Master of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism Master of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism

Advanced Studios engage both IIT architecture faculty and a select group of visiting studio professors noted for their outstanding professional experience in contemporary practice. The focus of each studio is strong design experimentation that is implemented in highly resolved, complex architectural design projects. Studios work on sites within Chicago, explore urban areas around the globe, and/or focus on hypothetical or technological challenges that shape the built environment. Students design structural and material systems that recognize issues of ecology as well as the broader, integrated concerns of climate, energy and natural resource use, and sustainability. Uniting the diverse strands of urban place making, economic diversity, social equity and environmental stewardship, Advanced Studios promote the design of places that reflect the values of their inhabitants, and create a lasting sense of community with meaningful identity. The studios are formed in thematic clusters that complement each other or serve as dialectical opposites. Each studio explores a variety of techniques from parametric design, digital fabrication, model making, and advanced geospatial software to cultural and theoretical explorations. Students will be able to select from a variety of studio topics. The vertical studio integrates advanced B.Arch., M.Arch., M.S.Arch., and Ph.D. students. Open only to Architecture majors.

Talking TALL I 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."

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 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 and Property Management; Security; Seismic Engineering; Structural Engineering; Transportation; Urban Infrastructure; Vertical Transportation; Wind Engineering.

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.

Independent study and project.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is at the core of building performance optimization and sustainability, making it possible to model performance while tracking construction of the building in sequence. This course builds essential knowledge of building performance optimization using BIM processes and provides the necessary background and skills to use BIM with building energy simulation software tools. Autodesk Revit with Insight will be used as the primary design authoring, manipulation, and analysis tool. Secondary Autodesk BIM tools such as Formit for building massing and orientation; recap for existing conditions capturing; Navisworks for interference checking and design collaboration; revit Live for Virtual Reality visualizations and presentations; and BIM 360 Ops for facility management and operation will also be used in class. Proven methods for using BIM to address essential building performance and sustainability issues will be presented using real-world examples, placing particular emphasis on using BIM for analysis of design alternatives for the life cycle of a building. Complete with coverage of sustainability, integrated design, and lean construction requirements, this is a valuable course for architects, architectural engineers, MEP engineers, facility managers, and other construction professionals involved in building performance modeling and optimization.

Design of building exteriors, including the control of heat flow, air and moisture penetration, building movements, and deterioration. Study of the principle of rain screen walls and of energy conserving designs. Analytical techniques and building codes are discussed through case studies and design projects.

Introduction to both theory and hands-on applications in building energy conservation and energy efficiency in buildings new and old. Analyzing energy consumption patterns in buildings. Understanding building rating systems and measures to design and operate energy efficient buildings. Use of building energy simulation tools to predict energy consumption of building energy end-uses. Calibration of building energy models. Energy retrofit strategies and parametric design. Visualize and analyze building performance data.

This course introduces students to building energy modeling software and techniques that are widely used in industry applications. The course is practice-oriented and builds upon building energy modeling methods as they are practiced in engineering offices (using IES software). The course centers on the two most common types of energy models in practice: (1) models for LEED and code compliance, and (2) parametric models for evaluating energy conservation measures. During the first half of the course, students will learn modeling methods and assumptions to create an energy model of an actual building project for the LEED Energy and Atmosphere credit with all supporting documents required for LEED submission. In the second half of the course, students will learn to analyze energy conservation measures using parametric energy models. The course will also focus on advanced energy modeling topics, such as modeling HVAC systems and controls, passive techniques, composite fenestration, thermal bridges, thermal mass, and others. At the end of the course, students will have two complete energy models that they can use in their portfolio.

This course focuses on the use of economic principles for business and managerial decision making. The course aims to provide students with frameworks for studying business decisions that managers routinely face and equip students with the tools necessary to better understand the ramifications of their choices. The course builds on concepts of microeconomics and the theories of industrial organization to deliver formal methods for analyzing business decisions. After reviewing consumer and producer theories, the course will delve into game theory, information economics, and the study of imperfectly competitive markets, and proceed to introduce students to business strategies that assist managers in earning and sustaining competitive advantages in the marketplace. The course introduces and develops concepts in various areas of economics such as competition and market structure, incentive contracts, and pricing. Covered topics would range from the most basic demand and supply models to game theory, principle-agent models, and economics of information.

This course is the first of three subjects that form the Financial Modeling Sequence. It is designed to provide students with the necessary programming skills necessary to create realistic financial models. It is an essential core subject and must be completed in order to obtain the MSF degree. Modeling I focuses on the implementation of financial models in MS Excel using Visual Basic for Application (VBA).

This three-credit course, mainly for Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) students, combines strategic management and design thinking to help students develop into great managers after they graduate and gain professional experience. Students will examine how managers at various levels create/manage “high-performing” organizations and design products. This is a capstone course for undergraduate business degrees. Because of the capstone nature of this course, students will also integrate accounting, economics, finance, marketing, organizational behavior, statistics, strategy, and related disciplines into strategic management and product design. To do so, students will participate in CAPSIM Capstone business simulation, case-based learning activities, a product design exercise, and a term project. Students will deliver an oral presentation and submit peer-review documents to help other students. Students will summarize the term project into a written report. At the end of the semester, a student should be able to decide how to allocate resources, meet challenges and win the competition, and make a strategic organizational and product decision as if the student is a general manager.

In this course, the student will learn the concepts and processes that underlie enlightened financial decision making in a global world. Students will explore how to raise debt and equity capital, how to think about what portion of earnings to retain and reinvest and whether to share some earnings with stockholders via dividend payments or repurchase of shares, how to value stocks and bonds, how to distinguish good from bad financial decision rules, how to decide which projects a firm should engage in, how to use futures, options and swaps to manage firm risk, how to ensure good corporate governance, why sustainability can be profitable while still protecting future generations, and how to manage the financial decisions required to effectively operate in a global setting.

This course provides an introduction to the practice and strategy of marketing. Marketing activities are those processes and functions that enable managers and policy-makers to identify and serve the values and needs of a customer given the capacities of the company, activities of competitors, and inherent constraints in the business environment. Marketers typically refer to these concepts as the "four C's." Based on their understanding of the "four C's," students will then learn how to implement strategy by applying the levers of the marketing mix. These elements are known as the four P's (product, price, place/channels of distribution, and promotion). The treatment of marketing constraints and marketing mix will be motivated by essential foundations from economics, sociology, and consumer behavior. Over the course of the semester, students are expected to transition from thinking about these concepts in isolation to a dynamic, integrative framework. This process includes using the marketing strategy framework to assess business and policy problems from a "multiple objective" perspective: that is, the student will be asked to think about how marketing activities along with those of competitors and collaborators will affect the profitability, sustainability, social, and ethical standing of the firm. The synthesis of these concepts will be carried out through the use of case studies, problem sets, classroom lectures, discussions, and a field project. There will also be a midterm and final exam. The pedagogical style of the course emphasizes the students' role in applying the concepts discussed in the lectures to the situations at hand. The role of the instructor is to provide tools to structure thinking and to stimulate and facilitate analysis of the cases.

This course addresses foundational topics in commercial real estate transactions, including sales and purchase, leasing, financing, and distressed properties. The course also provides an introduction to skills in negotiation and drafting and incorporates a substantial simulation component, including one Saturday all-day deal simulation workshop (the date of the workshop will be announced in the first class meeting).

This course will take a practical approach to understanding current issues in real estate. Covered topics will include syndications, tax and securities law implications, real estate financing, zoning and land use, title and survey review, leases, condominium development, closing and post closing issues, Forcible Entry and Detainer, and commercial real estate asset management.