BA in Architecture and Community Design Course Descriptions

ARCD - 101. History of Architecture 1 (2)

This is the first semester of a two-year sequence, which provides conceptual and analytical tools to understand the morphology of buildings and cities. Social justice, underserved communities and developing regions of the world are equally emphasized alongside the more traditional view of focusing on the "great buildings" in history.

ARCD - 102. History of Architecture 2 (2)

This is the second semester of a two-year sequence, which provides the conceptual and analytical tools to interpret the morphology of the built environment from the macro scale of cities to the micro scale of buildings. The social role and cultural significance of architecture is explored alongside the formal and technological aspects of the discipline.

ARCD - 110. Architecture Studio 1 (4)

Students are introduced to all the major drawing conventions, learning to coordinate a range of drawing types and techniques from free-hand sketching to drafting by hand and with computer. The course begins with contour drawing (line weight, overlap, scale), then tone drawing (shade and shadow), then orthographic projection and perspective. It is a learning to observe and represent what you see kind of course and is preparatory for the more advanced design studios. Students are expected to keep a sketchbook, which they may use in conjunction with other courses, as a place to examine various forms of representation as part of their design process.

ARCD - 120. Architecture Studio 2 (4)

Students will engage in an active interrogation of the city, understanding its structure and patterns and simultaneously uncovering the social imperatives of its residents. They will learn how to use the tools and conventions of representation and apply them creatively and rigorously in the examination of the city at different scales and in varying contexts. Through small-scale design projects, students will evolve designs based on research and exploration and a critical reading of the built environment that takes into account aspects of ecology and landscape.

ARCD - 130. Community Based Urban Agriculture: Design and Management (4)

This is an introductory course to the art, science and practical implementation of community gardening techniques. Students study local community-supported agriculture programs, analyze different models for urban garden projects, and develop and hold community garden design meetings. Based on research, field trips, first-hand study of the university garden site and hosting of university-wide meetings, students will produce a draft proposal for the university garden by the end of the semester.

ARCD - 140. Garden as Art: History, Design & Implementation (4)

This is the second semester of a year-long introductory course on the art, science and practical implementation of community garden design and techniques. In the first term students studied local community supported agriculture programs, analyzed different models for urban

garden projects, and organized and held community garden design meetings. Based on research, field trips, first hand study of the university garden site and the hosting of university-wide meetings,

students produced a draft proposal for the university garden at the end of the semester. In the spring semester students will implement the

Community Garden design while simultaneously engaging in Service-Learning with non-profit organizations working on food security issues.

ARCD - 145. Community Garden Outreach Lab (2)

Students explore food security issues through semester-long Service Learning internships with organizations involved in the production, use, distribution and/or promotion of locally grown organic produce. Students engage in on-going reflection on their Service Learning internship experience.

ARCD - 150. Architectonics 1 (2)

The intention of this course is to develop an understanding of architectonics. Lectures and studio projects explore the concepts of dimension, scale, and order. Design investigations are assigned to develop methods for analysis, articulation of space, relationships of scale, and clarity of structure.

ARCD - 151. Architectonics 2 (2)

Accompanied by weekly assignments, three core semester projects will provide a framework for investigating how to conceptualize, construct, and represent complex architectural space. This is in part the definition of Architectonics in the context of this course: understanding the interdependence of three central themes, played out in the core projects: poetic utilitarian construction, personal/sociological histories as they affect tectonics, and the translation of a 3-D Idea into 2-D Space, and back again into one of society's most powerful 3-D spaces, that of Architecture.

ARCD - 200. Sustainable Design (4)

This course will provide an interdisciplinary overview of Sustainable Design by presenting a historical & contemporary overview of ecological living practices through lecture, readings, guest speakers, and field trips. Topics include: Bioregion assessments, Sustainable communities, Environmental & Social justice, Permaculture, Native Science, Biomimicry, Urban Gardens & Food Security, Ecoliteracy & Primary Education, Global Economies, Environmental Preservation & Restoration vs. Development, The Global Environment, Impact of Developed Countries consumptive patterns, City Planning, and Green Business & Manufacturing.

ARCD - 203. History of Architecture 3 (2)

This is the third semester of a two-year sequence, which examines architectural production, drawing from significant precedents from antiquity to the present. Social, political, economic and cultural issues of cities and buildings are equally emphasized, as are formal and technological processes.

ARCD - 204. History of Architecture 4 (2)

This is the fourth semester of a two-year sequence that studies building typologies and urban patterns using the example of the world's cities and their histories. Cities and buildings resulting from the dominance of wealth and power are important, but so too are settlement patterns, streets, buildings, homes and gardens of all peoples through history.

