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GaTech anyone?

kudzuhut

Has anyone gone through the undergraduate architecture program at Georgia Tech? I am finishing up an associate's degree in drafting at a local tech school in GA and would like to study architecture in state. The Tech engineering schools are top notch, but you never hear about the architecture program.

 
Nov 20, 06 7:06 pm
snooker

I had a friend who was on the staff, having left the University of Arizona. She had high regards for the school from what I could tell, and she was by far one of the finest Architects I have known. Unfortunately for you she passed away at a young age, but in doing so left Georgia Tech her Apartment in Paris, so I know they do have a nice place to stay if you do the semester in France program.

Nov 20, 06 7:40 pm  · 
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bucku

they only have a master degree. 4+2 i think, so you may want to see how you would trnasfer in. it would suck to have to do all 6 years. check about southern tech as well. bach. of arch, but still worth a shot.

Nov 20, 06 9:24 pm  · 
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georgia tech offers a 4 year bachelor of science in architecture degree (meaning you would need 2+ years for a masters). the paris program is for one year and is offered in your fourth year.

i graduated in 2002. it's a much cooler place today than it was 4 years ago. i think the school is finally shaking off the beaux arts tradition and is starting to embrace more contempory/digital fabrication type design studios.

i think it is a pretty solid education.

Nov 20, 06 9:51 pm  · 
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bucku

they have a new prof, i think he is still there, from office da. they are doing a lot of digital manufacturing and what not. they are trying to grow it seems.

Nov 20, 06 10:13 pm  · 
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Apurimac

I do believe one of my prof. from NYIT went down there, Gernot Riether. If want your ass kicked, sign up for his class. He'll beat you into shape. The school seems pretty nice, they've got a cool building, well stocked library and good studio facilities. I never attended a class there, but i've been around the school for research purposes and it looks pretty top notch. Probably one of the best arch. programs your liable to find in the south.

Nov 20, 06 10:52 pm  · 
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cvankle

Just an FYI- Office Da is out, Lars Spruybroek (sp) from NOX is in.

Nov 21, 06 1:22 am  · 
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kakacabeza

I'm a Tech master's alum. I would second the opinions of those who posted previously...I would say Georgia Tech is about as good an education as you can get at a public school, and if you are in state, it's quite a bargain. I think the program where they are recruiting high-profile visiting professors has helped the program out immensely.

You will probably have to start from scratch, though. I've had friends transfer over from other programs, such as SCAD, and they had to start the studio sequence from the beginning. Having the associates in drafting should give you a leg up, but you'd probably still have to do the six years (4+2) The year in Paris doesn't really count though...from what I hear it's just a big party.

Nov 21, 06 12:23 pm  · 
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kakacabeza

I'm a Tech master's alum. I would second the opinions of those who posted previously...I would say Georgia Tech is about as good an education as you can get at a public school, and if you are in state, it's quite a bargain. I think the program where they are recruiting high-profile visiting professors has helped the program out immensely.

You will probably have to start from scratch, though. I've had friends transfer over from other programs, such as SCAD, and they had to start the studio sequence from the beginning. Having the associates in drafting should give you a leg up, but you'd probably still have to do the six years (4+2) The year in Paris doesn't really count though...from what I hear it's just a big party.

Nov 21, 06 12:27 pm  · 
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joelseph1985

I was wondering what people thought of the graduate program offered at GA tech. I'm excited about the fabrication lab but I was wondering if anyone had any deeper incite into the faculty, facilities, etc. Thanks

Apr 10, 07 2:07 pm  · 
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I graduated from the M.Arch. program along with kakacabeza (see above) back in 2003.

I think that the program was good back then and it has only gotten better since, mainly as a result of the Ventulett Distiguished Chair program which started the year after I graduated. This has been bringing big name architects (Monica Ponce de Leon, Nader Tehrani, and Lars Spuybroeck so far) to the school for 1 year stints.

Most of the fabrication stuff is relatively new and I'm guessing that it has really expanded under the above mentioned program. I know that Monica and Nader did a lot of digitally fabricated installations around the school while they were there.

If you are interested in contemporary issues of urbanism, GaTech is a great place to study. They have a lot of great professors working on those issues (Dunham-Jones, Dagenhart, Allen, etc) and of course Atlanta is a poster child for the post-urban city.

They really have 3 main focuses right now: 1) urbanism (with the above professors), 2) digital technology (Ventulett Chairs, Economou, and others), and 3) sustainability (Jarrett and others).

I really enjoyed my two years there. If you have any specific questions feel free to post them. Also, I think that there are a few other threads that you may be able to find with the search function.

Oh yeah, one more thing... Take any class that you possibly can with Doug Allen. He's absolutely brilliant. He's not teaching quite as much anymore since he's Associate Dean now, but anything he teaches will be worthwhile.

Apr 10, 07 2:24 pm  · 
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joelseph1985

thanks architphil, I was wondering what the environment around Atlanta is like, co-op wise, post masters jobs, etc, and are there decent connections other places outside of the atlanta area, etc

Apr 10, 07 2:34 pm  · 
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I think that the co-op program is open to pretty much anyone that wants to pursue it. I didn't take advantage of it, but a few of my friends did. Basically, I think that they spent about 10-12 hours working in an office (and most of the firms that participate are really flexible) each week and in return got full tuition waivers. I don't know the details, but you should be able to find some more info on the website.

Post-school jobs... Everyone that I know that stayed in ATL found jobs pretty easily. Outside of ATL it is a pretty well respected school (particularly if you stay in the SE). I'm guessing that the connections from some of the newer visiting professors from out of town could probably help in some of the NE cities. I know someone that was offered a job at Office dA when Monica Ponce de Leon was teaching there.

Apr 10, 07 2:42 pm  · 
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tzenyujuei

I was at gatech for my undergrad and graduated in 04. I thought it was a good foundational program, the electives were a bit lacking for my taste but studios were well suited to production of decent architecture. It prepared me well for work and M.Arch and my brother is there now, he seems to be enjoying it. Oh and the Paris Program is amazing. Snooker, do you know which apartment was your friends?

Apr 10, 07 3:33 pm  · 
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laurilan

i graduated from there in 2004 from their undergrad. i know they've also added grad students to their paris program (which is spectacular). if you can take advantage - do!

i don't know a ton about the program, but i do know quite a few people from my class who ended up going back there.

i always wonder if i know these other gatech people on here...

and even though i graduated from the undergrad, i've had no problems finding jobs (i was up in the midwest for a while, now down in fl.)

Apr 10, 07 3:38 pm  · 
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doug allen rocks. still my favorite professor to this day.

Apr 10, 07 4:03 pm  · 
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also, there are at least two summer foreign study programs...

one that went to rome/italy... doug allen (see above) used to do this program... i'm not sure if he still does...

i did the modern architecture in the modern city program which usually goes to paris, berlin, and the netherlands... i think that they've been adding another city in recent years...

Apr 10, 07 4:51 pm  · 
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