Elective courses available:

ARCH4020/CIVIL4020 Bedford Sem: Advanced Building Structures (Civil)

This interdisciplinary seminar consists of students from both the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering department. Presentation of a variety of structural typologies bears direct relation to practical experience and the necessity for constructive interdisciplinary discourse. Specific structural typologies are examined through historic and contemporary project examples that are critically deconstructed and critically analyzed with respect to their basic engineering principles and architectural concepts. Students will be exposed to the collaborative methods inherent within the architect/engineer relationship. The course consists of lectures concerning each topic, case studies and presentations of relevant projects, an interdisciplinary design project and discussion of the projects and presentations with respect to interdisciplinary discourse. Content and delivery may vary by instructor.  Staff R 6- 8:50 pm. Cr. 3. Taught with CIVL4020. Prerequisite: Arch2230 Structures 1.

ARCH4750 Sustainable Building Design Metrics

A review of current and anticipated metrics associated with sustainable building design will be reviewed as well as construction practices in the building industry will be discussed.  We will review how sustainable design practices can mitigate the climate change in a positive way. An understanding of energy terminology is useful for this course. Lectures, discussions, field trips and assigned reading will be utilized to explore the subject matter.

ARCH4840.01 Architectural Acoustics 1

Providing an overview of the essentials for architectural acoustics design of performance and public spaces, including concert halls, theaters, museums, classrooms, sports arenas, courtrooms, and religious buildings.  The course may be used as a concentration in an architecture student’s professional electives, or the beginning of a master’s degree in acoustics. Covering basic principles of sound, room acoustics, sound absorption in rooms, sound isolation and privacy, acoustics of mechanical systems, and sound quality.  After Architecture Acoustics 1 & 2, students should be prepared for a basic entry-level position in either acoustics in architecture, or in acoustical consulting.  Todd Brooks  F 10–11:50, F 12–1:50 pm. Cr 4. (can be used towards a minor in Acoustics).

ARCH4960.01 PIP Planning Seminar

The Production Installment and Performance program has been a Rensselaer Tradition for many years. It is an opportunity to bring together students and faculty from architecture and the arts, and from other disciplines to collaborate with an guest artist in the making of a new work. This Seminar will engage the faculty and the invited artist in the initial discussions and planning stages of the PIP Studio that will happen in the Spring of 2016. The seminar will be both creative and organizational setting the groundwork for a productive studio and performance. The seminar and studio are not requirements for each other. Krueger. R 10-12. Cr. 2.

ARCH4961.01 Latin American Architecture

This seminar will explore current developments in Latin American architecture and urbanism within a research matrix connecting issues such as domestic and public space, hybridity, nature, informality, politics, and history. Canonical and recent projects, and main tendencies will be identify, analyzed and discussed in relation to their own architectural tradition as well to current global trends. Pre-requisites: ARCH-2140 (required), ARCH-4140 (recommended). Crembil, T 2-4 pm, Cr. 2

ARCH4967 Robotic Material Assemblies

This course is an advanced design seminar that explores the use of robotic gantry for direct material assembly. The primary objective is to understand all the different processes involved in the emerging 3D / 4D printing technologies, from modifying the material properties to writing motion control code that directs the assembly process. The main goal of the course will be to teach students how to control material deposition through a 3-axis robotic gantry, as well as to modify and tune all necessary robotic motion control to accommodate different material behavior. This course will require students to have prior knowledge of Rhino 3D and preferably Rhino Grasshopper. The course will be conducted based on 6 workshop sessions on scripting and writing G-Code. [CANCELLED]

ARCH6120.01 Design Explorations 2

ARCH6120.80 Design Explorations 2

ARCH6130.02 Design Explorations 3 (meets wARCH6810)

Taught w/6810

LGHT4230 Lighting Design

A design studio that explores the roles of light in architecture and its application by design. Students conceive, evaluate, and synthesize solutions that contribute to successful lighting and architectural design. Russ Leslie. TF 2–4:50 pm. Cr 4. (Recommended for 4th and 5th year architecture undergraduate students – also can be used towards a minor in Lighting).

