Architecture

First Year:

Second Year:

Third Year:

During the third year, half the class is at Cornell in Rome each semester taking the core studio and ARCH 3301 . Students are assigned to the fall or spring semester in Rome through a lottery process. Those not in Rome are primarily in Ithaca taking the Ithaca-based design studio.

Fourth Year:

Fifth Year:

Total Academic Credits: 176

 * Elective courses may be switched between different semesters, as long as total distribution requirements are met (except that the First-Year Writing Seminar should be taken in the first year).

Required Departmental Non-Elective Courses:

Electives:

1.0 Sequence and Credit Hours

1.1 Students should make every effort to follow the semester-by-semester required curriculum outlined in this catalog in order to graduate with a B.Arch. degree in five years. Students are permitted to switch the position of elective courses within their program as long as the total credit hours within each semester remain unchanged. In addition, ARCH 5201  can be taken in the fourth or fifth year, and the RDE can be taken in the ARCH 4101 , ARCH 4102 , or ARCH 5101  semester. However, required non-elective courses must be taken in sequence during the semester indicated. To continue in the B.Arch. program, students deviating from the schedule of non-elective courses must have an adjusted curricular plan approved by petition. In particular, students who wish not to take a design course for any one semester, for any reason, must petition for permission to do so, including an adjusted curricular plan in their petition. In addition, students who wish to enroll in a required course during summer must petition for permission to do so.

1.2 Students may not take more than 20 credit hours per semester in Ithaca, New York City, or Rome.

1.3 During any summer session, students may not take more than 12 credit hours.

2.0 Independent Study Course

Students wishing to pursue an architecture department independent study course must complete a Request for Independent Study form, endorsed by a faculty member in the department, and submit it to the Department of Architecture office along with a course enrollment form in accordance with enrollment deadlines. In all cases, something to be reviewed must be produced. Credit will not be awarded for experience alone. Credit from independent study courses is applied as free departmental elective credit only.

3.0 Design Studio Courses

3.1 Advancing Grades in Studio

3.1.1 For all years, a minimum grade of C must be achieved for the student to advance in the design sequence. Design courses with university passing grades (D- or better), but below C, will be applied toward the free departmental elective requirement. 

3.1.2 Students receiving less than a C in any sequence design studio except thesis (ARCH 5902 ) must repeat that studio and obtain a grade of C or better before proceeding with their design sequence. B.Arch. students who do not earn an advancing grade in ARCH 1101  will be design-free in the spring semester and must re-enroll in ARCH 1101  in the following fall. ARCH 1101  will not be offered during the summer.

3.1.3 Students receiving less than C in design studio may petition to be allowed to continue in the design sequence. The petition must be supported by a written positive recommendation from the faculty member who granted the non-advancing grade and approved by the design faculty; only then will the student be unconditionally allowed to continue.

3.1.4 B.Arch. students receiving less than C for ARCH 5902  must register for ARCH 5104 , taking an advanced studio (i.e., sitting in ARCH 4101 , ARCH 4102 , ARCH 5101 ) to complete their design sequence. ARCH 5104  may not be taken in a non-Ithaca-based summer program. As ARCH 5104  has two fewer credit hours than ARCH 5902 , students required to take ARCH 5104  may graduate with 2 credit hours less than otherwise required for total design sequence credit and for total credit hours, if an F was earned in ARCH 5902  .

3.1.5 A student may repeat any given semester of design twice* (for a total of three semesters). If, at the end of the third attempt, the student does not achieve a grade of C or better, the student is automatically denied permission to enroll in design, the effect of which will be to drop the student from the professional degree program.

*Exceptions: ARCH 5902  may not be repeated and ARCH 5104  may only be repeated once.

3.1.6 Students may not repeat a semester of design by enrolling in a summer non-Ithaca-based design studio. Design courses taken in such circumstances will be credited only as free departmental elective credit and not for design sequence credit.

3.2 Studio Venues and Options

3.2.1 First- and second-year design (ARCH 1101 , ARCH 1102 , ARCH 2101 , and ARCH 2102 ) must be taken in Ithaca.

3.2.2 Summer Ithaca-based design studios are typically offered for all sequence design courses except ARCH 1101 , ARCH 1102 , ARCH 2102  and ARCH 5902 . Only one semester of first- or second-year design (generally ARCH 2101 ) may be taken during the summer. Enrollment in summer studio requires an approved petition with an academic plan.

