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Design Studio

Design studio is at the core of an architecture education. From their first semester in the B.Arch program, SCI-Arc undergraduate students are immersed in hands-on, project-based design studio courses where they build visual literacy, learn design skills, test ideas, and receive continuous, personal feedback on their work from studio faculty.

During Design Studio, students build design and technical expertise while employing advanced tools and technologies in the development of projects which fuse together concepts of space, aesthetics, architectural theory, and materiality, among others.

moss green tube squiggly architecture model on a white model base surrounding architecture

Heading titleFrom Core to Verticals to Thesis

SCI-Arc’s B.Arch curriculum is structured around Design Studio. Students will enroll in one design studio course each semester while in the program.

Through a required seven-semester sequence of design studios, B.Arch students acquire both a robust set of techniques and sensibilities for making and appreciating architecture as well as the concrete knowledge and methodologies essential for the production of buildings.

Angelica Lorenzi 1b design studio project marroon red building with white cutouts slats
Rudain Almulla and Nihan Caydamli 4b project undergraduate b.arch desert home Florencia pita SCI-Arc Vertical Pita SP22 Almulla Rudain Nihan Caydamli LN 01
Nicholas MacIntyre 1b design studio project pyramid arched pointed building with instructor David Eskenazi SCI-Arc 1 B Esken Sp22 Mac Intyre Nicholas MD 01
Holland Seropian design studio project 3b Emily mohr instructor winding sandy rooms pathways building SCI-Arc 3 B Mohr SP22 Seropian Holland RN 01
orange white transparent tall building model by architecture student of SCI-Arc

Model by B.Arch student Dutra Brown and Anastasia Tokmakova in Maxi Spina’s 3A studio

Heading title

Students continue on to two semesters of Vertical Studios, which match small, combined groups of students from SCI-Arc’s undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs with faculty and visiting architects leading design projects that explore a wide variety of focuses and interests.

In their final semester of design studio, students complete the production of a year-long thesis project, which addresses a position in relation to contemporary architectural discourse and presents a highly developed building design project.

dutra brown

"In the third year, the design studios focus on teaching us technical skills to back up the conceptual thinking we learned in the first two years. Right now my studio is working on tower projects, and we are responsible for understanding structure and tectonics to strengthen our designs." 

Dutra Brown B.Arch
tall building isometric chunk model in orange and white

10-storey Cut-away Axonometric, 1/8”=1’ by third year B.Arch students Dutra Brown and Anastasia Tokmakova in Maxi Spina’s 3A studio.

orange folding tower top view SCI-Arc tower elevation folding diagram by student
student designing and experiencing the vr SCI-Arc student designing wearing virtual reality headset
orange diagrammmatic composition by student SCI-Arc diagrammatic composition devyn weiser by student

Heading titleTaught by Practicing Architects

SCI-Arc’s studio faculty is primarily comprised of practicing architects, who provide a window into the lives of the profession, as well as opportunities for professional internships and employment outside the school.

During studio hours, SCI-Arc faculty meet with students individually and in groups to discuss the progression of their design projects. Through these collaborative discussions, students learn to engage in an open exchange of ideas with faculty and fellow students, building the life-long relationships that will serve them throughout their careers.

sectional elevation of model by student SCI-Arc elevation rendering by student
colorful site plan view by student SCI-Arc oblique colorful site plan by student
architecture diagram SCI-Arc 3 A Griffin FA19 Jin Heyifan Wang Cheng Yeh RN 01

4A Model by Abid Abeeha (Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner)

Undergraduate Thesis project by Navid Simanian and Ali Senbas