CURRICULUM REORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
Problems with the existing curriculum:
Rigid, pre-determined course of studies
Lack of flexibility
Inability to respond effectively to wider social and professional changes
Four distinct and unrelated courses of study
No overlap or communication between disciplines
Absence of clear pedagogical goals overall, for each year, for each course
Absence of linear, logical connection between years
Lack of coordination between various courses in each year
Undue emphasis on representational skills at the expense of other necessary skills
Outmoded software proficiency approach
Insufficient number of courses focused on the analytical investigation of the digital media
Insufficient theory/history courses focused on the development of analytical/critical skills
Re-examination of the curriculum along 3 prerequisites skills:
Analytical/critical skills: Formal and conceptual
Communication skills: Analysis and representation
Design skills: Analytical, creative problem solving, exploration and innovation
Foundation courses followed by advance electives
Reduce the requirements, increase electives
Focus on conceptual and abstract elements and shared skills, i.e., drawing as a way of analyzing, thinking, and communicating, regardless of the field of inquiry
Approach the sequence of years as language learning
Learning form and composition
Learning to express ideas through form
Form and culture
Design as a social/critical tool
Integration of digital media into the curriculum
Not merely adding digital courses or software proficiency courses
Using the media as another tool along with traditional tools
Thinking through form regardless of the tool
Digital design major
Combining 2D and 3D skills in a new environment, i.e., combine the strengths of all departments, create a catalyst that brings all areas together.
The intent of the new Design curriculum is to offer students greater freedom in determining the focus and the direction of their education. The new curriculum offers students the choice to concentrate in one area of the curriculum and based on personal preferences, strengths and weaknesses, pursue a tailored interdisciplinary course of studies that would prepare them for professional careers or graduate study in either graphic design, illustration, architecture, interior, or furniture design. The trust of the new curriculum is to foster analytical, conceptual, and creative problem solving skills that are applicable in multiple design environments, including the digital environment.
The reorganization of the Design Curriculum is in response to two distinct changes in the profession and the practice of design.
In less than two decades, the digital media has radically transformed traditional modes of communication, offered us new modes of communication, and profoundly impacted the design disciplines within whose sphere of action lies the fashioning of cultural communication.
The generative and transformational powers of the new media allow designers to readily and radically transform the shape of reality with a level of ease that is altogether unprecedented. This has lessened the dependence of the various design disciplines on exclusive traditional rendering and representational skills and placed a greater emphasis on creative thought and innovative concepts that are not necessarily and always discipline specific. This is a fundamental shift in the balance of skills.
As a generative and transformational tool, the new media has, in effect, rendered traditional disciplinary boundaries less stringent. It has allowed designers to cross the bounds of pre-defined disciplines and pursue challenging and creative interdisciplinary careers. The lines between various 2D and 3D design disciplines respectively are far less distinct now than they have been for the better part of the past century. This process is hastened by an emerging and powerful trend toward multi-disciplinary design practices that rely on close communication and cooperation between designers who have distinct and different backgrounds. Multi-disciplinary design teams that work together on a project from inception through the various stages of development may well be the norm in the near future.
In addition to its generative and transformational powers, the digital media presents a new design environment, i.e., virtual or cyber space. The fashioning of this environment in its various guises, from the world wide web to virtual reality, requires design skills that exceed the bounds of individual design disciplines. It requires a combination of two dimensional and three dimensional design skills and thought processes that no traditional discipline can alone provide.
The current trends and transformations in the profession and the practice of design offer distinct challenges to a four year undergraduate BFA degree program whose mission is to prepare students for professional practice upon graduation. The rigors of a professional practice demands specialized knowledge and expertise in a chosen discipline. The current trends and transformations require a broad perspective and in the least the ability to practice effectively in a multi-disciplinary environment.
The challenge is fashioning a curriculum that allows students to develop expertise in a given discipline without losing sight of the broader connections and points of overlap between the various disciplines. It is a curriculum that will offer distinct undergraduate programs in a number of design disciplines, with sufficient opportunity in each program for cross-disciplinary dialogue. It is a curriculum that would stress both the distinct nature of each discipline as well as points of overlap and exchange between them. It would emphasize and foster analytical, conceptual, and creative problem solving design skills that are applicable across disciplinary lines, in multiple design environments, including the digital environment. These are, in sum, the goals and the challenges of the new design curriculum.
In keeping with the broader goal of exploring pedagogical commonalties and points of overlap, the new curriculum begins with a common foundation year for all design students irrespective of proposed major. There will be a broad distinction between two dimensional and three dimensional design in the second year. The core studio classes in each area will be shared, i.e., Graphic Design and Illustration students will share a common studio (Communication Design I&II) and Architecture, Interior, and Furniture Design students will share the same design studio. Students in the 3D design track will continue to share the same studio through third and fourth years, whereas Graphic Design and Illustration majors will have separate design studios.
The new curriculum is organized around a series of core required design studios and lecture classes. These are complimented by a host of design electives. The electives are, for the most part, open to all majors and provide an invaluable opportunity for cross-disciplinary studies and interaction. Given the unique interests of each student and their individual strengths and weakness, the electives offer students greater freedom in determining the focus and direction of their education.
The required core studio and lecture courses insure foundational and fundamental competencies in individual majors. They provide students the necessary combination of skills and required bodies of knowledge in preparation for professional practice. The electives provide advance studies in various areas of the curriculum in addition to opportunities for cross-disciplinary work.
The new curriculum is organized around areas of study as opposed to bodies of knowledge. The proposed areas of study are:
I. Design Studies
II. Analytical and Representational Studies
III. Historical and Cultural Studies
IV. Technological and Digital Studies
The distinction between the proposed areas of study is based on both methodology and content. Specific courses will fall into one or another area of study based on emphasis and specific method of investigation. This should help clarify the pedagogical mission of each course and prevent duplication and undue overlap. The proposed areas of study are not finite; nor are they autonomous. The same subject matter may be examined in two area courses using two different methodologies. The areas introduced are meant to ensure basic coverage and academic competence.
