PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

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The Summer College program in architecture is intended to serve a number of purposes:

• For the student who is already committed to the field of architecture and just can’t wait to get going.
• For the student who is already committed to another field of study but would just like to investigate architecture.
• For the student who is interested in pursuing a career in architecture but is not sure and would like to see what it is all about.

The program is intended to resemble as closely as possible an actual first semester program in architecture school. Thus the program is run at a fast pace and with a high level of intensity. It expects that the student is prepared to make a significant good-faith effort to investigate all of the issues presented and to work cooperatively with the instructors and fellow students.

The course is structured such that it progresses

• from two dimensional issues to three dimensional ones,
• from abstract issues of built form to more highly developed issues of architecture,
• from issues of architecture by itself to architecture in the context of the city.

The course makes no pretense to studying any of these issues in depth but is intended to serve as an introduction into some of the most significant issues confronting both the architect and the architecture student.

Along the way issues of methodology are, of necessity, dealt with. For the student, process is as important as product.

Monday through Thursday the Summer College program in Architecture meets at 9:00 am in the Genet Lecture Hall, Slocum 108 for a review of the day’s schedule and for lectures. Typically the remainder of the morning will be devoted to drawing or computing exercises. The group will meet in the studios in the afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. You can reasonably expect that studio will, in fact, be much more than that. The student should expect to spend most evenings in the studio. The studio is subdivided into groups of 10 students. The professor or one of the teaching assistants will see each student every day. Fridays are generally reserved for walking tours or field trips.

Architecture is a unique field, one that embodies a wide range of opportunities and that requires an equally wide range of skills. Unlike some other fields where definitive problems can be stated and equally definitive answers can be determined, architecture has always been and remains much more open ended. Corbusier referred to the "never ending search". Although he was referring to architecture as a lifelong search for answers, the same holds for each project, indeed for each day. One thing we can state for certain: there is no such thing as a right answer. Thus one is constantly looking for more and, hopefully, better answers. The project ends when the clock runs out. Thus architecture is a field that requires considerable commitment. It demands that we devote ourselves to producing the very best solution that we can, in the time that we have. As a result, architecture is notorious for the long hours that students and professionals alike devote to their craft. While this program is brief, it is expected that each participant will make the required commitment.