Architecture < Barnard College | Columbia University

Department website: architecture.barnard.edu
Office location: 500, The Diana Center
Phone: 212-854-8430
Email: architecture@barnard.edu

Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Architecture:
Professor Karen Fairbanks
kfairbanks@barnard.edu

Departmental Administrator:
Rachel Garcia-Grossman
rgarciag@barnard.edu

The Study of Architecture

Studying Architecture at Barnard College, Columbia College, and General Studies leads to a liberal arts degree – a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Architecture, and Barnard College is the administrative location for all undergraduate architecture studies at Columbia University and its partner institutions. A liberal arts education in architecture holds a unique position in academia and in relation to the discipline. If the goal of a professional education in architecture is to enable students to participate directly in the world as an architect – a liberal arts education asks that students consider the broader and myriad conditions in which architecture is conceived and practiced and, in turn, to understand how architecture inevitably alters those conditions. Students are asked to confront and interpret the complex social, cultural, political, and environmental processes that weave through architectural design and urbanism. The purpose of an undergraduate liberal arts degree in architecture is to educate students to think about the world through architecture.

The Architecture curriculum introduces design at a variety of scales, acknowledging that integrated design thinking is effective for problem-solving at any scale and in any discipline. Students will experiment with full-scale installations and devices and make small-scale models of the built environment from which they extract, interpret, and invent new possibilities of inhabitation and use. The curriculum intentionally balances the traditions of handcrafted representation with evolving digital technologies of architectural design and communication.

The Architecture major complements, and makes great use of its University setting. With access to superb libraries, research centers, graduate programs, and abundant intellectual resources, our students have the opportunity to follow their creative instincts to great depth and breadth – and they do. The major takes full advantage of New York City, utilizing it as a site for many design and research projects that explore the social, cultural, and environmental histories that have shaped the city. Architecture students study with peers from countries around the world in one of the most diverse cities in the world. A large majority of Architecture students expand their education by interning in Architecture or a related field during their undergraduate studies. Alumni of the Department are leaders in architecture and design fields around the world. The faculty teaching in the undergraduate program are dedicated teachers who are also at the forefront of practice and research and are similarly drawn to New York City as a nexus of global design thinking.

Students interested in obtaining a professional degree in Architecture continue on to graduate programs after their undergraduate degree, and students from the Barnard Columbia program have enjoyed enormous success in their admissions to the most competitive graduate programs in the country. Students who study Architecture as undergraduates have also pursued graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines including Urban Planning, Law, and Media and Communications.

Mission

The Architecture major establishes an intellectual context for students to interpret the relation of form, space, program, materials, and media to human life and thought. Through the Architecture curriculum, students participate in the ongoing shaping of knowledge about the built environment and learn to see architecture as one among many forms of cultural production. At the same time, the major stresses the necessity of learning disciplinary-specific tools, methods, terms and critiques. Thus, work in the studio, lecture or seminar asks that students treat architecture as a form of research and speculation which complement the liberal arts mission of expansive thinking.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students in the Architecture Majors who fully engage with the curriculum should be able to complete the following outcomes:

Apply integrated design thinking to specific problems in and beyond the discipline.
Visually communicate architectural concepts and research using discipline-specific techniques in multiple media.
Verbally present independent, group or assigned research, in multiple media formats.
Organize and concisely write in a variety of formats including reports, case studies, synthetic overviews, etc.
Understand and critically interpret major buildings and themes of Architectural history and theory.
Be intellectually prepared for graduate studies in architecture and related disciplines.

Programs of Study

There are a few distinctions between the opportunities for students at Barnard College, Columbia College, The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), and the School of General Studies to study architecture at an undergraduate level.

Barnard College students can major in Architecture (also referred to as the studio major), major in the History and Theory of Architecture, or minor in Architecture through our department.

Columbia College students can major or minor in Architecture through our department. Columbia students who wish to pursue the History and Theory of Architecture major can do so through Columbia's Department of Art History and Archaeology.

The School of General Studies students can major or minor in Architecture through our department. General Studies students who wish to pursue the History and Theory of Architecture major can do so through Columbia's Department of Art History and Archaeology.

The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) students may complete a minor in Architecture.

Student Advising

Advising Resources

Advising Appointments
Our department offers weekly advising appointments for students who are interested in our courses and potentially pursuing an architecture major or minor. If you have any questions or need help interpreting departmental requirements for the major or minor, please sign up for an appointment with one of our faculty advisors. Faculty advising appointments are offered throughout the fall and spring and are open to anyone who is interested in learning more about our department. During the summer break, current and prospective students are instead invited to submit their questions by email to architecture@barnard.edu.

Major and Minor Advising
After a student has officially declared their major in architecture, they will be assigned a permanent faculty advisor in our department who will meet with them once per semester to review their progress in the major. Although minors are not formally assigned to a faculty advisor, we welcome and encourage our minors to meet with our faculty advisors to address any questions.

Major and Minor Requirements Worksheets
Major and minor worksheets are intended to help students plan their coursework and the completion of their program of study. You can download major and minor worksheets here.

The Architecture Department Newsletter
Our department distributes a biweekly newsletter for architecture students. Students who are enrolled in one of our courses or who have declared the major in architecture are automatically subscribed to this newsletter. Those who are not in our courses and wish to subscribe to our newsletter can do so here.

