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21ST CENTURY THINKING, DESIGN EXPLORATION AND DELIVERY – THE MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE AT ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY by Dennis A. Andrejko, FAIA Head –Department of Architecture Golisano Institute for Sustainability Rochester institute of Technology
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he Master of Architecture program in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology is a relatively new professional degree offering among NAAB accredited programs. Launched in 2011, the program received initial accreditation in 2017 and recently received a full eight-year continuation of accreditation in 2021. As launched, the program’s unique positioning rests with broad and focused sustainability exploration and execution to enhance the value and purpose of design, and its main tenet and underpinning borrows from the Proceedings from Cranbrook 07: Integrated Practice and the Twenty-first Century Curriculum, (AIA and ACSA, 2008) – “…new technologies and practices coupled with the irreversible consequences of global climate change begin to delimit the core challenges facing our schools. BIM, IP (Integrated Practice), and sustainability constitute a natural package but the ways the curricula greet or integrate these realities into studio-based programs of required instruction remains an open question. Old principles still dominate studio pedagogy; few if any schools teach building science in a studio context; fewer still enjoy access to facilities and faculty sufficient to explore new materials and methods of construction.” The program was founded with direct input and guidance from the architectural profession, and with intentional focus on design delivery and professional practice into the 21st century. In collaboration with RIT’s College of Art and Design (CAD), and housed within and the Golisano Institute for Sustainability
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Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS)