Syracuse University
School of Architecture
Architecture is a complex discipline that organizes diverse human needs and interests, ranging from the pragmatic to the visionary. The Syracuse University School of Architecture offers a professional education that is disciplinary and rooted in ahumanistic tradition. This intellectual rigor enhances the understanding of the formative interaction between buildings and culture. The School's intent is to educate broadly and to approach skill and technique with the same vitality as a comprehensive knowledge of the world. The studio experience, which is at the core of both undergraduate and graduate programs, focuses on the intense exploration of the creative process, supported by the most challenging approaches to history and theory in the context of the technologies that inform the future practice of our field. Students benefit from extensive one-on- one communication with dedicated faculty, in both formal reviews and informal interactions. As part of its curriculum, the School of Architecture offers a series of lectures, symposia, and exhibitions featuring leading practitioners, critics, and scholars. Situated in a major liberal arts university, students in the School also have access to a wide variety of courses throughout the campus and are encouraged to participate in the life outside the boundaries of the studio, in other academic units, in the city of Syracuse, and beyond.
http://soa.syr.edu/
Setting
Syracuse University is in the center New York State in a metropolitan area of 500,000 inhabitants, approximately four to six hours from Toronto, Montreal, Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The area is rich in outdoor activities, significant historical and architectural sites, and cultural offerings such as Syracuse Stage and the Everson Museum. The University has approximately 12,000 undergraduates and 6,000 graduate students. Transfer students are accepted into both the undergraduate and graduate programs.
School Philosophy
The Syracuse University School of Architecture offers fully accredited programs leading to a Bachelor of Architecture or a Master of Architecture as a first-professional degree. This is a design-oriented program that focuses on the study of the built environment and its constituent elements, through the use of analysis, speculation, and design as a means of inquiry. The activity of design is seen as bringing together issues of history and criticism, technology, structures, drawing, and computers into a process of architectural representation. The programs focus on synthesizing the innumerable aspects that go into a built environment with the goal of elevating the 'facts' of mere building into the realm of art, and ultimately enriching life.
Programs
The five-year B.Arch. curriculum is strongly oriented to design and the humanities and consists of a 162-credit program made up of a three-year core followed by two years of more specialized and individualized study. The curriculum is highly integrated and begins with the introduction of fundamental design concepts and skills with courses in technical and structural design, history, and theory as well as electives that may be taken in any other college on campus. Three years of core curriculum prepare students for two final years of more self-directed coursework and research, culminating in the development and design of a thesis in the fifth year. The core years are sequentially organized, with each semester building on previous study and relating courses in technology, structures, history, and theory to the design studio. Faculty in the first-year design and representation courses introduce students to new ways of seeing and responding to the built environment. Through exercises in drawing, analysis, multimedia work, and design, students learn to create space and form through the manipulation of site, program, experience, and construction. The second year of the program introduces students to imagery, typology, and design theory as they begin to develop individual design methodologies. In the third year, more complex studio challenges and coursework in building technology help students develop comprehensive building designs. During the third and fourth years, students have opportunity to broaden their skills by studying in the School's NYC studio or abroad in the Florence and/or London programs. In the fourth year, students also enroll in an advanced studio, selecting from a group of studios offered by prominent architects serving as visiting critics. Throughout the course of study, students make frequent field trips to major cities, beginning in the first year with a trip to New York. The focus of the fifth and last year of the B.Arch. program is the design thesis. Each student chooses his or her own topic of study and method in order to execute a unique design proposal. A thesis awards jury consisting of professionals and professors reviews thesis work for the awarding of school prizes. The Master of Architecture is a 110 credit 3.5 year first-professional degree program that aims to produce architects who not only provide leadership and vision in the construction of the physical environment, but collaboratively draw upon and organize diverse professions and multiple technologies to expand the field of architectural design. Research is an integral part of the M.Arch. course of study, from first-year courses in design, theory, history, media, and technology, to the final semester's thesis project.
of Focus
1. Art & Design
2. Cross-Cultural Contexts > Human Experiences
3. History | Theory | Criticism
4. Materials and Construction
5. Urbanism
Opportunities
Study Abroad
Facilities
Large-format Printer
Laser Cutter
3D Printing
Fabrication Lab
Policies
Transfer Policies
Transfer students are only admitted to the undergraduate program in the fall semester. The application deadline is as close to the January 1st deadline as possible. We have a limited number of transfer spots available each fall.
The School of Architecture is able to accept both professional and non-professional transfer credits from other legitimate institutions of higher learning. This includes American and foreign universities and American community colleges. Courses that earn a grade of C or higher will qualify for transfer. Among the general studies courses that our students take during the first two years of the program are math (up to calculus), physics and writing. You can also receive transfer credit for courses you might take in the physical and social sciences and the humanities.
As a design-based program, we require 9 semesters of architecture studio. Regardless of the number of credits previously acquired in non-studio courses, all transfer students are required to begin the studio sequence in first year. The only exception is if a transfer student is able to present a solid foundation in architectural design and receive approval of the Syracuse Architecture associate dean. Proof of completed studio coursework and a portfolio of design work must be submitted. Advancement to second-year studio occurs only upon approval of the undergraduate chair.