3.2.3 Summer non-Ithaca-based programs, when available, are offered as advanced studios (ARCH 4101 , ARCH 4102 , ARCH 5101 ). No more than one such summer non-Ithaca-based design studio can count for design sequence credit. Any design credits earned at a subsequent summer non-Ithaca-based design studio will be applied to free departmental elective credit. Third-year students in good-standing and with an average design studio grade of at least 3.0 may petition to take a non-Ithaca-based summer studio, enrolling in ARCH 3109  and getting sequence credit for ARCH 4101  after successfully completing their third-year core design studio requirements. Students with a non-advancing grade in their prior studio cannot take an off-campus summer studio for sequence credit (only for free departmental elective credit). In addition, all student participants are expected to enroll in no less than 12 credit hours; approved petition is required to enroll in more than 12 credits, up to a maximum of 15 credits.  If enrolling in variable credit courses, 3 credit hours are recommended.

3.2.4 Rome: Third-year students spend one semester at Cornell in Rome; half of the class is in Rome each semester. Students are assigned to the fall or spring semester in Rome through a lottery process. Students with exceptional extenuating circumstances may petition during their second year to study in Ithaca instead of Rome. Such students, as well as students repeating the studio after having received a non-advancing grade in the studio in Rome, will be assigned to an Ithaca-based design studio. Students may spend no more than one semester in Rome. For more information, visit the Cornell in Rome website.

3.2.5 New York City: Students may apply to spend one fall semester during the fourth or fifth year at AAP NYC, taking one of their fourth- or fifth-year studios in New York City.  Application is made by November 1 in the academic year prior to participation.  Detailed information can be found at on the AAP NYC website.

3.2.6 Advanced design studios: Students must take at least one advanced design studio (ARCH 4101 , ARCH 4102 , ARCH 5101 ) during the academic year (fall or spring) on campus in Ithaca.

3.2.7 No more than three semesters of design may be taken away from Ithaca.

3.2.8 Design credits earned at any non-Cornell study abroad program will be applied as elective credit only.

3.3 Thesis Requirement

3.3.1 Thesis Prerequisites: The pre-requisites for ARCH 5902 - Design X Thesis  are ARCH 5101  and the Required Directed Elective (RDE). The RDE is a required, free elective course related to the student’s proposed thesis. This course can be in- or out-of-department, but it must be approved by the student’s faculty advisor in order to fulfill the RDE requirement. The RDE should be explicitly related to the student’s thesis interests and research. An RDE will bring depth to a particular area of interest for which a foundation has been established in previous coursework. As such, the RDE is a co-requisite for ARCH 4101 , ARCH 4102  or ARCH 5101  and a pre-requisite for ARCH 5902 . The RDE must be officially recorded through an approved Required Directed Elective form no later than the add deadline during the ARCH 5101  semester.

3.3.2 Thesis Submission: Each student shall have an advisory faculty committee appointed by the department chair with the recommendations of the student and faculty. Advisors from outside the Department of Architecture may be added, at the student’s discretion, to serve as non-grading advisors.

A thesis statement is to be developed independently by the student, and a draft will be submitted at the end of the student’s ninth (ARCH 5101) semester. The final thesis statement and program will be developed and finalized with the advice and input of the student’s thesis advisor/s during the first three weeks of the thesis semester. This intensive period of engagement with and development of the thesis proposal under the guidance of your thesis advisors should provide for a productive and focused engagement with the thesis topic.

Prior to the final thesis review, students must complete a Thesis Presentation form indicating the specific content of work to be presented. A draft of this form should be discussed with the student’s committee at least one week prior to the final submission.

Presentation content indicated on the form must be validated by a committee representative at a designated time before the final review, after which time the material to be presented at the final review can be neither added to nor altered in any way. Late work will not be considered for review. Forms are collected by the department chair or a representative designated by the chair. Students may be asked to store physical presentation objects (e.g., drawings, models, or photographs of objects impractical to store) as well as files for any digital content in a secure location designated by the department.

The thesis may be excluded from review altogether if the material submitted is substantially incomplete, in which case the project will receive a mandatory grade of F.

Thesis students may receive assistance in the production of their final review material from a maximum of two current non-thesis students in the B.Arch. or M.Arch. programs; no other assistance will be allowed. All work performed by these assistants must be given proper credit at the final review, as well as in the thesis publication.

3.3.3 Thesis Grading: While critical evaluation is the primary focus of a final thesis review, the actual grading of a thesis project shall be the responsibility of the student’s thesis committee. Additional examining faculty in attendance at the review will be asked to submit recommendations for grades; these recommendations may be used by the thesis committee in determining the final grade.

3.3.4 Thesis Book: As a part of the thesis requirement, each student must submit a hardbound thesis book including representations of the final project for deposit in the Fine Arts Library. The book shall include a title page that lists the student’s full name, the title of the thesis project, the degree (i.e., B.Arch.), and the expected date of graduation (i.e., May, August, or January; plus year). This book must be approved by a member of the thesis committee (or, in the absence of a committee member, by the chair) before the student’s final grade is submitted to the registrar. Approval is noted on the title page (signature of faculty member and date of receipt). Larger pages may be folded, and all pages must be numbered.

