1 University of Illinois at Chicago
Established in 1965, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is a major urban public research university with one of the most diverse student bodies in the United States. It is from this vibrant intellectual and social context that the School of Architecture prepares its graduates to become the next generation of strategic thinkers, team leaders, and cultural producers in Chicago and the world.
Within the university, the School of Architecture is part of the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts (CADA). CADA offers many opportunities for architecture students to interact and take classes with students from other creative disciplines.
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UIC and the Chicago skyline, including the Architecture + Design Studios building. Operations Technologies Urbanisms Options Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four
Bachelor of Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Fall Spring Science in Design Architecture Studio 44 credits Studio 1 Studio 2 Studio 3 Studio 4 The four-year Bachelor of Studio 5 Studio 6 Advanced Advanced Topic Studio 1 Topic Studio 2 Science in Architecture (BSArch) program is a comprehensive pre-professional education in Theory architecture within the broader 17 credits context of liberal arts study Architectural Modern Theory I Theory II Contemporary provided by the university. Analysis Architecture Practices Consisting of an eight-semester Architecture studio sequence in architecture at Chicago and urbanism supported by Technology coursework in technology and 14 credits theory, the program provides Technology I Technology II Structures I Structures II an intensive introduction to the discipline of architecture.
Architecture at UIC provides students with the design skills, General critical and creative tools, and Education analytical abilities that enable 49 credits English English Art History Art History College Liberal Arts College them to follow a variety of career and Sciences paths. While many graduates continue their education in a professional Master of Architecture World Cultures The Past Individual and degree program, others pursue Society work or graduate study in fields such as law, graphic design, real 5 estate management, urban design Key and planning, and business. Liberal Arts US Society Physics and Sciences The size of circles represents the number of credits each class offers. Larger circles indicate more credits.
Dialogue Circles with dashed outlines indicate courses where a student The BSArch curriculum. can choose among multple options. Prerequisites Year One Year Two
Bachelor Fall Spring Fall Spring of Arts in Design Architectural Studio
15 credits Special Topics Studies Studio 1 Studio 2
The Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies is an upper- Theory I level undergraduate major that Theory uses architecture and related design practices as a lens through 14 credits Architecture Architectural Modern Theory II which to understand the history and Society Analysis Architecture of ideas and cultural invention. Contemporary The program also exposes students Practices to the synthetic environment of Architecture the design studio, providing an Technology at Chicago introductory experience that some 3 credits students may wish to pursue later Digital Design in graduate education.
Beyond prerequisite coursework, the program involves classes taken across junior and senior years. General Art History Art History The BA admits undergraduate Education students who have completed two years of college, either at UIC or 28 credits English at other institutions. The major also includes electives from other College Liberal Arts departments at UIC, enabling and Sciences students to pursue and potentially 7 minor in other areas of interest. Key
The size of circles represents the number of credits each class offers. Larger circles indicate more credits.
Circles with dashed outlines The BA in Architectural Studies indicate courses where a student curriculum. can choose among multple options. Studio Culture
The design studio is the central place where the curriculum comes together. Students enrolled in studio courses are granted an individual studio space where they can store work and supplies. The School of Architecture relies on its studio environment to contribute to its culture of curiosity, rigor, enthusiasm, and ambition. Studios are secure and respectful spaces that enable risk- taking, continuous conversation, and intensive collaboration.
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Faculty member Aura Venckunaite discusses first-year work during a group desk critique, or “crit.” 11
Students and faculty review drawings and models individually Students take part in an informal presentation of their models and collectively in the early stages of a design project. during studio time in faculty member Thomas Kelley’s studio.
Studio Culture UIC School of Architecture Final Reviews
At the end of each semester, all students present their final studio projects to their classmates and faculty. The school also invites guest critics from other architecture schools and local firms to offer feedback.
Students in both undergraduate programs are invited to attend the final reviews of all studios as a way to learn more about the work happening across the school and support the work of other students. For students in the first, second, and third years of the Bachelor of Science in Architecture program, reviews also provide a preview of what to expect in semesters ahead.
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A third-year undergraduate studio final review, Fall 2019. Print Lab The Print Lab is open only to School of Architecture students and houses multiple plotters, or Facilities large-format printers, as well as color copiers. Students can and Labs download software drivers to print to these machines over the school’s wireless network. Tutorials and lab Studios assistants are available to help All students enrolled in studio with technical issues. courses are assigned a desk for working in studio and storing Building access supplies each year. Undergraduate The A+D Studios building is open studios are located throughout to the public from 6:30am until the Architecture + Design Studios 8pm Monday through Friday and (A+D Studios) building, which closed on weekends and holidays. the School of Architecture shares All students are given 24/7 keycard with the School of Design. Studios access to the building. are located in open spaces A student working in the Project Lab. to encourage discussion and collaboration.
Project Lab All students in the School of Architecture have access to a staffed and well-equipped wood- and metal-working shop within the building. The lab offers orientation and special topic workshops for students each semester.
