Uthman Olowa

Comprehensive introduction to three-dimensional architectural and interior architectural representation and fabrication. Through individual and group projects, students learn hand-modeling and digital fabrication techniques, and become super-users of the School?s shops and Advanced Output Center. Students work on design projects using the latest software and digital tools, and develop techniques for integrating analog and digital design and fabrication processes. Students move between two- and three-dimensional representation in the development of robust skills for design communication. This course requires students to have a laptop that meets SAIC's minimum hardware specs and runs the AIADO template.

This two-day core design is structured around three clear goals: identifying the issue(s) at stake for the project, understanding its connection both to architecture and society; exploring architectural strategies and their relationship to the overall ambitions of the project; and developing graphic tools to convey the relevance and quality of the design exploration. Students conduct research, increase the sophistication of their approach to design and formal analysis, and use rigorous representation techniques. The 40,000-sf project has educational, health, leisure, and cultural programs at its core, operating at the scale of the neighborhood and the city.

The project is modeled after the nonprofit private institution SESC that operates with forty-three buildings in twenty-one cities of the municipality of S?o Paulo. Reference buildings from that network are Lina Bo Bardi?s SESC Pompeia (1986) and SESC 24 de Maio, designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Arquitetos. A series of case studies are used to illustrate outdoor and indoor programmatic and experiential approaches. This course builds on Arch/Inarc Studio 2 by introducing architecture projects of increasing complexity and scale, and requires presentations of increasing clarity and technical competence.

The course will include pinups, discussions, critiques, and presentations. Assignments include case study analysis, site research, spatial exploration, program and user study, and interior space definition.


This course requires students to have a laptop that meets SAIC's minimum hardware specs and runs the AIADO template.

Topics in Design Seminar offers students an opportunity to work with visiting and other faculty on contemporary topics in design through sustained academic engagement in a seminar context. The course is structured to provide unique opportunities for sustained inquiry into contemporary topics through both structured and open assignments; class discussion, presentations, and critiques.