ARCH314 Portfolio Design (3 cr.) Lecture (Summer Only)
Overview of techniques and strategies for successful portfolio design. From predesign through graphic layout, this course will familiarize the student with the use of digital photography and various software programs for graphic design and layout. Issues of production will be discussed, from professional printing services to digital.

ARCH315 Predesign (4 cr.) Lecture
The first task in designing a project is finding out what is meant by “the project”. In this course, students learn to assess projects in terms of mission, cost, planning, urban design, ecology, program, and code, and learn to develop design guidelines related to each.

ARCH316 Building Assemblies (4 cr.) Lecture
This course surveys the basic elements of technical design. Students learn construction from the perspective of a designer, focusing on the selection, customization, and documentation of assemblies, subassemblies, and materials, including basic theories of construction drawing and specification.

ARCH321 Structures I (3 cr.) Lecture
Force systems and static equilibrium. Structural analysis of beams, frames, trusses and cables. Investigation of structural systems. Introduction to load, shear, and moment diagrams.

ARCH 322 Structures II (3 cr.) Lecture
Concepts of stress and strain, material properties, shear and moment diagrams, stresses in beams, deflection in beams, combined loading, and columns. The course covers wood design and an introduction to steel design. Prerequisite: ARCH321.

ARCH358 Environmental Systems I (3 cr.) Lecture/Discussion
Thermal performance of buildings, including climatic and passive solar design, and mechanical solutions. Prerequisite: ARCH202.

ARCH393 Independent Study (1 cr.) Directed Study
Same as ARCH 395, but of a more limited scope.

ARCH395 Independent Study (3 cr.) Independent Study
This course is a self-directed study of a specific issue to be determined by the student with the guidance of a faculty member. Students are required to submit an Independent Study Form (available in the Architecture Office) which must include proposed theme research, projects, products, scope of investigation and schedule. A student must receive permission to enter into an independent study from the faculty who will help guide the research prior to registering for the Independent Study.

ARCH401 Architectural Design III (6 cr.) Studio
This studio is structured as an inter-studio section design competition. Students will have a choice of topical studios: these may include Architecture, Urban Design, Special Competitions, Urban Conservation, Design-Build, or a Foreign Program. As the last undergraduate studio, there will be an expectation of greater autonomy and maturity from the individual student. The student should be able to show both a high level of individual motivation and the capacity to collaborate in teamwork. Projects will be of greater scale and programmatic complexity. As a topical studio, it builds upon a broad base of design skills to explore more specialized issues in greater depth. It will address the acquisition of more specialized knowledge through a process of critical reflection, including research, observation, analysis and synthesis. All studios stress greater command of verbal and visual communication through various media, including two and three dimensional representation, models, etc. Prerequisite: ARCH302.

ARCH402 Architectural Design IV/Comprehensive Building Studio (6 cr.) Studio
Explores the conceptual and technical aspects of architectural form and its assembly. Students will examine building systems, lighting and mechanical, materials, as well as methods and details of assembly. The focus will be the integration of information from other core courses into a comprehensive design project. This course is a co-requisite with ARCH519. Prerequiste: ARCH401.

ARCH406 Architectural Design Studio (9 cr.) Studio
A continuation of ARCH401. The Undergraduate Study Abroad Program is a full semester of design study alternatively in Rome or Barcelona and is accompanied by a design studio critic from the School of Architecture and Planning. Departmental Authorization Required.

ARCH421 Structures III (3 cr.) Lecture
Using the case study method this course explores the design of structural elements in steel, reinforced concrete, and masonry in accordance with current code provisions. Prerequisite: ARCH322.

ARCH438 Research in Architectural History (3 cr.) Thesis Research
Independent study in an area of architectural history of the student’s choice. Could be in exhibition research, historical study, or analysis of a historic district. Department consent required.

ARCH443 Architectural Theory: Texts and Contexts (3 cr.) Lecture
This is a required course on architectural ideas from Vitruvius to the present. It will focus on seminal texts on Architecture and their respective contexts. Students will explore the limits of theoretical claims and address various types of discourse. The students will develop skills in critical thinking, discussing constructively, moderating a discussion, and writing about architectural ideas.

