i. institutional support and commitment to continuous improvement

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects
Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture with emphasis in Interior Architecture
Course Number & Title:
ARCH & INARC 5113 Construction Systems
& Structures 1 (4.5)
Course Description:
This integrated technical practice course introduces
simple construction systems and delivers a basic under-
standing of structures, with a focus on statics. The course
further examines and qualifies these systems in terms of
building energy performance.
Course Goals & Objectives:
1) Design practice: Course develops knowledge in basic
building assembly systems. An understanding of the role
that the environment plays in design decisions developed
through energy analysis studies of historic and contem-
porary buildings.
2) Design practice: Building science skills: develop the
ability to communicate basic material performance in
freehand analytical drawings and drawings produced
by simulation tools, and wall sections.
3) Building science skills: Focuses on developing inves-
tigative skills allowing students to effectively choose
and incorporate structural / assembly systems during
pre-design.
4) Building science knowledge: Basic material speci-
fication and performance properties. An introduction
to the performance of building materials in a narrow
sense, including thermal performance, moisture perfor-
mance, acoustic performance and embodied energy.
5) Structures skills: Basic structural concepts including
component specification, sizing and analysis.
6) Structures knowledge: Delivers useful concepts
of load distribution, component spacing and system
performance allowing students to integrate structural
concepts in subsequent studio projects.
Student Performance Criterion:
1) Best exemplifies the following criteria:
a) A.5. Investigative Skills (ability)
2) Additional criteria
a) B.1. Pre-Design Preparation (ability)
b) B.3. Sustainability (ability)
c) B.8. Environmental Systems (understanding)
d) B.9. Structural Systems (understanding)
e) B.12. Building Materials & Assemblies
(understanding)
Topical Outline:
1) Design practice: Covers the history and current state of
building structural systems, and concentrates on assembly
and capability; 15% of the course.
2) Building science skills: Develops knowledge neces-
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sary to choose a system during preliminary design, and
understand the limits and possibilities of basic con-
struction systems; 15% of the course.
3) Design practice: After a series of brief investigations
in two retrofit case studies focusing on daylight analy-
sis and thermal analysis, acoustic analysis, students
articulate their understanding of building physics as
pertains to daylight and assembly design (concerning
the placement and design thickness of insulation only)
through drawings and simulation data (graphic and
numeric); 40% of course.
4) Building science skills: Knowledge necessary to
understand the impact of building elements such as
windows, walls, and roofs in order choose good orien-
tations and assembly layer ordering and thicknesses
(with membranes, separations and foils) for building
systems. (50% assignments, 50% lectures)
5) Building science knowledge: Masonry, light wood
framing, sub-grade concrete.
6) Structures knowledge: Delivers an understanding of
structural concepts such as free body diagrams, mo-
ment diagrams, statics, the strength of materials, and
simple formulas for bending and deflection. Covers the
ability to distribute loads through a simple structure,
design a uniformly loaded joists, beams, and girders,
and determine a safe continuous foundation size for a
bearing wall; 30% of course.
Prerequisites:
All required summer courses.
Textbooks/Learning Resources:
Various sources including:
• Energy-Efficiency Upgrades: Principles, Details, Ex-
amples (Detail Practice) by Schulz and Zeitler
• Energy Manual: Sustainable Architecture, Detail, by
Hegger, Fuchs, Stark, Zeumer
Offered (semester and year):
• Semester: FALL
• Year: ONE
Faculty assigned:
• 2009-2010 academic year:
Sterk, Tristan (F/T), Nereim, Anders (F/T),
Moon, Jiyoung (P/T)
• 2010-2011 academic year:
Sterk, Tristan (F/T), Nereim, Anders (F/T), Maschke,
Ken (P/T)