Architecture Professional Electives

FOR SPRING 2010 (Under Construction 10/20/09 - SMK)

ARCH 418 / 518 / 818 - Fabrication and Construction Team F.A.C.T.
ARCH 463 / 563 / 863- Architectural Preservation
ARCH 481 / 581 / 881 - Women in Design (Arch History Elective)
ARCH 497 / 597 / 897 - American Architecture (Arch History Elective)
ARCH 440 / 540 / 840 - Classical Architecture (Arch History Elective)
ARCH 497 / 597 / 897 - Hyde Chair Seminar - Brian Andrews
ARCH 597 / 897 - Digital Fabrication
ARCH 597 / 897 - Craft
ARCH 597 / 897 - Lateral Forces
ARCH 597 / 897 - Materials
ARCH 597 / 897 - Scripting
ARCH 597 / 897 - Publications

Architecture 418 / 518 / 818
Fabrication and Construction Team (FACT)
Professor Jeff Day
Mondays / 7:00 - 9:50 p.m. / Arch Hall 233

bulletin description:

Exploration of the shifting relationship between conceiving and making through hands-on,
collaborative experience with actual design-build projects in which students play a decisive role in all
aspects of research, design, and construction of the commission.

course goals and objectives:

•work with a real client on actual projects
•develop a collaborative design process with the contingencies of an actual architectural commission
•develop an understanding of the relationship between design intention and the making of buildings
and artifacts
•develop approaches to both adaptive reuse and new construction projects
•learn the limits of materials and techniques through the making of architecture
•develop a critical approach to the relationships between theoretical and pragmatic aspects of design
•prepare site documentation, programming, code research, and other pre-design tasks
•prepare design studies and proposals and present them to a client
•work creatively with limited budgets
•work with consultants to develop all areas of a project
•implement design projects in collaboration with licensed contractors
•document finished projects for presentation and publication

Please contact the instructor for more info at <jday2@unl.edu>.


Architecture 463 / 563 / 863
Architectural Preservation
Professor Ted Ertl
Tuesdays and Thursdays / 11:00 - 12:15 p.m. / Arch Hall 233

Course Description: The preservation and adaptive-use of existing buildings is an important aspect of architectural practice. A sensitivity and appreciation for the past is essential for architects who are concerned with the context of their new work. The preservation of architecture is an essential factor in creating a
sustainable environment. This course will explore the necessity for preservation within a context of change in all its manifestations from restoration to adaptive use of architecture and historic communities.

Pedagogic Objectives/Goals: This course will be run as a seminar in which critical discussion is paramount. It will also be run as an experiential practicum in which substantial fieldwork will be required.

Completion Requirements: In-class discussion and on-line participation (15%), four building identification quizzes (40%), and three research papers (45%).

Please contact the instructor for further information <tertl2@unl.edu>.


Architecture 481 / 581 / 881
Women in Design
Professor Sharon Kuska
Tuesdays and Thursdays / 12:30 - 1:45 p.m. / Arch Hall Room 233

Course Description: The course is divided into the following three sections; with potential topical areas listed. The topical lists are meant to reflect the structure of the course, but are by no means wholly inclusive.

1. The historical influences of women on the design profession.
• philosophies, designs and influences of past leaders
• social issues impacting historical attitudes toward design and the built environment

2. Exploration of current female leaders in the design arena within the context of their work and contributions to the profession.
• philosophies, designs and influences of today’s female leaders
• career patterns, etc., impacting present attitudes toward design and the built environment

3. Preparation for the future progress of women within the professional and academic settings.
• social statistics that could impact future attitudes toward design and the built environment
• leadership techniques and communication strategies
• political advocacy
• harassment and discrimination issues

Pedagogic Objectives/Goals:
• Expand awareness of the contributions women have made and continue to make to the field of architecture and interior design.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the work of significant women in design.
• Develop and actualize critical perspectives relative to gender.
• Identify feminist perspective and how it affects the workplace.

Completion Requirements: The final grade for this course will reflect an accurate and complete demonstration of the student’s understanding of the relevant material. In-class participation, along with quality, process and
completeness of the assigned projects will constitute the course grade. The final course grade will be a compilation of the following inputs and weightings:
the informal response journals 25%
poster project 15%
take-home quiz 10%
paper and presentation 25%
timeline chart 15%
and informal classroom interaction 10%.

Please contact the instructor for further information <skuska1@unl.edu>.


Architecture 497 / 597 / 897
American Architecture (This course will meet the ARCH HISTORY elective requirement.)
Professor Ted Ertl
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays / 9:30 - 10:20 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 131

Course Description:

Understanding architecture requires a clear perception of the praxis of the profession and a specific knowledge of the process of how individual buildings came into existence. The focus of this course is upon the lives and creative insight of architects throughout their careers. The approach examines the creative mind of architects and their inherent use of architectural theory and precedent as they resolve critical issues that are essential in mediating the ever-evolving dilemma between constancy and change.

