About Our BFA Program

School of Architecture

About Our BFA Program

Academy of Art University's BFA in Architecture program questions, evaluates and promotes excellence in design. It combines the exceptional quality of art education and professional practice available throughout the Academy with new and existing technology to create beautiful and meaningful Architecture that represents the cultural, physical and ecological spirit of a place. Students are challenged to produce workable and sustainable design solutions within the values and aspirations of a specific society.

BFA Program Learning Outcomes

School of Architecture

Graduates of the School of Architecture will meet the following student performance criteria:

1. Speaking and Writing Skills

   • Ability to read, write, listen, and speak effectively

2. Critical Thinking Skills

   • Ability to raise clear and precise questions, use abstract ideas to interpret information, consider diverse points of view, reach well-reasoned conclusions, and test them against relevant criteria and standards

3. Graphics Skills

   • Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential formal elements at each stage of the programming and design process

4. Research Skills

   • Ability to gather, assess, record, and apply relevant information in architectural coursework.

5. Formal Ordering Systems
   

   • Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two- and three-dimensional design, architectural composition, and urban design

6. Fundamental Design Skills
   

   • Ability to use basic architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites

7. Collaborative Skills

   • Ability to recognize the varied talent found in interdisciplinary design project teams in professional practice and work in collaboration with other students as members of a design team

8. Western Traditions

   • Understanding of the Western architectural canons and traditions in architecture, landscape and urban design, as well as the climatic, technological, socioeconomic, and other cultural factors that have shaped and sustained them

9. Non-Western Traditions

   • Understanding of parallel and divergent canons and traditions of architecture and urban design in the non-Western world

10. National and Regional Traditions

    • Understanding of national traditions and the local regional heritage in architecture, landscape design and urban design, including the vernacular tradition

11. Use of Precedents

    • Ability to incorporate relevant precedents into architecture and urban design projects

12. Human Behavior

    • Understanding of the theories and methods of inquiry that seek to clarify the relationship between human behavior and the physical environment

13. Human Diversity

    • Understanding of the diverse needs, values, behavioral norms, physical ability, and social and spatial patterns that characterize different cultures and individuals and the implication of this diversity for the societal roles and responsibilities of architects

14. Accessibility

    • Ability to design both site and building to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities

15. Sustainable Design

    • Understanding of the principles of sustainability in making architecture and urban design decisions that conserve natural and built resources, including culturally important buildings and sites, and in the creation of healthful buildings and communities

16. Program Preparation

    • Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architectural project, including assessment of client and user needs, a critical review of appropriate precedents, an inventory of space and equipment requirements, an analysis of site conditions, a review of the relevant laws and standards and assessment of their implication for the project, and a definition of site selection and design assessment criteria

17. Site Conditions

    • Ability to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and the design of a project

18. Structural Systems

    • Understanding of principles of structural behavior in withstanding gravity and lateral forces and the evolution, range, and appropriate application of contemporary structural systems

19. Environmental Systems

    • Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of environmental systems, including acoustical, lighting, and climate modification systems, and energy use, integrated with the building envelope

20. Life Safety

    • Understanding of the basic principles of life-safety systems with an emphasis on egress

21. Building Envelope Systems

    • Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of building envelope materials and assemblies

22. Building Service Systems

    • Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of plumbing, electrical, vertical transportation, communication, security, and fire protection systems

23. Building Systems Integration

    • Ability to assess, select, and conceptually integrate structural systems, building envelope systems, environmental systems, life-safety systems, and building service systems into building design

24. Building Materials and Assemblies

    • Understanding of the basic principles and appropriate application and performance of construction materials, products, components, and assemblies, including their environmental impact and reuse

25. Construction Cost Control

    • Understanding of the fundamentals of building cost, life-cycle cost, and construction estimating

26. Technical Documentation

    • Ability to make technically precise drawings and write outline specifications for a proposed design

27. Client Role in Architecture

    • Understanding of the responsibility of the architect to elicit, understand, and resolve the needs of the client, owner, and user

28. Comprehensive Design

    • Ability to produce a comprehensive architectural project based on a building program and site that includes development of programmed spaces demonstrating an understanding of structural and environmental systems, building envelope systems, life-safety provisions, wall sections and building assemblies and the principles of sustainability

29. Architect's Administrative Roles

    • Understanding of obtaining commissions and negotiating contracts, managing personnel and selecting consultants, recommending project delivery methods, and forms of service contracts

30. Architectural Practice

    • Understanding of the basic principles and legal aspects of practice organization, financial management, business planning, time and project management, risk mitigation, and mediation and arbitration as well as an understanding of trends that affect practice, such as globalization, outsourcing, project delivery, expanding practice settings, diversity, and others

31. Professional Development

    • Understanding of the role of internship in obtaining licensure and registration and the mutual rights and responsibilities of interns and employers

32. Leadership

    • Understanding of the need for architects to provide leadership in the building design and construction process and on issues of growth, development, and aesthetics in their communities

33. Legal Responsibilities

    • Understanding of the architect's responsibility as determined by registration law, building codes and regulations, professional service contracts, zoning and subdivision ordinances, environmental regulation, historic preservation laws, and accessibility laws

34. Ethics and Professional Judgment

    • Understanding of the ethical issues involved in the formation of professional judgment in architectural design and practice.

Academy of Art University Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Academy of Art University will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Produce a body of work suitable for seeking professional opportunities in their chosen field of art and design.
2. Solve creative problems within their field of art and design, including research and synthesis of technical, aesthetic, and conceptual knowledge.
3. Communicate their ideas professionally and connect with their intended audience using visual, oral, and written presentation skills relevant to their field.
4. Execute technical, aesthetic, and conceptual decisions based on an understanding of art and design principles.
5. Evaluate work in their field, including their own work, using professional terminology.
6. Recognize the influence of major cultural and aesthetic trends, both historical and contemporary, on art and design products.
7. Learn the professional skills and behaviors necessary to compete in the global marketplace for art and design.

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