Common First Year

COA1060: Introduction to Design and the Built Environment

Course Objectives

• Foster a critical curiosity about the designed and built environment
• Foster an informed engagement with one?s surroundings: from the scale of the campus and the neighborhood to the city and the metropolitan region
• Provide an introduction to the changing physical, social, and political landscape of Atlanta
• Provide an introduction to architecture, building construction, and industrial design from an inter-disciplinary perspective and to the professional and inter-professional roles and relationships in the design and building industry
• Provide an introduction to the three COA undergraduate programs

Lectures

Twice-weekly lectures and panel discussions. Invited speakers and panel participants represent a spectrum of disciplines. Approximately twenty minutes in each session are set aside for discussion . Students are strongly encouraged to participate. Please have questions ready for the invited speaker.

Lectures and panel discussions are divided into six groups:

• Atlanta: Urban Form, Social Fabric
• Atlanta Case Studies: Recent Projects
• What Makes a Great City? Lessons From/For Atlanta
• Introduction to the Undergraduate Programs
• Inter-disciplinary Perspectives on Eco-design, Construction and Fabrication, IT and Digital Media
• Futures: Architecture, Building Construction, and Industrial Design

Assignments

Reading Summaries.

Twice-weekly summaries of readings associated with each class, responses to panel discussions, and other written assignments. 40% of the final grade

Students are expected to complete the assigned reading, review the reading assignment prompts, and post reading summaries on their reading summaries page, before each class period

Take-Home Essays.

Take-Home Essays on topics handed out at the conclusion of four of the six lecture groups. Each essay will ask you to refer to, and reflect upon, the lectures and readings (both Primary and Secondary) associated with that group. 60% of the final grade. There are no Final Exams for COA 1060

 

Class Website

COOLhand is the collaborative on-line site which serves as the 24/7 learning and social environment for COA 1060 and for COA 1011. All reading summaries and other assignments, other than the Take-Home Essays, will be posted, turned in, reviewed, and discussed on COOLhand

The Take-Home essays will be turned in to the designated graduate teaching assistant via email. Once graded, the teaching assistant will post selected essays on COOLhand

Class Requirements

Attendance is mandatory. Missing more than three classes will automatically result in a grade penalty. Leaving early, or arriving late, will be counted as an absence.

All excused absences need to be cleared in advance with the instructors. Email Professor Khan and notify the graduate teaching assistants by email. Email addresses are posted on the COOLhand home page

Missing class for health reasons requires a note from a medical practitioner.

All pagers and cell phones must be turned off for the duration of class. Please get into the habit of turning off cell phones and pagers before entering the auditorium.