The
architecture/environmental design studies major
is a pre-professional degree program that prepares
students for continued education in a professional
degree program in architecture or a related field,
or for employment opportunities in architecturally
related occupations. The focus of the program
is to enhance the student’s problem-solving
ability and produce critical thinkers, not technicians.
Most
states require that an individual intending to
become an architect hold an accredited degree.
There are two types of degrees that are accredited
by the National Architectural Accrediting Board
(NAAB): the Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.),
which requires a minimum of five years of study,
and Master of Architecture (M.Arch.), which requires
a minimum of three years of study following an
unrelated bachelor’s degree or two years
following a related pre-professional degree. These
professional degrees are structured to educate
those who aspire to registration/licensure as
architects.
An
important component of this program is a cooperative
education experience in a design or design-related
position in industry, which is supervised by College
of Technology faculty or staff.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
Upon completion of
the baccalaureate degree, students in architecture/environmental
design studies are expected to:
• Analyze
architectural and urban design problems and synthesize
solutions at different levels of complexity, scope,
and building types.
• Employ the oral,
written and graphic modes of communication for
expressing research work and design efforts at
different stages of the design process.;
• Apply the
concepts of architectural history and theory in
shaping buildings, cities and other spatial environments—encompassing
international traditions as related to aesthetics,
environment, society and human behavior.
• Understand the
basic principles that inform the design of the
structural, material and mechanical/electrical
systems and to assess, select and integrate such
systems into a comprehensive building design.