Architecture Program Planning Meetings
Our department hosts two program planning meetings per year, one in October and another in April. At these meetings, students can learn about our course offerings, the course application process, and the major and minor requirements. Information about upcoming program planning meetings can be found on our website’s events calendar.

Guidance for First-Year Students

For first-year students who are interested in architecture and design, we offer the following course, which prioritizes first-year students:

ARCH UN1010 Design Futures: New York City

In addition to taking Design Futures: NYC, first-year students are encouraged to refer to our program planning lists and review any lecture courses that can count towards the architecture major and minor requirements. First-year students are discouraged from applying for admission to our introductory-level studios Architectural Design: Systems and Materials or Architectural Design: Environments and Mediations; these courses are more appropriate for second and third-year students, and those students will be given priority for admission to these studios. Similarly, our required lecture course for the major, ARCH UN3117 Modern Architecture in the World, can be taken at any time but is generally recommended for the sophomore year as a companion course to the first two studios.

Please note that first-year students interested in majoring in architecture should not enroll in ARCH UN1020 Introduction to Architectural Design & Visual Culture, as this course is intended for third and fourth-year students minoring in architecture or non-majors interested in an architecture studio. This course will not count toward the architecture major.

To learn more about our courses and department, first-year students are strongly encouraged to sign up for our faculty advising appointments .

Enrolling in Courses

Course Applications

Many architecture courses require an application. To receive full consideration for admission, you must fill out the course application in advance and also join the online course waitlist during an early registration period.

Please note that our department will only review applications and process admissions during specific weeks, with priority given to those who apply and join the waitlists during one of the early registration periods.

Admission to our courses is at the discretion of the department and instructor. If a student is admitted from the waitlist, their status on SSOL will change to "Approved." The transition from the waitlist to the class list will occur automatically overnight.

Due to very limited space in our courses, it is possible that a student who has applied and joined the waitlist during an early registration window will remain on the waitlist until the start of classes. Once the semester begins, students who remain on the waitlist for any of our courses must attend the first class session and speak with the instructor to inquire about available spots.

To learn more about our course application process, please visit our website.

Preparation for Graduate Study

Students who wish to pursue graduate study in architecture or related fields are strongly encouraged to sign up for our faculty advising appointments in their junior or senior year.

Coursework Taken Outside of Barnard (For Barnard Students Only)

Our department offers studio, lecture, seminar, and project-based courses that can be counted toward a major or minor in architecture. Courses taught by our department are often supplemented by courses from other departments, colleges, and schools at Columbia University, such as the Columbia Art History Department, the Barnard Art History Department, and the Barnard and Columbia Urban Studies Program. Some courses taught at The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) may also be approved to count toward the architecture major or minor each term. All courses taught outside our department are primarily taken to fulfill the major or minor's lecture, seminar, and workshop requirements.

Before each semester begins, our department reviews all upcoming undergraduate courses and publishes a list of classes that fulfill the requirements for the architecture major and minor. These lists, known as 'Program Planning Lists,' are typically released a semester in advance at our program planning meetings.

Once available, our Program Planning Lists are uploaded to this page on our website.

Additionally, our department reviews all upcoming graduate courses at the GSAPP that are open for cross-registration by undergraduate students and publishes a list detailing how those courses can fulfill the architecture major and minor requirements. This list, known as the B+C|A List of GSAPP Courses Approved for the Architecture Majors and Minor, undergoes updates each semester and is always published during the first week of classes.

Once available, our list of approved GSAPP courses is uploaded to this page on our website.

If you have any questions about using either of these lists, please schedule an appointment with one of our faculty advisors.

Advanced Placement Credit

Our department does not grant any course exemptions for AP or other exam scores.

Columbia College Courses

Select courses offered at Columbia College and other schools at Columbia University may be used for credit toward the major or minor. These courses have been approved by the Department Chair and are noted on our ‘Program Planning Lists’ each semester. Students may request consideration for courses not on this list through consultation with their major advisor and/or the Department Chair, particularly in fulfilling their ‘Specialization’ within the major.

Transfer Credit

When students wish to transfer credit to Barnard from other institutions, their coursework is first evaluated for college elective credit by the Registrar’s Office. If they are approved, departments can consider these courses for credit toward the major or minor.

The use of transfer courses toward the major requirements is determined on a case-by-case basis. Typically, no more than 3 transfer courses will be allowed to fulfill the major requirements, primarily in the ‘Specialization’ category within the major.

Students requesting a review of up to three courses for transfer credits should refer to our Request for Exemption from Architecture Major or Minor Requirements form.

Study Abroad Credit

Classes taken abroad through Columbia-led programs (i.e., those administered by Columbia’s Center for Global Engagement) are treated as Columbia courses, equivalent to those taken on the Morningside Heights campus.

Classes taken abroad through other institutions or programs are treated as transfer credit and are subject to the same policies as other transfer courses. Accordingly, there will be a limit on the number of study abroad courses taken at other institutions that can be counted toward the major or minor. Typically, no more than 3 transfer courses will be allowed to fulfill the major requirements

To receive credit toward the major or minor for a study abroad course (whether taken through a Columbia program or another institution/program), students must submit a Study Abroad Approval form through Slate and obtain the approval of the Department Chair. Students majoring in architecture must also meet with their major advisor to discuss how to apply any courses taken abroad to their major requirements.

