Visualization I: Observation and Representation

Required of incoming M.Arch. I students with little or no academic background in architecture, this summer course is an intensive, five-week immersion to give students a shared inventory and basic framework upon which to build their subsequent studies. The language of architectural representation and visualization and its connection to design are explored in both a studio and a lecture/history format. Students are introduced to techniques and conventions—including orthographic drawing, axonometric projection, perspective, architectural diagramming, vignette sketching, and physical modeling—used to describe the space and substance of buildings and urban environments. Students work in freehand, hard-line, and digital drawing and representation formats. They are also asked to examine precedents in architectural history ordering examples of spatial and visual acuity.