predicated upon particular paradigms of urbanism, as well as more pragmatic concerns of politics, economics and geography. An examination of these influences and their interconnections provides the necessary theoretical and historical background from which to propose improvements to the contemporary landscapes of our cities.

ARCH 6050. Real Estate Development Studies: Introduction to Real Estate Development. (3) The production of buildings requires both architectural and economic skill. Likewise, the production of our landscape is both a private and public endeavor. To balance these skills and endeavors requires an understanding of basic facts. This course focuses on an introduction to the real estate development process. Course material, lectures and case studies focus on the identification and evaluation of critical assumptions and issues related to market and site feasibility, financial feasibility, planning, acquisition, construction, and operation of economically viable commercial real estate projects

ARCH 6050/4213-U01/6133. Public Space in Cities. (3) The public realm has historically constituted a set of real places possessing physical form and has been the setting for civic and communal life. This traditional role of public space is brought into question by the advent of cyberspace, with unknown consequences for city form. This course focuses on the origins and transformations of public space within American culture, and to understand principles of urban design as they have related to the creation of public space during different historical periods. Course material will also focus on the historical connection between the public realm and democratic principles, and the threats to the continued existence of truly public space in American cities.

ARCH 6050. Urban Form, Context and Economics. (3) Urban development and redevelopment can be considered typologically in two main categories: large “catalyst” projects (performing arts centers, entertainment complexes, and other large, mixed-use projects); and smaller, incremental interventions in the urban setting that lack glamour but contribute much needed depth and complexity to the urban environment. This course focuses on how and why urban projects are formulated by public and private interests. It engages the conceptual origins, design development and production of urban projects large and small, in an effort to understand the relationship between development economics, social factors, program development, design concepts and urban contexts.

ARCH 6050. The Changing Urban Landscape: The Development of Uptown Charlotte, 1875-2000. (3) The design and evolution of cities is a reflection of evolving attitudes about gender, race, crime and socioeconomic conditions as well as governmental interventions and the efforts of private enterprise. Charlotte’s center city is a unique result of those many influences and serves as an excellent laboratory for gaining an understanding of the forces that shape the making of the places we live. This class will explore the historical growth of Charlotte through the eyes of city leaders who have lived through it. Specific topics will include the development of First Ward from a public housing ghetto to a mixed income neighborhood, the demise of the Brooklyn neighborhood in Second Ward, professional sports in uptown Charlotte, the development of Fourth Ward, the civic patron/ corporate factor, transportation in uptown Charlotte and finally, the 2010 Plan for uptown.

ARCH 6050. Mayors’ Institute on City Design / South. (3) The Mayors’ Institute on City Design is comprised of a series of symposia on city design. At each meeting of the Institute, mayors and designers discuss specific problems facing cities and examine a broad range of design ideas, examples from other cities, and strategies to make improvements. Each student will be assigned a mayor and a city with which to work and will develop a case study for that city. Whenever possible, students will make site visits and help determine how the design arts can benefit the development of their particular city. The goals of the course are to familiarize students with the basic techniques of urban analysis and principles of urban design; introduce students to the interrelationships between urban form, building use and transportation, economics, and politics; consider the role of the public in civic design; and consider strategies for a more sustainable and ecologically appropriate urban architecture.

Architectural Technology

ARCH 6050. Parametric Methods: Notes on Sustainable Design Decision Making. (3) A formal design decision- making process is developed in this course through the elaboration of the systemic principles that describe the role of architecture to reconcile the pertinent utilization of mechanical, electrical and material system choices. Issues of the implicit role of the architect to understand the application of appropriate building systems technology, public policy decisions and economic solutions that provide for the sustained delivery of human, environmental and physical performance are brought to bear through a variety of methods.