Summer Credit

Summer courses at Barnard are equivalent to those taken during the academic year. Courses that have been approved for the fulfillment of departmental requirements will automatically count toward the major and minor.

Courses taken at other institutions (including Columbia) are considered transfer credit and are subject to the same policies governing other transfer courses. To receive major or minor credit for a summer course taken at another institution, students must submit a Summer Course form through Slate and have it approved by both the Registrar’s Office and the Department Chair.

Coursework Taken Outside of Columbia (For Columbia & General Studies Students Only)

Our department offers studio, lecture, seminar, and project-based courses that can be counted toward a major or minor in architecture. Courses taught by our department are often supplemented by courses from other departments, colleges, and schools at Columbia University, such as The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), the Columbia Art History Department, the Barnard Art History Department, and the Barnard and Columbia Urban Studies Program. Courses taught outside our department are primarily taken to fulfill the major's lecture, seminar, and workshop requirements.

Once available, our Program Planning Lists are uploaded to this page on our website. If you have any questions about using these lists, please schedule an appointment with one of our faculty advisors.

Additionally, our department reviews all graduate courses at the GSAPP that are open for cross-registration by undergraduate students and publishes a list detailing how those courses can fulfill the architecture major and minor requirements. This list, known as the B+C|A List of GSAPP Courses Approved for the Architecture Majors and Minor, undergoes updates each fall and spring and is always published during the first week of classes.

Once available, our list of approved GSAPP courses is uploaded to this page on our website.

If you have any questions about using either of these lists, please schedule an appointment with one of our faculty advisors.

Advanced Placement Credit

Our department does not grant any course exemptions for AP or other exam scores.

Barnard College Courses

Courses offered by our department, along with other select courses at Barnard College and other schools at Columbia University, may be used for credit toward the major or minor. These courses have been approved by the Department Chair and are noted on our ‘Program Planning Lists’ each semester. Students may request consideration for courses not on this list through consultation with their major advisor and/or the Department Chair, particularly in fulfilling their ‘Specialization’ within the major.

Transfer Credit

When students transfer to Columbia from other institutions, their coursework at their previous institution must first be considered by their school in order to be evaluated for degree credit (e.g., to confirm that the courses will count toward the 124 points of credit that every student is required to complete for the B.A. degree). Only after that degree credit is confirmed, departments may consider whether those courses can also be used to fulfill specific degree requirements toward a major or minor.

Students requesting a review of up to three courses for transfer credits should refer to our Request for Exemption from Architecture Major or Minor Requirements form.

Study Abroad Credit

Classes taken abroad through Columbia-led programs (i.e., those administered by Columbia’s Center for Undergraduate Global Engagement and taught by Columbia instructors) are treated as Columbia courses, equivalent to those taken on the Morningside Heights campus. If they are not explicitly listed by the department as fulfilling requirements in the major or minor, the student’s major advisor will need to confirm that they can be used toward requirements in the major or minor.

Classes taken abroad through other institutions and programs are treated as transfer credit to Columbia and are subject to the same policies as other transfer courses. Accordingly, the number of study abroad courses taken at other institutions that can be counted toward the major or minor will be limited. Typically, no more than 3 transfer courses will be allowed to fulfill the major requirements

Students majoring in architecture should meet with their major advisor, while those minoring in architecture should consult the DUS. These meetings are necessary to discuss the application of study abroad courses—whether through a Columbia program or another institution—to their program of study requirements and to obtain credit toward their major or minor.

Summer Courses

Summer courses in architecture at Barnard are equivalent to those taken during the academic year. Courses that have been approved for the fulfillment of departmental requirements will automatically count toward the major and minor.

Summer courses at Columbia are offered through the School of Professional Studies. Courses taken in a Summer Term may be used toward requirements for the major/minor only as articulated in department/institute/center guidelines or by permission of the Director(s) of Undergraduate Studies. More general policies about Summer coursework can be found in the Academic Regulations section of this Bulletin.

Students must meet with their major advisor or the DUS for permission to receive major or minor credit for a summer course taken at Columbia.

Core Curriculum Connections

Students may be interested in course offerings that can be taken to fulfill the architecture major and the Global Core requirement of the Core Curriculum. The list of approved courses for the Global Core requirement is on this page of the Bulletin.

Research Methods in Architecture and the Senior Capstone Project

Coursework in Research Methods

The following lecture and seminar courses are required for the architecture major and will introduce students to the major questions and research methods in architecture.

ARCH UN3117 Modern Architecture in the World
ARCH UN3901 Senior Seminar

Other Research Opportunities

Independent Study provides an opportunity for students to work one-on-one with an architecture faculty member on directed research or projects. Typically, Independent Study is reserved for students at an advanced level within their major who have demonstrated initiative and serious engagement with the material in their previous coursework. To learn more about the application process, please visit our website.

The Senior Capstone Project

In their senior year, architecture majors are required to take ARCH UN3901 Senior Seminar. The major also requires that seniors submit a design portfolio and a writing sample before graduation. The portfolio includes representative work from all design studios and the writing sample is a research paper or essay from a senior-level architecture seminar or architecture-related course. Final submissions are archived in the department, design portfolios are displayed at the end-of-the-year show, and both the portfolio and the writing sample are evaluated and used to award graduation honors.

