UTA Course Syllabus

ARCH 5 6 7 0 Section . 0 0 4
SPRING 2010

Disclaimer: This on-line syllabus is provided for student convenience and is based on
the most recent information available. There is no guarantee that the information is
100% accurate. If you have special concerns about course information, you are advised
to contact the instructor.
1. Instructor: Edward M. Baum, FAIA
2. Office Location: Architecture 420
3. Office Hours: To be arranged
4. Phone: 214-417-7157 (m); 214-522-0533 (w)
5. Fax: 214-764-2402
6. Mailbox: 19108
7. Email: embarc@flash.net
8. Instructor WWW
Site:
emb-arc.com
9. Link to Additional
Course Info:

10. Course Prerequisites:
Graduate standing in the last four semesters of the M.Arch Program
11. Required Readings/Materials:
Required texts for students to own:

Rafael Moneo, Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight
Contemporary Architects, (MIT Press)
Frank Ching, Building Construction Illustrated, (Van Nostrand)

Strongly recommended for students to own . . . best comprehensive single volume on subject:

Deplazes + Soffker, Constructing Architecture: Materials, Processes, Structure (Birkhauser)

Strongly recommended for detailed reference on systems and materials:

The Swiss publisher Birkhauser has the most comprehensive, authoritative, and detailed
series of books on specific materials and systems available on construction. The Library has
most of the volumes.

Required readings to be provided in print and PDF format:

The Swiss publisher Birkhauser has the most comprehensive, authoritative, and detailed
series of books on specific materials and systems available on construction. The Library has
most of the volumes.

Required readings to be provided in print and PDF format:

Daniel Schodek, excerpts from Structures, (Prentice Hall)
Eduard Sekler, Structure, Construction, Tectonics
Edward M. Baum, Enclosure
Christian Schittich, Shell, Skin, Materials
Christian Schittich, The Building Skin as Heat and Power Generator
Werner Lang, Is It All Just a Faade? The Functional, Energetic, and Structural Aspects
of the Building Skin
PV Info UT-Arlington

12. Course Description:

Architecture arrives when our thoughts about it acquire the real condition that only materials
can provide. By accepting and bargaining with limitations and restrictions, with the act of
construction, architecture becomes what it really is.

Rafael Moneo, The Solitude of Building, 1984


This advanced studio course will explore the role of materiality and construction in making
architecture. It will help build a rich vocabulary of systems, materials, and applications from which
the designer may approach the tangible reality of the architectural act.

The term will consist of several analytic 'research' studies, and one main design assignment.

The first investigation examines a series of major architects active currently and in recent decades
with the point of understanding the values and concerns they use to make their buildings. The
investigating method centers on a remarkable book, Rafael Moneos Theoretical Anxiety and
Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects, which grew out of graduate
seminars at Harvard. In teams, the class will use Moneos observations to introduce themselves to
the eight architects and their thinking and how it shapes the content and character of their
production. By identifying ideas and their outcomes in others the student can better control his/her
own design process.

The second, and larger, part of the term will be devoted to designing a small commercial building
in a series of locations throughout the world. In order that there is time to develop the design in
depth a parti for the building is postulated as a starting point. In this case it is a project for
prototype regional offices for the Italian business machine maker Olivetti designed by Richard
Meier in the 1970s.

The hypothetical client, Apple Computer, wishes to take the basic size and functional distribution
from the Meier prototypes and adapt them individually for locations throughout the world. Each
student will select one location and develop an approach to that context, climate, and culture using
the given prototype organization as the basis for making a building. The design will be well-
resolved in terms of materials, assemblies, and energy as well as the usual issues of space
distribution, siting, and circulation. At issue is the nature of the responses to the building situation
and the quality of understanding, employing, and exploiting the materials and techniques at hand.
A period of documentation and investigation of the chosen materials and techniques will occur
within the design project itself.
resolved in terms of materials, assemblies, and energy as well as the usual issues of space
distribution, siting, and circulation. At issue is the nature of the responses to the building situation
and the quality of understanding, employing, and exploiting the materials and techniques at hand.
A period of documentation and investigation of the chosen materials and techniques will occur
within the design project itself.

Quality drawing and model-making, both conventional and digital, will be a large part of the course.
Students should enroll with the expectation of a great deal of work. Those not prepared to do this
work, for whatever reason, should not take this section.

13. Course Learning Goals/Objectives:

Understand the major approaches to architectural design since 1970 through study of the
work of the major figures of the period.
Understand architectural design development from program organization through
proposals for construction.
Be able to relate program to spatial, structural, and energy demands in a building.
Be able to develop a design proposal for a small building integrating the major
factors which shape architecture today.
Be able to communicate through professional quality diagrams, drawings, and models
-- conventional and/or digital -- a design study meeting the criteria above.

14. Attendance and Drop Policy:

Attendance is mandatory and part of the final grade, since studio presence and
participation is evaluated as part of the 50% Process portion of the course.


15. Tentative Lecture/Topic Schedule (course content):



Specific Course Requirements with descriptions

1. Quizzes (number and type):
None
2. Examinations (number and type):
None
3. Final Examination: None
4. Other Graded Assignments (Homework / Projects / Labs / Research
Papers):
A major project centering on an aspect of the material related to the course is
required, in the form of a presentation to the class. Projects include investigations of
major figures, buildings, projects, movements, books, etc. A list of recommended
projects is provided.



major figures, buildings, projects, movements, books, etc. A list of recommended
projects is provided.



5. Missed Exams, Quizzes and Makeup Work:
Missed studio classes and review presentations can be made up with serious
documented reason only.

6. Grading Format Weighting / Point Value of Assignments and Examinations:

50% process and progress in studio work; 50% quality of final project(s).

7. Other Information:










Final Review Week

A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long
sessions shall be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow
students sufficient time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall
be no scheduled activities such as required field trips or performances; and no
instructor shall assign any themes, research problems or exercises of similar scope that
have a completion date during or following this week unless specified in the class
syllabi. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not give any examinations
constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and laboratory
examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final examination
during Final Review Week.

Americans With Disabilities Act

The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit
and letter of federal equal opportunity legislation; reference Public Law 93112 -- The
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. With the passage of new federal legislation
entitled Americans With Disabilities Act - (ADA), pursuant to section 504 of The
Rehabilitation Act, there is renewed focus on providing this population with the same
opportunities enjoyed by all citizens.

As a faculty member, I am required by law to provide "reasonable accommodation"
to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability.
Student responsibility primarily rests with informing faculty at the beginning of the
semester and in providing authorized documentation through designated
administrative channels.
Academic Dishonesty

It is the philosophy of The University of Texas at Arlington that academic dishonesty is
a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form. All
persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with
University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion
from the University.

"Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part
to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give
unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts." (Regents Rules and
Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2, Subdivision 3.22)

Student Support Services Available

The University of Texas at Arlington supports a variety of student success programs to
help you connect with the University and achieve academic success. These programs
include learning assistance, developmental education, advising and mentoring,
admission and transition, and federally funded programs. Students requiring assistance
academically, personally, or socially should contact the Office of Student Success
Programs at 817-272-6107 for more information and appropriate referrals.

For assistance with your library needs in this course, please consult the appropriate
subject librarian.