Undergraduate Studio Curriculum
First Year
First year studio exercises develop excellence in craftsmanship and visual sensitivity as a foundation for a basic architectural language. Problems of various lengths deal with the technical skills of drawing and model-making materials in both two and three dimensions. Using problems of both an abstract and an architectural character, first year studio builds verbal communication skills and model shop ability.
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Second Year
Second year studio develops architectural principles through the study and analysis of building materials. Studio focuses on the development of the graphic language in architecture, and considers the appropriate use of materials, energy, and clear construction as the basis of architecture.
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Third Year
Third year studio continues the development of architectural principles through the correlation of design process and building systems. The studio considers the interrelations of building, programming, site planning, structure, enclosure systems, energy consumption, and environmental control systems, and the cultural concepts supporting their organization.
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Advanced Studios (4th and 5th Year)
For B.Arch. students in their 4th and 5th years of study, Advanced Studios include design projects focused on space problems, comprehensive building design, landscape design, building siting and master planning. They can encompass large programmed areas such as high-density housing and deal with such subjects as advanced digital practices, development of programmed spaces, cultural institutions, innovative building systems, and sustainability.
Enrolling an average of fourteen students, Advanced Studios challenge students to design complex projects in Chicago and other places in the United States and the world. Recent Advanced Studios have designed transportation buildings, high-rise buildings, campus projects, national design competition entries, design/build/develop projects in response to community needs, and landscape architecture projects.
Approximately twenty different studios are offered each semester. Each studio project is proposed and taught by a member of the College’s studio faculty, providing a wide range of expertise in specific building types, advanced building technologies, sustainability, digital applications in design, and contemporary materials. Each year some Advanced Studios travel to complete projects elsewhere in the United States or other countries.
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View Advanced Studio Booklet
(Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009, Fall 2008, Fall 2007)
