Architecture
Director - School of Architecture & Design: H. Pittman
Chair - Foundation Program J. Bassett
Chair - Core Professional Program: H. Schnoedt
Chair - Advanced Professional Program: H. Schnoedt
Chair - Graduate Program:D. Dugas
Professors: K. Albright, M. Breitschmid, S. Choudhury, A.J. Davis, H. de Hahn, D. Dunay, R. Dunay, P. Emmons, J. Jones, S. Piedmont-Palladino, H.L. Rodriguez-Camilloni, H. Rott, R. Schubert, M. Setareh, F. Weiner, and J. Wheeler
Associate Professors: J. Bassett, H. Bryon, M. Cortes, D. Dugas, K. Edge, M. Ermann, M. Feuerstein, W. Galloway, S. Gartner, E. Grant, S. Martin, M. McGrath, H. Pittman, H. Schnoedt, and S. Thompson
Assistant Professors: P. Doan, A. Ishida, N. King, and P. Zellner-Bassett
Assistant Collegiate Professor: K. MacDonald
Visiting Instructors: C. Pritchett and C. Vorster
Instructors: R. Holt
Adjunct Instructors: S. Bitar, D. Lever, R. Mars, M. Paget, D. Regan, J. Schippers, and D. Snook
Professor Emeritus: W. Brown, R. Chiang, D. Egger, J. Holt, W. Kark, D. Kilper, F. Ruiz, D. Sunshine, J. Wang, S. Poole, and R. Daniel
Associate Professor Emeritus: D. Jones
Assistant Professor Emerita: E. Braaten
Overview
Architecture enriches our lives by offering us environments that are sensibly compelling, thought provoking, and capable of lifting our spirits. In addition to being beautiful, architecture is, by ancient definition, functional and durable. Like art, architecture is permeated by dualities. It is stable and transitory, measurable and immeasurable, and capable of both being touched and touching us. Like science, architecture involves systematic study. Its methods are iterative, experimental, and rely on intense observation. By intertwining the poetic and practical, architecture is uniquely poised to address the challenges of contemporary life and build the culture of the 21st century.
The professional curriculum in architecture requires five years of study for the first professional degree, the Bachelor of Architecture (B. Arch.).
The first professional degree programs at Virginia Tech, the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree (B. Arch.), the Master of Architecture II (M.Arch.2), and the Master of Architecture III (M.Arch.3) degrees, are fully accredited for the current maximum six-year term of accreditation by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
All students in the School of Architecture + Design - Architecture, Industrial Design, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture - begin their studies in a common first year foundation program. Following the foundation program, students pursue professional studies in the 2-3 and 4-5 programs.
Foundation Design Program - First Year
Foundation Design Lab is an immersive, interactive learning environment focused on inquiry, experimentation, discovery, and synthesis for students studying architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, and industrial design. The design lab develops self-reliance and self-critique, opens intellectual horizons, and challenges students to continually expand and deepen their aesthetic judgment and critical understanding. Studies are undertaken in two and three dimensions across multiple scales.
Professional Program - Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Years
The Professional Program employs design theory and processes to study the design of buildings. Students conduct an interactive investigation of architectural space, environmental forces, and building technology. Foundations of discipline-specific knowledge are progressively introduced, discussed, and examined as they contribute to the complex totality of a work of architecture. Students explore natural and cultural forces as they relate to architecture through means of representation specific to the discipline. With architecture at the core, the program examines interdisciplinary sources such as art, science, and philosophy for the purpose of establishing the content the discipline shares with other forms of knowledge.
Concepts in the Professional Program are communicated through both traditional drawings and models, as well as through modern virtual tools and digital production. All coursework seeks to develop the ability to conduct a professional written and verbal discourse. Further emphasis is placed on intellectual discipline, constructive dialogue, assertion of interest, and a self-motivated search for critical issues.
The second year is characterized by an increase in the complexity of design exercises to foster a better understanding of the interplay between situation, time and desired spatial definition. Architectural constructs of smaller scales build on knowledge of basic design principles studied in the first year. The laboratory discourse focuses on principal elements of architecture and their compositional and material role in space. Architecture as the art of building is conveyed through the detailed study of exemplary built works.