ARCH457 Environmental Systems II (3 cr.) Discussion Lecture
Lighting and power; water and waste systems; acoustics; day-lighting design; vertical transportation.

ARCH464 Advanced Topics in CAD (3 cr.) Lecture (Summer only)
The course will introduce graphic applications such as Photoshop and PageMaker as well as 3-D modeling software(Form Z and 3D Studio Max). Through a series of short exercises the student will become familiar with the strengths of each program. Further exercises will encourage file importation and manipulation of files between the various applications.

ARCH485 Construction Management (3 cr.) Lecture
Overview of issues and practices in the field of professional construction management. This course examines the process of product delivery in the building industry from pre-design concerns through completion from the perspectives of Owner, A/E and GC. Develops skills and techniques in the use of construction logic diagrams (CPM critical path method) to examine and track the allocation of human, financial and material resources in a construction process.

ARCH495 Independent Study (6 cr.) Independent Study
This course is a self-directed study of a specific issue to be determined by the student with the guidance of a faculty member. Students are required to submit an Independent Study Form (available in the Architecture office) which must include proposed theme of research, projects, products, scope of investigation and schedule. A student must receive permission to enter into an Independent Study from the faculty who will help guide the research. Please contact your advisor or a faculty member regarding Independent Study proposals before registering. This course may not substitute for a design studio.

ARCH509 Green Architecture (3 cr.) Lecture
Sustainable design seeks to balance economic growth and ecological need. Set against a backdrop of historical precedent, the course utilizes Case Studies of cutting-edge projects to explore LEED, and the latest applications of green design principles and strategies.

ARCH510 Religious Space (3 cr.) Lecture
An examination of the ways Christian architecture has developed in relation to the doctrines, symbols, and theology of the Christian community, including analysis of Christian church-houses, the Roman basilicas, Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and contemporary churches.

ARCH514 Basic Digital Visualization (3 cr.) Lecture
This course will provide an introduction to the digital medium in architecture and its different tools. The focus of this course will be on why, how and what tools to use so students are able to explore the medium for future studio classes, presentations and portfolios. Also, there will be an emphasis on 3D modeling to introduce the 3D space and understand its potential. Digital architecture is aimed at students with beginner-to-intermediate computer skills.

ARCH516 Interactive Digital Architecture (3 cr.) Lecture
In addition to learning how to put together complex 2D graphic compositions, students will be able to present their projects/portfolios from a CD or the Web by using images as well as videos and audio. The course will introduce the basics of composition, portfolio and interface design, and will encourage students to explore the variety of presentation options using the digital interactive medium.

ARCH519 Comprehensive Design Supplement Course (3 cr.) Lecture
Stresses how material from other core courses in the discipline can be integrated into the comprehensive design of a building. The course is a co-requiste with ARCH402.

ARCH521 Specifications (3 cr.) Lecture
The project manual, including bidding requirements, bid package, contract forms, conditions of the contract and the sixteen specification divisions. Principles of specification writing. Preparation of the technical section. Relationship of specifications to construction and contract administration procedures. Formerly offered as ARCH525. Prerequisite: ARCH316/716.

ARCH527 Reflections on Practice (3 cr.) Field Studies
Only for students working part-time while in school, this course meets weekly. Lectures and guided discussions will draw on workplace observations and assigned readings to help put practice experiences into context. Students not yet employed need to find employment before the first day of classes. Interested students should talk to the instructor before registering for the class, and take no more than 9 additional credits. Prerequisite: ARCH315/715.

ARCH528 Practice Research (3 cr.) Field Studies
This course provides an opportunity for full-time students to study local architecture, planning, or construction firms to understand the broader professional context for their experiences. Students are assigned supplemental readings, meet for in-class discussion with the instructor, visit multiple local offices to observe, conduct interviews, and otherwise investigate a practice research topic of their choosing. Prerequisite: ARCH315/715.