LGHT4770 Lighting Tech and App

This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the components of advanced lighting systems and enables them to critically explore applications of those components. Through lectures, readings, assignments, and application projects, students acquire working knowledge of the relevant products and techniques for lighting application and develop solutions to lighting problems. Students will undertake practical applications of advanced lighting technologies and develop skills in the application of photometric data, use of manual and computer-based lighting calculations, and the development of lighting specifications. TF10–11:50 am. LRC Gurley Bldg.

LGHT4840 Human Factors in Lighting

An introduction to lighting and human factors, including classical literature and contemporary studies and development of skills needed to conduct and evaluate human factors research. Fall term annually. Mariana Figueiro. MR 10–11:50 am. Cr 4. (Recommended for 4th and 5th year architecture undergraduate students – also can be used towards a minor in Lighting).

LGHT6830 Physics of Light

A comprehensive overview of the physics of light and its applications for lighting. The course uses a variety of instructional methodologies, including lectures, laboratory sessions, hands-on experimentation, and individual student projects and presentations to cover various areas of lighting study. Topics include geometric optics, physical optics, lighting calculations and measures, spectroradiometry, measurement techniques for advanced light sources, radiometry, and photometry. Nadarajh Narendran. TF 10-11:50 am. Cr 4.

ART ACCCROSS CAMPUS COURSES:

ARCH4968.01 MESTIZO ROBOTICS [3 credits option]

A design-and-build workshop dedicated to the development of an artistic robotic installation based on a fragment of the Popol Vuh (the Mayan book of creation) that narrates a failed attempt by the gods to create humankind from mud. This is an artistic/academic project comprised of a community of robotic agents “made of mud” dispersed and developed by different research academic units throughout the Americas. A cluster of 3 or 4 robotic units will be developed and installed at Rensselaer. These “mestizo robots” should have two levels of interactivity: local (among themselves and their environment) and remote (with other distant robots of the community and external data). The characteristics (technology, materials, mechanics, etc) and ‘personality’ (autonomy, behavior, etc.) of the RPI robotic cluster is to be defined during a dedicated studio / seminar course. This studio is developed under the framework of ART_X@Rensselaer, an “art across the curriculum initiative” aimed to promote art, science and design interchanges among the institute’s diverse academic units. This 3-credit option is open to non-architecture students only, who will work together with students at the School of Architecture in a larger dedicated design studio. Taught with ARCH 4250 / 60. Gustavo Crembil and others TBD. MR 4-6. Prerequisites: 3^th and 4^th year non-arch students only. Credits: 3. Enrollment: 8 students max.

ARCH4969.01 MESTIZO ROBOTICS [2 credits option]

A seminar dedicated to revising and expanding the notion of ‘mestizo technology’ and its larger theoretical implications. ‘Mestizaje’, a Spanish word normally used to describe the process that blends races or languages, is also understood in contemporary cultural discourse as a phenomena with a non-harmonic resolution, “an heterogeneous juxtaposition aiming toward hybridity” (G. Yudice), interactions, interchanges, and re-appropriations. Under this lens, could a ‘mestizo technology’ be possible? This seminar will provide the theoretical ground for the development of the robotic installation based on a fragment of the Popol Vuh (the Mayan book of creation) that narrates a failed attempt by the gods to create humankind from mud. This is an artistic/academic project comprised of a community of robotic agents “made of mud” dispersed and developed by different research academic units throughout the Americas. A cluster of 3 or 4 robotic units will be developed and installed at Rensselaer. This seminar is developed under the framework of ART_X@Rensselaer, an “art across the curriculum initiative” aimed to promote art, science and design interchanges among the institute’s diverse academic units. This 2-credit option is open to non-architecture students only, who will work together with students at the School of Architecture in a larger dedicated design studio. Taught with ARCH 4250 / 60. Gustavo Crembil and others TBD.  Days: M 4-6. Prerequisites: 3^th and 4^th year non-arch students only. Credits: 2. Enrollment Max: 6 students max.