Departmental Honors and Prizes

Departmental Honors

Each spring, our department nominates graduating architecture majors for departmental honors in recognition of academic excellence within the architecture major.

The senior graduation materials, which include a portfolio and research paper from an architecture course, are evaluated and used to award honors, prizes, and awards.

For Columbia College students, graduating seniors must have a grade point average of at least 3.6 in classes for the major to be eligible for departmental honors. For Barnard College and The School of General Studies students, there is no minimum GPA to be eligible for departmental honors.

Academic Awards and Prizes

Several awards and prizes are sponsored by Barnard College, Columbia College, and the School of General Studies that graduating architecture majors may be nominated for. Students do not apply for these awards; recipients are selected by the departmental faculty and committees. The senior graduation materials, which include a portfolio and research paper from an architecture course, are evaluated and used to award these prizes.

Barnard College Scholarships, Fellowships, and Prizes (BC Students Only):
The Alpha Zeta Club Graduate Scholarship
The Josephine Paddock Fellowship
The Ethel Stone LeFrak Prize

See here for a complete list of Barnard College Scholarships, Fellowships, and Prizes.

Columbia College and School of General Studies Prizes (CC and GS Students Only):
The Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts

See here for a complete list of Columbia College Scholarships, Fellowships, and Prizes.

Architecture Department Awards (All Architecture Students):
Graduating architecture majors are also eligible for the following departmental awards:

The Marcia Meade Design Award
The Portfolio Design Award

Other Important Information

Double Counting Courses

We strongly encourage students to book an appointment with their major advisor to discuss the applicable rules around "double counting" courses towards two majors or two categories of requirements (e.g., the architecture major and the Foundations Requirements (Barnard) or The Core (Columbia)).

Below, we have also linked the specific web pages that address double-counting at each school:

The Columbia College Bulletin: A cademic Requirements —> The Departmental Concentration or Major —> Policy on Double-Counting Courses toward Requirements

The Barnard College Bulletin: Curriculum --> Requirements for the Liberal Arts Degree -->Foundations

The School of General Studies Bulletin: The Core —> General Guidelines

Full-Time Faculty

Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Architecture:
Karen Fairbanks (Claire Tow Professor of Professional Practice in Architecture)

Assistant Professors:
Ignacio G. Galán
Ralph Ghoche
Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi
Nick Smith (Assistant Professor in Architecture and Assistant Professor in Urban Studies)

Professors of Professional Practice in Architecture: 
Kadambari Baxi

Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct Professors:
Joeb Moore
Madeline Schwartzman
Suzanne Stephens

Adjunct Assistant Professors:
Mark Bearak
Amina Blacksher
Eliana Dotan
Lindsay Harkema
Andrea Johnson
Annie Kountz
Clara Kraft
Leah Meisterlin
Nick Roseboro
Todd Rouhe
Michael Schissel
Fred Tang
Irina Verona

Our Undergraduate Programs of Study

THE MAJOR IN ARCHITECTURE
THE MAJOR IN THE HISTORY AND THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE
THE MINOR IN ARCHITECTURE

The Major in Architecture

The major in architecture is open to Barnard College students, Columbia College students, and General Studies students. The required classes are broken down into four categories: studio; lectures, seminars, and workshops; senior courses; and the specialization.

Course List
Code	Title	Points
Studio Courses
Four studio courses, to be taken one per semester (studio courses have limited enrollment and priority is given to Architecture majors):
ARCH UN2101	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS
ARCH UN2103	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ENVIRONMENTS AND MEDIATIONS
ARCH UN3201	ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN I
ARCH UN3202	ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN II
Lecture, Seminar, and Workshop Courses ^*
Five courses following the distribution requirement below:
ARCH UN3117	MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD
Architectural Elective: History
Architectural Elective: Society, Environment, and the Global
Architectural Elective: Design, Media, and Technology
Architectural Elective
Senior Courses ^*
ARCH UN3901	SENIOR SEMINAR
Elective Architecture seminar (another Senior Seminar in the Department, Advanced Architectural Research and Design, or Independent Research)
Specialization Courses
All majors are asked to complement their work with a thematic unit (three courses) called the "specialization." Each student develops a specific specialization that broadens their architectural studies in one of the following areas or combination of areas: History, Society, Environment, Global, Design, Media, and Technology. Courses may be taken from across various departments. All majors, in consultation with their advisers, will develop a short (100 word) description of their specialization and advisers will approve their course selections. Students can request and develop other areas of specialization with adviser approval.
Graduation Requirements
The major also requires that students submit a portfolio and a writing sample before graduation. The design portfolio includes representative work from all design studios and the writing sample is a paper or essay from a senior level architecture or architecture-related course. Final submissions are archived in the department, the portfolios are displayed at the end of the year show, and both are used to award graduation honors.

