In 1995, the presidents of the US and the European Community (EC) agreed on a comprehensive new Transatlantic Agenda aimed at more effective cooperation and leadership in areas ranging from trade to security and humanitarian assistance. As part of this agreement, FIPSE, the Federal US agency responsible for Improvement of Post Secondary Education, and its counterpart in the EC, were charged with the task of tightening educational relationships between the two continents. This initiated the distribution of joint US/EC grants meant to support the development of international educational proposals, called the European Community / United States of America Joint Consortia For Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Education.
The International Architectural Educational Exchange (IAEE) program, led by Georgia Tech and Paris-La Villette, is a consortium of six architectural professional graduate programs. It focuses on international practice and on understanding how different country's professional structures guide and influence architectural responses. In particular, it studies how these impact the design of sustainable architectures and environments in rapidly growing cities. This introductory course serves as preparation for a 3-week international summer workshop where students and faculty from the six schools exchange their approaches, thoughts, and design proposals through virtual means as well as physical gatherings. The course is divided into three parts and consists of readings and projects. The first part pertains to general issues of the IAEE program, including globalization and the information economy, sustainability and place. The second part analyzes the city to be visited in the upcoming summer workshop, with readings and case study projects. The third part focuses on Atlanta in terms of the general issues of the IAEE program.