Many architecture programs are much larger, and a few are smaller. Studios are at the heart of the program. They are time consuming. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, all afternoon is given over to studio. Several times during the semester, there are general interim reviews of projects and reviews of final designs in which one or more outside critics discuss a student s work in the presence of the entire class.
Students spend additional time on evenings and weekends preparing their studio assignments.
In addition, students take courses elsewhere in the University, and they take a series of graphics courses, history courses, and courses in materials, structural engineering, and professional practice. In their second year, in preparation for their third year of study which is spent in Rome, they study Italian. Central to the program, both figuratively and in sequence, is the year in Rome, a feature that has operated continuously since 1969. Ours is the only American program in architecture that requires all of its students to spend an entire year studying abroad. The emphasis in the Rome program is twofold.