PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE is a graduate-level course dedicated to familiarizing students with the fundamental principles of architectural practice in the context of today’s rapidly evolving building industry. Divided into three parts—01 PRACTICE, 02 SERVICE, and 03 ENTREPRENEURSHIP—the course will examine the complexities of the discipline, intertwined and complicit with broader global and local economic conditions, labor markets, political issues, and cultural representation.
01 PRACTICE will grapple with the foundational ideas of what it means to be part of a “profession” and what the privileges and responsibilities such a distinction implies. To do this, the course will interrogate and contextualize the historical, practical, ethical, organizational, legal, financial, social, and technological conditions embedded in the practice of architecture.
02 SERVICE will explore the mechanisms and modalities that architects can use to promote a more just, equitable, and environmentally conscious discipline. As stewards of the built environment, how can architects use their expertise towards new forms of service and participation?
03 ENTREPRENEURSHIP will engage with the emerging technologies, platforms, networks, intellectual property, and alternative business models changing the practice of architecture. Students will research and propose an AEC start-up, capitalizing on the skills of the architect and critically interrogating market conditions.
Through lectures, workshops, case studies, readings, research, and projects, the course will cover these essential elements and obstacles of the profession in order that students can critically examine the potential agency of the architect. ARCH 583 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE is designed as a space for civic participation, to expand the scope of influence of the architect towards a better future for policy, culture, technology, humanity, and the built environment.