Pedagogic Objectives/Goals:

This course will operate like a seminar where preparation and class discussion are paramount. The standard method of classroom inquiry will be the critical discussion of various architects’ contribution to the corpus of architecture. The intent is to develop the ability to interpret historical facts and thereby derive implicit meaning from explicit architectonic form. The historian’s tool of find the precedent is an essential technique in pursuing this quest. Underlying this methodology is the attempt to identify the essential nature of an American architecture.

Please contact the instructor for further information <tertl2@unl.edu>.

Architecture 440 / 540 / 840
Classical Architecture (This course will meet the ARCH HISTORY elective requirement.)
Professor Ted Ertl
Tuesdays & Thursdays / 2:00 - 3:15 p.m. / Arch Hall Room 233

Course Description:

To be submitted.

Please contact the instructor for further information <tertl2@unl.edu>.


Architecture 497 / 597 / 897
Hyde Chair Seminar / Architectural Concepts: Culture and Criticism
Hyde Chair Brian Andrews
Wednesdays / 7:00 - 8:50 p.m. / Arch Hall Room 233

Course Description:

Architectural Concepts, Culture and Criticism will investigate the driving forces behind seminal buildings and their architects.  The course will focus on the Western World in order to supplement the students’ current curriculum.  It is imperative that graduates of the University of Nebraska, School of Architecture understand the critical thinking and ideas behind the built works that have shaped our understanding of Western Architecture.

Each class will compare two contemporary architects and their most well known works.  It will ask what was the relation and/or relevance to the overall milieu of time and how did current events influence the architects and affect the design?  It will analyze the buildings architecturally and socially as well as discuss the architects’ major conceptual influences on architecture.  For example, in the pairing on Le Corbusier and Adolf Loos, the discussion would focus on how the “plan libre” versus the “raum plan” developed. The development of this course stems from numerous conversations with students over the years who are interested in furthering their well-rounded education with a knowledge of important works of Western Architecture.

Architectural Concepts, Culture and Criticism will be a course that will meet one day a week.  The first hour will be a lecture followed by an hour of discussion of the readings and lecture. The preliminary list of paired architects to study is as follows:

Alberti and Bruneleschi (Early Renn.)
Bramante and Palladio (Late Renn.)
Michelangelo and Guilio Romano (Mannerism)
Bernini and Borromini (Baroque)
Schinkel and Stanford White (Neo-Classicism)
Boulee and Ledoux (French Movement)
Wagner and Macintosh (Art Nouveau)
Behrens and Gropius (German Industrial Movement)
Corbusier and Loos (Modernism)
El Lissitzky and Melnikov (Constructivism)
Terragni and Piacentini (Rationalism and Politics)
Aalto and Asplund (Scandinavian Movement)
Kahn and Johnson (American Movement)
Graves and Venturi (Postmodernism)
Rossi and Krier (Rationalism)
Herzog/de Meuron and Zumpthor (Contemporary)

Please contact the instructor for further information <andrews.brian.d@gmail.com>.

Architecture 597 / 897
Digital Fabrication
Professor Tim Hemsath
Tuesdays / 8:30 - 9:20 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 131
Tuesdays and Thursdays / 9:30 - 11:20 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 131

Course Description:

The course goal is for students to engage in critical problem solving to synthesize various disparate assemblies and materials in a comprehensive digitally fabricated project and to use a digital processes to
understand the making architecture. Achieving these goals enables students to build knowledge of design process from conception to production. The main objective is for students to use the file-to-factory process of digital design-to- fabrication to conceive and produce architectural form. Through the exploration
of digital fabrication, students will have an understanding of:

• Computer-aided manufacturing processes used in the construction of the physical form of architecture. The course highlights similarities and differences between analogue production processes (e.g., hand saw) and
digital production process (e.g., CNC machines) through lectures and tours of manufacturers.
• The role of digital design methods, emerging technologies and tools used by fabricators and practitioners in the practice of architecture. Professional architects and manufacturers will share their experiences and processes with students.
• Materials and methods utilized in file-to-factory digital fabrication. Lectures, readings and case studies will discuss the varied history and theory of the course subject.

At the completion of the course, we expect students to be able to:
• Utilize modeling software in the digital design process to analyze form and virtually manipulate form and space.
• Digitally translate and rationalize complex forms and shapes for fabrication.
• Design, fabricate and assemble digitally created form, structure and surface.
• Use advanced fabrication equipment such as computer numeric controlled milling, laser cutting and rapid prototyping.

Please contact the instructor for further information <themsath3@unl.edu>.

