Bachelor of Science in Architecture

Architecture is a mode of thinking about and enacting positive change in the world, which requires a broad awareness of the environment in which we live. An architecture education encompasses the arts, the humanities, and the sciences.

Bachelor of Science in Architecture

In Ohio State’s undergraduate architecture program, students learn to develop abstract relationships and understand the impact of ideas based on the research and analysis of cultural, social, political, economic, and environmental contexts. The studio-based curriculum engages students individually and collaboratively as they propose design solutions and communicate those solutions through a range of media: digital rendering, model making, full-scale fabrication, writing, and public presentations. Additionally, students gain an understanding of the technical aspects of design through coursework in materials, structures, and building systems.

Students entering the program begin with foundation courses, including a hands-on design studio. A sequence of six studios during the second, third, and fourth years of the program build on scale and complexity over a range of building types. These studios of 12–15 students are led by faculty and local practitioners. During the summer, students can participate in the school’s numerous travel abroad programs.

The pre-professional Bachelor of Science in Architecture prepares students for a range of career options. Many students continue their studies in graduate programs, enrolling in accredited Master of Architecture programs or building on their undergraduate architecture degree in related disciplines. Ohio State students have an outstanding track record in gaining admission to the nation’s best architecture graduate programs. Other students pursue employment opportunities in the architectural/design industries, the arts, business, or public service.

Curriculum

Year 1 (UG1)

The first year of the BSArch program provides a broad, interdisciplinary foundation to the design of the built environment through two courses. ARCH 2300 is an introductory survey of the history and theory of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. ARCH 2310 is a studio-based introduction to design thinking in the lived environment. Architecture students also take ARCH 2610, a seminar with an emphasis on digital design and representation techniques. Students also begin the university’s General Education sequence, with courses in math, physics, English, and the social sciences.

AUTUMN    
KNOW 1100 Survey 1
KNOW 2300* Outlines of the Built Environment 3
KNOW 2310* Seeking and Making 4
MATH 1148 College Algebra 4
GE Foundations: Literary, Visual and Performing Arts 3
Total   15
SPRING    
ACADAFF 1201 Launch Seminar 1
PHYSICS 1200 Mechanics, Kinematics, Fluids, Waves 5
MATH 1118 Mathematics for Architects 3
GE Foundations: Writing and Information Literacy 3
GE Foundations: Historical & Cultural Studies 3
Total   15

Year 2 (UG2)

The UG2 studio sequence (ARCH 2410 and 2420) introduces and develops disciplinary and representational fundamentals with three focuses: 

  • abstraction and analysis, which develops students’ critical faculties; 
  • architectural form, which expands the compositional and organizational vocabularies introduced in the first year; and 
  • graphics and representation, which affords students the ability to create clear and compelling graphic presentations of their ideas.

Foundational issues of site, program, and building tectonics are introduced and developed throughout the studio sequence, and representational skills are expanded and contextualized in an additional course in architectural representation (ARCH 5610). Second-year students take two semesters of architectural history (ARCH 5110 and 5120) and continue with university General Education requirements in writing, literature, and elective courses.

AUTUMN    
ARCH 2410 Architectural Design I 6
ARCH 5610 Architectural Representation I 3
ARCH 5110 History of Architecture I 4
GE Foundations: Social & Behavioral Sciences 3
Total   16
SPRING    
ARCH 2420 Architectural Design II 6
ARCH 5620 Architectural Representation II 3
ARCH 5120 Architectural History II 4
GE Foundations: Race, Ethnic and Gender Diversity 3
Total   16

Year 3 (UG3)

The third year of the BSArch program immerses students in contemporary architectural culture while providing rigorous technical training through the themes of constructed form, which engenders a fluency with building organizational and construction systems; expanded site, which contextualizes architectural design into its physical and social contexts; and environmental entanglements, which introduces the relationship of architectural form to mechanical and natural influences on the constructed environment. Technical issues related to site, program, structures, building tectonics, and mechanical systems are introduced in the fall term and developed with increasing rigor in the spring term. Courses in contemporary architecture (ARCH 5130) and architectural theory (ARCH 5210) complement the technical instruction in construction (ARCH 5510 and 5520), structural design (ARCH 5710), and mechanical systems (ARCH 5810).

AUTUMN    
ARCH 3410 Architectural Design III 6
ARCH 5510 Materials and Envelopes I 3
ARCH 5710 Architectural Structures 4
Open Elective   3
Total   16
SPRING    
ARCH 3420 Architectural Design IV 6
ARCH 5210 Forms of Architectural Theory 3
ARCH 5520 Materials and Envelopes II 3
ARCH 5810 Architectural Environments

3

Total   15

Year 4 (UG4)

The fourth year of the BSArch program guides students toward an independent position with respect to contemporary architecture under the broad heading of public and cultural contexts. During the autumn studio (ARCH 4410), students choose from an array of individual topic studios developed by Knowlton faculty. The spring studio (ARCH 4420) refines and challenges students’ growing architectural acumen through the design of a community-focused project on an urban site. In spring, fourth-year students take two elective seminars in architecture, choosing from offerings in architectural history and theory (ARCH 5290), social and political issues (ARCH 5390), and representational and technical issues (ARCH 5590). Fourth-year students also complete their General Education requirements, with a course in biology and three elective General Education courses.

AUTUMN    
ARCH 4410 Architectural Design V 6
ARCH 5290 or ARCH 5590 Architecture Seminar 3
GE Theme: Citizenship 4
Total   16
SPRING    
ARCH 4420 Architectural Design VI 6
ARCH 5290 or ARCH 5590 Architecture Seminar 3
Open Elective   3
Open Elective   3
Total   15