3.4 Studio Attendance

All students are provided with workspace and are expected to be present during regular class hours for instruction and criticism.

3.5 Studio Culture

The department’s Studio Culture Policy is available online at the AAP website.

4.0 History of Architecture Courses

Students with an average grade of B+ (3.3) or higher in ARCH 1801 , ARCH 1802 , and a 3000 level elective history course  may substitute a 6000 level history elective for the second required 3000 level elective history course , subject to permission of the instructor of the 6000 level course.

5.0 Introduction to Architecture Courses

Students who successfully complete the Cornell University Summer Introduction to Architecture Program and subsequently enroll in Cornell’s B.Arch. program will automatically receive departmental free elective credit for the courses they have taken. 

6.0 Advanced Placement Courses

Advanced placement credit may be applied only as free out-of-department elective credit and may not be applied toward any required out-of-department electives.

7.0 Out-of-Department Required Courses

7.1 Art courses must be studio art courses .

7.2 First-Year Writing Seminar (FWS): Guidelines for First-Year Writing Seminars are available online at www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute/fws/fws.htm.

7.3 Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (MQR): See the list of course classification codes that can be applied toward the  mathematics and quantitative reasoning  requirement.

7.4 Physical & Biological Sciences (PBS): This requirement can be satisfied with an approved physical or biological sciences class or an additional MQR course  .  See the list of course classification codes that can be applied toward the PBS requirement  .

7.5 Humanities: Humanities courses are those designated under the categories cultural analysis (CA), foreign language (FL), historical analysis (HA), knowledge, cognition, and moral reasoning (KCM), literature and the arts (LA), and social and behavioral analysis (SBA).  If a course has been classified as a humanities course, the code will be included in its course description.  See the AAP definition of the humanities categories .

Note:

• B.Arch. students can apply first and second-year core offerings in the Department of City and Regional Planning toward the humanities requirement (CRP 1100 , 1101 , 2000 , and 2010 ).
• B.Arch. students can apply additional art studio courses in the Department of Art toward the humanities requirement.
• B.Arch. students can apply art history courses in Rome (ART 3803 ) toward the humanities requirement.

8.0 Transfer Credit

8.1 Transfer students are responsible for completing that portion of the curriculum which has not been covered by equivalent work. B.Arch. applicants who have had no previous work in architectural design must complete the 10-semester design sequence. Students currently pursuing a degree in architecture at another institution should be aware that they may lose standing upon a transfer to the B.Arch. program at Cornell due to the rigor, specificity, and sequence of the curriculum. Placement in the design sequence is based on review of a representative portfolio and determined at the time of admission.

8.2 The AAP Registrar in the AAP Office of Admissions and Academic Services reviews all transfer credit to ensure that it meets the minimum college and university transfer credit criteria .  If so, transfer coursework will be automatically applied as free elective credit.  Students wishing to receive credit toward a specific degree requirement must have the coursework reviewed by the designated Cornell faculty member in the appropriate subject area. Consult with the AAP Registrar regarding this review process. Please note that First-Year Writing Seminars (FWS) and mathematics and quantitative reasoning coursework (MQR) have their own review and approval processes.  More information is available at the following links:

• FWS Transfer Credit: http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute/fws/credit.htm
• MQR Transfer Credit: http://www.math.cornell.edu/m/Courses/FSM/transcred

Questions about transfer credit should be directed to the AAP Office of Admissions and Academic Services.

8.3 Transfer students must complete a minimum of 90 credits and six semesters in residence, taking 45 of the 90 credits (including four semesters of design) in the Department of Architecture. Incoming transfer students should meet with the AAP Registrar during orientation to ensure a timely transfer of credit.

8.4 Current students wishing to complete transfer credit during summer or winter sessions or while on an approved leave from Cornell should consult with the AAP Registrar prior to enrolling in courses to ensure compliance with department and college transfer credit policies.  

9.0 Deviating from Rules or Curriculum

9.1 Students wishing to deviate from the prescribed curriculum, enroll in fewer than 12 or more than 20 credit hours, seek a substitution for a specific graduation requirement, or adjust course enrollment after the add/drop period must petition for permission. Petitions must be submitted prior to the act to the AAP Office of Admissions and Academic Services, 235 Sibley Dome. Petitions should be submitted only if there are clearly extraordinary circumstances that merit special consideration. Once submitted and acted upon, petitions can only be reversed by subsequent petition.

9.2. Appeals. A student has ten days from the time of the petitions decision to appeal the decision in writing. Appeals should be submitted directly to the Department of Architecture, 139 East Sibley Hall, for review and vote by the full tenure/tenure-track architecture faculty.  The faculty decision on the appeal is final. No further appeals will be considered.

Curriculum:

Rules Governing M.Arch. Courses and Curriculum