For each area of study, excluding design, there will be one or more required introductory courses followed by one to more area elective courses. The introductory courses will provide the students with an overview of each area of study and its modes of analysis and investigation. The electives will allow investigation of specific topics in each area.
Assuming design is a language, in the broader sense of the term, of form and space and individual designs are complex cultural Statements (promoting and sustaining specific values, beliefs, and ideals in space and time), the task of teaching design entails:
I. Teaching students the language of form and space and expanding their vocabulary overtime.
II. Teaching students how to:
a. Decipher, evaluate, and form ideas understood as a complex set of values, beliefs, and ideals (requiring analytical skills and an understanding of the link between form and ideology).
b. Express and communicate ideas in form and space (requiring formal and visual communication skills).
Analytical and Representational Studies
The objectives of analytical and representational studies courses are to teach students not only how to effectively re-present what is seen or envisioned (both mechanically and digitally), but to ensure students have a thorough understanding of drawing as:
I. A communication tool - as distinct from representation.
II. A design tool - as distinct from communication.
Both skills, particularly the latter, require understanding abstraction as an analytical process, a mode of thinking, and a mode of visualizing. They require developing an understanding of abstraction as a means to an end and learning how to think with and through abstraction as a primary component of the design process.
Historical and Cultural Studies
Courses in historical and cultural studies area focus on the history of design as a history of ideas, realized through form. They offer lessons in formal and spatial composition as they establish an inextricable link between specific historical examples and the broader social, political, economic, and ideational context of their production.
The objective of this area of studies is to make students keenly aware of the intricate and complex link between culture and design. This requires a deliberate focus on developing effective formal and conceptual analytical skills. The former enables students to decipher the formal and compositional intricacies of the object of study, while the latter enables them to decipher its conceptual and ideational underpinning.
Technological and Digital Studies
The overall objective of this area of studies is to introduce students to prevalent technologies in their chosen disciplines. A secondary objective is to make students aware of technology’s inextricable link to our cultural values, perceptions, goals, and ideals. The goal is to make students aware of technology not as technique per se, but as a cultural instrument. The question of technology in relation to the broader cultural context of inception and use is posed and discussed through a focused look at the cultural and historical context in which the various technologies are invented, perfected, and eventually supplanted.
The new curriculum offers five majors:
b. Graphic Design
c. Illustration
d. Architecture
e. Interior
f. Furniture
The addition of architecture to the present 4 majors offered by the department is part of a comprehensive reorganization of the 3D design curriculum. The intent is to create a unique and comprehensive course of studies in 3D or environmental design that introduces the students to all aspects and scales of the built environment. The architecture major will broaden the present scale and scope of investigation to include an all encompassing view of the built environment from the outside to the interior spaces and their relationship to furniture as independent and yet interactive objects in space.
Course offering in these three majors will be closely coordinated and intertwined. All three majors will share the same design studio and have the opportunity to observe and/or pursue design problems unique to each discipline. Students in each major will develop a close understanding and appreciation for the other two disciplines, and learn to interact and cooperate in preparation for future professional interaction and cooperation.
Proposed credits requirements for all Design majors
Credit Distribution Current Proposed
Credit Distribution Current Proposed
Credit Distribution Current Proposed
Design Studio 32 credits 43 credits
Credit Distribution Current Proposed
Credit Distribution Proposed
Differences Between The New And The Old Curriculums
Given a fundamental shift in the balance of skills and a greater demand and emphasis on innovative concepts and creative problem solving skills, the new curriculum places greater emphasis on the design studio. The required credits in the design studies area is increased for 3 majors. The studio pedagogy will place greater emphasis on the development of analytical and creative problem solving skills, and actively encourage exploration and innovation. There will be close coordination between the various studio classes and close integration with discipline specific required courses.
The history/theory offering is currently comprised of two general survey courses in the freshmen year, followed by two discipline specific survey courses. There is substantial overlap between the first survey and the discipline specific surveys. In the new curriculum, the freshman survey courses will provide a comprehensive overview and will be followed by a host of topical and/or period specific history courses. There will also be theory seminars for each discipline, introducing students to current thoughts and intellectual trends, as well as the intellectual heritage of the design disciplines.
In the new curriculum the various portfolio classes and business practice courses will be combined. Each discipline will have a course on professional practice that will introduce students to different aspects of professional practice in their chosen discipline and help them assemble a professional portfolio.
Given the elemental role typography plays in graphic design, the required credits in typography have been increased from 6 to 8. There will also be at least one advance typography class offered as elective. Digital design offerings will be increased. We will, in time, offer introductory and advance animation classes as well as introductory and advance multi-media design and web design classes. There will also be topical elective classes that cover various aspects and modalities of communication and graphic design.
There is greater emphasis on the design studio in the new Illustration curriculum. The number of required credits in illustration design has been increased from 28 to 32. The studio pedagogy will assume the crucial challenge of integrating the digital media with studio instruction. Illustration students will be required to take a total of 6 drawing classes (down from 8) and 3 painting classes (down from 4). They will have the option of taking more classes in these areas as electives. The painting classes will no longer be media specific. They will be sequentially organized around the advancement of painterly skills for Illustration majors.
Architecture, Interior and Furniture Design
The design studios for all 3D disciplines will be increased from 4 to 6 credits per studio, with the exception of Design Studio I which will become 5 credits. All 3D majors will share the same design studio. Architecture and Interior Design students will be required to take a 3 semester sequence of courses in materials, construction technology, and contract documents. The materials class will provide students an overview of different building materials and finishes. The construction technology class, will introduce students to various construction and material assembly techniques. The contract documents class will introduce students to various conventions and rules governing the production of contract documents. This class will be preceded by a course in Auto CAD and will be primarily focused on the production of contract documents on Auto CAD.
The furniture design majors will have a required 3 semester sequence of fabrication courses where they learn how to fabricate and build the various pieces of furniture they have designed in their preceding studio classes. Architecture and interior design students may choose to take these classes as electives.
