AAE - Architecture

AAE 180 - Introduction to Design Principles Units: 6

This studio course introduces students to basic design principles forming the foundation of architectural design. Furthermore, it serves as the beginning of the students' knowledge in design thinking and visual communication. Design principles and elements are introduced via a series of abstract design exercises exploring a variety of techniques for generating form and space through iterative experimentation, across a range of scales. A variety of 2D/3D media are introduced to foster design creativity and enable critical thinking.

Term Offered: Fall

AAE 280 - Design Foundations II Units: 6

This course is the second of two studios introducing the basic skills of architecture with a focus on mastery. It extends and adds to the student's fundamental knowledge of design thinking and visual communication. Methodologies and techniques are used to delineate space, form, and order in the agency of architectural creation. Introducing students to the creative process, and continuation of design principles, and methods. Design projects emphasize visual and verbal communication, observing, analyzing, representing, and making of form, space, and materials. Critical thinking and analytical skills are emphasized.

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: AAE 180. Corequisite: AAD 223

Term Offered: Spring

AAE 282 - Design Foundations III Units: 6

This studio course introduces fundamental languages forming the basis of architectural design as well as the process of concept development. Students build greater depth in their understanding of key spatial, formal, material, and experiential aspects of architectural design. Through a series of disciplined yet open-ended design projects, students will work in theoretical, methodological, and communication systems using a variety of media, including sketching, drafting, modeling, and digital image editing/3D visualization. The course emphasizes precedent studies guiding students to thoughtfully respond to elements of architectural process generation including site context, programmatic requirements, building typologies, and environmental factors as well as design schemes, partis and concepts.

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: AAE 280

Term Offered: Fall

AAE 283 - Design Foundation IV Units: 6

This studio course continues exploring Conceptual Development. It develops students' understanding of the values of disciplinary knowledge by interrogating and elaborating on case studies to explore methodologies of design processes that result in architectural work. Students learn to analyze case studies and site conditions while developing their own design skills using precedent methodology. They will articulate the many factors present within a precedent study to support the analysis and understanding of a subject's design methods. Combining architectural design processes and methods via precedent, through design exercises, comparative analysis, and critical discussions, both theoretically and practically, students will begin to experiment with a small-scale piece of architecture.

Enrollment Requirements: Prerequisite: AAE 282

Term Offered: Spring