i. institutional support and commitment to continuous improvement

Course Number & Title:
INARC 5120 Interior Architecture Studio 2:
Activity Spaces (4.5)
Course Description:
This introductory design studio introduces a broad range of
investigative techniques and applies the results to the design
of a multiple level interior environment.
Course Goals & Objectives:
1) Design culture: this studio will focus on the im-
pact architecture can have on its user, the linkage
between architecture and the goal of the activity,
and challenging preconceived notions of user needs
and establish precedents.
2) Design practice: students will broaden their
understanding of the role of architects in the design
process with a multi-disciplined client by develop-
ing strategies to enhance architectural leadership in
design/construction/client goal setting.
3) Design skills: students will develop fundamental
programming, design and graphic skills by completing
a conceptual design strategy of a small public build-
ing of approximately 10,000 sq.ft. Student investiga-
tions will emphasize how a building’s structure and
skin influences the function and performance of the
interior environment and how the interior informs the
skin.
4) Technical knowledge: students will address the
role of accessibility, materiality, building envelopes,
sustainability and life safety in the development of
their design.
Student Performance Criterion:
1) Best exemplifies the following criteria
a) B.10. Building envelopes (understanding)
2) Additional criteria
a) A.6. Fundamental design skills (ability)
b) A.8. Ordering Systems (understanding)
c) B.2. Accessibility (ability)
d) B.9. Structural systems (understanding)
e) B.12. Building materials (understanding)
Topical Outline:
1) Design culture and practice: working in teams,
students develop their investigative skills through
the completion of a thorough context research that
includes investigations of the site and building from
a cultural, technological, social and behavioral frame
of reference. Research methods employed: primary,
(ethnographic: looking at users and behaviors), along
with secondary and tertiary sources. A complete site
material reference will be collected and archived to
169 | Spring 2011
IV. Supplemental Information
inform interior strategy. From this research students
will prepare a written and graphic statement of their
analysis to be used as the content that informs the
project’s programming strategy. The work must meet
a professional level of completion and thoroughness;
30% of the course
2) Design practice: starting with user research,
students will develop a qualitative and quantita-
tive program for the intended use and performance
goals of the interior environment. During the design
process, working with program and performance
goals, emphasis is placed on circulation, adjacencies
and spatial sequencing and the influence of these
issues on design decision-making. Students will
explore different iterations through multiple modes
of visualization including sketching, modeling and
simulation. Students will apply a human performance
framework as a basis for their design decisions and
graphically and verbally communicate these strate-
gies to a diverse professional audience; 50% of the
course.
3) Design skills: By the final, students will demon-
strate their ability to complete a complex interior
environment that achieves the performance goals
of the initial program intent and is informed by the
building envelope, skin and structure demonstrating
an application of research synthesis as seen through
plan, section, detail and 3-D modeling.
4) Technical knowledge: students will address ac-
cessibility, materiality, building envelopes, sustain-
ability and life safety through a series of short analy-
ses of their design proposals; 20% of the course.
Prerequisites:
All required first semester coursework.
Textbooks/Learning Resources:
Various sources including:
• A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research
Tools and Techniques by Robert Sommer and
Barbara Sommer,
• The Measure of Man & Woman: Human Fac-
tors in Design by Henry Dreyfus & Associates
• Problem Seeking: An Architectural Program-
ming Primer by William Pena & Steven Parshall
Offered (semester and year):
• Semester: SPRING
• Year: ONE
Faculty assigned:
• 2009-2010 academic year:
Coleman, Cynthia (F/T)
• 2010-2011 academic year:
Coleman, Cynthia (F/T)
Supplemental Information
SECTION IV