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 102 Intro to Des/ 3D 4
DE 103 Intro to Drawing 2 DE 104 Intro to Life Draw 2
DE 105 Color Theory 2 DE 107 Drafting I 2
DE 110 CAD I:GD Illustrator 2 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
DE 121 Intro to Graph Des 2 HS English Composition 3
DE 171 Visual Art History 3 HS Science 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 17
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 202 CAD II: GD (Pagemaker) 2 DE 206 Drawing for Graphic Des II 2
DE 205 Drawing for Graphic Des I 2 DE 208 CAD III: GD (Photoshop) 2
DE 221 Graphic Design I 4 DE 222 Graphic Design II 4
DE 227 Lettering 2 DE 223 Graphic Media/ Photo 2
DE 273 History of Graphic Des I 3 DE 228 Typography I 2
AE Arts Elec 2 DE 244 Illustration for Graph Des 2
HS Lit 3 DE 274 History of Graphic Des II 3
Total 18 Total 17
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 321 Graphic Design III 4 DE 309 Internship: GD 2
DE 325 CAD IV: Graphic Des 2 DE 322 Graphic Design IV 4
DE 327 Typography II 2 DE 323 "Bus,Prac,Princ: GD" 2
HS HS Elec 3 DE 326 CAD V: Graphic Des 2
HS Lit 3 DE 328 Typography III 2
HS West Civ 3 HS West Civ 3
HS Soc Sci 3
Total 17 Total 18
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar 2 DE 420 Portfolio: GD 2
DE 423 Graphic Design V 4 DE 424 GD: Degree Project 4
DE 427 Books I 2 DE 486 Special Topics II 2
DE 485 Special Topics I 2 HS Theory/Crit 3
AE Arts Elec 2 AE Arts Elec 2
Total 12 Total 13
1st year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Design Fundamentals I 4 DE 102 Design Fundamentals II 4
DE 111 Intro to Digital Design I 2 DE 112 Intro to Digital Design II 2
DE 121 Drawing I 2 DE 122 Drawing II 2
DE 131 Intro to Design 2 DE 124 Color Theory 2
DE 141 Visual Art Hist 3 DE 142 Visual Art Hist 3
HS101 English Composition 3 HS 102 English Composition 3
Total 16 Total 16
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 201 Communication Design I 4 DE 202 Communication Design II 4
DE 221 Drawing III 2 DE 262 Typography I 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
DE 24x History/Theory Elect 3 DE 24x History/Theory Elect 3
HS 126 Western Civilization 3 HS 128 Western Civilization 3
Total 16 Total 16
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 301 Graphic Design I 4 DE 302 Graphic Design II 4
DE 361 Typography II 3 DE 362 Typography III 3
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 HS xxx Science 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Literature 3
HS xxx Social Science 3
Total 16 Total 15
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Graphic Design III 4 DE 402 Graphic Design IV 4
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 432 GD Professional Practice 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Theory/Crit 3 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx H&S Elective 3 HS xxx Literature 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 15
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 116 Intro to 3D Des/lllus 2
DE 103 Intro to Draw 2 DE 104 Intro to Life Drawing 2
DE 105 Color Theory 2 DE 107 Drafting I 2
DE 113 Illustrator for IL 2 DE 114 Photoshop for IL 2
DE 143 Painting I: Acrylic 2 DE 122 Intro to Illustration 2
DE171 Visual Art History 3 DE 144 Painting II: Water 2
HS English Composition 3 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 18
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 203 Life Drawing I 4 DE 204 Life Drawing II 4
DE 223 Graphic Media/ Photo 2 DE 227 Lettering (Fall course) 2
DE 241 Illustration I 3 DE 242 Illustration II 3
DE 243 Painting III: Oil 2 DE 246 Painting IV: Mixed 2
AE Arts Elective 2 HS Science 3
HS Western Civilization 3 HS Western Civilization 3
Total 16 Total 17
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 303 Drawing III 3 DE 304 Drawing IV 3
DE 341 Illustration III 4 DE 342 Illustration IV 4
DE 375 History of Illus. I 3 DE 344 Bus, Prac,Prin: Illus 2
HS H&S Elective 3 DE 376 History of Illus. II 3
HS Literature 3 DE Design Elective 2
HS Literature 3
Total 16 Total 17
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar 2 DE 404 Drawing VI 3
DE 403 Drawing V 3 DE 410 Portfolio: Illustration 2
DE 441 Illustration V 4 DE 442 Degree Project: Illus 4
HS Social Science 3 HS Theory 3
AE Arts Elective 2 AE Arts Elective 2
Total 14 Total 14
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Design Fundamentals I 4 DE 102 Design Fundamentals II 4
DE 111 Intro to Digital Design I 2 DE 112 Intro to Digital Design II 2
DE 121 Drawing I 2 DE 122 Drawing II 2
DE 131 Intro to Design 2 DE 124 Color Theory 2
DE 141 Visual Art Hist 3 DE 142 Visual Art Hist 3
HS101 English Composition 3 HS 102 English Composition 3
Total 16 Total 16
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 201 Communication Design I 4 DE 202 Communication Design II 4
DE 223 Illustration Drawing I 3 DE 224 Illustration Drawing II 3
DE 273 Painting I 2 DE 274 Painting II 2
DE 243 History/Theory Elective 3 DE 244 History/Theory Elective 3
HS 126 Western Civilization 3 HS 128 Western Civilization 3
Total 15 Total 15
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 303 Illustration Design I 4 DE 304 Illustration Design II 4
DE 323 Illustration Drawing III 3 DE 324 Illustration Drawing IV 3
DE 373 Painting III 2 DE 3xx Design Elective 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Social Science 3 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Literature 3
Total 16 Total 16
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 403 Illustration Design III 4 DE 404 Illustration Design IV 4
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 434 Professional Practice 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Literature 3 HS xxx Science 3
HS xxx Theory/Crit 3 HS xxx H&S Elective 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 16
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 102 Intro to Des/ 3D 4
DE 103 Intro to Draw 2 DE 108 Drafting (Int/Furn) 2
DE 105 Color Theory 2 DE 111 Intro to Interior Design 2
DE 106 AutoCAD I: Int/Furn 2 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
DE 107 Drafting 2 HS English Composition 3
DE 171 Visual Art History 3 HS Science 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 17
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 211 Interior Des Studio I 4 DE 132 "Mat,Tools,T: Wood" 2
DE 213 Drawing for Interior I 2 DE 212 Interior Design Studio II 4
DE 217 Mat & Sources I 2 DE 218 Mat & Sources II 2
DE 271 History of Arch & Int I 3 DE 219 AutoCAD II: Interior 2
HS Social Science 3 DE 220 Fabrics 2
HS Literature 3 DE 272 History of Arch & Int II 3
HS Literature 3
Total 17 Total 18
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 234 Upholstery for Int 2 DE 104 Into to Life Drawing 2
DE 307 Contract Doc. I 3 DE 302 Internship: Int Des 2
DE 311 Interior Design III 4 DE 308 Contract Doc. II 3
DE 313 Interior Illustration 2 DE 312 Interior Des IV 4
