Pennsylvania State University 3 credits ARCH
Continuing examination of fundamentals and advanced building materials, systems and construction technologies associated with their architectural use. ARCH 504 Materials and Building Construction II (3) This first-year graduate seminar course will continue to present students with information on fundamental and advanced building materials and systems and on construction technologies associated with their architectural use. Students will also consider the advancements in architectural materials and technologies. It is the second part of a two-semester sequence preceded by ARCH 503. Recurrent course themes include 1) architecture as a product of culture (wisdom, abilities, aspirations), 2) architecture as a product of place (materials, tools, topography, climate), the relationship between architectural appearance presented and the mode of construction employed, 3) materials and making as an expression of an idea and 4) the relationship of a building whole to a detail. This course is motivated by these concerns: a firm belief that architects must know and engage the age they are living in, so as to design and represent it with extreme appropriateness. The course explicitly addresses engagement with society/culture and its appropriate representation by asking students to form opinions about the architectural potential of contemporary and emerging technologies. Their opinions are informed by the presentation of architectural materials and associated construction methods as they evolved - contextualized by human history and by their application in the built environment. In this class students are seeing the material and technological means of making architecture continuously altered by shifting human cultural desires and artistic/scientific/industrial developments. They are simultaneously receiving instruction in their application and use. Through assignments, students also work directly with materials at full scale and learn to represent construction systems through the conventions of drawing and modeling.
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