Fabrication Lab The School of Architecture and the School of Design jointly operate a fabrication lab, nicknamed the Fab Lab, on the first floor of the 15 A+D Studios building. The facility includes several laser cutters and 3D printers as well as a CNC milling machine. After completing training, BS in Architecture students have access to these Students in the Fabrication Lab. machines in the third and fourth years of the program. Student Work
The work shown on the following pages represents all four years of the studio sequence, from the introductions to architectural techniques and thinking of the first year to the various options available to BSArch students in their fourth year.
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An installation of student work at the Year End Show, May 2018. 19
Year 1: Operations Models of urban proposals, Arch 106, Spring 2019. The first-year studio curriculum introduces various techniques in drawing, model building, and digital production as organizers and generators of architectural form (fall) and urban form (spring). Above: Plan and axonometric drawings, Arch 105, Fall 2018.
Student Work UIC School of Architecture 21
Year 2: Technologies Rendering of chair designed to match a famous architectural In second-year studios, students speculate on high-rises and explore interior, Arch 206, Spring 2018. relationships between parts, details, and wholes in a building, with an emphasis on understanding technologies in architecture. Above: Isonometric drawing of tower, Arch 205, Fall 2018.
Student Work UIC School of Architecture 23
Year 3: Urbanisms Perspective collage of a proposed park, Arch 366, Spring 2018. Third-year studios investigate urbanism through the design of a complex landscape and the interior of a large, mixed-use building. Above: Drawings of a monastery, Arch 365, Fall 2018.
Student Work UIC School of Architecture 25
Year 4: Options Above: Digital model of a single-family home, Arch 466 studio with Fourth-year studios pursue design and research agendas with Ania Jaworska, Fall 2018. contemporary relevance; students choose from among multiple options. Above: Drawing of proposed changes to Chicago’s Thompson Center, Arch 465 studio with Stewart Hicks, Fall 2018.
Student Work UIC School of Architecture Professional development The school’s annual Career Fair provides an opportunity for students to meet with Student representatives from local and regional firms seeking candidates Life for summer internships and positions after graduation. The school also organizes workshops Studying architecture at UIC goes focusing on topics such as licensure beyond attending class. By joining and the Intern Development a student organization, attending Program, preparing a professional an evening lecture, or participating portfolio, public speaking, and in internships, students have writing about architecture. multiple opportunities to explore Portfolios are featured in an annual and extend their interests. Portfolio Day, where students receive feedback from an outside Student organizations jury and have the opportunity to The School of Architecture has win awards for their work. A grant- active chapters of national funded co-op program provides architecture organizations students with paid, part-time including AIAS (American Institute internships at local firms during of Architecture Students), their senior year. NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Architecture Students), Lectures and exhibitions and Arquitectos (the Society of Each semester, the school invites Hispanic Professional Architects). prominent architects and scholars to give public lectures. The school There are also student groups also hosts architectural exhibitions, that are unique to the school. conferences, and symposia. Fresh Meat, UIC’s nationally Each spring, students have the recognized architecture journal, opportunity to participate in is independently produced by workshops and exhibitions with students. The Student Advisory guests to the school, including with Board is made up of elected class the Garofalo Fellow (an emerging representatives and organizes designer who teaches at UIC for student-led exhibitions and design one year) and the Greenwald 27 competitions. Fellow (a more established designer or scholar). The school’s biggest celebration is the Year End Show, which takes place each year the evening before graduation and showcases the best studio projects Third-year BSArch students between studio reviews. of the school year. A student presents his contribution to the 2018 Garofalo Fellowship exhibition, organized by Fosco Lucarelli, in April 2018.
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The New York–based Spanish architect Cristina Goberna delivering a UIC students and faculty with Pritzker Prize–winning architect lecture in April 2019. Tadao Ando in the fall of 2018. The students built a new model of Ando’s Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth for the inaugural exhibition at Chicago’s Wrightwood 659 gallery.
Student Life UIC School of Architecture Student and Alumni Profiles
Nash Kennedy Taylor Geraghty Ryan Hernandez BSArch, 2020 BSArch, 2015 BSArch, 2013
Nash grew up in the suburbs Originally from Chicago’s south At UIC, Ryan worked in the of Chicago. At UIC, he has suburbs, Taylor transferred to UIC Print Lab and graduated with contributed to exhibitions by school from the University of Missouri, departmental distinction. She later faculty at the Lisbon Architecture Columbia. She is currently a brand received her master’s degree at Triennale and the Venice and interior design consultant for the University of California, Los Architecture Biennale. McDonald’s Corporation. Angeles.
