4.154

Architecture Design Option Studio

Spring
2026
0-10-11
G
Schedule
T TR F 1-5
Location
Studio 3-415
Prerequisites
4.153
Required Of
MArch
Enrollment
mandatory lottery process
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.154

Architecture Design Option Studio

Spring
2026
0-10-11
G
Schedule
TR 1-5
Location
Studio 3-415
Prerequisites
4.153
Required Of
MArch
Enrollment
mandatory lottery process
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.440 J
1.056 J
4.462

Introduction to Structural Design

UG: 4.440, 1.056; Grad: 4.462

Introduces the design and behavior of large-scale structures and structural materials. Emphasizes the development of structural form and the principles of structural design. Presents design methods for timber, masonry, concrete and steel applied to long-span roof systems, bridges, and high-rise buildings. Includes environmental assessment of structural systems and materials. In laboratory sessions, students solve structural problems by building and testing simple models. 

Graduate and undergraduate students have separate lab sections.

GIR LAB (4.440)

Spring
2026
4.440: 3-3-6
U
4.462: 3-2-4
G
Schedule
MW 9:30-11
4.440 Lab: F 10-12
4.462 Lab: W 5-7
Location
Lecture: 3-333
4.440 Lab: 5-233
4.462 Lab: 3-442
Prerequisites
4.440: 18.02, 4.462: permission of instructor
Required Of
BSA
Restricted Elective
Arch Minor
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.154

Architecture Design Option Studio

Spring
2026
0-10-11
G
Schedule
T TR F 1-5
Location
Studio 3-415
Prerequisites
4.153
Required Of
MArch
Enrollment
mandatory lottery process
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.432
4.433

Modeling Urban Energy Flows for Sustainable Cities and Neighborhoods

Studies energy flows in and around groups of buildings from individual buildings to complete large-scale neighborhoods. Students use emerging digital techniques to analyze and influence building design interventions in relation to energy use for construction (embodied energy) and operation, access to daylight, and assessing walkability and outdoor comfort at the neighborhood scale. Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Spring
2026
3-2-7
U
3-2-4
G
Schedule
TR 9:30-11
Location
1-150
Prerequisites
permission of instructor
Restricted Elective
BSA, A minor
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.431

Architectural Acoustics

Describes interactions between people and sound, indoors and outdoors, and uses this information to develop acoustical design criteria for architecture and planning. Principles of sound generation, propagation, and reception. Properties of materials for sound absorption, reflection, and transmission. Design implications for performance and gathering spaces. Use of computer modeling techniques.

Benjamin Markham
Spring
2026
3-0-6
G
Schedule
W 11-2
Prerequisites
permission of instructor
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.182

Techniques of Resistance

Techniques of Resistance aims to create an archive of communal construction practices located across the heterogeneous territory of South America through the research and documentation of paradigmatic indigenous, vernacular, and popular buildings. This research will form the basis for the design proposal of a contemporary radical project that will emerge from these ancestral techniques and the cases studied in the course.

 

Architecture, when built, mobilizes a huge—and often invisible—network of resources, knowledge, beliefs, and people involved in the construction of a building. Techniques of Resistance will focus on the study of buildings that are strongly rooted in the environment and ecologies where they are located, with a sensitive understanding of communal cooperation and material cyclability. From the Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca and the Putucos in the Peruvian plateau, to the Shabonos and Churuatas’ large structures in the Amazon, the buildings that we will study offer a collection of construction techniques that serve as a resistance to the homogenization of architecture and the destruction of collective forms of construction.

The creation of an inventory of Techniques of Resistance presents the opportunity to broaden the definition of what a building could be in terms of its material technology and its role in a community, and will serve as the launching point for the development of a project that could redefine these techniques in a contemporary way through an understanding of material behavior, structural details, and geometry.

The course will consist of a combination of theoretical lectures, discussions, research, and design. During the first half of the semester, students will develop drawings and graphic essays as methods of research and documentation of the case studies. These deliverables will be compiled to create the archive of Techniques of Resistance, which will take the form of a publication.

In the second half of the semester, students will work on a conceptual design project for a communal building, structure, or infrastructure, proposing a critical revision of the cases and techniques previously documented. Considerable time will be given for the design process, working together to develop a conceptually and technologically strong project. Classes will take the form of workshop sessions, with design desk critiques and pin-ups. The projects will be communicated through large-scale, delicate, and well-developed drawings and, if possible, a small model.

The materials produced during the course—both the archive and the design projects—will be presented in an exhibition at the end of the fall semester. The course will value commitment, technical precision, detailed representation, and a radical and critical approach to design. Techniques of Resistance will also include contributions from guest speakers whose practices and built projects engage with the technologies and materials discussed during the semester.

Spring
2026
3-0-9
G
Schedule
W 2-5
Location
1-136
Enrollment
Limited to 12
Can Be Repeated for Credit
Yes
4.587

SMArchS Computation Pre-Thesis Preparation

Preliminary study in preparation for the thesis for the SMArchS degree in Computation. Topics include literature search, precedents examination, thesis structure and typologies, and short writing exercise.

Spring
2026
3-0-3
G
Schedule
R 4-6
Location
1-136
Prerequisites
4.221 or permission of instructor
Required Of
SMArchS Comp
Can Be Repeated for Credit
No
4.URG

Undergraduate Research in Design (UROP)

Research and project activities, which cover the range represented by the various research interests and projects in the department. Students who wish a letter grade option for their work must register for 4.URG.

consult S. Tibbits
Spring
2026
TBA
U
Schedule
consult S. Tibbits
Prerequisites
permission of instructor
Can Be Repeated for Credit
Yes
4.UR

Undergraduate Research in Design (UROP)

Research and project activities, which cover the range represented by the various research interests and projects in the Department.

consult S. Tibbits
Spring
2026
TBA
U
Schedule
consult S. Tibbits
Prerequisites
permission of instructor
Can Be Repeated for Credit
Yes