DE 314 Lighting 2 HS Western Civilization 3
DE 333 Cabinet Des I: Theory 2 AE Arts Elective 2
HS Western Civilization 3 AE Arts Elective 2
Total 18 Total 18
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar 2 DE 412 Interior Design VI 4
DE 411 Interior Design V 4 DE 414 CAD III: Adv AutoCad 2
DE 413 "Bus, Prac, & Princ: Int" 2 HS Theory/Criticism 3
DE Furniture Elective 2 HS H&S Elective 3
AE Arts Elective 2
Total 12 Total 12
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Design Fundamentals I 4 DE 102 Design Fundamentals II 4
DE 111 Intro to Digital Design I 2 DE 112 Intro to Digital Design II 2
DE 121 Drawing I 2 DE 122 Drawing II 2
DE 131 Intro to Design 2 DE 124 Color Theory 2
DE 141 Visual Art Hist 3 DE 142 Visual Art Hist 3
HS101 English Composition 3 HS 102 English Composition 3
Total 16 Total 16
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 205 Design Studio I 5 DE 206 Design Studio II 6
DE 221 Drawing III 2 DE 256 Materials & Sources 3
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 246 History/Theory Elective 3
DE 245 History/Theory Elective 3 HS xxx Western Civilization 3
HS xxx Western Civilization 3
Total 15 Total 15
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 305 Design Studio III 6 DE 306 Design Studio IV 6
DE 355 Construction Technology 3 DE 356 Construction Documents 3
DE 315 Auto CAD 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Social Science 3
HS xxx Science 3 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 16
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 405 Design Studio V 6 DE 406 Design Studio VI 6
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Theory/Criticism 3 DE 436 Professional Practice 2
HS xxx Literature 3 HS xxx H&S Elective 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Literature 3
Total 16 Total 16
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 102 Intro to Des/ 3D 4
DE 105 Color Theory 2 DE 108 Drafting (Int/Furn) 2
DE 106 AutoCAD I: Furn/Int. 2 DE 109 Drawing for Design 2
DE 107 Drafting 2 DE 112 Intro to Furn Des 2
DE 132 "Mat,Tool,T: Wood" 2 DE 115 Modelmaking 2
DE 171 Visual Art History 3 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
HS English Composition 3 HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 18
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 103 Intro to Drawing 2 DE 201 Int Des for Furn Des 4
DE 207 Furn Des: Alt Materials 2 DE 216 Seating Des: Hard Chair 4
DE 214 3D Illustration 2 DE 233 Upholstery Design 4
DE 219 AutoCAD II 2 DE 272 Hist of Arch & Interiors 3
DE 231 Table Design 4 HS Literature 3
DE 271 Hist of Arch & Interiors 3
HS Literature 3
Total 18 Total 18
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 104 Intro to Life Drawing 2 DE 301 Internship: Furniture 2
DE 333 Cabinet Design I: Theory 2 DE 331 Chair Des II: Soft Seat 4
DE Design Elective 2 DE 332 Furn Des: Hist Styles 2
AE Arts Elective 2 DE 334 Cabinet Des II: Applic 2
HS Science 3 AE Arts Elective 2
HS Western Civilization 3 HS Western Civilization 3
Total 14 Total 15
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar 2 DE 432 Furn Des: Mass Prod 2
DE 430 "Bus,Prac,Prin:Furn Des" 2 DE 434 Furn Des Degree Proj II 4
DE 431 Furn Des: Limited Prod 2 DE 435 Misc. Furniture Forms 2
DE 433 Furn Des Degree Proj I 4 HS Social Science 3
AE Arts Elective 2 HS Theory/Criticism 3
HS H&S Elective 3
Total 15 Total 14
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Design Fundamentals I 4 DE 102 Design Fundamentals II 4
DE 111 Intro to Digital Design I 2 DE 112 Intro to Digital Design II 2
DE 121 Drawing I 2 DE 122 Drawing II 2
DE 131 Intro to Design 2 DE 124 Color Theory 2
DE 141 Visual Art Hist 3 DE 142 Visual Art Hist 3
HS101 English Composition 3 HS 102 English Composition 3
Total 16 Total 16
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 205 Design Studio I 5 DE 206 Design Studio II 6
DE 221 Drawing III 2 DE 2xx Design Elective 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 246 History/Theory Elective 3
DE 245 History/Theory Elective 3 HS xxx Western Civilization 3
HS 126 Western Civilization 3 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 15 Total 16
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 305 Design Studio III 6 DE 306 Design Studio IV 6
DE 387 Fabrication I 3 DE 388 Fabrication II 3
HS xxx Social Science 3 DE 3xx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Science 3 HS xxx Literature 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 15 Total 16
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 405 Design Studio V 6 DE 406 Design Studio VI 6
DE 487 Fabrication III 3 DE 438 Professional Practice 2
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Theory/Crit 3 HS xxx Literature 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx H&S Elective 3
Total 16 Total 16
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Design Fundamentals I 4 DE 102 Design Fundamentals II 4
DE 111 Intro to Digital Design I 2 DE 112 Intro to Digital Design II 2
DE 121 Drawing I 2 DE 122 Drawing II 2
DE 131 Intro to Design 2 DE 124 Color Theory 2
DE 141 Visual Art Hist 3 DE 142 Visual Art Hist 3
HS101 English Composition 3 HS 102 English Composition 3
Total 16 Total 16
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 205 Design Studio I 5 DE 206 Design Studio II 6
DE 221 Drawing III 2 DE 256 Materials & Sources 3
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 2xx History/Theory Elective 3
DE 2xx History/Theory Elective 3 HS 128 Western Civilization 3
HS 126 Western Civilization 3
Total 15 Total 15
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 305 Design Studio III 6 DE 306 Design Studio IV 6
DE 356 Construction Technology 3 DE 357 Construction Documents 3
DE 315 Auto CAD 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Social Science 3
HS xxx Science 3 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 16
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 405 Design Studio V 6 DE 406 Design Studio VI 6
DE 4xx Design Elective 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
HS xxx Theory/Criticism 3 DE 436 Professional Practice 2
HS xxx Literature 3 HS xxx H&S Elective 3
AR 2xx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Literature 3
Total 16 Total 16
The majority of the courses listed below are required courses in the present curriculum. Those in Italic are a sampling of potential new courses. Not all elective courses will be offered every academic year. A primary advantage of an open curriculum is the option to introduce new courses and cover different areas in any given academic year. The elective course offerings in every academic year is likely to vary in deference to the specific needs and interests of the students on the one hand and the faculty’s specific areas of teaching and research interests on the other. Most electives are likely to be offered on a biannual bases.
