Introduction to Architectural Design and Theory
Level: Open to students entering grades 11 or 12 or freshman year of college in fall 2010.
Session: I, June 28-July 16, 2010; II, July 20-August 6, 2010
Days & Time: Monday-Friday, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, 2:30–4:30 PM
Instructor(s): Irene Cheng, Adam Dayem, Kristjan Donaldson, Ginger Nolan, Maria Gonzalez Pendas, and Brett Snyder
Prerequisites: Some experience in drawing and photography is recommended.
Related Course: Students interested in this course might also be interested in New York Experienced: An Urban Case Study or Drawing: Eye and Idea , both offered in Session I, or Engineering Design Via Community Service Projects, offered in both sessions.
"This class was great. I felt very comfortable participating in discussions and asking questions. We covered a large amount of material, but the course moved at the perfect pace. I learned more than I thought there was to learn thanks to the wonderful organization and depth." –Katie Fisch, 2009
"The instructors were great and very helpful. The way they explained was clear and very good….Overall the course was amazing, and I’m sure that I learned a lot about architecture and that I can put that learning into practice."
–Mehek Yaseen Merchant, 2009
Course Description
An intensive introduction to the basic concepts of architectural design and theory.
During the morning seminar, students learn about the history of key ideas like abstraction, representation, program, plan, materials, and structure. Historical works of modern architecture are treated as case studies and illustrations. Students learn how to analyze a building visually and formally, as well as how to relate architecture to broader cultural and social contexts. Class discussions are supplemented with site visits to prominent works of modern architecture in New York City.
In the afternoon studio, students receive hands-on training in the fundamentals of design, including architectural drawing, model-making, and conceptual development. With one-on-one guidance from the instructor, students develop their own designs for a small-scale urban structure.
Please note, assignments for the studio portion of the course will require a substantial time commitment outside of the allotted class times.
Studio Expenses:
Students should budget approximately $250-300 for the cost of studio supplies.
Instructor(s)
Faculty
Irene Cheng
Irene Cheng has a B.A. in social studies from Harvard University and an M.Arch. from Columbia University. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in architecture history and theory at Columbia. In addition, she is a principal of the design firm Cheng + Snyder. Prior to starting her own practice, Irene worked as a designer for Bernard Tschumi Architects. She is coeditor of The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century (2004). Her writing on architecture and culture has appeared in Frieze, Cabinet, and Surface.
Faculty
Adam Dayem
Adam Dayem is the principal of actual /office, an architecture and design firm based in New York City. Founded in 2004, actual /office takes on a wide variety of work including multi-family housing, exhibit design, furniture design and research projects. Dayem received a B.A. in architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University, where he was awarded the McKim Prize honoring the year's most outstanding graduate in architecture. He subsequently worked at Bernard Tschumi Architects on competitions and projects worldwide including the New Acropolis Museum. He teaches design studios at Pratt Institute and is a registered architect in the state of New York.
Faculty
Kristjan Donaldson
Kristjan Donaldson holds an M.S. in advanced architectural design from Columbia University (2008), and a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Western Australia (2003). Kristjan has a wealth of project experience in the fields of architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture gained in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 2003, Kristjan established SPACE consultants, a multidisciplinary design studio with a breadth of focus ranging from small domestic interventions through commercial interiors and regional master planning. His built projects have been published in distinguished Australian design journals. He has taught architectural design at Australian universities since 2002.
Faculty
Ginger Nolan
Ginger Nolan is a Ph.D. candidate in architecture history and theory at Columbia University. She holds a B.A. in comparative literature and European culture from Brandeis University and a Master of Architecture from M.I.T. She has worked as an architect for Ken Yeang and Khanna-Schultz. She has edited Thresholds: A Journal of Visual Culture and has contributed both writing and design projects to various academic journals and design magazines.
Faculty
Maria Gonzalez Pendas
Maria Gonzalez Pendas graduated as an architect from the School of Architecture in Madrid (E.T.S.A.M.). She was awarded a Fulbright fellowship (2006-2008) and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the architecture history and theory program at Columbia University. She has worked as an architect in Madrid and Chicago on projects that include residential, large-scale public buildings, urban landscape design, and exhibition design. She was co-curator of the exhibition “Absent Architecture of the 20th Century” in 2004, and has published and presented her academic work in publications and conferences in Spain and the UK.
Faculty
Brett Snyder
Brett Snyder holds a B.A. in graphic design from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.Arch. from Columbia University. He has taught design courses at Columbia, the Pratt Institute, The Cooper Union, and University of the Arts. Brett is a principal of the New York-based design firm Cheng + Snyder. His design experience spans several scales, from working on large commercial architecture projects (at Steven Holl Architects) to collaborating on watch designs (at Swatch Watch) to working on exhibition, signage, print, and Web matter (at the Cooper Union Center for Design and Typography). Snyder is also a founder, designer, and editor of the architecture and design publication 32BNY.
Specific course information, such as hours and instructors, are subject to change at the discretion of the University.
