Fairmont State University
Architecture Art + Design
The mission of the Architecture Program at Fairmont State is to educate aspiring architects to be creative thinkers who pursue architecture as an integrative process. Design, history, theory, culture, sustainability, and the realities of practice are interpreted both within the unique character and dynamics of the Appalachian region as well as within the modern global community.
https://www.fairmontstate.edu/academics/programs/architecture.aspx
Setting
Fairmont State University is a smaller public university located about 100 miles south of Pittsburgh in Fairmont, West Virginia, and about 60 miles from Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. The total undergraduate and graduate student population of the university is around 3500. While the majority of the students are from West Virginia, others hail from over two dozen different states and a dozen foreign countries. The school was originally founded over a 150 years ago as a training ground for teachers. The university still has a large Education program along with other Liberal Arts and professional degree programs ranging from Architecture to Aviation to Nursing. The 120 acre treed campus is located on a hill above the city of Fairmont, which is located at the headwaters of the Monongahela River.
School Philosophy
The Fairmont State Architecture Program helps prepare students to become both creative designers and technically proficient professionals equipped with a beginning knowledge of sustainability, community design, and historic preservation so as to be valuable contributors to the profession upon graduation.
Programs
The degrees offered include: a four-year pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree (BS Arch), and a one and one-half year professional Master of Architecture degree (M Arch). The M Arch degree requires a baccalaureate degree in architecture as a prerequisite for admission.
Both degree programs have a focus on the making of architecture and urban interventions within the fabric of smaller American towns and cities in the greater Appalachian region.
The four-year BS Arch degree provides both a well-rounded education, and a foundational core of design, architectural history and theory, and building technology coursework as the first phase of a professional education for the general practice of architecture. Upper-level studios for this degree seek methodological, technological, and theoretical syntheses by working through a wide range of design inquiries and projects. The BS Arch degree further equips students with the fundamental knowledge and basic skills for entry level positions in the profession, or the ability to pursue a professional graduate degree in architecture at Fairmont State or at other institutions.
The one and one-half year professional M Arch degree builds on the baccalaureate foundation while further focusing on appropriate, responsible, and sustainable design and planning for community revitalization and a greater professional knowledge of the practice of architecture.
Coursework is unified by a common thread of community-oriented design and sustainable design principles. Students are exposed to the possibilities of community outreach through design projects and to architecture's ability to speak to people at a personal level.
of Focus
1. Art & Design
2. Digital Fabrication & Technology
3. Building Technologies
4. Historic Preservation
5. Community Design
6. History | Theory | Criticism
7. Digital Design & Visualization
8. Sustainability & High-Performance Built Environments
Opportunities
Co-Op / Work Placement
Teaching / Research assistantships
Study Abroad
Facilities
Large-format Printer
Laser Cutter
Woodshop
3D Printing
Metalshop
CNC Milling
Fabrication Lab
Policies
Transfer Policies
We evaluate the education of each transfer student individually to determine where they might be placed within our 4+1 ½ year pre-professional and professional degree programs.
