Credits: 2-3-3 (3 semester hours)
Type of Course: Lecture and Lab
Instructors: Athanassios Economou, Gernot Riether
Prerequisites: none
Course Overview: The course seeks to introduce students to the use of microcomputers within the context of architectural design and practice. Attention will be geared more towards underlying principles, rather than the mastery of a given set of tools, since these evolve over time with increasing rapidity. It is however intended that the completion of the course will leave students with a practical and functional level of capability in the use of the more popular subset of tools which they will find useful both through the remaining of the degree as well as beyond. The course should also provide the student with the ability to comfortably pursue advanced investigation of a wide range of specific tools should interest or circumstance demand this. It should also provide an introduction for students interested in pursuing more computationally rigorous specialization's, through introduction to current research issues in the field of design computing. The content and conceptual emphasis of the course should provide a good introduction to the evolving nature of design and design practice, including its growing overlap with computer science and technology.
Learning Objectives:
1 Introduce students to the capabilities and limitations of computers in the context of design work
2 Provide an understanding of underlying principles guiding the design and use of design software
3 Provide a good working knowledge of a key subset of tools used in design and design practice
4 Provide some exposure to current efforts and recent developments in design computing
Course Requirements: Evaluation will consist of simple weekly and biweekly exercises designed for the evaluation of tool skill acquisition, 2 tests and regular in-class discussions to evaluate students understanding of theoretical content. Class attendance and participation are of great importance.