Courses

The Function of Systems

Farshid Moussavi, Daniel Lopez-Perez

The Function of Systems Cities that once hosted nations now host a rich array of \’cosmopolitans\’ as a result of processes of globalization. Cities are…

The (New) Languages of Architecture

Sanford Kwinter

The (New) Languages of ArchitectureInstructor: Sanford KwinterThe last decade and a half has seen a remarkable profusion of architectural styles, an entirely new level of…

Frames of Mind: Approaches to Film Theory

Giuliana Bruno

Introduction to the language of film theory aimed at developing analytic skills to interpret films. Historical survey of classical and contemporary theory beginning with turn-of-the-century…

Buildings, Texts, and Contexts

Antoine Picon

Charts the emergence of rationalism and neo-classicism, as well as the impact of the industrialization, professionalization, and institutionalization of architecture and urbanism.

Buildings, Texts, and Contexts

Eve Blau

Focuses on modernisms -its codification, representation, and dissemination -and emphasizes its multiple political, social, and cultural dimensions.

Rome and St. Peter’s

Christine Smith

A course on St. Peter\’s Basilica and its surrounding architectural complex from Antiquity to the Baroque, tracing the development of the Vatican area from an…

Visual Fabrics: Film, Fashion and Material Culture

Giuliana Bruno

Explores the common language of film and fashion, both powerful image makers and objects of material culture. Film and fashion share a role with architecture…

Transparency

Eve Blau

The concept of transparency is critical – not only to understanding early and mid-20th century modernism – but also to engaging current architectural concerns with…

Artifice: (An Archeology of Postmodernism)

Timothy Hyde

The styles of Philip Johnson, Charles Moore\’s historicism, the linguistics of Peter Eisenman, and the theatrics of Hans Hollein; the technophilia of Cedric Price and…

Analysis and Design of Building Structures II

Martin Bechthold

A continuation of GSD 6201, this course introduces more advanced topics such as funicular systems, statically indeterminate structures, pre-stressing as well as surface structures. Specifically,…

Science and Technology

Jonathan Levi, Thomas Schroepfer

The course introduces a conceptual framework for the design of building assemblies, as informed by a clear understanding of construction technologies and of the properties…

Environmental Technologies in Buildings

Christoph Reinhart

This course examines the fundamental scientific principles underlying the thermal, luminous and acoustic behavior of buildings and introduces students to a range of technologies for…

Innovative Constructions: cases in modern Japan

Mark Mulligan

Modern Japanese architecture has been much admired in the West for its attention to materials, its refined construction details, and its ability to integrate traditional…

In Search of the Engineer

Hanif Kara, Andreas Georgoulias

Please note, this courses first meeting will be on Monday, February 4thCourse DescriptionIn recent examples of architecture, visions of architects are enhanced by innovative interventions…

Material Matters: Case Studies on the Environmental Impact of Material Selection and Application

Monica Ponce de Leon

Material Matters:Case studies on the environmental impact of material selection and applicationThe various fields included under the rubric of design have had a tremendous impact…

Building Information Models

Michael Schroeder

This seminar course explores Building Information Models (BIM), business processes, applications and environments (e.g., Revit). These environments are quickly being adopted throughout the building industry…

Sustainability

Matthias Schuler

Please note, this course has an irregular schedule. The full course schedule is listed below.Sustainability – an integrated design approach in combination with your studio…

Construction Automation

Martin Bechthold

Construction AutomationPrerequisites: CAD/CAM 1 or permission of instructorThis advanced seminar introduces students to emerging technologies under the broad umbrella of construction automation. An extension of…

Surfacing Stone: Digital Explorations in Masonry Curtain Wall Design

Monica Ponce de Leon, Martin Bechthold, Wes McGee

Surfacing Stone: Digital Explorations in Masonry Curtain Wall Design Instructors: Martin Bechthold, Wes McGee and Monica Ponce de LeonCourse Description:This course will research the potential…

Issues in the Practice of Architecture

Carl Sapers, Maryann Thompson

This course, for students in the fourth semester of the MArch I program, introduces basic issues in practice and the profession of architecture, challenging the…

The Bilbao Guggenhein Museum: Topics in Project Management

Spiro Pollalis

The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao has had an unprecedented impact not only on the city of Bilbao but also on the value of design and…

Independent Study by Candidates for Master’s Degrees

Richard Peiser, Christoph Reinhart, Farshid Moussavi, Kostas Terzidis, Antoine Picon, Thomas Schroepfer, Daniel Schodek, Niall Kirkwood, Michael Van Valkenburgh, Richard T.T. Forman, Richard Sommer, Anne McGhee, James Stockard, Peter Rowe, K. Michael Hays, Gary R. Hilderbrand, Joan Busquets, Felipe Correa

Students may take a maximum of 8 credit units with different instructors in this course series.Prerequisites: Graduate standing. Candidates may arrange individual work focusing on…

Prep of Design Thesis Proposal for MArch

Timothy Hyde

Prerequisites: Graduate standing and permission of the thesis program director.This entails preparatory work for all students intending subsequently to enroll in GSD 9301. Students research…

Independent Thesis in Satisfaction of Degree MArch

Maryann Thompson, Mariana Ibanez, Lluis Ortega, Ingeborg Rocker, Timothy Hyde, Eve Blau, Marco Steinberg, Thomas Schroepfer, Michael Meredith, John Hong, Martin Bechthold, Preston Scott Cohen, Leland Cott, Peter Rowe, Peter Rose, Jorge Silvetti, T. Kelly Wilson, Alex Krieger, Mark Mulligan, Richard Sommer, A. Hashim Sarkis, Laura Miller, Toshiko Mori, Pierre de Meuron, Jacques Herzog

Following preparation in GSD 9203, each student conducts a design exploration that tests and expands the thesis.Prerequisites: GSD 9203…

Independent Thesis for the Degree Master in Design Studies

Spiro Pollalis, K. Michael Hays, Martin Bechthold, Antoine Picon, Christoph Reinhart

A student who selects this independent thesis for the degree Master in Design Studies pursues independent research of relevance to the selected course of study…

Preparation of Doctoral Thesis Proposal

Daniel Schodek, A. Hashim Sarkis, Niall Kirkwood, Spiro Pollalis, Joan Busquets, Martin Bechthold, Thomas Schroepfer, Kostas Terzidis

Under faculty guidance, the student conducts a reading program and formulates a thesis proposal. The course is intended for doctoral students.

