There are, of course, notable exceptions to this scenario, but they are too rare. Rather than combining the worst of both worlds, technical courses in architecture should combine the best. Instead of engineering courses drained of mathematics, technical courses should be logically rigorous courses infused with creative, original design. Instead of following a few mathematical paces behind engineering courses, architectural technical courses should be leading several design steps ahead. To assume an influential position in the university and in society at large, architecture programs need to promote an agenda beyond competence.
Technical courses are an essential part of that agenda.
This statement must accompany all distributions of Architronic , whether complete or partial. As a holder of a Ph.D. and two Masters degrees, I can attest that there is some credibility to the theory that each year of college beyond the fourth makes a person less capable, but I think there is a different phenomenon at work here. Washington D.C., 1991. 7 Daniel L. Faoro, Structures Survey Curriculum , North Dakota State University, Department of Architecture, May 1994. The results are based on surveys distributed to 117 programs with 57 responding.