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Architecture as a Science

Hello,

I am currently in the last year of my undergrad and have started to think about the next steps of my development after graduation. I believe I have learned much in architecture school but most of the focus is placed on the art and subjective side of the field. I only had to take a few structures and math courses, and these are really my strongest traits that I feel have been neglected as I focused on making myself a better artistic designer. However, I am now thinking that I might want to go into a graduate program or find a job with a firm that focuses on the science and mathematics and how it pertains to design. I want to know the technical aspects of how things work in physics, structures, geometry, etc. What are good courses of study/schools that focus on these parts of architecture?

 
Jul 9, 13 5:18 pm
TiredArchitect

University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign, that is where I went for undergrad and they are more technical than artistic, but they still have a good design program. One of the structure professor over there helps write the AISC manual. Seems like engineering is more of a path for you than architecture. Instead of looking into a M. Arch, maybe look into Architectural Engineering.

Jul 9, 13 7:14 pm  · 
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gruen
Structural engineering. Architects need more strux engineers who have design sense.
Jul 10, 13 9:07 am  · 
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curtkram

architects need more architects that can understand structural engineering, so we can design shit that will stand up and then communicate to the engineer how we want it to stand up. 

Jul 10, 13 9:24 am  · 
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square

Agree with the above posts; sounds like you're more interested in engineering than architecture. 

Jul 10, 13 9:27 am  · 
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Thank you for the comments. I still want to be an architect and make decisions regarding the artistic, cultural, and historical aspects of the trade, but I also want to be able to have a real understanding of how things work. It just seems like something you can't really teach yourself, as much as I read or watch lectures it is not the same. Does one just go into graduate school for something like engineering without all the technical info acquired during undergrad?

Jul 10, 13 12:44 pm  · 
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gruen
Dual degree?

Or, do a MArch program at a school that also has a good strux engineering program & do your electives and thesis in strux.
Jul 10, 13 1:55 pm  · 
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gruen
Sorry, yes you'd probably need the undergrad background for an engineering masters. But maybe not for what I described above
Jul 10, 13 1:57 pm  · 
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archcivil13

This is one of the reasons, among many, why I wanted to get my dual-degree in architecture and civil/structural engineering

Jul 10, 13 3:01 pm  · 
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observant

I'm seeing you come from Drexel, which has a strong technical and vocational bent in fields like architecture and engineering.  UIUC, as mentioned in post 2, is a good recommendation because they indicate a continued structures electives sequence in their course list, atypical of many architecture schools, and it's a very established program.  They offer dual degrees, so check if you could double up with a MS in Civil, providing you stay out of areas which require a more aligned undergraduate engineering degree.  If not, their structural offerings may satiate your curiosity in this area.  It seems like every school has its calling card - Virginia and its historical lore, Miami and its modernism, SCI-Arc and its pushing the envelope, Oregon and its sustainability, Berkeley and its being Berkeley, and UIUC and its structures.  Check it out.  It could be a match for you.

Jul 10, 13 7:59 pm  · 
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accesskb

Sure you can go to school for that.. However, a large part of it will be you combining your structural knowledge and your artistic side, trying to come up with creative solutions to challenging structural problems that architects come up with.  I was in a lecture by Charles Walker, currently the chief structural engineer at Zaha Hadid, and previously worked at ARUP where he formed the Advanced Geometry Unit.  It was interesting to hear how he got his undergrad in architecture at a Canadian university, then went on to get an MSc in structural engineering from Imperial College London.  He currently lectures at AA and heads the architectural department at the Royal College of Art in London now and has worked on numerous high profile works with Zaha , Rem Koolhaas, Oscar Niemeyer and Renzo Piano.  Its a route I've considered taking but wish I was more proficient at technical and math xD

Jul 10, 13 9:04 pm  · 
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