Intermediate Architectural Design Studio

Building on the skills taught in the Introductory Studio, this studio emphasizes design as a mode of critical cultural inquiry to explore the cultural, environmental, and political forces which shape relationships between cities and the buildings, landscapes that form the public realm. Questions of the meaning of materials, functions, and urban imagery will be addressed with particular emphasis on acquiring greater fluency with the graphic tools and iterative processes through which designers conceptualize, synthesize, and represent the complex conditions of site, program, tectonics, and materiality to create urban landscapes. The city of Providence usually serves as a case study for observation and testing ground for your ideas, in addition to providing a site for your imaginary project. Students will come away with enhanced proficiency in representational techniques and a greater awareness of the social conditions of architectural production.