Thesis in Satisfaction of the Degree Doctor of Design

Richard Peiser, Daniel Schodek, Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez, A. Hashim Sarkis, Peter Rowe, Spiro Pollalis, Robert France, Antoine Picon, Kostas Terzidis

Under guidance of a faculty committee, the student conducts investigations and prepares a doctoral thesis.

Thesis Extension in Satisfaction of the Degree Master in Architecture

Thesis Extension…

First Semester Core: Introduction to Design and Visual Studies in Architecture

Preston Scott Cohen, Michael Meredith, Thomas Schroepfer, Ingeborg Rocker, Lluis Ortega, Mariana Ibanez

Prerequisites: Enrollment in MArch I program or permission of the program director.The first of a four-semester sequence of design studios introduces students to the practice…

Third Semester Core: Architectural Design

Toshiko Mori, Jonathan Levi, John Hong, Kimberly Ackert, Timothy Hyde, Robert Marino, Ana Maria Duran Calisto

Prerequisites: GSD 1101 and GSD 1102, or advanced standing in the MArch I program. The third of a four-semester sequence of design studios emphasizes the…

Constructed Landscapes: An Aquarium for Puerto Rico / A Collaborative Studio with the University of Puerto Rico

Maryann Thompson

An Aquarium for Puerto Ricosite:Located between a private airport and the new Convention Center for the city of San Juan, the site is a contested…

SOFT SPACE: AGILE INVOLUTION Sustainable Strategies for Textile Architecture

Sheila Kennedy

This interdisciplinary option studio will explore the integration of flexible solar nano-materials with lightweight textile construction as a new medium for soft space and distributed…

Super Tall: Performance and Atmosphere

Hani Rashid

The schedule for this course is variable. Please select this studio carefully.Today we are embarking on a new phase in building design and manifestation that…

The Geometry of Emotion

Dominique Jakob, Brendan MacFarlane

Given where we are at this moment in history with the building type of a concert hall, are there new ways in which we can…

Kanchogai Street

Ryue Nishizawa, Florian Idenburg

The schedule for this course is variable. Please select this studio carefully.Kancyogai Street, Towada-shi, AomoriThemeThe studio will focus on a town in the south east…

Encapsulated Vision: Relocating the Barnes Foundation Collection

Laura Miller

With the design of a new building for the Barnes Foundation, this studio will explore the relations between the virtual and actual architectures of collecting…

El Rejoneo Bull Fighting On Horseback

Francisco Mangado

The schedule for this course is variable. Please select this studio carefully.El Rejoneo (The bull fight): Taking a Stance on Local CulturesShould local traditions maintain…

Tokyo’s Book City

Andrea Leers

The district of Jimbo-cho in downtown Tokyo has been the center of book culture from the Edo period when the first government school, later to…

Visiting History: Bauhaus in America

Monica Ponce de Leon

The Frank House in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is one of the most important examples of work by the Bauhaus figures Walter Gropius and Marcell Breuer in…

Visual Studies

T. Kelly Wilson

This course emphasizes the construction of space on the two-dimensional surface by way of freehand drawing. In-class visual exercises identify key concepts in the construction…

Projective Representation in Architecture

Preston Scott Cohen

Historically, certain kinds of reciprocity between geometry and architecture have been used to bring about rational causes and practical means of formal innovation. Today, the…

Drawing in the City of Rome

T. Kelly Wilson

Kinetic Architecture

Kostas Terzidis

In architecture, the notion of motion is often represented as an abstract formal configuration that implies relationships of cause and effect. Deformation, juxtaposition, superimposition, absence,…

Sculpting in Motion

Allen Sayegh

Prerequisites: GSD 2107 or equivalent.Computer Graphics have opened up unprecedented ways of form making and animation. This unfolding universe of visual inputs that is based…

Algorithmic Architecture

Kostas Terzidis

As architecture enters the new era of digital representation, geometrical theories and processes are being implemented, tested, and pushed to their limits. Recent theories of…

From Industrial to Strategic Design: The Changing Value of Design

Marco Steinberg

What is Design? What is the value of Design? The course seeks to address these fundamental questions by examining the evolution of design from the…

Current Architecture as Cultural Discourse

Jeffrey Kipnis

\”In fact it is only the ideal soul of society, that which has authority to command and prohibit, that is expressed in architectural compositions properly…

Decorating Diversions: Industrial Design, Consumerism and the Production of Spaces

Monica Ponce de Leon

The history and practice of Decorative Arts, Industrial Design and the Design of Interiors are intrinsically intertwined and at times indistinguishable. The more recent rubric…

Designing the Underneath: Architecture and/as Infrastructure

William Rankin

As both a collection of built objects – bridges, highways, tunnels, cables – and as a set of ideas about modernity, architecture has long sought…

MArch II Proseminar

Jorge Silvetti

Prerequisites: Enrollment in the MArch II program.This course provides a forum for critical discussion of contemporary design practices that is exploratory and speculative in nature.