Bachelor of Architecture Bachelor of Architecture

Aesthetic expression as experience. Exercises in the study of form: proportion and rhythm, texture and color, mass and space. Exercises in visual perception and aesthetic judgment. Isolation and analysis; interdependence and integration of sensuous qualities. Aesthetic unity under restrictive conditions.

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of computer-aided fabrication from concept development and modeling through digital file creation and cutting processes. Using CAD/CAM software, laser cutters, CNC mills, and 3D printers, students with a variety of interests can build the elements of detailed models, fabricate a range of finished objects, or even create landscapes incorporating highly articulated surfaces. The course stresses the integration of the complete thought process from concept development to pre-visualization to detailed modeling to fabrication setup and finishing. Students gain a solid understanding of the rapidly developing world of CAD/CAM techniques while acquiring specific long-term skills in software-based modeling and machine-assisted fabrication.

Students work on research topics related to the intersection of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and building information modeling. We are exploring topics related to neural networks, natural language processing and other advanced computer science topics. The course attempts to ask the question of what should architects and designers be doing with the wealth of data that is defined during the design and construction process.

This course explores the design and fabrication of components in contemporary practice. The class will investigate through the design and prototyping of a custom component. Survey of CAD/CAM/GIS use in practice and component manufacturing including modeling, simulation, and scripting. Behavioral models of components using simulation and analysis tools (flow, system dynamics, etc.). Use of CAD tools to model components for production (modeling for CNC considering toolpaths and jigs). Use of CAD tools to analyze properties of components. Material properties and related fabrication constraints. Current fabrication processes. Use of IIT-owned CNC tools to fabricate components. Rapid prototyping.

This course will focus on 3D modeling of complex geometric components in architecture and design. Concepts explored will concentrate on the advancement of digital design as an iterative process. Various modeling types covered are (1) Explicit Modeling, (2) Nurbs Surface Modeling, (3) Parametric Modeling, and (4) Generative Components and Response Modeling. Output will utilize digital fabrication methods as support of the iterative design process.

This course is designed to teach students the fundamentals of Autodesk's Revit software. The course includes an in-depth tour of the user interface and basic creation, editing, and viewing tools. In addition, the course will provide instruction on a variety of design development tools including walls, floors, roofs, windows, curtain-wall systems, stairs and more. Finally, instruction will be providing on the use of Autodesk's cloud-based services for the creation of computer-generated renderings and panoramic images.

This course is an in-depth exploration of new visualization techniques to support and express architectural design through 3D rendering. Topics covered will include 3D modeling, cameras, lighting, material mapping, and rendering output. Presentation concepts covered include storytelling, rendering style, visual mood, and image composition.

The concept of pure form resides in the abstract in their ideal state the forms are perfect. Material properties inherently defy perfection and force a set of priorities and decisions that render the proximity of an ideal while providing a sensual experience. The study of the relationship between ideas, form and physical making integral to the production process, through repetition and variation. Production of a cohesive body of investigative work of a single pure form.

Collage, the act of bringing together disparate materials and imagery, has the opportunity to explore unknowns, exploit the peculiar, and reveal the uncanny. Collage operates within a contemporary context of mass-production, mass media, and mass consumption. Mash ups, cut ups, power mixing, and sampling are artistic methods of repurposing products made by others. Collage Making explores the iterative process of collection, selection, arrangement and execution. Collages produced will examine architecture in contemporary culture.

Survey of the history of landscape design throughout the world, including contemporary projects. The course emphasizes both analytical and holistic approaches to the study of historic designs, highlights the relationship between architecture and landscape, and stresses major concepts that directly influence present day designs. One field trip.

This topics course will introduce students to the use of traditional furniture building techniques including the use of hand and power tools. Students will investigate furniture built of solid wood, composite wood, plastics, and metals and learn to build furniture with a limited number of basic tools and on a budget. A series of exercises will train students to do the physical connection; a series of lectures and presentations will show production and finishing techniques.

This course will be about the design of chairs, or more broadly body support devices, and the focus will be on ergonomics, structure, materials, and manufacturing issues. If a house can be considered a “machine for living,” this will be about machines for the support of the body. The course will conclude with each student building a prototype chair of his or her own design.

Contemporary architecture and urban design projects in Chicago present an invaluable opportunity to learn about some of the most advanced applications in practice today. By examining significant projects currently underway, this course will investigate project execution, design concepts and the various forces affecting projects' definition and results. Close scrutiny of all the components and personnel will give a better understanding of the complex synergies, advanced technologies, and adept project teams necessary for successful innovative architecture and urban planning.

This class is devoted to the close observation, description, and analysis of works of architecture from 1900 to the present. We will read exemplary texts of architectural criticism and history. Conducted as a seminar, this course studies writings and buildings through research papers, presentations, and other projects.

