EDUCATION

Our pedagogy integrates design with science and engineering to prepare students for careers as leaders in information technology, building systems, environmental design, entrepreneurship, and beyond.

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Each semester we are pleased to welcome a group of Rensselaer Bachelor of Architecture students to study with us at CASE. Students in this program enroll in a studio aligned with CASE’s strategic goals, as well as several professional electives. Students have the opportunity to broaden their understanding of architecture’s role in society and to engage in graduate and PhD level research.

Contact: Fleet Hower howerj@rpi.edu

Bachelor of Architecture Program

CASE B.Arch Cirriculum

  • This is an upper division architectural design studio that explores topics of contemporary interest to the discipline. Students apply for this studio based on their personal interest and professional objectives. Three such studios Architectural Design Studio 5, Architectural Design Studio 6, and Architectural Design Studio 7, are required for the degree. This course is offered in the fall and spring semesters and is required of all architecture undergraduates in the B.Arch. program.

  • How do we perform research? What is the relationship between research and design? How might they inform each other? How do we form and test hypotheses? What constitutes novelty in a research context? How does science relate to architecture vis-à-vis research?

    Research Investigations affords undergraduate architecture students the opportunity to engage in actual ongoing research at CASE while undergoing an investigation into the nature of research itself. The above questions regarding how one performs research form points of entry to a deeply informed design process where the design of the design process itself becomes a crucial process and goal. Architecture as a discipline becomes more clearly defined as it interfaces with other disciplines in the Sciences, Engineering and beyond. Focused on quantitative methods, the class deploys the Scientific Method for research problems in the Built Environment. Students produce research reports, posters and presentations that evaluate Problems, State of the Art approaches, Hypotheses and Materials and Methods of evaluation, contributing to research efforts while expanding their understanding of design.

Optional Electives - choose 3

  • The goal of Material Systems and Production is threefold: to develop a fundamental understanding of materials through first principles, classification, production, and impacts, to develop models for material properties and testing, and to develop criteria to make reasoned choices for the implementation of materials in the built environment. Students will engage in directed research projects with the intent of opportunistically identifying intrinsic material properties, exploiting production-forming logics, and developing a prototype detail assembly for testing. here

  • Environmental Parametrics is an intensive introductory course on visual scripting theory and methodology intended to give incoming students a foundational base in computational and parametric design modeling in order to supplement fall semester courses for new and incoming students into the Built Ecologies and Geofutures post professional programs without prior experience. The techniques presented in this course allow designers to integrate environmental data and simulations fluidly into 3D models and the design process. A new and progressively more complex topic is introduced each week, and each topic is presented with an associated design exercise. This course is taught in a seminar format with some instructor led tutorials and workshop content linked to dedicated breakout time for completing assignments and modeling. A devoted archive folder for downloading and uploading course material and completed exercises will be used for the course. B.Arch. students can only register for the 4000 level of this course and M.Arch. students must register only for the 6000 level of this course.

  • The principal objective of this seminar is to provide students with the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of research design. Research design includes: 1) identifying and selecting focused research problems/opportunities/ideas; 2) documenting the state of the art in the selected research area; 3) identifying the critical resources and settings to carry out the research; 4) designing the research program including strategies and tactics for carrying out the research. It is hoped that the knowledge gained in the RD Seminar will assist students in the development of their own individual thesis proposals.

  • This course provides a research and development (R&D) playground to investigate next generation building construction systems integrating smart materials, embedded electronics, user experience design, and digital fabrication. Each semester, we develop a technological I/O system driven by environmental factor, user experience, energy efficiency, and/or building life-cycle considerations.

  • This course will provide an overview to geospatial representation methods through the context of an urban research and design project. Students will learn to gather, manipulate, and represent open-source data related to a specific research topic. Groups in this seminar will focus their research on one of many suggested urban areas threatened by climate change. Each location will be the subject of an intensive research and representation phase, as well as design proposals to address imminent climate-based challenges. All work from this seminar will be hosted on a class website, primary drawings will be web-based, interactive graphics.

  • Design Programming 1 provides an accelerated introduction to computer programming for design professionals including instruction in 2D and 3D graphics, Web applications, and building data. The course provides an accelerated introduction to prevalent programming languages and constructs, graphics libraries and development environments. The course spans from an introduction to the basic concepts of general programming, object oriented programming and 2D graphics through basic web design, 3D graphics on the web building data modeling and web database integration. Students develop a web based design modeling application targeting their domain of design interest over the course of the semester, as well as learning technical skills through weekly exercises. This class is oriented to students who are interested in going beyond simply using 2D and 3D programs, who want to better understand the technologies behind these tools, and access capabilities beyond those of simple scripting.

Student Work