to expand studentsÆ horizons of knowledge about architecture while teaching the foundational skills in reading and writing in the discipline. Even though students at the School of Architecture are expected to be literate and articulate, entering into a new field, such as architecture, is a difficult intellectual transition to make. Students will need to develop specific cognitive skills to address the new territories they will have to map. The first year program sets out to help students attain a basic literacy in the discipline while introducing contemporary ways of thinking about the field.

The theme for the spring workshop is Building. Just as students need to learn to describe a site and objectify their reactions to it, as architects it is essential that they also learn to discuss buildings at a high level. Seminars will address Skin, Program, Circulation, Structure, and Codes, introducing both historical and contemporary material to challenge students. Throughout, students will explore architectureÆs intersection with the material and social realms. As in the first semester, students will undertake close readings of the most significant works in modern and contemporary architecture. Projects likely to be discussed will include Joseph PaxtonÆs Crystal Palace, Otto WagnerÆs Postparkasse, Mies van der RoheÆs 860-880 Lake Shore Drive and Seagram Buildings, Le CorbusierÆs La Tourette, Eero SaarinenÆs IBM Headquarters, Bernard TschumiÆs Parc de la Villette, FOAÆs Yokohama Terminal, MVRDVÆs WoZoCos Housing Project. Readings by authors such as Robin Evans, Colin Rowe, Anthony Vidler, Otto Wagner, Alan Colquhoun, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius will explore the diverse ways by which buildings can be discussed. We will visit nearby sites first-hand in order to learn how to read buildings. Afternoon workshops will focus on describing these sites. The writing projects introduced in the fall semester will be built upon in order to ensure that students have a high degree of skill in thinking about architecture through writing by the end of the term. This course will be teamed with a series of workshops by Elizabeth Hatz that will introduce students to ways of attaining close readings of buildings through drawing.

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see above

see above