Architecture has always been a complex interdisciplinary business, where the management of allied professions and industry affiliates is critical to the success of any endeavor of significant scale. The introduction of BIM (Building Information Modeling) is an advance in project delivery tools which should be viewed as a multi-dimensional expansion of the mechanisms of management and accommodation of an ever-broadening range of participants in the organization of a project, allowing the development of a new delivery protocol, IBPD (Integrated Building Project Delivery). BIM is currently recognized as consolidating the basis for a range of functions including drawing, modeling, document management, clash detection, interdisciplinary coordination, estimating, scheduling, constructability review, production modularization, fabrication protocols, and for the analysis of myriad physical and proscriptive demands such as energy consumption, daylighting, code compliance, egress, circulation, and operation scenarios. The breadth of information embedded in a BIM model will require the emergence of facilitating professionals to an extent previously unknown in the practice and the industry. This course explores the state of the profession and the anticipated ramifications. Undergraduate students must be in their fifth year of study.

The course teaches future architects the practical aspects of entrepreneurial small business management, to develop a comprehensive opportunity assessment, and to develop the skills necessary to improve the odds of success. The course will consider strategies to leverage limited resources for maximum effect. The course will also cover small organization and group behavior, performance, leadership, and motivation in small business settings and will focus on the owner/manager as the principal success factor in the context of a small organization. Emphasis is placed on the circumstances and opportunities of the professional practice of architecture: practice as profession, process, organization, business, and evolving models of practice are covered. The course also provides a series of concepts, frameworks, and heuristics that enable the entrepreneur to anticipate and deal with the challenges that accompany growth of an existing business. Cases, exercises, lectures, and speakers are used to focus on choosing opportunities, allocating resources, motivating employees, and maintaining control while not stifling innovation. A key component of the course is how to sustain entrepreneurial thinking in mid-sized ventures as they continue to grow. Undergraduate students must be in their fifth year of study.

The Art of the Deal, with the emphasis on Art, is a term best positioning the financial structuring behind any project. The ability of the project team leader in integrated practice to understand and appreciate the motivations and opportunities inherent in the initiation of the project will be essential in guiding team decisions and maintaining a leadership position. The understanding of the financial underpinnings of a project is of paramount importance to those intending to actually engage the process of initiating and effecting a construction activity. The sources, costs, and sequence of funding, budgeting, cash flow, incentives options, and tax ramifications regarding a project are to be addressed as component knowledge to an understanding of integrated project management. Undergraduate students must be in their fifth year of study.

The organization of deliverables from the multiple participants in a project plan, including estimating, quality control, value engineering, scheduling of work, conflict resolution, pay schedules, and project close-out and commissioning are essential to managing a building project. Many of these areas of endeavor are those most directly impacted by the developments addressed in Integrated Building Delivery Practice. This course will solidify the underpinnings and will amplify, where needed, the requisite understanding in these areas of the practice. The development of managerial skills requisite to the practice of this coordination and the basis of developing inter-professional relationships will be stressed throughout the incorporation of the technical methodologies.

This course will be advanced as an independent study format. Each student will work independently to research a project option, or building type, and document the particular attributes of that case study which require specialized address. Case studies might be a particular business niche such as land sub-divisions, condo conversions, change of use conversions, or build-to-suit options. The studies might pursue particular building types, social initiatives, historic restoration strategies, or even unique construction typologies. Undergraduate students must be in their fifth year of study.

This course is designed to involve students with the architectural craft of materials that can be applied to model and prototype construction. Included will be a product project of the student's own choosing.

A drawing topics course that develops the perceptual and technical skills critical to drawing in the field. Particular emphasis will be placed on the freehand travel sketch and its capacity to evoke both the physicality and character of a place. Production of a comprehensive drawn record of travels in the form of a journal/sketchbook is required. Various media will be explored. This course is usually offered in the summer.

This seminar surveys the interaction between media and the city from the 19th century to the present. Any consideration of contemporary urban issues must take into account the roles that media and information technologies play in our lives. Every space we encounter or create has to be considered mediated. Course work will include assigned readings, assigned screenings, and creative design problems related to the issues considered in class.

Utilizing site visits, lectures, presentations, and critiques, students will learn freehand sketching, perspective, and conceptual sketching to convey building spatial ideas. Conceptual and schematic analysis of site visits will teach students to represent existing spaces, environments, and buildings as well as various building materials. Students will rely on four media to quicken their drawing skills and visual analysis—pencil, ink, pastel, and water color.

This seminar employs comparative studies of other arts, in particular cinema, to illuminate architectural aesthetics and the creative process. It has a dual focus: it undertakes an introduction to film studies through the analysis of films and readings in film theory and aesthetics; at the same time, it will consider architectural concepts and artifacts. The aim is not primarily to study cinema nor to make a definitive conclusion about the congruence or divergence of architecture and cinema. The course intends to cultivate a way of seeing: to illuminate the relations between media, technology, geography, architecture, and ideology.

