Overview

To study the world through the architectural lens is an opportunity to examine our culture through the spaces and buildings that we create.

Program Learning Outcomes

Undergraduate students of the Architectural Design program of Academy of Art University will meet the following student performance criteria:

Conceptual Thinking and Process

• Communicate conceptual thinking verbally and in writing

• Articulate and extend conceptual thinking through diagrams

• Develop a rigorous material logic for model-making to test ideas

• Produce critical analyses of canonical precedent buildings recognizing the significance to the discipline of architecture

Fundamental Design & Drawing and Making

• Develop methodologies to generate and evaluate an architectural formal order and language

• Develop architectural proposals sensitive to the site context in scale and use

• Produce architectural drawings with appropriate drawing conventions to convey spatial qualities and design intent

• Demonstrate an understanding of materiality through making

• Construct drawings and models with a high level of craft and attention to detail

Presentation Skills

• Clearly explain and defend design projects in verbal presentations

• Create presentation boards, slides, and/or printed materials which exhibit logical sequencing and a hierarchy of information

• Develop effective representational strategies to convey information that build towards an argument

Leadership and Community

• Demonstrate a commitment to community building and social responsibility through programming and organization of an architectural project

• Demonstrate cultural literacy capable of designing for cultures with different values

Architectural Design Project

• Develop a clear concept for the architectural design of a building

• Conduct a user & programmatic analysis

• Communicate analyses of the urban and environmental conditions of a site with clear graphic devices

• Develop a research-driven strategy for integrating structural systems into the design

• Integrate sustainable strategies into the design

• Develop an energy-conscious strategy for the design of building envelope systems and material selection

• Address accessibility and life safety requirements in the design

Careers

Our students enter the profession well prepared, as we educate them to become critical thinkers and visionary designers with skills and experiences to carry them into their architecture career. We provide them with the knowledge and abilities necessary to investigate their ideas and transform their architectural visions into built reality. We strongly believe in our students’ potential to shape the future of the our environment as critical leaders in their field.

City and Urban Planner

Master planning environmental design decisions at the scale of a neighborhood, district, city, or region, architects can be part of an urban or design team improving urban environments.

Construction Manager

As construction managers, architects contribute their knowledge of building design and coordinate the design delivery of a project from conception to final closeout.

Design Consultant

Graduates from an architectural school are qualified outside of architectural practice, to consult across disciplines; from building envelope design, historical preservation, industrial design, furniture design, color, branding, business and product consulting, among many other possibilities.

Project Architect

Collaborating on large or complex architectural projects, project designers are crucial member of a design team.

Self-Employed Architect

Operating as a sole practitioner, firm principals run small to mid-sized offices sometimes in partnership with other principals. Firm principals are responsible for signing and stamping construction documentation sets, and must be licensed in the state in which a project is being built.

Sustainable Design Consultant

Specializing in sustainability-driven design projects, sustainability consultants may be architects or other design professionals.