Undergraduate students will meet the following student performance criteria:

Conceptual Thinking and Process

  • Communicate conceptual thinking verbally and in writing
  • Articulate and extend conceptual thinking through diagrams
  • Develop a rigorous material logic for model-making to test ideas
  • Produce critical analyses of canonical precedent buildings recognizing the significance to the discipline of architecture.
  • Produce critical analyses of contemporary, historical, global precedents inclusive of buildings, theoretical texts, and related arts applicable to studio projects.
  • Develop a design identity which synthesizes critical thought, architectural intent, and urban design strategies

Fundamental Design & Drawing and Making

  • Develop methodologies to generate and evaluate an architectural order and formal language
  • Develop architectural proposals sensitive to the site context in scale and use
  • Produce architectural drawings with appropriate drawing conventions to convey spatial qualities and design intent
  • Demonstrate an understanding of materiality through making
  • Construct drawings and models with a high level of craft and attention to detail

Presentation Skills

  • Clearly explain and defend design projects in verbal presentations
  • Create presentation boards, slides, and/or printed materials which exhibit logical sequencing and a hierarchy of information
  • Develop effective representational strategies to convey information that build towards an argument
  • Determine appropriate media to describe the spatial qualities and human experience of the design proposal

Leadership and Community

  • Demonstrate a commitment to community building and social responsibility through programming and organization of an architectural project.
  • Demonstrate cultural literacy capable of designing for cultures with different values
  • Engage a collaborative process in the development of a design, with a range of design and engineering disciplines.
  • Demonstrate and articulate knowledge of professional practices and contractual conventions.

Integrated Design Project

  • Develop an innovative concept for the comprehensive design of a building
  • Complete a thorough user & programmatic analysis
  • Communicate analyses of the urban and environmental conditions of a site with clear graphic devices
  • Develop a research-driven strategy for integrating building systems into the design
  • Integrate sustainable strategies into the design
  • Communicate analyses of environmental performance systems of the design with clear graphic devices
  • Develop an energy-conscious strategy for the design of building envelope systems and material selection
  • Integrate structural systems into the design
  • Produce technical documentation describing the integration of architecture and building systems
  • Address accessibility and life safety requirements in the design

Academy of Art University Learning Outcomes?
Graduates of the Academy of Art University will demonstrate the ability to:

  • Produce a body of work suitable for seeking professional opportunities in their chosen field of art and design.
  • Solve creative problems within their field of art and design, including research and synthesis of technical, aesthetic, and conceptual knowledge.
  • Communicate their ideas professionally and connect with their intended audience using visual, oral, and written presentation skills relevant to their field.
  • Execute technical, aesthetic, and conceptual decisions based on an understanding of art and design principles.
  • Evaluate work in their field, including their own work, using professional terminology.
  • Recognize the influence of major cultural and aesthetic trends, both historical and contemporary, on art and design products.
  • Learn the professional skills and behaviors necessary to compete in the global marketplace for art and design.