*

The Major in the History and Theory of Architecture

The History and Theory of Architecture major emphasizes research and writing in Architectural History. This program of study is only open to Barnard College students; Columbia College and General Studies students who are interested in majoring in architectural history should contact the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. The History and Theory of Architecture major requires a total of 14 courses, distributed as follows:

Course List
Code	Title	Points
Studio Courses
1-2 studio courses, to be taken one per semester:
ARCH UN1020	INTRO-ARCH DESIGN/VIS CULTURE
ARCH UN2101	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS
ARCH UN2103	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ENVIRONMENTS AND MEDIATIONS
Lecture, Seminar, and Workshop Courses*
7-8 lecture, seminar, and workshop courses:
ARCH UN3117	MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD
Architectural Elective: History
Architectural Elective: Society, Environment, and the Global
Architectural Elective: Design, Media, and Technology
3 to 4 Architectural Electives - any lecture, seminar, or workshop offered by the Architecture Department or an approved course from a related department
*Note: Studios, Lectures, Seminars, and Workshops must total to 9 courses
Specialization
3 courses for the specialization:
Each student develops a specialization that broadens the reach of their architectural studies and supports their thesis. All majors, in consultation with their advisers, will develop a short (100 word) description of their specialization and advisers will approve their course selections.
Senior Courses*
2 courses for the senior course requirement:
ARCH UN3901	SENIOR SEMINAR
ARCH UN3998	INDEPENDENT STUDY
All senior History and Theory of Architecture majors are required to enroll in one semester of Senior Seminar and to write a thesis which can be done through enrolling in Independent Study (ARCH UN3997 or ARCH UN3998). Please consult with your major adviser for planning your thesis.

The Minor in Architecture

The minor in architecture is open to Barnard College students, Columbia College students, General Studies students, and SEAS students at Columbia University. The minor in architecture requires a total of five courses, distributed as follows:

Course List
Code	Title	Points
Studio Courses
1-3 of the following courses:
ARCH UN1020	INTRO-ARCH DESIGN/VIS CULTURE
Three history/theory courses
ARCH UN2101	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS
ARCH UN2103	ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ENVIRONMENTS AND MEDIATIONS
Lecture, Seminar, and Workshop Courses*
ARCH UN3117 is required along with 1-3 Architectural Electives - any lecture, seminar, or workshop offered by the Architecture Department or an approved course from a related department.
ARCH UN3117	MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD

Academic Year 2024-2025 Courses

Most architecture courses have a restriction on online enrollment (meaning that you will automatically appear on the wait list when you try to register online) and require an application in order to be admitted. Links to our applications are available on our website. For a complete list of courses across the university that have been approved to fulfill various architecture major and minor requirements, please refer to our program planning list. For any questions, please sign up for a faculty advising appointment.

Fall 2024 Courses

ARCH UN1010 DESIGN FUTURES: NEW YORK CITY. 3.00 points.

How does design operate in our lives? What is our design culture? In this course, we explore the many scales of design in contemporary culture -- from graphic design to architecture to urban design to global, interactive, and digital design. The format of this course moves between lectures, discussions, collaborative design work and field trips in order to engage in the topic through texts and experiences

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN1010
ARCH 1010	001/00557	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 501 Diana Center	Hua Tang	3.00	19/20
ARCH 1010	002/00558	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 502 Diana Center	Annie Kountz	3.00	16/20
ARCH 1010	003/00559	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 111 Milstein Center	Clara Kraft Isono	3.00	16/20
Spring 2025: ARCH UN1010
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 1010	001/00818	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 501 Diana Center	Richard Rouhe	3.00	0/20
ARCH 1010	002/00819	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 502 Diana Center		3.00	0/20
ARCH 1010	003/00820	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 504 Diana Center	Andrea Johnson	3.00	0/20

ARCH UN1020 INTRO-ARCH DESIGN/VIS CULTURE. 3.00 points.

Introductory design studio to introduce students to architectural design through readings and studio design projects. Intended to develop analytic skills to critique existing media and spaces. Process of analysis used as a generative tool for the students own design work. Must apply for placement in course. Priority to upperclass students. Class capped at 16

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN1020
ARCH 1020	001/00560	M W 1:10pm - 3:00pm 116 Lewisohn Hall	Richard Rouhe	3.00	8/14
ARCH 1020	002/00799	T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm 116 Lewisohn Hall	Nicholas Chapman	3.00	9/14
Spring 2025: ARCH UN1020
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 1020	001/00821	M W 1:10pm - 3:00pm Room TBA	Madeline Schwartzman	3.00	0/14
ARCH 1020	002/00822	T Th 9:00am - 10:50am Room TBA		3.00	0/14

ARCH UN2101 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS. 4.50 points.

This architectural design studio explores material assemblies, techniques of fabrication, and systems of organization. These explorations will be understood as catalysts for architectural analysis and design experimentation. Both designed objects and the very act of making are always embedded within a culture, as they reflect changing material preferences, diverse approaches to durability and obsolescence, varied understandings of comfort, different concerns with economy and ecology. They depend on multiple resources and mobilize varied technological innovations. Consequently, we will consider that making always involves making a society, for it constitutes a response to its values and a position regarding its technical and material resources. Within this understanding, this studio will consider different cultures of making through a number of exercises rehearse design operations at different scales—from objects to infrastructures

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN2101
ARCH 2101	001/00561	T Th 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center		4.50	16/16
ARCH 2101	002/00562	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center	Richard Rouhe	4.50	16/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN2101
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 2101	001/00823	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center	Michael Schissel	4.50	0/16

ARCH UN2103 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ENVIRONMENTS AND MEDIATIONS. 4.50 points.