Analytical/Representational studies Electives
course credits
DE 233 Painting I 2 Required for Illustration majors
DE 234 Painting II 2 Required for Illustration majors
DE 333 Painting III 2 Required for Illustration majors
DE 222 Drawing IV 2
DE 225 Interior Illustration 2
DE 214 3D Illustration 2
DE 225 Lettering 2
DE 223 Illustration Drawing I 3 Required for Illustration majors
DE 224 Illustration Drawing II 3 Required for Illustration majors
DE 323 Illustration Drawing III 3 Required for Illustration majors
DE 324 Illustration Drawing IV 3 Required for Illustration majors
DE 423 Illustration Drawing V 3
DE 425 Illustration Drawing VI 3
Historical/Cultural Studies Electives
course credits
DE 241 History of Graphic Design I 3
DE 242 History of Graphic Design II 3
DE 243 History of Illustration I 3
DE 244 History of Illustration II 3
DE 245 History of Architecture & Interiors I 3
DE 246 History of Architecture & Interiors II 3
DE 401 Design Seminar 2
DE xxx Theory seminar 2
DE xxx Cultural Studies seminar 2
course credits
DE 262 Typography I 2 Required of Graphic Design Students
DE 361 Typography II 3 Required of Graphic Design Students
DE 362 Typography III 3 Required of Graphic Design Students
DE 209 Graphic Media/ Photo 2
DE 307 Books II 2
DE 308 Books I 2
DE 330 Internship 2
DE xxx Sequential Art 2
Technological/ Digital Studies Electives
course credits
DE 325 Web Design I 2
DE 327 Web Design II 2
DE 326 Multi-Media Design I 2
DE 328 Multi-Media Design II 2
DE xxx Animation I 2
DE xxx Animation II 2
DE xxx Advance 3D Modeling 2
DE xxx Fabrication I 2 Required for Furniture Design Students
DE xxx Fabrication II 3 Required for Furniture Design Students
DE xxx Fabrication III 3 Required for Furniture Design Students
DE 256 Materials & Sources 3 Required for Architecture and Interior design Student
DE 356 Construction Technology 3 Required for Architecture and Interior design Student
DE 357 Construction Documents 3 Required for Architecture and Interior design Student
DE 314 Lighting Design 2
DE 207 Alternative Materials 2
DE 220 Fabric Design 2
course credits
DE 291 Special Topic 2-3
DE 292 Special Topic 2-3
DE 391 Special Topic 2-3
DE 392 Special Topic 2-3
DE 491 Special Topic 2-3
DE 492 Special Topic 2-3
The new curriculum will not effect the current seniors. Juniors will also not be effected by the proposed changes. For all sophomores the degree credit requirement of 130 will remain the same. The 4 credit reduction from the old to the new degree credit requirement takes place in the freshman year and consequently will not effect the sophomores.
The required classes in the old curriculum that are electives in the new curriculum will become electives for the present Graphic Design and Illustration sophomores beginning Fall 2001.
The present Interior Design and Furniture Design sophomores will be switched to the new curriculum beginning Fall 2001 (their junior year). The required freshmen and sophomore classes in the old curriculum that are electives in the new curriculum will become electives for those Interior and Furniture Design students that may not have already taken those classes.
The credit reduction to 126 will only effect those currently in the freshman year and those transferring next year to the Sophomore year. The present freshman class is already on the new curriculum track.
Effected courses are noted in Italic and their new curriculum equivalent in bold. Other courses are unchanged.