ARCH 6050. Bio-climatology & Cross Cultural Assessments of Traditional Built Form. (3) Through this course a conceptual framework of social and technical determinism is developed from a single disciplinary point of view based on the traditions of building design science and environmental technology informed through social science theory. Topical field assessments will be developed through a research-based introduction of the Human Relations Area Files to address the cultural/societal and technical realms that describe traditional built form. The issues that have influenced and are currently impacting human settlement, building, and tectonic design are explored through the use of the Mahoney Tables to weave the relevant connections to built formal response and the interpretation of climatically responsive architectural principles of design sustainability.

ARCH 6050. Architectural Luminous Environment. (3) The architectural luminous environment is introduced in this course as a continuum of technical/material innovation from 1850 to the present. Issues of daylighting and electric lighting are explored as an integrated systems approach to evaluate current sustainable design practices that relate to energy utilization and appropriate resource allocation. Case study research methods of assessment, computational analysis, physical modeling and economic evaluation will be introduced.

ARCH 6050. Sustainable Design: Ecology, Technology and Building. (3) Sustainable design is the term most commonly used when describing building carried out according to sound ecological and environmental perspectives. Utilizing a lecture/seminar/case study format the course content will survey the principles of environmentally sensitive design, review case studies of "green building" applications, and explore various concepts for integrating sustainable planning and building principles into the form making process of architectural design. The process includes an analysis of bioclimatic comfort, climate responsive design, integration of passive heating and cooling systems, and the basis for specifying sustainable building materials. The intention of the course is to develop a general understanding of the fundamental principles underlying sustainable design and the impact on the building design process and built form.

ARCH 6050. The Nature of Architecture and the Architecture of Nature. (3) How does the nature of Architecture relate to the architecture of Nature? Clearly, acts of construction have always had some relation to and impact upon the natural settings in which they have occurred. Given the dynamic relation between building and natural conditions (including the “architecture” of climate, material, fauna and flora), societies jointly formulated their understanding of the relation between architecture and nature. Similarly, society's contemporary interpretation of this relation is rooted in traditional building habits and rituals. Thus, in order for young architects to be in a position to influence society's future building habits, especially as they pertain to “sustainable architecture,” they must first recognize and appreciate the rich cultural ramifications entailed in perceptions of the nature of Architecture and the architecture of Nature.

ARCH 6050. Building Envelopes. (3) Just like our skin, a building envelope can regulate a building’s internal and external environments. The building envelope is also the single most visible component of a building and it is this aspect, which is dealt with comprehensively throughout an architect’s formal education. This elective is dedicated to addressing the connections, which exists between form and technology by examining the technical properties, and principles of building skins in a way which will better inform architects to design environmentally and aesthetically sensitive buildings.

Architectural History Electives

Architectural History electives offer a topical study of issues or areas of history. These courses complement the architectural history survey courses (ARCH5211/5212), and serve to inform and develop in-depth research, writing, and presentation skills. One Architectural History Elective course must be taken during the first year of study for MArchII student and during the second year of study for MArchI students. Additional Architectural History Elective courses may be taken as desired. These courses do not count towards completion of Concentration requirements unless cross-listed. Cross-listed courses are marked with an asterisk (See current College of Architecture Prospectus for a complete listing of courses.)

ARCH 6050. The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance. (3) This course will examine the history of architecture in Italy during the Renaissance. This study will include issues such as the aesthetic program of Renaissance architecture and attitudes toward the Roman classical past, new architectural theories, and architectural space, technology, and urban planning.

ARCH 6050. Renewing the Modernist Debate: The Theory and Works of Adolf Loos. (3) At the beginning of the 21st century, architecture finds itself in a state of uncertainty and change. Like 100 years before, architects are pursuing ways of reconfiguring the aesthetic, technical, and social demands of their profession in hopes of establishing legitimacy in their work. This class will investigate the buildings and ideas of the early 20th century architect, Adolf Loos (1870-1933), as a vehicle to come to grips with our own precepts about modern architectural theory and practice.

ARCH 6050. Histories of Latin American Architecture. (3) This course will survey the ways by which Latin American architectures (both north and south of the US/Mexico border) have come to be seen within the western canon. In this sense, this course is not purely historical; rather, the class will explore Latin American architectures chronologically but from a post-colonial perspective rooted in the present.