This architectural design studio course explores modes of visualization, technologies of mediation and environmental transformations. These explorations will be used as catalysts for architectural analysis and design experimentation. Introducing design methodologies that allow us to see and to shape environmental interactions in new ways, the studio will focus on how architecture may operate as a mediator – an intermediary that negotiates, alters or redirects multiple forces in our world: physical, cultural, social, technological, political etc. The semester will progress through three projects that examine unique atmospheric, spatial and urban conditions with the aid of multimedia visual techniques; and that employ design to develop creative interventions at the scales of an interface, space and city

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN2103
ARCH 2103	001/00563	M W 10:00am - 12:50pm 404 Diana Center	Madeline Schwartzman	4.50	15/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN2103
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 2103	001/00824	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center		4.50	0/16
ARCH 2103	002/00831	T Th 9:00am - 11:50am Room TBA	Lindsay Harkema	4.50	0/16

ARCH UN2530 Life Beyond Emergency: Domesticities of Displacement, Inhabitations of Migration. 3.00 points.

Life Beyond Emergency examines constructed environments and spatial practices in contexts of displacement, within the connected histories of colonialism and humanitarianism in the postcolonial world. People migrating under duress, seeking refuge, practicing mutual aid, and sheltering in governmental or nongovernmental settings invest architecture with a critical heritage value and imaginaries of life beyond emergency. The course considers a politics and poetics of an architecture of partitions, borders, and camps: territories and domesticities of concern to authorities and inhabited by ordinary people forging solidarities and futures. We will investigate the connected histories and theories of humanitarianism and colonialism, which have not only shaped lives as people inhabit spaces of emergency, but produced rationales for the construction of landscapes and domesticities of refuge, enacted spatial violence and territorial contestations, and structured architectural knowledge. The course examines iconic forms such as refugee camps in relation to histories of colonial institutions such as archives and prisons. From Somalia to Palestine to Bangladesh and beyond, our inquiry into contested ‘borderlands’ where the greatest number of people have been forced to migrate as ‘refugees’ invites students to interrogate normalized discourses and spaces in order to imagine and analyze emergency environments as constructions that people have resisted, endured, and transcended

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN2530
ARCH 2530	001/00063	M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm 504 Diana Center	Anooradha Siddiqi	3.00	40/60

ARCH UN3120 CITY,LANDSCAPE, ＆ ECOLOGY. 3.00 points.

City, Landscape, Ecology is a thematically driven course that centers on issues and polemics related to landscape, land settlement and ecology over the past two centuries. The course interrogates our changing attitudes to nature from the 18th century to the present, focusing on the artistic and architectural responses to these perceptions. It aims to demonstrate the important role that artists and architects have played, and are to play, in making visible the sources of environmental degradation and in the development of new means of mitigating anthropogenic ecological change. City, Landscape, Ecology is divided into three parts. Part I explores important episodes in the history of landscape: picturesque garden theory, notions of “wilderness” as epitomized in national and state parks in the United States, Modern and Postmodern garden practices, and the prevalence of landscape in the work of artists from the 1960s to the present. The purpose here is to better understand the role that territorial organization plays in the construction of social practices, human subjectivities, and technologies of power. We then turn to ecology and related issues of climate, urbanization and sustainability in Part II. Here we will look at the rise of ecological thinking in the 1960s; approaches to the environment that were based on the systems-thinking approach of the era. In the session “Capitalism, Race and Population Growth” we examine the history of the “crisis” of scarcity from Thomas Robert Malthus, to Paul R. Ehrlich (The Population Bomb, 1968) to today and look at questions of environmental racism, violence and equity. The course concludes with Part III (Hybrid Natures). At this important juncture in the course, we will ask what is to be done today. We’ll examine the work of contemporary theorists, architects, landscape architects, policy makers and environmentalists who have channeled some of the lessons of the past in proposing lasting solutions to our land management and ecological crises of the present and future

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3120
ARCH 3120	001/00062	M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm 504 Diana Center	Ralph Ghoche	3.00	55/60

ARCH UN3201 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN I. 4.50 points.

Prerequisites: ARCH V3101 and ARCH V3103. Open to architecture majors or with permission of instructor.
Prerequisites: ARCH UN2101 and ARCH UN2103. Advanced Architectural Design I explores the role of architecture and design in relationship to climate, community, and the environment through a series of design projects requiring drawings and models. Field trips, lectures, and discussions are organized in relation to studio exercises. A portfolio of design work from the prerequisite courses ARCH UN2101 and ARCH UN2103 will be reviewed the first week of classes

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3201
ARCH 3201	001/00564	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 116 Lewisohn Hall	Karen Fairbanks, Irina Verona, Michael Schissel, Eliana Dotan	4.50	42/42

ARCH UN3211 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH AND DESIGN. 4.50 points.

Prerequisites: A design portfolio and application is required for this course. The class list will be announced before classes start.
Application required: A design portfolio and application is required for this course. The class list will be announced before classes start. Advanced Architectural Research and Design is an opportunity for students to consider international locations and address contemporary global concerns, incorporating critical questions, research methods, and design strategies that are characteristic of an architect’s operations at this scale

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3211
ARCH 3211	001/00565	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center	Ignacio Gonzalez Galan	4.50	10/20

ARCH UN3312 SPECIAL TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURE. 3.00 points.