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 102 Intro to Des/ 3D 4
DE 103 Intro to Drawing DE 121 2 DE 104 Intro to Life Draw DE 122 2
DE 105 Color Theory DE 124 2 DE 107 Drafting I DE 112 2
DE 110 CAD I: Illustrator DE 111 2 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
DE 121 Intro Graph Des DE 131 2 HS English Composition 3
DE 171 Visual Art History 3 HS Science 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 17
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 202 CAD II: GD Elective 2 DE 206 Drawing Elective 2
DE 205 Drawing DE 221 2 DE 208 CAD III: Photo DE 111 2
DE 221 Graphic Design I 4 DE 222 Graphic Design II 4
DE 227 Lettering Elective 2 DE 223 Graphic Media Elective 2
DE 273 History of Graphic Des I 3 DE 228 Typography I 2
AE Arts Elective 2 DE 244 Illustration for GD Elective 2
HS Lit 3 DE 274 History of Graphic Des II 3
Total 18 Total 17
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 321 Graphic Design III 4 DE 309 Internship: GD Elective 2
DE 325 CAD IV: GD Elective 2 DE 322 Graphic Design IV 4
DE 327 Typography II 2 DE 323 Bus,Prac,Prin DE 432 2
HS HS Elective 3 DE 326 CAD V: GD Elective 2
HS Literature 3 DE 328 Typography III 2
HS Western Civilization 3 HS Western Civilization 3
HS Social Science 3
Total 17 Total 18
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar Elective 2 DE 420 Portfolio: GD Elective 2
DE 423 Graphic Design V 4 DE 424 GD: Degree Project 4
DE 427 Books I Elective 2 DE 486 Special Topics II Elective 2
DE 485 Special Topics I Elective 2 HS Theory/Criticism 3
AE Arts Elective 2 AE Arts Elective 2
Total 12 Total 13
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 116 Intro to 3D DE 102 2
DE 103 Intro to Drawing DE 121 2 DE 104 Intro to Life Draw DE 122 2
DE 105 Color Theory DE 124 2 DE 107 Drafting I DE 112 2
DE 113 Illustrator for IL DE 111 2 DE 114 PhotoShop DE 111 2
DE 143 Painting I: Acrylic DE 273 2 DE 122 Intro to Illustration DE 131 2
DE171 Visual Art History 3 DE 144 Painting II: Water DE 274 2
HS English Composition 3 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 18
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 203 Life Drawing I DE 223 4 DE 204 Life Drawing II DE 224 4
DE 223 Graphic Media Elective 2 DE 227 Lettering Elective 2
DE 241 Illustration I 3 DE 242 Illustration II 3
DE 243 Painting III: Oil DE 373 2 DE 246 Painting IV: Mixed Elective 2
AE Arts Elective 2 HS Science 3
HS Western Civilization 3 HS Western Civilization 3
Total 16 Total 17
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 303 Drawing III 3 DE 304 Drawing IV 3
DE 341 Illustration III 4 DE 342 Illustration IV 4
DE 375 History of Illus. I 3 DE 344 Bus, Prac,Prin Elective 2
HS H&S Elective 3 DE 376 History of Illus. II 3
HS Literature 3 DE Design Elective 2
HS Literature 3
Total 16 Total 17
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 401 Design Seminar Elective 2 DE 404 Drawing VI Elective 3
DE 403 Drawing V Elective 3 DE 410 Portfolio: Illust. DE434 2
DE 441 Illustration V 4 DE 442 Degree Project: Illus 4
HS Social Science 3 HS Theory 3
AE Arts Elective 2 AE Arts Elective 2
Total 14 Total 14
1st Year
Fall Spring
DE 101 Intro to Des/2D 4 DE 102 Intro to Des/ 3D 4
DE 103 Intro to Draw DE 121 2 DE 108 Drafting (Int/Furn) Elective 2
DE 105 Color Theory DE 124 2 DE 111 Intro to Inter Des. DE 131 2
DE 106 AutoCAD I DE 111 2 DE 172 Visual Art History 3
DE 107 Drafting DE 112 2 HS English Composition 3
DE 171 Visual Art History 3 HS Science 3
HS English Composition 3
Total 18 Total 17
2nd Year
Fall Spring
DE 211 Interior Des Studio I 4 DE 132 Mat,Tools,Tech Eliminated 2
DE 213 Drawing for Int. I Elective 2 DE 212 Interior Design Studio II 4
DE 217 Mat & Sources I DE 256 2 DE 218 Mat & Sources II DE 256 2
DE 271 History of Arch & Int I 3 DE 219 AutoCAD II DE 315 2
HS Social Science 3 DE 220 Fabrics Elective 2
HS Literature 3 DE 272 History of Arch & Int II 3
HS Literature 3
Total 17 Total 16
3rd year
Fall Spring
DE 305 Design Studio III 6 DE 306 Design Studio IV 6
DE 355 Construction Technology 3 DE 356 Construction Documents 3
DE 315 Auto CAD 2 DE xxx Design Elective 2
AR xxx Arts Elective 2 HS xxx Social Science 3
HS xxx Science 3 AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 16
4th year
Fall Spring
DE 405 Design Studio V 6 DE 406 Design Studio VI 6
DE xxx Design Elective 2 DE 436 Professional Practice 2
HS xxx Theory/Criticism 3 HS xxx H&S Elective 3
HS xxx Literature 3 HS xxx Literature 3
AR xxx Arts Elective 2
Total 16 Total 14
Digital Media in the New Curriculum
The digital revolution of the past decade and a half has radically altered the shape of time and space, as we knew it. Our perception of the world and much of our daily interaction with it have been fundamentally transformed in a relatively short span of time. Although the revolution has been digital in form, it has been essentially visual in nature. In the least, the new medium has contributed to the making of a hyper-visual culture whose modes of reception and interaction, whose visual and formal expectations, and aesthetic sensibilities far exceed the capabilities of the manual and mechanical media.
Since the privilege and the responsibility of giving visual form and expression to our culture’s beliefs and ideas, values and ideals, is vested in our designers, it is not surprising that the impact of the digital medium on the design profession has been, at the risk of understatement, profound. The digital medium has radically altered not only the mode of production, but more important, the modes of design exploration, conceptualization, and realization. This is primarily because the digital medium is as effective a design tool as it is a production tool.
The initial impetus behind the adoption of the digital medium by design professionals was economic and production oriented. What has endeared the medium is its immense potential as a design tool. Beyond mere familiarity, the ability to use the digital medium effectively as a design tool is now an indispensable skill for the next generation of designers.
Aside from altering the way we conceptualize and shape the world around us, the digital medium has literally offered a new world of opportunities to the design community. The next generation of designers will not be limited to the print world or the three-dimensional world subject to Newtonian laws. The digital environment or cyber space in all its manifestations, from the World Wide Web to virtual reality, is a new frontier that remains to be fully and effectively shaped by the next generation of designers. It has and will continue to offer exciting new possibilities and immense potential for growth. It has already increased demand for skilled designers many folds, and it is likely to demand the unique skills of a new generation of designers trained to address the specific requirements of this new environment.
The digital media has had as great, if not greater, impact on design education as it has had on the design profession. Design educators have had to respond quickly to the changing requirements of the culture at large and the profession in specific. They have had to grapple with how to best respond to current conditions and anticipate future developments. They have had to rethink their pedagogical strategies and devise new and more effective ways of training the next generation of designers. The question of how to effectively use the new medium, not only as a design and a production tool, but also as an educational tool, is of particular interest to the design department, as it strives to be not merely current with developments in various design fields, but actively engaging new ideas and explore new frontiers..
