Introduction

03

TECHNOLOGY

The methodology for the technology sequence places an emphasis on how parameters of climate, construction, systems, and material define the making of a piece of architecture, both in form and in detail. We are interested in how these parameters control and define both the broad decisions and the specific details behind implementation and expression of a construction system in a building.

The goal of the sequence is to teach a methodology for dealing with the variety of constructive situations architects face. This method will present a way of designing and detailing simultaneously, which means the characteristics of the various construction types will reference a larger strategy of organization, an organization that operates at every scale of the building and the site.

Building Construction I + II introduce students to construction systems and materials, and their interrelationship with the environment, with the goal of introducing a more holistic conception of architecture. The making of architecture is defined by parameters from the climate, the site, and the efficiency and logic of the systems used. Construction and material can reciprocally inform a design concept and enrich its ultimate potential. Environmental Systems I+II introduce students to the basic provisions of comfort, health, safety, and their role in creating architecture. The course sequence will develop a basic understanding of how to achieve and maintain these provisions through a combination of passive and active systems, and how to integrate them into the architectural design. The broad topics of Sun, Air, and Water create the framework for the more specific quantifiable investigations of how these systems perform.

These courses are to be understood as parallel and integrated with the studio experience, and the projects in the studio sequence are used in the technology sequence. The expectations are that issues of sustainability and construction manifest themselves within the studio projects, and that issues of form and space manifest themselves in the technology courses.

Brian Panama Professor Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa B.Arch + B.S.A.T. Program Fall 2019