See the Barnard and Columbia Architecture Department website for the course description: https://architecture.barnard.edu/architecture-department-course-descriptions

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3312
ARCH 3312	001/00723	T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm 501 Diana Center	Andrea Johnson	3.00	16/16
ARCH 3312	002/00724	M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm 501 Diana Center	Mark Bearak	3.00	18/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3312
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 3312	001/00827	T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm Room TBA	Leah Meisterlin	3.00	0/16
ARCH 3312	002/00828	T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm 308 Diana Center	Clara Kraft Isono	3.00	0/16

ARCH UN3502 URBANIZING CHINA. 4 points.

This course investigates the dramatic urban transformation that has taken place in mainland China over the last four decades. The speed and scale of this transformation have produced emergent new lifeways, settlement patterns, and land uses that increasingly blur the distinction between urban and rural areas. At the same time, Chinese society is still characterized by rigid, administrative divisions between the nation’s urban and rural sectors, with profound consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods. The course therefore examines the intersection between the rapid transformation of China’s built environment and the glacial transformation of its administrative categories. We will take an interdisciplinary approach to this investigation, using perspectives from architecture, history, geography, political science, anthropology, urban planning, and cultural studies, among other disciplines.

The course is divided into two parts: Over the first five weeks, we will consider the historical context of China’s urbanization and its urban-rural relations, including the imperial, colonial, and socialist periods, as well as the current period of reform. In the remainder of the semester, we will turn our focus to contemporary processes of urbanization, with a particular emphasis on the complex interrelationship between urban and rural China. This portion of the semester is organized into three two-week units on land and planning, housing and demolition, and citizenship and personhood.

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3502
ARCH 3502	001/00566	T Th 10:10am - 11:25am 203 Diana Center	Nick Smith	4	20/30

ARCH UN3901 SENIOR SEMINAR. 4.00 points.

See the Barnard and Columbia Architecture Department's website for the course description: https://architecture.barnard.edu/architecture-department-course-descriptions

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3901
ARCH 3901	001/00567	Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm 502 Diana Center	Suzanne Stephens	4.00	16/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3901
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 3901	001/00829	M 2:10pm - 4:00pm 502 Diana Center	Anooradha Siddiqi	4.00	0/16
ARCH 3901	002/00830	M 12:10pm - 2:00pm 502 Diana Center	Ralph Ghoche	4.00	0/16

ARCH UN3997 INDEPENDENT STUDY. 1.00-4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of the program director in term prior to that of independent study. Independent study form available at departmental office

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3997
ARCH 3997	001/00568	Karen Fairbanks	1.00-4.00	1/4
ARCH 3997	002/00569	Kadambari Baxi	1.00-4.00	2/4
ARCH 3997	003/00570	Ralph Ghoche	1.00-4.00	1/4
ARCH 3997	005/00571	Ignacio Gonzalez Galan	1.00-4.00	1/3
ARCH 3997	006/00572	Anooradha Siddiqi	1.00-4.00	0/3

ARCH GU4305 ABOLITION ARCHITECTURE. 4.00 points.

This seminar introduces students to architectural and environmental histories of abolition through constructed environments, spatial practices, and texts from the eighteenth century to the present. The course locates abolition in social movements and historical discourses, examining the roles that both reform and radical refusal have played in struggles for spatial justice by considering debates around enslavement, prisons, and borders. The course situates abolition as a significant intersectional feminist problem, and conceptually core to the consideration of race in global architectural history. We examine individual and collective works of architecture, art, landscape, and material culture, which highlight incarceration and the production of enclosure within the institutions that have shaped them in various parts of the world, and as elements of the formation of space, power, and knowledge in colonial and postcolonial contexts. The seminar is structured around multiple full-book engagements. We will closely read three texts that are foundational to the literature on abolition and architecture: Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis; Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California by Ruth Wilson Gilmore; and Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Nicole Fleetwood. These readings are complemented by articles and other shorter texts, and works of art and architecture, which help to contextualize and draw out the themes of the course. Each student leads seminars on the readings and builds on this foundation by engaging in independent research, culminating in a long-format paper that intervenes in the discourse or frames a narrative, presenting an architectural history of abolition

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH GU4305
ARCH 4305	001/00800	T 10:10am - 12:00pm Room TBA	Anooradha Siddiqi	4.00	17/16

Spring 2025 Courses

The course schedule listed below may be subject to change. Please revisit this page and the online Directory of Classes in November to confirm our spring course information.

ARCH UN1010 DESIGN FUTURES: NEW YORK CITY. 3.00 points.

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN1010
ARCH 1010	001/00557	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 501 Diana Center	Hua Tang	3.00	19/20
ARCH 1010	002/00558	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 502 Diana Center	Annie Kountz	3.00	16/20
ARCH 1010	003/00559	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 111 Milstein Center	Clara Kraft Isono	3.00	16/20
Spring 2025: ARCH UN1010
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 1010	001/00818	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 501 Diana Center	Richard Rouhe	3.00	0/20
ARCH 1010	002/00819	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 502 Diana Center		3.00	0/20
ARCH 1010	003/00820	F 1:10pm - 4:25pm 504 Diana Center	Andrea Johnson	3.00	0/20

ARCH UN1020 INTRO-ARCH DESIGN/VIS CULTURE. 3.00 points.