Architecture 597 / 897
Craft
Professor Chris Ford
Wednesdays / 8:30 - 9:20 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 233
Wednesdays and Fridays / 9:30 - 11:20 a.m. / Arch Hall Shop

Course Description: The disconnect between the craft object and industrial product is clearly evident in the 21st century. Retailers have enjoyed economic success by providing mass-market appealing products at competitive price points. While craft objects do not look to compete in the same market with industrial products, the overall demand for craft objects has diminished while their acquisition remains strong as a hobby. However, in popular culture, we are witnessing a rising interest in the making of unique usable goods, such as the glasswork of Dale Chihuly and the motorcycles of the Teutel family. As designers continue to invest themselves into heightening their creative operations, and continue to work with unconventional materials, evidence suggests a larger renewed interest in the discipline of Craft, for its own sake. To this end, both the discipline and constituent issues regarding Craft have been, and continue to be, prevalent in distinguished architectural practice – Craft has been of interest to historically significant architects such as Alvar Aalto, Charles Mackintosh, and Frank Lloyd Wright, but also contemporary architects such as Peter Bohlin, Steven Holl, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Peter Zumthor.

The lecture / seminar portion of this class will focus on the history of Craft, aesthetic issues of hand-making, and the role of Craft in the 21st century. Readings will be issued in electronic reserve format and will be discussed by students as they also prepare their respective strategies for solving (3) design problems of escalating scale. Students will be afforded the opportunity for empirical learning and in doing so, will enhance the culture of making in our College of Architecture. All students will be working on the same design problem for the same length of time, and materials used for each of the projects will be acquired by the students themselves.
The Lab portion of this class, conducted in the shops housed in the College of Architecture, will focus on a range of traditional means and methods used in the deliberate manipulation of various hand-worked materials. Trips will be made to a rough-sawn lumber yard and steel supply yard to observe and discuss the terminology and material specifics of each trade. The physical properties of the workable materials, and opportunities for their joinery, will also be discussed. To this end, all work produced must be from the students own physical efforts. Furthermore, students will be responsible for acquiring those materials appropriate for executing their proposed designs.

Pedagogical Objectives:
• To recognize the difference between the terms “Craft” and “Craftsmanship,” and demonstrate a refined understanding of both.
• To become aware of both the history and aesthetic issues of Craft within various design disciplines.
• To recognize and utilize the capabilities of traditional handtools and industrial machines used to manipulate material.
• To understand the physicality of materials and their joinery at 1:1 scale.
• To consider materiality, aesthetic expression, and utility within the deliberate and meaningful creation of multiple craft objects.
• To consider the opportunities for, and ramifications of, Craft in the 21st century.

Please contact the instructor for further information <cford4@unl.edu>.

Architecture 597 / 897
Lateral Forces
Professor Sharon Kuska
Wednesdays and Fridays / 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 131

Course Description:

To be submitted.

Please contact the instructor for further information <skuska1@unl.edu>.

Architecture 597 / 897
Materials
Professor Martin Despang
Wednesdays and Fridays / 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 131

Description and Purpose:

The study of materiality for building types is an approach to enhance the awareness of physical consistency of materiality in the architectural design. The course intends to enable the student to identify materiality as the vocabulary of the grammar in architectural tectonics. In order to familiarize the students with the pragmatic and poetic potential of materiality, examples are drawn from the diverse body of examples of the library and the instructors own experience, encouraging the student curiosity and strategic use of the resources as creative source.

Educational objectives:

The foremost educational goals of this course are:

To develop an understanding of the structural, economical, ecological, cultural and sensual impact of material in the built environment.

To introduce students to how to use materiality to give architectural space a unique and unpredictable emphasis.

To expose students to the fascination of investigation in the appropriate materiality’s for various building types.

Please contact the instructor for further information <mdespang2@unl.edu>.

Architecture 597 / 897
Scripting
Professor Janghwan Cheon
Tuesdays & Thursdays / 3:30 - 4:45 p.m. / Arch Hall Room 233

Title: Algorithmic Architecture

Short Description: Exploring generative design methodologies through the application of algorithmic techniques. Students will explore generating form from the rule-based systems inherent in architectural programs, typologies, building code, and language itself. Using scripting languages available in 3d program (MEL, Processing), students can go beyond the mouse, transcending the limitations of software and develop computational methods that would generate meaningful architectural form.

Please contact the instructor for further information <jcheon2@unl.edu>.


Architecture 597 / 897
Publications
Professors Betsy Gabb & Mark Hoistad
Mondays & Fridays / 9:00 - 10:15 a.m. / Arch Hall Room 233

This course provides a basic understanding of media as it relates to the design professions. Students are required to participate in the publication of various publications printed by the UNL College of Architecture under the direction of College faculty. Students are responsible for the design and layout of the publications produced in the course. Students will develop skills in graphic design, layout and visual editing, as well as learn the “behind the scenes” activities of how large-scale projects are printed. Most of the publications have a large-scale circulation list that includes architecture & design firms, alums and students.

Traditionally Spring projects include:
College of Architecture Spring Newsletter
College of Architecture Recruiting Materials
College of Architecture Thesis Poster
College of Architecture Book of Work (LINK)
College Website Design will also be a potential project for Spring 2010

Please contact the instructor for further information <bgabb1@unl.edu>.