This course will examine the spatial story as it appears in diverse media: short fiction, films, everyday discourse, architecture, etc. The coursework will consist of reading and writing assignments as well as the viewing of films and other visual artifacts. The course has two goals: to offer students the opportunity to improve their study and communication skills and to examine the social, cultural, and historical aspects of spatial practices such as architecture.

Equips students with a suite of photographic skills and strategies tailored to their work as architects. Cultivates a discursive practice by developing foundational technical competencies, building awareness of key precedents, and honing a critical perspective for reading photographic images. Topics covered include camera operation, composing, staging, lighting, post-processing, printing, editing, curating, and publishing. Field and studio assignments, case study research work, and conversations with practicing photographers.

This course provides an overview of basic building materials and assemblies, how they are constructed, and the relationships between them. The objective is to introduce students to the range of material choices available to the designer, new materials and assemblies, and fundamental principles to guide design decisions. The course is organized according to the MasterFormat outline developed by the Construction Specifications Institute. Students will learn standards for writing specifications using a system of numbered categories to organize construction activities, products, and requirements into a standard order. Topics include pre-design issues, sites and foundations, concrete, masonry, metals, wood, plastics, thermal and moisture protection, glass, roofing systems, and conveying equipment.

An exploration of historical and current technology through the work of artists, architects, craftsmen, and engineers in a brittle medium. Topics include wall systems, connections, structural design of all glass structures, and material properties. Sealants, coatings, adhesives, and impact and blast resistant interlayers will also be covered. A lab component will encourage experimentation of columns, beams, and surfaces from glass components.

A comprehensive investigation of building design viewed through the mechanics of elemental forces. The focus of the class will be the understanding and reduction of complex building concepts into understandable components of the detail, the element, and the system. Topics include lateral resisting components, diaphragms, moment frames, shear walls, and braced frames in historical and current precedents.

The course starts by giving an overview of the state of the art of tall buildings and, in particular, super tall buildings. The developments of structural systems to resist lateral and gravity loads through the years will be explained. Many examples of tall buildings will be given showing the application of such systems. The students will be introduced to structural load design criteria, and they will be taught how to schematically design a tall building. Guest lectures from the practice will participate in the teaching. The course will also make the connection between architecture, structure, and construction. The course will draw from the city of Chicago experience.

This research seminar examines advances in the technologies that affect the practice of architecture. The course examines leading technologies, processes, and applications, and their role in building design and production. The course will navigate the broad and varied materials related to advanced technologies in architecture by focusing on specific applications for specific projects. Students may select between varying and diverse topics offered by the faculty that may include building envelopes, architectural materials, building and environmental systems, advanced structural design, energy and sustainability, architectural acoustics and lighting, fabrication, and computer-aided design technologies.

This research seminar examines advances in the technologies that affect the practice of architecture. The course examines leading technologies, processes, and applications, and their role in building design and production. The course will navigate the broad and varied materials related to advanced technologies in architecture by focusing on specific applications for specific projects. Students may select between varying and diverse topics offered by the faculty that may include building envelopes, architectural materials, building and environmental systems, advanced structural design, energy and sustainability, architectural acoustics and lighting, fabrication, and computer-aided design technologies.

Talking TALL II will fully examine the physical, environmental, and social sustainability implications of tall buildings at human, architectural, and urban scales in order to offer students extensive and in-depth knowledge and resources to investigate tall buildings and future cities. The aspects of TALL buildings covered in this course include their design principles, technologies, appropriateness to context, energy consumption, life-cycle considerations, natural ventilation, vertical greenery, facades, new typologies, and more. The aspects of TALL cities covered include an analysis of vertical urbanism vs. suburban sprawl, transportation and infrastructure implications, quality of life for residents in tall urban environments, etc.,—all ultimately with a view to a discourse on what should constitute a holistic vision of "sustainable vertical urbanism." While Talking TALL I focuses mostly at the urban scale, Talking TALL II focuses more on the detailed building/technological scale.

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of the technologies that enable tall buildings and dense future cities, especially cutting-edge current and emerging technologies. The course continues the investigation initiated in ARCH 572: Tall Building Technologies I. The technologies examined will embrace both the building and urban (infrastructure) scales. Sub-topics include: Building Automation Control Systems; Building Maintenance; Construction; Energy Conservation and Generation, Environmental Engineering; Environmental Protection; Façade Engineering & Systems; Fire & Life Safety Engineering; Geo-technical/Foundations; MEP Engineering; Project Management; Property Management; Security; Seismic Engineering; Structural Engineering; Transportation; Urban Infrastructure; Vertical Transportation; Wind Engineering.