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN1020
ARCH 1020	001/00560	M W 1:10pm - 3:00pm 116 Lewisohn Hall	Richard Rouhe	3.00	8/14
ARCH 1020	002/00799	T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm 116 Lewisohn Hall	Nicholas Chapman	3.00	9/14
Spring 2025: ARCH UN1020
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 1020	001/00821	M W 1:10pm - 3:00pm Room TBA	Madeline Schwartzman	3.00	0/14
ARCH 1020	002/00822	T Th 9:00am - 10:50am Room TBA		3.00	0/14

ARCH UN2101 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS. 4.50 points.

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN2101
ARCH 2101	001/00561	T Th 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center		4.50	16/16
ARCH 2101	002/00562	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center	Richard Rouhe	4.50	16/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN2101
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 2101	001/00823	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center	Michael Schissel	4.50	0/16

ARCH UN2103 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN: ENVIRONMENTS AND MEDIATIONS. 4.50 points.

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN2103
ARCH 2103	001/00563	M W 10:00am - 12:50pm 404 Diana Center	Madeline Schwartzman	4.50	15/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN2103
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 2103	001/00824	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 404 Diana Center		4.50	0/16
ARCH 2103	002/00831	T Th 9:00am - 11:50am Room TBA	Lindsay Harkema	4.50	0/16

ARCH UN3117 MOD ARCHITECTURE IN THE WORLD. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Designed for but not limited to sophomores; enrollment beyond 60 at the discretion of the instructor.
Prerequisites: Designed for but not limited to sophomores; enrollment beyond 60 at the discretion of the instructor. Modern Architecture in the World is an introduction to different arenas in which architecture’s modern condition has been disputed in the last two centuries across different geographies. The course will address significant transformations in the built environment as well as the forms of practice, epistemic frameworks, and ideologies that led them. It will also attend to the forms of labor and economies that engendered new structures and organizations of space, the material resources and industries mobilized in their construction, the identities and forms of power they represented and imposed, the manifold embodiments that they hosted and shaped, the diverse socialites and politics they supported, and the ecologies they negotiated. The course is organized around a number of key themes, with each class covering episodes spanning the whole period under consideration, up until the present. In this way, it will question the existence of a single line of development, a master narrative, or a teleological line of progress and will highlight instead the multiple, simultaneous, conflicting, and branching genealogies unfolding throughout the period. Students will gain knowledge of key buildings, artifacts, trends, and schools as they relate to those genealogies. Each lecture will emphasize contending and shifting positions across geographies within the arenas explored, understanding hegemonic trends as well as dissenting positions. While different locations around the world will be highlighted in each class, the course positions modern architecture in the world by privileging an exploration of the cultural and material networks and hierarchies characteristic of the period—with attention to colonialism, coloniality, migration, resource extraction, and war, among others

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3117
ARCH 3117	001/00825	T Th 4:10pm - 5:25pm 504 Diana Center	Ignacio Gonzalez Galan	4.00	0/60

ARCH UN3202 ADVANCED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN II. 4.50 points.

Prerequisites: ARCH V3201. Open to architecture majors or with permission of instructor.
Prerequisite: ARCH UN3201. Advanced Architectural Design II culminates the required studio sequence in the major. Students are encouraged to consider it as a synthetic studio where they advance concepts, research methodologies and representational skills learned in all previous studios towards a semester-long design project. Field trips, lectures, and discussions are organized in relation to studio exercises

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3202
ARCH 3202	001/00826	M W 9:00am - 11:50am 116 Lewisohn Hall	Kadambari Baxi, Amina Blacksher, Nicholas Chapman, Annie Kountz	4.50	0/42

ARCH UN3312 SPECIAL TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURE. 3.00 points.

See the Barnard and Columbia Architecture Department website for the course description: https://architecture.barnard.edu/architecture-department-course-descriptions

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3312
ARCH 3312	001/00723	T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm 501 Diana Center	Andrea Johnson	3.00	16/16
ARCH 3312	002/00724	M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm 501 Diana Center	Mark Bearak	3.00	18/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3312
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 3312	001/00827	T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm Room TBA	Leah Meisterlin	3.00	0/16
ARCH 3312	002/00828	T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm 308 Diana Center	Clara Kraft Isono	3.00	0/16

ARCH UN3901 SENIOR SEMINAR. 4.00 points.

See the Barnard and Columbia Architecture Department's website for the course description: https://architecture.barnard.edu/architecture-department-course-descriptions

Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
Fall 2024: ARCH UN3901
ARCH 3901	001/00567	Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm 502 Diana Center	Suzanne Stephens	4.00	16/16
Spring 2025: ARCH UN3901
Course Number	Section/Call Number	Times/Location	Instructor	Points	Enrollment
ARCH 3901	001/00829	M 2:10pm - 4:00pm 502 Diana Center	Anooradha Siddiqi	4.00	0/16
ARCH 3901	002/00830	M 12:10pm - 2:00pm 502 Diana Center	Ralph Ghoche	4.00	0/16