“The school is unique because of “Even in high school, I had always “The uniqueness of UIC comes from Camille Castillo the individuals in the program. known that I wanted to live in the energy, the work, and the sense BSArch, 2019 I’ve met students from all over the Chicago, and that I wanted to of community. The innovative work world and been able to become study architecture. Coming to being created is a result of talent Originally from the Chicago friends with them because we UIC was a great opportunity to do and hard effort, but more than suburbs, Camille was awarded the share a common interest in both! The affordability was also a that: students’ and professors’ Alpha Rho Chi Medal of Merit at architecture. I also think the big selling point for me, [and] of excitement about those graduation. She is now working at professors make the school unique all the schools I have attended, possibilities. It’s an atmosphere Vinci Hamp Architects in Chicago. because they take real work UIC is by far the most diverse. The that encourages experimentation experience and bring it to the campus is poured into the hustle and allows students not only to be “I have benefited from the School classroom in a challenging but and bustle of Chicago, an already comfortable with their curiosity of Architecture professionally by rewarding way. The program has diverse city. Everyone who comes but to use it to ask questions and establishing strong connections helped pushed the limits of what I here has a different story, and create amazing things.” with my instructors and being able thought was possible or attainable a different path. There is no 31 to work for them outside school. in architecture.” one way here, and UIC is very The instructors here influence accommodating of that.” students to think outside the box. The program at UIC enables us to explore beyond what is given and experiment with other styles.” University of California, Los Angeles University of Cincinnati University of Illinois at Chicago Where Are University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign They Now? University of Kentucky University of Michigan University of Pennsylvania In recent years, graduates of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee school’s undergraduate programs Washington University in St. Louis have pursued professional opportunities and graduate studies Employers Ariba Bader Mario Romero throughout the world. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill BSArch, 2016 BSArch, 2016 Bjarke Ingels Group Graduate schools Bossa Digital While at UIC, Ariba was active in After high school, Mario began Arizona State University Bruce Mau Design the Student Advisory Board working for Adrian Smith + Clemson University Cannon Design and Arquitectos and interned with Gordon Gill Architecture. He Columbia University DESIGNATION Labs Studio Gang Architects. continued working at the firm as Harvard University FGM a student, and is still a designer Illinois Institute of Technology FreemanXP “UIC has been a great help in and technology and fabrication Iowa State University Gensler broadening my knowledge while specialist there. John Marshall School of Law The Graham Foundation encouraging me to develop strong Massachusetts Institute of Herzog & deMeuron relationships with my colleagues “UIC’s School of Architecture was Technology (MIT) HOK Architects and professors. The school an easy choice because of its New York University, JGMA provides a professional learning history of developing students’ Visual Communication Koo and Associates atmosphere and inspires creativity conceptual abilities as well Northern Illinois University, McDonald’s Corporation and innovation. I have not only as helping them step outside Law and Business MNML Design grown here as an individual but the norm of hypertechnical Northwestern University, Paramount Pictures along with my fellow students, architecture typically attributed Engineering Perkins and Will through a studio culture that to other schools. UIC’s faculty is Ohio State University RATIO Architects has strengthened my skills with well regarded for their high level of Parsons the New School of Design Skidmore, Owings & Merrill constructive feedback received on rigor, discipline, and craft in their Portland State University Solomon Cordwell Buenz potential projects.” own work as well as the curriculum Pratt Institute Studio Gang Architects they help to build. Through this Princeton University UNStudio curriculum, I’ve been afforded Rhode Island School of Design Valerio DeWalt Train 33 a wealth of opportunities from Rice University Whitney Museum of American Art the skills I have honed and the Royal College of Art, London connections I have made.” School of the Art Institute of Chicago Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) Syracuse University Tulane University
Student and Alumni Profiles Admitted Student Open House Each spring, students admitted to architecture programs and their families are invited to an open Ways to house, which typically takes place in early April. Admitted students Learn More can tour the school’s facilities, hear presentations by faculty and the school’s director, and see work HiArch by current students. Information HiArch is the School of about the open house is included in Architecture’s summer program admissions materials. for current high school students. The program introduces students UIC Preview Days to architectural ways of thinking The UIC Office for Admissions and making through class tutorials, offers Preview Days, which include studio time, one-on-one desk campus tours and information critiques, and group discussions. sessions that cover academic HiArch participants develop programs, admissions procedures, both analog and digital skills, financial aid, housing, student life, including drawing and building and other opportunities available models by hand, digital drafting, at the university. To reserve a and computer modeling. They place, visit admissions.uic.edu. also gain exposure to the field of architecture through guest lectures College fairs and panel discussions with school For a list of fairs and other faculty and local designers. recruiting events where the College The program concludes each year of Architecture, Design, and the with an exhibit of students’ work Arts will appear, please visit and a reception with family and cada-recruitment.uic.edu/events. friends. For more information, visit arch.uic.edu/hiarch. Individual visits We highly recommend that Fall Open House prospective students visit the Each fall, the School of school and the UIC campus. Architecture participates in the To schedule an information university’s Open House event, session and building tour of the 35 during which prospective students School of Architecture, please can visit UIC and learn more about contact [email protected] at our programs and the university least forty-eight hours in advance. as a whole. This event typically Unfortunately, we are unable to takes place in late September. accommodate drop-in visits. A view inside a model produced by a high school student during the More information is available at HiArch Pre-College Architecture Workshop, July 2019. openhouse.uic.edu. Updated September 2020