ARCH529 Introduction to Contemporary Urban Planning (3 cr.) Lecture
This course provides an overview of urban planning, urban design, and architecture in contemporary American society. Topics include the origins and role planning in American City design and development, the politics of planning, planning analyses and implementation, environmental planning, urban design, multi-modal transportation planning and historic preservation planning. A reconnaissance survey of selected urban/suburban neighborhoods will highlight discussions in transit oriented neighborhood design, urban revitalization, “SMART GROWTH” and infill strategies, edge cities and the realities and issues surrounding urban sprawl.

ARCH538 Research-History Architecture (3 cr.) Research
Independent study in an area of architectural history of the student’s choice. Project could be in exhibition research, historical study, or analysis of a historic district.

ARCH539 Profiles in American Architecture (3 cr.) Lecture
An in-depth look at key themes in American architectural history through the words and designs of Thomas Jefferson, Frank Lloyd Wright, McKim, Mead & White, SOM, and Robert Venturi. Field trips used as complement to lectures.

ARCH540 City Visions (3 cr.) Lecture
The National Building Museum’s City Visions Program is an opportunity for CUA Architecture students to teach architecture to disadvantaged middle school children living in the city. The teaching is done alongside NBM staff, local design professionals and other architecture students from local universities. The school children come to the National Building Museum and engage in carefully formulated group projects meant to sensitize them to their built environment and to show them the role of architecture and related professions can have an improving their won built environment. In addition to actual teaching there will be preparatory work and a paper.

ARCH546 Preservation: Themes and Method (3 cr.) Lecture
Focuses on issues in architectural conservation/preservation of the historic resources of America; particular emphasis on the use of culture as a tool in planning sustainable environments. Lectures by a number of distinguished guest speakers, including federal agency heads, prominent preservationists, local historians and architects bring significant related issues to the classroom.

ARCH547 History of American City Planning (3 cr.) Lecture
The City Beautiful movement; new towns, introduction of zoning; planning after World War II to the present. Specific city plans, such as L’Enfant’s Washington, will be studied. Formerly offered as ARCH437.

ARCH550 Spirit of Place (3 cr.) Lecture
A design/building project (Spirit of Place|Spirit of Design) where students collaborate to develop and construct a project in a remote and inspiring site based on the spirit of the site, the users, and a metaphorical design intention. Projects have included work in the Canadian wilderness, the Amazon, and the mountains of Southern California.

ARCH551 Elements of the General Plan (3 cr.) Lecture
Study of the components of the physical city plan, including residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, industrial zones, transportation systems, etc., and their synthesis into a plan for the growth and rebuilding of a city. Formerly offered as ARCH451.

ARCH553 Islamic Architecture (3 cr.) Lecture
The Islamic urban fabric; its heritage and the historical and cultural forces which shape its architecture.

ARCH554 Oriental Landscape and Culture (3 cr.) Lecture
Investigates the unique dynamic characteristics of Chinese and Japanese architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Discovery of underlying aspects of space and spirit through the study of great architects and poets. Explores the roles of metaphor, religion, form, materials, light, proportion, and nature in culture and design.

ARCH556 Architecture and the Moving Image (3 cr.) Lecture
An exploration of the relationship among architecture, film, and video, including a brief history of cinema. Using a broad range of examples from contemporary cinema, emphasizes through lecture and analysis the structure of film, the frame, and the montage as they bear on architectural issues such as light and shadow, composition, stage sets, existing and created architectural space, landscape, and place in urban and suburban locations. Formerly offered as ARCH532.

ARCH557 Historic Preservation Fieldwork (3 cr.) Lecture
Specific field experiences in government and private agencies; students learn aspects of historic preservation in practical assignments. Agencies include AIA, GSA, Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Park Service.

ARCH558 A Design Attitude-Environment (3 cr.) Lecture
Explores environmental thinking in the presently evolving age of innovation and ecology in architecture. Emphasis is on how development of a new attitude towards design by re-focusing on environmental issues. Lectures, discussions, small design projects, readings and a final written/graphic project are combined to provide a forum for exploration and debate.