The initial and widely adopted policy in various design programs nation wide was the institution of computer laboratories, coupled with a curricular emphasis on developing software proficiency. Overtime this approach has proven itself highly ineffective. It is inadequate as a pedagogical strategy for the integration and effective use of the computer into the design curriculum. In effect, this policy has led to segregation of the digital medium from other spaces and other modes of representation and production within the curriculum.
At the core of every design education is the design studio. The studio is a unique learning environment where the knowledge and the analytical skills acquired in the classroom are brought to bear on the translation and transformation of conceptual ideas into concrete form. The pedagogy of the studio is focused on the development of creative solutions to specific design problems. The process entails persistent experimentation, simulation, and critical analysis in search of an appropriate formal solution. It requires the employment of a host of tools and a combination of technologies. The design studio is, in other words, a mixed-media environment. The exigencies of formal realization and reproduction demand and guide the mixed use of a variety of tools and technologies, of which the computer can be the most powerful and persuasive medium yet. However, the focus of the studio is never on any one medium. Rather, it is on arriving at a formal solution, for the realization of which no medium by itself is sufficient. Each medium has its unique limitations as well as contributions, and a mix of media is required to compensate for the limitations of individual media.
The pencil, the cardboard, and ultimately the computer—or else two- and three-dimensional drawings and models, whether manual, mechanical, or electronic—are not different media of choice for accomplishing the same task in the studio. Rather, they are complementary and supplementary means of finding an effective solution to the problem at hand. This is precisely why the computer lab policy is pedagogically counterproductive for design education. The studio pedagogy can only benefit from the computer’s immense potential if it is effectively integrated with other tools and technologies that mutually compensate for each other’s limitations in a mixed-media environment. The spatial and conceptual segregation of the computer can at best render it an ineffectual pedagogical tool for design, or worse, lead to the hegemony of the electronic media with all the entailed limitations and pedagogical shortcomings.
The solution to the problem is as obvious as it is elusive. To be effective, the computer must be integrated into the studio space and used in conjunction with other complementary tools and technologies. This entails universal access, on call, within the space of reproduction for all students. It is with this understanding and the unequivocal goal of educating highly competitive, well trained designers, who are ready to meet the challenges of a changing and demanding professional market place, that the incoming students are required to purchase a laptop computer.
New Environmental Design Pedagogy
Assuming architecture, inclusive of interior and furniture, is a language, in the broader sense of the term, and buildings, inclusive of furnishings, are complex cultural Statements (promoting and sustaining specific values, beliefs, and ideals in space and time), we may summarize the pedagogical goals of the sophomore year as teaching students
1. The language of architecture, its formal elements and their expressive potential
2. How to speak this language willfully and effectively.
To this end, one may proceed from the exploration of the expressive potential of the more abstract elements of architecture, e.g., solids and voids, planes and lines, to their more concrete expressions, e.g., columns, walls, stairs, windows, corners, etc., to their assemblages into paths and places, rooms and passages. In turn, one may also proceed from detail, to building, to site, to city over the extended time frame of the curriculum.
At the outset, it is important to analyze and understand the dual nature of each architectural element as both a function and an expression, i.e., in terms of what each does and what each says or is capable of expressing. Subsequently, it is important to distinguish and explore how architecture communicates both statically and dynamically, in space and in time, i.e., passive and active reception. One may start with passive communication (in place, looking at) and elements that readily lend themselves to this form of communication, i.e., elements that can make a statement without requiring time and movement (columns, walls, windows) and then introduce elements that reveal their message with time and movement as a requisite component of the expression, e.g., a staircase, a room, etc. In this latter context organizational principles such as axis, layers, etc., can be introduced and explored effectively. In this same vain, it is important to distinguish between experiencing architecture, which is accumulative, and viewing it, which is totalizing as a mode of reception.
While exploring the expressive potential of architectural elements, it is important for the students to realize that, on the one hand, what an element says and what it is are two separate issues, e.g., being solid is not the equivalent of expressing solidity and that the former is not an acceptable substitute for the latter. On the other hand it is also important for them to realize that the expressive potential of each element is conditioned by what it does, e.g., support, define, lead, connect, etc. (later the question of program will have to be explored in the same vain).
As a matter of strategy, addressing the above issues, one may formulate assignments that requires students to contradict in expression the overt function of the elements they are to analyze and design, e.g., design a column that appears to defy weight, design a stair that resists its destination, design an opaque window, design an infinite room, etc. On the one hand, this type of exercise forces to surface assumptions and presuppositions about the element, and on the other hand, it forces students to distinguish between what the element does and what it can say (they cannot depend on the element to make the statement for them, insofar as the expression is meant to contradict the function).
In learning how to express ideas through form, it is important to begin with architectural or formal concepts, e.g., finite, infinite; static, dynamic; transparent, opaque; etc., and having mastered them, move on to explore how non-architectural ideas can be translated and transformed into an architectural concept and communicated formally. Throughout this process it is important for the students to develop a clear understanding of reading (as distinguished from the metaphysical term meaning) being context dependent (present or assumed). This latter is, of course, a major theme that should lead to the realization that architectural expression is a question of relational composition at every scale, that no element, in itself, communicates anything. Also, architectural expressions are fundamentally experiential and evanescent and not concrete or verbal.
In the end, Students should have a clear understanding that to design means forming an idea in relation to the specifics of the problem at hand and then struggle to realize and express that idea in architectonic form through deliberate and successive assemblage or composition of parts. This implies the realization that function (as distinct from program) has no form, e.g., there are endless possibilities for transferring a given load from point a to b, the form of which is determined by one’s design agenda and expressive intent.
On another general note, students should come away with a clear understanding of the crucial interplay between analysis and design as two complementary processes. They should understand analysis as a process of moving from realization to abstraction (e.g., from form to principle, to intent) and design as a process of going from abstraction to realization (e.g., from intent to form).
Formally, students should be able to conceive and construe a willful and detailed architectural composition that incorporates structure, light, and material as expressive elements of an experiential composition.
