World-class architects start here
Architecture at USD's primary goal is to introduce students to architecture as a cultural practice that structures both the physical and social environment.
Learning outcomes
- Develop and critically analyze architectural design. Students will:
- demonstrate an ability to recognize and manipulate the interplay between form, function structure, and materiality in 3D spaces;
- conceive original design solutions that endow spaces with utilitarian, aesthetic, and affective value.
- Employ modes of architectural representation and other discipline-specific vocabulary and analytic systems. Students will:
- demonstrate competency in architectural representation from a selection of drawings, physical and digital models, written statements and oral presentations.
- Situate architecture within historic, social and cultural contexts. Students will:
- produce work (such as short essays, structured class discussions, presentations, original research papers) using the methods of the history and theory of architecture.
- Examples of appropriate work may also include studio case study analyses or exhibitions using discipline-specific methodologies.
- Assert a critical position through the development of an architecture thesis. In their architecture thesis projects or original papers students will:
- formulate a research question;
- collect and select relevant information;
- distinguish their authorial voice from that of their sources;
- draw a conclusion or a thesis that conveys the complexity of the researched topic and takes a position;
- substantiate their position by deploying evidence;
- present the position in a clearly organized and persuasive prose and/or graphic presentation.
For the most updated curriculum and course information, go to the catalog of record.