ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM
A 2-year program primarily intended as a transfer program for students who want to pursue a professional (B Arch) degree in architecture. At the conclusion of the program, students will be eligible to apply for advanced placement in a local university for completion of a degree in architecture. Admission and advanced placement is subject to portfolio review at the destination school. Alternatively, after completion of this program, students in California may also enter the architecture profession directly through the internship process. Paid internships are available for qualified students after the first year of the program.


In the first year, architecture and design are understood as the embodiment of design principles and ideas. Students first undertake a series of inter-related studio projects to identify and visualize certain ordering principles and ideas. These principles and ideas are then interpreted in systematic abstract constructions. The next series of studio projects require students to be able to use ordering ideas to accomplish fundamental spatial qualities such as open, closed and sequential spaces. From the first day of class, students are treated as professional designers, and are asked to engage in design discourse, and to participate in studio culture. Although listed as separate courses, rigorous classes teaching drawing, model making, and computer skills are taught as part of the studio experience.

Projects in the second year address the relationship between idea, structure, function, and form. These projects require students to use organizational ideas and systems to create constructions that form the basis for a series of spaces intended for habitation and use, and deal with architectural aspects such as spatial definition and sequence, transition areas, intersections, and human scale relationships. The conditions, principles, ideas and issues that are considered in the decision making process are applied to architectural problem solving. The development of personal architectural language is stressed. Architectural design as the embodiment of principles and ideas is continually stressed. Students are introduced to the notion that the creation of an architectural spatial / organizational idea can have a correspondence to an underlying social or ideological viewpoint. Although listed as separate courses, continued development in drawing, model making, and computer skills are all taught as part of the studio experience.



SEMESTER 1
   
Basic Design / Perception and Principles
Arch 101 A Conceptual Design 3 units
Arch 101 B Basic Architectural Drawing 1 3 units
  General Education / Electives* 6 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 2    
Design Process
Arch 102 A Basic Architectural Design 1 3 units
Arch 102 B Basic Architectural Drawing 2 3 units
  General Education / Electives 6 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 3    
Intermediate Architectural Design and Communication 1
Arch 201 A Intermediate Architectural Design 1 3 units
Arch 201 B Intermediate Architectural Drawing 1 / Computer Applications 3 units
Arch 48 History of Architecture 1 3 units (At WLAC)
  General Education / Electives 3 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 4    
Intermediate Architectural Design and Communication 2
Arch 202 A Intermediate Architectural Design 1 3 units
Arch 202 B Intermediate Architectural Drawing 2 / Computer Applications 3 units
Arch 203 Portfolio Development 0 units
Arch 49 History of Architecture 3 units (At WLAC)
  General Education / Electives 3 units (At WLAC)
     
*See LAIAD faculty to determine which courses should be taken

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GRADUATE SCHOOL PREPARATION PROGRAM
Preparation for Master of Architecture Degree Programs
The 1 year Grad Prep program intended for students with bachelors degrees in other fields who wish to apply to a Master of Architecture program. The program focuses on the development of conceptual design skills and the assembly of a professional-quality portfolio. The goal of this program is not only to facilitate admission to leading Master of Architecture programs, but also to enable the student to take a leading position within these programs. The program is appropriate for students with no design background as well as students with design experience.


LAIAD faculty members have taught in graduate programs of architecture and have served on graduate admissions committees at several different universities. The content of this program is quite similar to that found in the first year of leading Master of Architecture programs so that our graduates can then apply to these programs with well suited portfolios and design abilities. In their portfolios, successful students will be able to demonstrate conceptual design skills, basic model making and drawing skills, and a beginning expertise with 2D and 3D computer applications. In addition to successful application to M Arch programs of their choice, many of our graduates have received substantial scholarships.

From the first day of class, students are treated as professional designers, and are asked to engage in design discourse, and to participate in studio culture. Although listed as separate courses, rigorous classes teaching drawing, model making, and computer skills are taught as part of the studio experience.