ARCH564 Housing (3 cr.) Lecture
Comprehensive study of housing includes neighborhood context, needs, production, finance, prototypical housing analyses, public and special assistance housing, and new trends.

ARCH567 History and Theory of Urban Form (3 cr.) Lecture
The development of urban design is viewed through both theories of planning and their development over time with emphasis placed on the role of contextual design in the development of the city. An examination of urban form and the city beginning with the Greek Polis to rise of the national state and the baroque capital cities, the industrial revolution and the impact of technology and transport in the creation of the great metropolises.

ARCH569 Innovations in Urban Planning and Design (3 cr.) Lecture
Faculty and guest lecturers present case studies from American, European, Asian, and Australian experiences for analysis and critique. Topics include mixed uses and adaptive reuses; historic districts; “festival market places”; waterfronts; pedestrian ways and open space; downtowns; “superstores” and “mega-malls”; transportation technologies; large-scale urban development. Comprehensive study of housing includes neighborhood context, needs, production, finance, prototypical housing analyses, public and special assistance housing, and new trends.

ARCH570 Drawing as Visualization (3 cr.) Lecture
This course is three fold, free hand sketching, mechanical drawing and portfolio layout with emphasis on freehand sketching. Upper division undergraduate students and graduate students.

ARCH571 Advanced Visual Tools (3 cr.) Lecture
Design around spaces based on 3D modeling, mapping, rendering and animating through computers at an advanced level. This course emphasizes the presentation arrangement of the student’s projects, offering the opportunity to learn how to produce interactive architectural compositions. Prerequisite: ARCH261 and basic 3D modeling.

ARCH579 Architecture and the Internet (3 cr.) Lecture (Summer Only)
The class will introduce internet site construction as a communication medium. Through the design and development of an actual site, students will utilize various skills and techniques, such as: image creation, manipulation, color theory, text formatting, image maps, animated gifts, dynamic links, scripts, frames, and applets. Topics involving browser technology, color theory, internet service providers, and other internet related software will be discussed.

ARCH580 Architecture in the Schools (3 cr.) Lecture
An opportunity for students to collaborate with design professionals and faculty in the District of Columbia public schools, teaching a once-a-week class on design and the built environment.

ARCH582 Building Conservation Technology for Historic Structures (3 cr.) Lecture
Constitutes an overview of the history of building materials, construction and the technology that is used to conserve, restore, and complement them in the context of historic preservation. A major emphasis will be on the technology, research and treatment required in the production of Historic Structures Reports including documentary and investigative physical evidence from architectural fabric investigation, impact determination, and compliance with the Standards for Restoration and Rehabilitation of the US Department of Interior.

ARCH587 Real Estate Development (3 cr.) Lecture
The practice of land development and architecture in the contemporary world of commercial and residential real estate development; understanding the role of the architect as part of the real estate development team, meet with developers and architects in the Washington, D.C. region who are on the cutting edge of real estate. Learn market analysis methods and techniques to evaluate project feasibility which determine a go/no go decision by developers on architectural projects.

ARCH590 Furniture Design: Form and Concept (3 cr.) Lecture
Although the course title indicates the design and production of furniture, this is not the main objective. Emphasis on materials, structure, mechanics, integration of scale and form, and strength of concept. Lectures introduce ideas, objectives, and precedents. These parallel studio and model shop work, and include technical and theoretical topics. Projects include small-scale models to finished full-scale pieces. Formerly offered as ARCH590.

ARCH592 The Designed Object (3 cr.) Lecture
Computer applications in the design of smaller-scale objects and interiors, with an emphasis on materiality and realistic rendering.

ARCH597 Advanced Rendering Techniques (3 cr.) Lecture
Builds on the basic drawing skills learned in ARCH104: tones, textures, perspective, shades and shadows, and color. Students learn to develop perspectives from photographs, and from coloring of photographically enlarged drawings. Techniques of rendering in transparent and opaque watercolor, markers, colored pencils, and ink. Formerly offered as ARCH516. Prerequisite: ARCH104.