ARCH 6050. Popular Modernism: Charlotte Architecture in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. (3) This course will investigate the influence of 1950s and 60s modern international architecture on Charlotte and the Piedmont region. The goals of the course are: (1) to probe deeper into why this type of architecture became popular in the region, in both its private and public iterations, and (2) to link this interest with similar developments in other American cities, and to discuss such developments within the context of international architecture of the same period.

General Architectural Electives

General Architectural Elective courses offer study of a wide range of topical areas in architecture. Students can choose from among many courses, each of which addresses a different topic. These courses complement the core courses and studios and allow students to pursue their specific interests. These courses do not count towards completion of Concentration requirements unless cross-listed. Cross-listed courses are marked with an asterisk. (See current College of Architecture Prospectus for a complete listing of courses.)

ARCH 6050. Watercolor & Representation I. (3) The practice of watercolor can make many design notions clear for the maker as well as the observer. This course introduces basic visual strategies utilizing tactics and techniques of watercolor. The class focus is on developing a practical vocabulary for skillful representation and emphasizes a working knowledge of watercolor painting and its application at all phases of design work. Students will develop skills presenting objects in space using watercolor and pencil.

ARCH 6050. Advanced Watercolor Representation. (3) This class emphasizes the development of working methods for thoughtful representation using watercolor for all phases of design work. Issues and skills addressed include analysis; representation of interior and exterior spaces and events; representation of urban context and site; and presentation of organizational strategies.

ARCH 6050. Furniture Making. (3) This is a laboratory course in the fundamentals of designing and building of furniture, primarily in wood. Included are the basics of materials selection, machine and hand tool use, joinery, and finishing. The crafting of furniture of student’s design is an integral part of the course.

ARCH 6050. Form Z (3-D computer modeling).* (3) As the profession of architecture becomes increasingly computer reliant, the need to acquire skills and proficiency to operate computer aided drawings applications, becomes a necessity. This course will explore Form Z - a three-dimensional modeling program.

ARCH 6050. Animated Design Methods.* (3) This course is collaboration between the College and a group of young architects in Charlotte who have demonstrated skills in integrating design with the use of FormZ as well as other sophisticated computer programs. The course will begin with a series of workshop introducing advanced capabilities in FormZ, Cinema 4D and Poser. The bulk of the course will be individual collaborations between young practicing architects and students on a invited design competition for interventions in Charlotte that will be displayed on a web site as well as video kiosk installations at the Mint Museum of Craft + Design and other sites.

ARCH 6050. Photocollagraphy. (3) A derivation of cartographic processes, it is not enough to define "mapping" in traditional terms of symbols, borders, geography, and human habitation. Instead, mapping as an architectural strategy utilizes photography, collage, and cartographic techniques to communicate in ways none of those fields can completely accomplish on their own. This course will investigate the potential relationships between architecture and photography, collage and cartography, looking specifically at the design process, analysis and abstraction, and the exploration and representation of ideas.

ARCH 6050. Leadership in Charlotte. (3) This is an intensive short course including both lecture and panel formats during which issues relevant to the development of Charlotte are explored. Issues include but are not limited to an exploration of leadership styles; building community, Charlotte and the arts, diversity, health care; law enforcement, etc.

ARCH 6050. Experimental Visions – Photography for Architecture Students. (3) Architecture is often seen as the intersection of art and science, a dual fulfillment of the visual, sensual, and intellectual with the structural and spatial. Successful photography as well attempts to bridge the shores of art and science. Both fields concern the creation of a world interpreted, a world created by the designer with unique purpose, unique point of view, unique qualities and vision. The objective of this class is to explore the potential relationship between photography and architectural design through photographic assignments and student presentations

ARCH 6890. Directed Independent Study.* (3) Prerequisite: permission of the Graduate Coordinator and the graduate faculty member advising the study. This course enables directed individual study and in-depth analysis of a special area related to the interests of the student and the expertise of the advising faculty member. May count towards completion of Concentration requirements if appropriate. (Fall, Spring, Summer)