ARCD - 230. Architecture Studio 3 (4)

This studio introduces students to design issues at different scales of urban complexity. In part one of the studio, students explore the "grain" of the city--the individual dwelling unit--its history, place and relationship to the larger urban fabric. In part 2, they continue to examine aspects of living in the city through design projects that deal with multi-family housing and issues of affordability and social justice.

ARCD - 240. Architecture Studio 4 (4)

Through a consideration of land use, housing, natural resources, environmental factors, aesthetics and comfort, students will develop a critique of the architecture on the urban fringe. Students will be introduced to alternative methods of design and building in contrast to accepting normative practices as a given. They will be introduced to vernacular, contemporary and renewable construction methods and how they relate to building type, location, life-cycle and design issues. Students will develop individual projects, which follow the design process from schematice presentation through design development and basic construction documents.

ARCD - 250. Computer Aided Design and Drawing (4)

CADD 1 is an introductory course in Computer Aided Design and Drawing in VectorWorks, a CADD program for both the Mac and PC platforms that integrates 2D, 3D, and hybrid objects in the same drawing. The class will cover both line drawing and 3D modeling techniques.

ARCD - 290. Special Topics (4)

One-time offerings of special interest courses in architecture and community design.

ARCD - 300. Computer Aided Design and Drawing 2 (4)

This course will develop an understanding of digital tools and strategies, which engage and expand the design process, with the primary goal of utilizing the computer as a fluid, critical investigative tool. We will examine the impact of digital strategies, methodologies and practices on the work of contemporary architects, with individual research into modes of representation and its impact on tectonic development.

ARCD - 310. Introduction to Construction Materials (4)

Prerequisites: PHYS - 100 or PHYS - 130 or equivalent algebra-based introductory Physics course; MATH - 108 or equivalent Pre-Calculus course. An understanding of the basic properties of major construction materials is fundamental to becoming an effective architect or engineer. This course will introduce students to the properties, applications and design considerations of common construction materials. The course will be a lecture format supplemented by readings, field trips, laboratory experiments, exams and individual research projects. While designed primarily for students of Architecture, the course is also a rigorous introduction to civil engineering materials.

ARCD - 320. Introduction to Landscape Design (4)

Introduction to Landscape Design explores the history, principles, and techniques of successful "greenworld" design. Course includes slide lectures, extensive field trips, guest artist presentations, and hands-on campus design projects.

ARCD - 330. Design in Crossroads International (4)

This course sends students overseas for a semester to apply their skills of analysis, interpretation and design in a new cultural setting with its backdrop of social, political and environmental issues. Models for design that the students have honed over the course of the previous three studios will be adjusted and evolve in the face of the particularities and demands of another place, people and history. Student designers will be asked to propose alternative building strategies that could respond to and generate new patterns of living.

ARCD - 350. Architecture Studio 5 (4)

This studio will deal with the identity of public buildings and their intersection with the social, cultural and political realities, directions and aspirations of their communities. Through an analysis of context and program, and a critical appreciation of building precedents, students will provide architectural solutions that explore the design of collective space, institutional form, building structure and materiality. Throughout the studio, the emphasis will be on understanding and devising design processes that enable an analytical and rigorous approach to architectural design.

ARCD - 360. Introduction to Structural Engineering (4)

Structural engineering is an essential component of building design. The goal of this course is to familiarize architecture students with structural engineering principles, so that they can incorporate them into their design processes. This will enable them to see structural engineering as an integral part of the process, rather than something separate that occurs after the "design work" is done. From their unique perspective as architecture students, students will find ways to question and challenge structural engineering principles that an engineering student may not. Students will become familiar with the many concepts and considerations needed in order to be a better designer, architect, planner, engineer, or related professional.

ARCD - 400. Community Design Outreach (4)

Student involvement in real architecture design/build projects for non-profits, schools, and municipalities in the Bay Area and internationally. In this studio class students take on a larger urban or rural design problem. Through extensive fieldwork, students obtain the requisite understanding of the role of community design in underserved communities and the larger urban forces involved. The projects may be local, national, or international and are intended to lead to student participation and leadership in a community building process.

ARCD - 410. Portfolio Lab (2)

The discipline of architecture is as centered on its discourse-writing and verbalizing-as it is on building production. Through this course students will investigate the various approaches to writing about their work and establish a distinct focus of future professional inquiry. The class will examine how other architects have presented their work through publication and look at how the architectural press covers the work of architects. Students will then delve into their own projects to create a snapshot of their work projected in the form of a portfolio.

ARCD - 420. Practicum/Internship (4)

Student internships with architecture firms, non-profit low-income housing developers, municipal planning or building departments, and social and environmental justice oriented organizations. Through the practicum and internship process, students will obtain the experience of working with a range of populations with varying needs, the meaning of professionalism, and the place of community design in the larger context of urban design.