Self-Directed High School Architecture Curriculum

12 week High School Internship

All weeks

Accountables (Homework)         

v  5 sketches per week in your sketchbook

Week One

Architectural Training:

v  Complete all AutoCAD tutorials at www.cadtutor.net on page entitled:

The Basics.

v  Measure your bedroom and draw in pen and ink on graph paper, to a scale of 1” = 1’-0”. Include all furniture, windows, and doors drawn to scale.

v  Look at website http://www.deathbyarchitecture.com to see if there are any competitions you might like to enter for this project!

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Prehistoric Architecture

Watch               Ancient Voices Part 1

BBC/ Learning Channel/Time Life co-production

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Two

Architectural Training:

v  Do the following AutoCAD tutorials at www.cadtutor.net on pages entitled:

Beyond Basics:

User Coordinate Systems, Dimensioning, and Paper Space Exercise

Modelling and Rendering:

Basic 3D and Surface Modelling

v  Now that you’ve come to understand drawing to scale, test yourself by measuring your entire house, and drawing that to a scale of 1/8” = 1’-0”, or 1/4” = 1’-0”, on graph paper.   Ask me to show you how to figure out how wide a wall is!

Energy Concentration:

            Meet with Megan to establish your path with her.

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in Egypt

Watch               Ancient Civilizations

Part 3, The land of the pharaohs

            available online through various libraries or possibly the school library

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Three

Architectural Training:

v  Complete the tutorials on AutoCad Architecture’s help menu, in Imperial mode.

v  Take the house plan you drew last week and input into Architecture, using lines. We’ll convert it to 3D in next week’s lesson!

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Classical Period

Complete the 5 parts of the assignment: (Skip the recipes section)

            Nova Secrets of Lost Empires: Roman Bath

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/roman/

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Four

Architectural Training:

v  Using last week’s plan, learn to use the WALL command in Architecture to CONVERT your lines from last week into real walls, doors, and windows. To do this, you’ll need to know the height of your windows (measure height of window itself and height that the top of the window sits above the floor), the height of your doors, and the height of your ceilings and floors, if there is more than one. The floor height can be measured in the stairway! Come over and I will show you what this means!

v  Take a photo of all 4 sides of your house.

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Romanesque Period

Watch               Art Across the Ages  Part 1

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Five

Architectural Training:

v  Using Architecture, draw the main elevation of your house, related to the plan.

v  Start sketching ideas for the design of your new building. I expect several different ideas at our next meeting.

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Gothic Period

Watch               Cathedral - a Unicorn Project

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Six

Architectural Training:

v  Hand drawing!!! Take your pens and start practicing writing with them! For this exercise, I’d like you to find your favorite quote.

v  Then, complete the tutorial at http://www3.mbs.sd23.bc.ca/staff/dmuir/drafting/drafting_notes/notes_lettering/notes_lettering.htm

v  Then complete the worksheet http://www3.mbs.sd23.bc.ca/staff/dmuir/drafting/assign_a/hand_drafting_lettering_numbers/lettering_numbers_quote.pdf

v  Once this is complete, review “illuminated manuscripts” at www.Wikipedia.org 

v  Then recreate your quote in an illuminated form! Ink on Paper, color acceptable.

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Renaissance Period

Watch               Renaissance Science & Invention

Tremendous! Entertainment, Inc.

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Seven

Architectural Training:

v  These last weeks will depend on your progress. I believe that a direction will manifest once you more clearly understand what it is you would like to do!

History Concentration:

Review the following NOT WIKIPEDIA! article on Architecture in the American Colonial Period

Read:               http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=200861

and study the houses on this website

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse/history/panoramas.html

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

Week Eight

Architectural Training:

v  See week 7

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Arts & Crafts Movement

Read:               Building with nature :

inspiration for the arts and crafts home

Leslie M. Freudenheim

Document a minimum of 3 things relevant to you in your sketchbook

 

Week Nine

Architectural Training:

v  See week 7

History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the Art Nouveau Period

(and check out images online at google! It’s extraordinarily interesting and beautiful!)

Answer the following question in your sketchbook:

The Art Nouveau was a response to a world that had gone awry – at least in the eyes of the artists of the period. They thought that the industrial revolution would destroy architecture as an art form. Do you think that architecture today is in keeping with our values of beauty? Why?

 

Week Ten

Architectural Training:

v  See week 7

            History Concentration:

Review Wikipedia article on Architecture in the 20^th century

CHOOSE a DVD on a modern architect or piece of architecture (20^th or 21^st century) and write a 1 page double spaced paper on what you have learned.

Week Eleven

Architectural Training:

v  See week 7

History Concentration:

Watch   Design e² : the economies of being environmentally conscious

and write a 1 page double spaced paper on what you have learned.

 

Week Twelve

Accountables:

Using the tools you’ve built around all previous work, create a portfolio of your work.

History Concentration:

There’s a test! OOOOH!

Take Home Written Final Exam:

Answer the following questions:

How does the architecture of the Gothic period and what you learned in Pillars of the Earth relate to your new design philosophy?

Architecture was once an integrated science. Architects were masons, and knew how to handle not only the stone, but the math and geometry of the solar path through their latitude! When the world turned to consumption of cheap materials and the use of mechanical systems, we lost something. What lessons have you learned from your history concentration that you can take with you to minimize the need for energy-consuming materials today?