The third year provides for study of fundamental design principles, technical concepts and their applications, including measures of quality in architecture. The instructional content of this year articulates and communicates to students the unique nature of architecture through the study of interrelationships of material, construction systems, site, and building programs. The Architecture III design laboratory guides the student's growing experience with practical design problems and provides order to the gradual exploration and learning of the nature and means of achieving architecture. Associated with Architecture Ill are lectures, presentations, and workshops intended to challenge students toward sensible integration of necessary systems and legal responsibilities in the design and construction of buildings.
The fourth year builds on the increased comprehension of building systems acquired during the third year. On-campus or off-campus, the aim of the various program options is to promote an in-depth understanding of the relationship between architectural idea and physical building form. On-campus students are offered studio courses with various focus topics. Off-campus options include several VT and non-VT Study Abroad Programs, the Extern Program, the Washington-Alexandria Center, or the Chicago Studio.
Off-campus programs directed by the Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design include:
- The Europe Study Abroad Fall Travel Program studies seminal European historic and contemporary architectural works and urban spaces, which are visited and documented with analytical drawings, sketches, and photographs, supplemented by on-site lectures by architects and professionals. Documented research before and after the program leads students to greater depth of understanding of the issues surrounding the architecture.
- The Steger Center Residency Program: Each semester, 16 architecture students take part in this program at Virginia Tech's European Steger Center for International Scholarship in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. An 18th century villa and its gardens on the southern tip of Lake Lugano provide residence and dining facilities for Architecture + Design students, as well as 30 Virginia Tech students from other academic disciplines. Studio work, courses, research, and travel are directed to advance first-hand knowledge of the architecture, geography, and culture of Europe.
- The Chicago Studio: Hosted by significant architecture firms in downtown Chicago, this 4th-year off-campus semester seeks to integrate education and practice in a direct way. Its distinctive structure and curriculum is centered around urban focused studio and course work, with direct input from the profession. Site visits in the Chicago metropolitan area and the lectures and events of the active architecture culture of Chicago contribute significantly to this program.
- Professional Extern Program allows students to spend one semester in an approved professional setting and receive up to 12 hours of academic credit. This program provides a valuable link between the academic environment and architectural practices, discipline-related government agencies, and other design offices throughout the world.
- The Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center affords students from the School of Architecture + Design and from related College disciplines the opportunity to study with students and faculty from a national and international consortium of schools in the historic urban context of Old Town Alexandria. The Center complex offers studio space, classrooms, exhibition and review spaces, shops, and computer labs for the students and faculty of the consortium. The University also offers a limited number of apartments for students studying at the Center.
In the fifth year, students conduct a yearlong advanced study with individual faculty advisors. The in-depth engagement with research, theory, and design is intended to broaden a student's expertise in a particular area within the field of architecture. Fifth-year students are expected to formulate and accomplish advanced high-level work in the form of a terminal project. Working with their advisors, students develop and discuss their research and design progress, and have periodic formal peer reviews throughout the year. Students are required to leave the project documentation of their 5th-year work with the school upon graduation.
The first professional degree programs (B.Arch., M.Arch.2 & M.Arch.3) in architecture are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).
- In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes three types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may be granted a 6-year, 3-year, or 2-year term of accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with established educational standards.
- Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may consist of a pre-professional undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree that, when earned sequentially, constitute an accredited professional education. However, the pre-professional degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree.
- Next accreditation visit for all programs: 2018
The four-year, pre-professional degree is not offered at Virginia Tech.
Program Requirements
Degree Requirements
The graduation requirements in effect at the time of graduation apply. When choosing the degree requirements information, always choose the year of your expected date of graduation. Requirements for graduation are referred to via university publications as "Checksheets". The number of credit hours required for degree completion varies among curricula. Students must satisfactorily complete all requirements and university obligations for degree completion.
The university reserves the right to modify requirements in a degree program. However, the university will not alter degree requirements less than two years from the expected graduation year unless there is a transition plan for students already in the degree program.
Please visit the University Registrar website at http://registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/index1.html for degree requirements.
Graduation Requirements
Upon successful completion of program requirements of the foundation level of study and the professional levels of study in architecture and with completion of 160 credit hours of study, a first professional degree of Bachelor of Architecture is awarded.
Satisfactory Progress
University policy requires that students who are making satisfactory progress toward a degree meet minimum criteria toward the General Education (Curriculum for Liberal Education) (see "Academics") and toward the degree in Urban Affairs and Planning.
Satisfactory progress requirements toward the degree can be found on the major checksheet by visiting the University Registrar website at http://registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/index1.html.
