Architectural Studies (ARST)

This course introduces the multi-faceted field of contemporary preservation, examining fundamental principles and practices used today by historians, architectural conservators, designers, archaeologists, non-profit museum directors, and professional advocates, with attention given to issues of sustainability and adaptive reuse. Students learn through guest lectures, case studies, class discussion, field trips and "hands-on" projects.

This course introduces the multi-faceted field of contemporary preservation, examining fundamental principles and practices used today by historians, architectural conservators, designers, archaeologists, non-profit museum directors, and professional advocates, with attention given to issues of sustainability and adaptive reuse. Students learn through guest lectures, case studies, class discussion, field trips and "hands-on" projects.

Through site visits, demonstrations, laboratory exercises, guided research, and discussions, this course provides a comprehensive overview of historic building materials and the ongoing processes of material deterioration, contemporary approaches to treatment, and sustainability concepts of embodied energy and life cycle analysis as these pertain to building conservation. Topics include: investigative techniques for historic structures; diagnosing existing conditions, including non-destructive and laboratory testing methods; and designing appropriate interventions to remedy observed problems. Students will collect, present, critically review findings and formulate recommendations for conservation.

Buildings are silent witnesses to the past. Rediscovering the "stories" of a building's many lives relies upon piecing together archival, physical, and ethnographic evidence. This course affords in-depth study of the techniques, strategies, and resources employed to track down data, using written, graphic, and oral sources. Field trips to key archival repositories provide students with first-hand experience in collecting and interpreting documentary evidence to develop historical narratives.

In this course students decode a building's past by deciphering and recording the physical evidence of its evolution. Students learn the fundamentals of professional field techniques used to document and interpret historic structures and places, utilizing sketching and technical drawing via hand drafting and computer modeling. Through field work and labs, students survey, sketch, draft, and annotate comprehensive, technically proficient drawings that represent the salient aspects of historic structures and sites. Procedures and techniques for analyzing historic buildings to determine original appearance and the nature, extent, and chronology of physical change which has occurred over their history are introduced.

What makes the built environment in America unique? How has American design changed over the generations? What were architects, clients, and critics thinking? Where will American architecture go in the future? Using history, sociology, and the humanities, we will address these types of questions as we examine American architecture according to themes such as the iconic American home, public buildings, buildings for work and play, and American architectural practice.

Preservation of modern and mid-century modern buildings and sites is the next frontier within the profession as the significance of this architectural period is recognized and materials with which they were built reach the end of their serviceable lives. Working in track-based teams, students collaborate to determine historical significance and identify character-defining features of a building in the Philadelphia region, assess its condition, and prepare design solutions for adaptive reuse while preserving historic character.

Complementing the Building Conservation course this course provides a comprehensive overview of interior materials used in historic building interiors and the ongoing processes of their material deterioration, contemporary approaches to their treatment, and sustainability concepts of embodied energy and life cycle analysis as these pertain to building conservation. Through site visits, demonstrations, laboratory exercises, guided research, and discussions the course explores investigative techniques specific to historic interiors; diagnosis of existing conditions, including non-destructive and laboratory testing methods; and design of appropriate interventions to remedy observed problems. Students will collect, present, critically review findings and formulate recommendations for conservation and treatment of historic interior materials.

This elective course provides the groundwork for the study of architecture built without architects or in some other way, unlike the buildings that comprise the standard architectural canon. Scholars estimate that 95 percent of buildings fall into this category. Depending on faculty expertise, focus will be on national and regional traditions, non-Western traditions or a combination of the two. Examples of vernacular architecture will be examined in the context of their materials, building technology, climate and culture.

The greenest building is the one already built!ýWorking with a site and community-based client inýthe Philadelphia area, students engage in theýprocess of adaptive reuse of historic buildingsýand the philosophical motives behind reuse, including the tenets of sustainable design and urban regeneration. Through the interplay of history, historical significance, and the constraints of a program for reuse, students develop solutions for buildings to serve a new purpose while still relaying their unique character. Students research a structure, provide a written statement of the philosophical approach to reuse, develop a concept for adaptive reuse and create a final spatial solution.

The rich architecture of public water in urban and rural contexts is a key to the cultural landscape. From the gravity systems of a Roman city, through the rich world of medieval water, and concluding with water powered by outside energy, we will study Western, Arab and Asian water systems. Through architecture, the course will link the technology of water cycles, purity, collection and storage with the aesthetics and rituals of culture

This upper-level course is organized to take advantage of faculty members' expertise and the interests of the student body. All topics chosen require that students have completed basic courses in architectural history and theory, so that this course can focus on (1) an advanced analysis of theoretical texts in architecture, literary texts and buildings; and (2) an examination of architecture as a cultural discipline that seeks to accommodate contemporary human needs and natural situations.