Introduction to Architecture

Discover the foundations of architecture—from space generation and vertical planes to shelter design and materials such as wood, cement, steel, and reinforced concrete, plus vernacular architecture.

Explore how horizontal slabs and vertical planes create enclosed space, with overhead planes carried by columns, forming open floor plans and enclosed buildings, from Roman temples to reinforced concrete houses.

Architecture operates within gravity, prioritizing safety; apply Newtonian and Einsteinian views of gravity, as the graviton acts as a central force on masses and planes in building design.

Analyze how static and dynamic loads, internal resistance, and earth pressure affect bridges and buildings. Explore tension, compression, shear, torsion, and moments, and identify ties and beams in structural systems.

Explore how shelter shapes architecture by providing shade, protecting from rain, wind, snow, and lightning, and addressing natural and human threats through defensive architecture.

Explore fundamentals of shelter design, site selection, and basic shelter systems, from lean-tos and teepees to camouflage and safety considerations for extreme conditions.

Explore how inorganic and organic materials shape architecture, tracing the rock cycle from magma to igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, and examine masonry, bricks, and masons' tools.

Explore how wood and fibers serve as building materials, combining compression and tension in dimensional lumber and wood frame structures, with half-timber framing and Japanese and Chinese joinery shaping architecture.

Trace the evolution from ancient cement and Solana to Portland cement and reinforced concrete. See how rebar, wire mesh, and filleted joints enable tensile strength in modern architecture.

Examine how ancient people transformed caves into dwellings, churches, and sanctuaries, from Neolithic cave homes carved in tough volcanic ash to multi-level cave cities.

Explore the origins of human architecture through circular, hemispherical huts in the Congo basin, where arches from bent branches counteract loads, reflect fractal scaling, and shape sustainable, uniform village design.

Explore Oak Park's Frank Lloyd Wright legacy, including the bootleg houses and Wright's studio, through Google Earth, while learning to read floor plans with standard symbols.

Explore measurement and scale in architecture through surveying, determining three-dimensional positions, distances, and angles; learn how plans use representative fractions and engineer scales to convey actual dimensions.

Explore case study house number one (Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, 1948) a 2000-square-foot, slab-on-grade, wood-frame home with a flat roof, breezeway, and strong indoor-outdoor integration.

Learn to hand-draft a floor plan from outer perimeter to interior walls, doors, windows, and fixtures, annotate dimensions with an engineering scale, then use computer aided design.

Explore architectural models as physical scale representations used to study ground elevations and communicate design ideas, from site topographic models to Greek temple forms and digital modelling.

Explore the design and construction of a Japanese teahouse, from foundation stones and posts to the roof, and its minimalist space, tea ceremony, and Sochi screens.

Explore the Hagia Sophia, a 6th-century Byzantine landmark designed by two Greek scientists, featuring a central dome on pendant, a square plan with half domes, and weight-transferring arches.

Architecture interplays with social, economic, political, psychological, and environmental forces, shaping urban planning and lived experiences. Good design promotes harmony and well-being; poor design can cause isolation and waste.

Explore the course catalog for introduction to architecture, highlighting the available offerings and foundational topics that shape learners' early study.