Undergraduate Course Descriptions (ARCH)
1014: INTRODUCTION TO ARCHITECTURE: LESSONS IN FORM & CULTURE
Introduction to the discipline of architecture for
non-architecture majors. Emphasis on the basic elements of
design and the relationships of a culture to the forms,
shapes, and structures it expresses in architectural
production.
(3H,3C)
1015-1016: FOUNDATION DESIGN LABORATORY
Introduction to the discipline of architecture. Focus on
basic elements of design, addressed visually, conceptually,
and haptically. Studies undertaken in two and three
dimensions using various materials and tools. Inquiry into
the process of design, discovering, through experiment,
methods of working that develop aesthetic judgment and means
of self-evaluation. Emphasis on intellectual discipline,
dialogue, assertion of interest, and a self-motivated search
for critical issues.
(2H,12L,6C)
1024: INNOVATIVE DESIGN THINKING
Engages students in learning environment of the design
laboratory, which is interactive inquiry, experimentation,
discovery, and synthesis. Develops thinking and making
skills in 2D and 3D across multiple scales. Advances
abilities to solve problems through exploring strategies
with viable consequences. Engages students in a series of
iterative drawing, and modeling exercises relevant to
architecture and design education. ARCH 1024 is restricted
to incoming freshmen.
(3H,3C)
1034: SEEING DESIGN: TRANSFORMING OBSERVATIONS
Introduces students to ways of perceiving, and recording the
built and natural environment in Southwest Virginia.
Introduces students to travel studies as an essential part
of their architecture and design education. Transforms
students' observational skills. Employs photography and
sketching as means of documenting findings. Employs
screenprinting and digital technologies as a way to
transform documentation. Prepares students for an
exhibition of their work, including oral presentations. ARCH
1034 is restricted to incoming freshmen.
(3H,3C)
1115-1116: QUALIFYING DESIGN LABORATORY
1115: An immersive, interactive course focused on inquiry,
experimentation, discovery, and synthesis. Employs a series
of iterative drawing and modeling exercises, at a beginner's
level, in two and three dimensions across multiple scales.
Develops self-reliance and self-critique, which opens
intellectual horizons. Challenges expand and deepen
aesthetic judgment and critical understanding. Develops
fundamental thinking and making skills that advance their
abilities to solve problems by exploring strategies toward
viable consequences. Restricted to students transferring
into the School of Architecture + Design and changing
their major to architecture, landscape architecture,
interior design, or industrial design.
1116: An immersive, interactive course focused
on inquiry, experimentation, discovery, and synthesis.
Employs a series of iterative drawing and modeling
exercises, at an intermediate level, in two and three
dimensions across multiple scales. Develops
self-reliance and self-critique, which opens intellectual
horizons. Challenges expand and deepen aesthetic
judgement and critical understanding. Advances
foundational thinking and making skills that develop their
abilities to solve problems by exploring strategies
toward viable consequences. Restricted to students
transferring into the School of Architecture + Design
and changing their major to architecture, landscape
architecture, interior design, or industrial design.
(1H,6L,3C)
2015-2016: ARCHITECTURE II
Introduction to the discipline of architecture, isolating
and intertwining fundamentals that contribute to the
complex totality that constitute a work of architecture.
Explores how architecture concentrates and conveys natural
and cultural forces through means specific to the
discipline. Focus on fundamentals realized artistically and
practically in works by selected architects. Articulates
the unique reality of architecture through the study of
basic interrelationships of material, construction, site,
and program. Introduces the complex interplay of situation,
space and time in the making of places. Examines
interdisciplinary sources such as art, science, and
philosophy for the purpose of establishing the content
architecture shares with other forms of knowledge and how
that content, expressed through architecture, contributes to
human well-being. Concepts communicated through drawings
and models. Emphasis on intellectual discipline, dialogue,
assertion of interest, and a self-motivated search for
critical issues.
Pre: 1016.
(2H,12L,6C)
2034: ART OF BUILDING
Introduction to contemporary building construction
practices and conventions, addressing and examining
the physical making of buildings. Constructive
conditions will be presented and analyzed based on the
materials, assembles, details, performance, and
programmatic requirements that inform and comprise a
building's physical reality.
Pre: 2044.
(2H,2C)
2044: BUILDING MATERIALS
Introduction to the attributes of materials with which
buildings are built such as masonry, reinforced
concrete, steel, stone, timber, glass and insulation;
introduction of the impact of soil, vegetation, watersheds
and other natural conditions on buildings and their
material fabrication.
Pre: 1015.