Assuming students come to the Junior year with an understanding of the formal elements of architecture and their expressive potential, as well as the ability to speak this language willfully and effectively, the pedagogical goals of the Junior year may be defined as developing a thorough understanding of architecture as the spatial dimension of culture, and buildings as ideological constructs. This entails learning how to design in deference to specific ideologies or world views. The latter, of course, requires the ability to analyze and decipher the complex relationship between architectural form, function, and ideology.
Focusing on small scale buildings with varying degrees of contextual complexity, in this segment of the curriculum students should learn how culture appropriates architecture through program and aesthetics. They should develop an understanding of program as a cultural interpretation of function (e.g., sleeping is natural or instinctive, where and under what conditions we sleep is cultural) and aesthetics as a mode of cultural appropriation of form, in keeping with specific cultural agendas, presuppositions, or world views (e.g., Albertian mathematics, Corbusian pure geometric forms, Venturian mundane, historicism of grays and abstract geometries of whites, etc.). They should understand that design “ideas” are not merely random opinions, but analytical constructs reflecting specific cultural agendas. They embody and reflect cultural values, beliefs and ideals. Partis are cultural blue prints.
To develop an appreciation for architecture as the spatial dimension of culture (as distinct from its motivated perception as a cultural artifact), it is important to assign design problems that require the students to become aware and eventually learn to operate outside the confines of their own cultural or sub-cultural presuppositions and in the process develop an understanding and an appreciation for their own presuppositions, as such. It is important to ask students to design for the peculiarities of world views that are different (as a matter of degree) from their own.
By way of furthering the understanding of the operational link between analysis and design, as well as exploring the link between form(ation) and culture, students may be asked to begin with a text (in any of its numerous guises) that articulates a particular point of view, go through the exercise of deciphering that point of view, translating and transforming it into a series of formal ideas and experiential strategies, and proceed to realization. Each exercise should require analytical rigor and the expansion and adaptation of one’s formal vocabulary to the exigencies of the problem at hand. The key here is understanding the way world views are translated into rituals (courses of action and behavior) and how rituals demand specific settings and formal experiences.
Examples that readily come to mind are domestic or public settings that embody a particular point of view (The Little Prince) or a particular experience such as exile which forces questions of place and placement, of grounding and occupation, etc., both mental and formal.
Formally, the focus of the Junior year should be on developing greater appreciation for compositional hierarchies leading to detail, i.e., understanding the role of primary, secondary and tertiary elements of the composition and clarification of intent in each subsequent layer of the hierarchy, i.e., how what is intended in one layer is clarified by the secondary layer of articulation, and so on down the line. The focus should also be on developing greater appreciation for experiential progression and the significance of relationships. Culture, it is important for the students to realize, primarily communicates through architecture experientially and not merely statically (it is not the icons of the church so much as the congregational or processional experience of its space and form that convey its message, to say nothing here of its mediated relationship to the outside as the space of the profane or else the spacing of the outside as profane). Sacred is not an idea that is communicated as such, but an experience that is imparted.
Students should complete the year with a clear understanding of how design ideas are formed through the analysis of the program as a cultural recipe for action and perception and how to transform those ideas into formal strategies and specific architectural experiences.
The senior year should follow in much the same vain as the Junior year, focusing on small scale institutional buildings in various contexts. The senior year will differ primarily in assuming a critical stance as opposed to the affirmative stand of the Junior Year. The assignments should require students to engage programmatic issues or rather cultural presuppositions critically and explore the ways in which architecture can play a critical as well as an affirmative role within the broader cultural context.
Looking Ahead: Digital Architecture
At the dawn of the information age, faced as we are with the emergence of a new environment dedicated to the flow of information - as it were in cyberspace, through info-bahns, in the guise of virtual realities - it is not surprising that our thoughts and attention have been primarily focused on the unprecedented scale of access to information, unrivaled potential for its manipulation and transformation, as well as the social, political, and economic opportunities and repercussions of the new information age. The complete story of this change, to say nothing of its morale, is, of course, yet to be written as history.
In the meantime, what has virtually escaped notice is the changing nature of information as we have traditionally understood it. What has changed in the past few decades, as dramatically as the scale of our access to and the ability to manipulate information, is our modes of conception and reception of information. The digital medium is steadfastly transforming the way we convey and receive information and along with it the way we conceive and view the world.
The transformation is in no small measure owing to the unique nature of the medium. Unlike most traditional modes of communication, the digital medium is non-linear, multi-dimensional, and dynamic. It defies and transforms our linear conception of time and space and consequently the traditional modes of organization and reception of information predicated upon it. It offers us a new environment where the rules of composition, organization, and dissemination of information peculiar to other media are not readily applicable, and when applied the results are often unsatisfactory, if not measurably ineffective.
Different as the new digital medium is, as compared to most modes of communication, it does have much in common with one of the oldest. The new medium’s unique modes of reception and consumption are conspicuously similar to architecture’s. The mode of reception in both is neither linear, nor static, but fragmented and dynamic. Both are fundamentally multi-dimensional and dynamically sequential, requiring static observation and dynamic movement in combination. Both are fundamentally spatial and relational, depending as much on their individual elements as on dynamic links and connections between them to impart their message.
Architecture here is not merely a metaphor for the new medium, evoked as it often is from a conservative and reactionary vantage point to impose conceptual spatial boundaries around the new medium and domesticate it. The similarities are fundamental, though not literal or for that matter metaphoric. They reside in the abstract organizational, compositional, and communicational principles of both media. The digital environment is not “like” architecture. However, the conceptual and compositional skills acquired in one are readily and effectively transferable to the other. This is the premise of a digital architecture curriculum. The belief is that the required design skills in the digital environment are effectively the same as those provided by an architecture education, given the abstract similarities between the two media. What is required in turn is the opportunity to make the necessary translation and application.
Offered as a separate major, Digital Architecture will offer interested students the opportunity to apply acquired architectural design skills to design for the digital environment. The curriculum will be organized around the existing core of design studio courses and augmented with digital design electives.
The latter courses will explore in depth the peculiarities of the digital medium as a design environment and the points of overlap and potential transference and translation of design skills between the two design environments.