USF's Major in Architecture and Community Design
combines an introduction to the disciplines of architecture, urban
design and planning, and landscape design with a strong emphasis on the
social sciences and humanities. The program is grounded in the
University's mission and commitment to building community for a more
just and humane world. This undergraduate Major draws from the
University's diverse resources and faculty to form a unique
interdisciplinary program of study. It seeks to engage and foster
individual creative talents, informed by a breadth of approaches and
strategies for understanding the complexity of the contemporary
metropolis. The aim is to comprehend and influence our built
environment and its relationship to the macrocosm through the discipline
of design. Through this process we train students to become impassioned
readers, interpreters, actors and designers of their cities,
institutions, and communities. The curriculum has been carefully
crafted to satisfy the entrance requirements for graduate programs in
architecture and urban design at the nation's top thirty universities.
USF's interdisciplinary Major in Architecture and Community Design
program emphasizes the critical role of design in negotiating between
individual and collaborative acts of making and the larger framework of
political, social, and cultural issues in the community.
Elements of the 48-credit major program include:
- Four intensive core studio courses addressing metropolitan and global urban design issues;
- The use of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area as urban laboratories to investigate design issues directly and locally;
- Training in both abstract and applied design;
- Integration
of the studio core within the context of liberal arts education in
social sciences, math, and physics, as a preparation for graduate
programs in architecture and landscape, but also appropriate for any
number of professional career tracks including government, law,
history, business, journalism or the visual arts;
- An
international design, history, and social science semester located in
an important city in a developing or evolving nation (including
Budapest, Manila, and Puebla);
- A Bay Area and International community design outreach course and a studio practicum/internship;
- A
small full-time faculty augmented with adjuncts drawn from diverse
areas of expertise within the university, government, and design
communities;
- A small cohort model of instruction (maximum 18 students per class).
Requirements for the Major
The Major in Architecture and Community Design requires 48 credits.
Required Courses
Year 1: Tools for Community Design
- ARCD - 101 History of Architecture 1
- ARCD - 102 History of Architecture 2
- ARCD - 110 Architecture Studio 1
- ARCD - 120 Architecture Studio 2
- ARCD - 150 Architectonics 1
- ARCD - 151 Architectonics 2
Year 2: Reading the Context
- ARCD - 203 History of Architecture 3
- ARCD - 204 History of Architecture 4
- ARCD - 230 Architecture Studio 3
- ARCD - 240 Architecture Studio 4 and ARCD Electives
Year 3: Broadening the Horizon
- ARCD - 330 Design in Crossroads International
- ARCD - 350 Architecture Studio 5 and ARCD Electives
Year 4: Into the Community
- ARCD - 400 Community Design Outreach
- ARCD - 430 Practicum/Internship and ARCD Electives
Free Electives
- ARCD - 200 Sustainable Design
- ARCD - 250 Computer Aided Design and Drawing
- ARCD - 290 Special Topics
- ARCD - 300 Computer Aided Design and Drawing 2
- ARCD - 310 Introduction to Construction Materials
- ARCD - 320 Introduction to Landscape Design
- ARCD - 340 International Projects
- ARCD - 360 Introduction to Structural Engineering
- ARCD - 370 Construction Innovation Lab
- ARCD - 390 Special Topics
- ARCD - 410 Portfolio Lab
Garden Project LLC (Pre-enrolled Freshmen only)
- ENVA - 130 Community Based Urban Agriculture: Design and Management
- ENVA - 140 Garden as Art: History, Design & Implementation
- ENVA - 145 Community Garden Outreach Lab
Learning Goals/Outcomes for the B.A. in Architecture and Community Design
Students who complete the B.A. in Architecture and Community Design will:
- gain
a historical foundation of architecture from pre-history to recent
developments in the field, through a broad and inclusive approach to
the range of social and economic factors affecting the design of world
cities and buildings.
- develop
familiarity with social justice issues in under-served communities and
developing regions of the world as well as more traditional
perspectives on architectural history.
- develop
critical skills and methodologies of inquiry, analysis, conceptual
development, and resolution and presentation of design ideas.
- Learn
to integrate aspects of site, program, space, structure and material to
create designs for buildings, which also actively respond to the
historical, cultural, social and political exigencies of time and place.
- develop
analytical tools that give attention to the various historic and social
forces that intersect to create the built environment.
- gain
a solid foundation in technical and conceptual design skills, enabling
them to present their architectural ideas visually, verbally and in
writing to clients, associates, and communities at the grass roots and
municipal levels.
- graduate with the knowledge and skills enabling them to facilitate positive change to built environments in the world.