(2H,2C)
2974: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Variable credit course.
2984: SPECIAL STUDY
Variable credit course.
3015-3016: ARCHITECTURE III
First design laboratory for the Professional Program in
Architecture. Provides for exploratory investigation and
analysis of the fundamental design principles, technical
concepts and applications, and the measures of quality in
architecture.
Co: 3045 for 3015; 3054, 3046 for 3016.
(1H,12L,6C)
3045-3046: BUILDING ASSEMBLIES
The designs of building assemblies, elements, systems and
sub-assemblies are studied. Building assemblies as
controlled by formal idea, geometry, construction,
materials, details, structure, function, enclosure, and
finish work are considered.
Pre: 2016.
Co: 3015 for 3045; 3054, 3016 for 3046.
(2H,2C)
3054: BUILDING ANALYSIS
Study of exemplary built works of architecture through
analysis of design documents, interviews, and inspection of
actual construction. Course is completed as a group project
resulting in both an oral presentation and a written
document.
Pre: 3015.
Co: 3046, 3016.
(2H,2C)
3115,3116: HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
A review of world architecture, predominantly but not
exclusively with reference to Occidental building art. The
study of principles concepts and representations of
buildings and structures from the 4,000 BC to the present
through reading, drawing, and writing are important
aspects of the course.
Pre: 1015 for 3115; 3115 for 3116.
(3H,3C)
3514: DESIGN-RELATED MEDIA
Properties and uses of various media, materials and
processes as tools for analysis, documentation and
presentation of the designed environment. Basic skills
and techniques relating to photography, printmaking, and
pottery will be explored. Repeatable with a maximum of
6 credits.
(3H,3C)
3954: STUDIO-STUDY ABROAD
The Europe Studio offers students the opportunity
to make comparative studies of European cultures, as
well as to study the relationship of culture to the
physical environment, the organization of cities, and the
history and behavior of their inhabitants. Exercises
include analysis and documentation of elements of the
physical environment, exploration of the interface between
buildings and the fabric of the existing city, and
examination of the professional community's reactions to
urban design solutions.
X-grade allowed.
(*H,6C)
3974: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Variable credit course.
3984: SPECIAL STUDY
Variable credit course. X-grade allowed.
4015-4016: ARCHITECTURE IV
Design laboratory in conjunction with alternative studies in
one of the College's off-campus centers. Focus on the
evaluation of skills developed in the third year
professional studies and emphasis toward individualized
topical areas of study leading to the development of a
thesis project.
X-grade allowed.
Pre: 3016 for 4015; 4015 for 4016.
(2H,12L,7C)
4034: BUILDING CITIES
Analytical studies in the historical evolution of cities,
towns and villages. Comparative studies of urban form in
relation to their constructive and imaginative means with an
emphasis on modern construction processes. Specific case
studies in designing and building cities.
Co: 4016.
(3H,3C)
4044 (LAR 4124): PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Introduction to scope and diversity of the building
enterprise, addressing private and public macroeconomic,
industrial, technical, professional, and regulatory
institutions. Analysis of historic evaluation of
professional roles and practices; emergence of new modes of
practice, including innovative facilities procurement
methods.
(3H,3C)
4055,4056: ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING SYSTEMS
A design oriented study of environmental forces,
environmental impacts of the built environment, and related
building environmental control, life safety and service
systems, with concern for the human psycho-physical impacts
of building form and systems performance.
(3H,3C)
4075-4076: BUILDING STRUCTURES
Building structures in steel, timber, and reinforced
concrete; design of typical components: beams, slabs,
columns, beam-columns, connections, and foundations; design
of retaining walls; the resistance of buildings to gravity
and lateral force action; building stability; floor/roof
framing systems; design of simple buildings.
Pre: ESM 3704.
(3H,3C)
4114: IDEAS, CONCEPTS, AND REPRESENTATIONS OF ARCHITECTURE
Survey of ideas, concepts, and representations that have
shaped architecture. Particular emphasis is given to
ideational constructs and how they have been adapted in the
projecting of buildings.
Pre: 3016.
(2H,2C)
4144: ADVANCED BUILDING STRUCTURES I
Study of long-span building structures. Introduction to
geometry, form, and structure of folded and bent surfaces.
Study of space grid geometry, close-packing systems, and
cellular tensegrity. Approximate design of folded plate
structures, single and double curvature shells, single
and double layer space frames, suspension roofs, tents, and
pneumatic structures.
Pre: 4075, 4076.