SEMESTER 1
   
Perception and Principles / Basic Design
GP 101 A Conceptual Design 3 units
GP 101 B Basic Architectural Drawing / Computer Applications 3 units
     
SEMESTER 2    
Design Process
GP 102 A Basic Architectural Design 1 3 units
GP 102 B Basic Architectural Drawing 2 / Computer Applications 3 units
Arch 203 Portfolio Development 0 units
     
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ADVANCED STUDIES IN AMERICAN SPACE
A theoretical studio focusing on the exploration of American rural, urban and suburban concepts of space-making. This program is intended for advanced students and practicing professionals.


Drawing, model-making, and computer visualization are the media of research and interpretation. Students will interpret their research as conceptual architectural works. The program involves research and visual interpretation into the ideological, economic, technological, and political frameworks underlying the physical development of the United States. Topics of student exploration have included the physical and economic land-use systems used to implement the policy of manifest destiny; the interactive effects of mapping, selling, road-making, and the democratic vision on the development of the American suburb; and the cosmological / mythological ideas used by native Americans to form pueblos. There is an emphasis on uniquely American concepts. This program is for advanced students of architecture and practicing professionals.

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INTERIOR DESIGN PROGRAM
A 2-year program primarily intended as a transfer program for students who want to pursue a Bachelors degree in Interior Design, Interior Architecture, or Environmental Design. At the conclusion of the program, students will be eligible to apply for advanced placement in a local university for completion of a degree in design. Admission and advanced placement is subject to portfolio review at the destination school. Alternatively, students may enter the interior design profession directly through the internship process. Paid internships are available for qualified students after the first year of the program.


The emphasis in the first year is on the principles of organization and design. These principles apply to all design professions, and therefore students in the Interior Design program undertake many of the same projects as students in the architecture program. Students are first assigned a series of inter-related studio projects to identify and visualize certain ordering principles and ideas that are then interpreted in systematic abstract constructions. The next series of projects require students to be able to use ordering ideas to accomplish fundamental spatial qualities such as open, closed and sequential spaces. From the first day of class, students are treated as professional designers, and are asked to engage in design discourse, and to participate in studio culture. Although listed as separate courses, rigorous classes teaching drawing, model making, and computer skills are taught as part of the studio experience.

In the second year, students may focus more specifically on Interior Architecture issues. A series of studio projects are assigned that continue with interior-oriented concepts introduced in the first year such as sequence, circulation, transition areas, intersections, and human scale relationships. Interior design projects based on specific work and leisure activities such as restaurant design, retail design and exhibit design are assigned. Emphasis is placed on how to develop a design concept that is based upon, and that supports, particular activities. Materials and colors, as well as signage, graphics and motion graphics are introduced as fundamental design elements. Students are introduced to the concepts of programming, space planning, and spatial definition. Material and color become important aspects of the students’ designs. Computer applications for design and communication are introduced.


SEMESTER 1
   
Basic Design / Perception and Principles
ID 101 A Conceptual Design 3 units
ID 101 B Basic Architectural Drawing 1 3 units
  General Education / Electives* 6 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 2    
Design Process
ID 102 A Basic Architectural Design 1 3 units
ID 102 B Basic Architectural Drawing 2 3 units
  General Education / Electives 6 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 3    
Interior Design and Communication 1
ID 201 A Interior Architectural Design 1 3 units
ID 201 B Intermediate Designl Drawing 1 / 2D Computer Applications 3 units
Arch 48 History of Architecture 1 3 units (At WLAC)
  General Education / Electives 3 units (At WLAC)
     
SEMESTER 4    
Interior Design and Communication 2
ID 202 A Interterior Design 2 3 units
ID 202 B Intermediate Design Drawing 2 / 3D Computer Applications 3 units
Arch 203 Portfolio Development 0 units
Arch 49 History of Architecture 3 units (At WLAC)
  General Education / Electives 3 units (At WLAC)
     
*See LAIAD faculty to determine which courses should be taken

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