UG: 4.501; Grad: 4.511

This course introduces digital fabrication as a method of home, hut, and shelter delivery (construction). The class explores industrial-based building production from prefab to digital fab. Most important we explore new computational techniques for rapid construction. We will explore the basics of tiny building design, different types of 3D modeling systems, scalable ways to prototype and CNC fabrication. The focus is on learning by doing. The class result will be a well-designed prototype of a small building as a single packaged product. 

Additional work required of graduate students.

Selection of thesis topic, definition of method of approach, and preparation of thesis proposal. Independent study supplemented by individual conference with faculty.

Selection of thesis topic, definition of method of approach, and preparation of thesis proposal. Independent study supplemented by individual conference with faculty.

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.

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.

Explores the theory and criticism of intersections between art, culture, and technology in relation to contemporary artistic practice, critical design, and media. Students consider methods of investigation, documentation, and display and explore modes of communication across disciplines. Students develop projects in which they organize research methods and goals, engage in production, cultivate a context for their practice, and explore how to compellingly communicate, display, and document their work. Regular presentation and peer-critique sessions, as well as reviews involving ACT faculty and fellows, and external guest reviewers provide students with ample feedback as their projects develop.

Aids students in the selection of a thesis topic, development of an approach method, preparation of a proposal that includes an outline for their thesis. Explores artistic practice as a method of critical inquiry and knowledge production/dissemination. Students examine artist writings and consider academic formats and standards. Regular group meetings, including peer reviews, are supplemented by independent study and individual conferences with faculty. 

UG: 4.368; G: 4.369

Focuses on the production of artistic interventions in public space. Explores ideas, situations, objects, and materials that shape public space and inform the notion of public and publicness, with an emphasis on co-production and cooperative ethics. Examines forms of environmental art in comparison to temporal and critical forms of art and action in the public sphere. Historical models include the Russian Constructivists, the Situationists International, system aesthetics, participatory and conceptual art, contemporary interventionist tactics and artistic strategies, and methods of public engagement. Students develop an initial concept for a publicly-situated project. Includes guest lectures, visiting artist presentations, and optional field trips.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version. 

4.368/4.369 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

Focused on the practices of varied practitioners — film directors, artists, musicians, composers, architects, designers — whose writings relay a process of thinking and feeling integral to their forms of material production. Testing various ways aesthetic forms and their shifts — historic and contemporary — have relations to still emerging contemporary subjectivities (felt emotion in a human body), the class studies productions created by participants and case studies of varied producers, and generates new work individually and/or collaboratively via diverse media explorations. Includes reading, writing, drawing, and publishing, as well as photographic, cinematic, spatial, and audio operations and productions. Activities include screenings, listening assignments, and guest visits, in addition to readings, discussions, and presentations.

4.359 Syllabus (MIT Certificate protected)

4.341 U / 4.342 G

Introduces history and contemporary practices in artistic photography through projects, lectures, artist visits, group discussions, readings, and field trips. Fosters visual literacy and aesthetic appreciation of photography/digital imaging, as well as critical awareness of how images in our culture are produced and constructed. Provides instruction in the fundamentals of different camera formats, film exposure and development, lighting, black and white darkroom printing, and digital imaging. Assignments allow for incorporation of a range of traditional and experimental techniques, development of technical skills, and personal exploration. Throughout the term, present and discuss projects in a critical forum. 

Additional work required of students taking the graduate version.

Note: section taught by Ryan Aasen is digital photography only

Syllabi (MIT Certificate protected):

• R. Aasen (coming soon)
• H. Membreno-Canales (coming soon)
• J. Willis