(3H,3C)
4154: ADVANCED BUILDING STRUCTURES II
Study of highrise structures ranging from building slabs and
blocks, terraced buildings, and skyscrapers to towers. The
complexity of load action including wind, earthquake, and
hidden loads. The effect of building height, form, and
proportion on force action; considerations of stability
and redundancy. Preliminary design of masonry buildings,
core structures, suspension buildings, braced skeletons,
rigid frames, interstitial systems, staggered truss
buildings, tubes and hybrid structures.
Pre: 4075, 4076.
(3H,3C)
4164: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN DESIGN
Computer system fundamentals. Very brief introduction
to assembly programming. Programming in a high level
language. Construction of a simple text editor.
Construction of a simple relational file. Computer graphics
fundamentals. Geometric transformations. 3-space geometry
and projections.
(3H,3C)
4204: URBAN TECHNOLOGY AND ARCHITECTURE
Architecture as determinant of urban spaces and urban
form; perceptual, morphological, and typological
characteristics of urban spaces as expressions of social
values, ideals, and technological innovation. Theoretical
models of technological, function, environmental, and social
determinants of urban configurations are related to
their cultural and historic precedents.
X-grade allowed.
(3H,3C)
4214: TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURE HISTORY AND THEORY
Topics in the history of architecture and theory,
predominantly with reference to the Western World. Special
emphasis on methods of analysis and interpretation.
Repeatable with a maximum of 9C.
X-grade allowed.
Pre: 3115, 3116.
(3H,3C)
4304: TOPICS IN DESIGN METHODS
Topics in systematic methods of design and the nature of
the design process including application of creative
techniques, analogous thinking, analytic methods,
computer-aided procedures, and information handling in
design. Repeatable with a maximum of 6 credits.
X-grade allowed.
(3H,3C)
4414: ADVANCED ENVIRONMENT BUILDING SYSTEMS
Advanced studies of environment and building systems,
including development in building systems, urban systems,
service systems, construction systems, materials and
component systems, psycho-physical considerations, systems
analysis, and computer technology. May be repeated for a
maximum of 9 credit hours in varied options offered.
X-grade allowed.
Pre: 4055, 4056.
(2H,3L,3C)
4515-4516: ARCHITECTURE V
Advanced independent architectural research requiring
articulation of a conceptual and professional position.
This position is realized in a terminal thesis project
completed in the second semester of the fifth year.
X-grade allowed.
Pre: 4016 for 4515; 4515 for 4516.
4515: (2H,20L,9C) 4516: (2H,16L,6C)
4524: THESIS DOCUMENTATION
During the second semester of the fifth year, the student
takes a required three hour thesis documentation course
where their conceptual and professional position is defined
and tested by the documentation of the terminal
architectural project.
Pre: 4515.
Co: 4516.
(3H,3C)
4705-4706: QUALIFYING DESIGN SEMINAR
Exploratory overview of selected theories and issues
relevant to the design and use of the environment. 4705:
Emphasis on history, human behavior, and environmental
context as it relates to architecture. 4706: Presentation
and discussion of the nature of principal construction
materials in relation to building design. Characteristics
of primary structural materials: wood, steel, concrete,
masonry; environmental control systems; supporting
technologies. Not for credit for majors holding a first
professional degree in architecture.
(3H,3C)
4715-4716: QUALIFYING DESIGN LABORATORY
4715: Design laboratory in which student and faculty teams
explore the nature of problems and potentials with which
architecture is concerned, and experimentally develop
methods and process through which existing contexts are
transformed into new conditions. 4716: Provides
introduction to basic concepts of building structures,
materials, and enclosure systems, and appropriate site and
climate responses. Not for credit for majors holding a
first professional degree in architecture.
X-grade allowed.
(3H,18L,9C)
4904: PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Pass/Fail only. X-grade allowed.
(1H,1C)
4944: CONSORTIUM STUDIES IN ARCH
International consortium of Schools of Architecture.
Undergraduate students are provided an academic
environment utilizing the Washington D.C.
metropolitan area as an educational
laboratory for pursuit of architecture,
landscape architecture and urban design
and planning. Consortium studies courses are
not for credit but reflect enrollment as a full time
student. Approval for participation required by student
home institution and Virginia Tech. Special fees apply.
(0C)
4974: INDEPENDENT STUDY
Variable credit course. X-grade allowed.
4984: SPECIAL STUDY
Variable credit course.
4994: UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
Variable credit course.