This graduate-level course examines the emergence of computation as a pivotal concept in contemporary architecture and design through a selection of design theories and practices responding to the so-called “computer revolution.”
This course explores the relationship of quality buildings, building systems, infrastructures and land-use to productivity, health, well-being and a sustainable environment.
This course challenges students to rethink how buildings perform — not just consume energy, but harness it. Students explore the physics behind daylight, thermal behavior, ventilation, and energy use, using advanced simulation tools like Rhino, Grasshopper, and Climate Studio. Through data-driven design, they learn to create environments that respond to climate, enhance human comfort, and minimize reliance on mechanical systems.Combining building science with computational design, the course equips students with workflows that inform better architecture — resilient, sustainable, and beautifully integrated with the forces of nature.
This graduate-level seminar provides an overview of scholarly, design, and research-based approaches addressing ecology, technology and climate change in architecture and urban design.
Throughout the semester we explore various types and scales of change. Each week we review various concepts, such as mass customization, computationally responsive environments and facades, open building, adaptive reuse, metabolism, persistence, preservation, circular economy, design for disassembly & adaptability (DfD&A), repair, design for inclusion, resilience, bio design, and smart materials. Students will engage with the content through written reading responses, group discussions, precedent studies, and will apply these strategies to a project of their own choosing.
Building Information Modeling (BIM) centralizes essential project data, allowing architects to visualize, analyze and optimize designs. This course offers hands-on experience with one of the leading tools in BIM: Autodesk Revit. Students will gain the ability to leverage Revit’s parametric features alongside AI-driven analytics specific to the BIM environment, such as Autodesk Forma and Veras, for a more efficient and innovative design process and visualization.
In this course, MSAECM students apply the diverse knowledge and skills they have acquired during the program to a critical public interest issue related to Pittsburgh’s built environment.
This course guides students through the development of a focused research proposal for the MS-BPD thesis. Students identify a topic, formulate research questions, conduct a critical literature review, and create a literature diagram to frame the context of their work. The course emphasizes methodological clarity and a well-defined scope that addresses current questions in building performance, technology, and the built environment.
This graduate course explores heating, cooling, ventilation, and power supply systems for new commercial buildings, emphasizing strategies to create comfortable, healthy spaces while advancing a zero-carbon future.
This course serves as an introduction to the spatial concepts of architecture for students from other disciplines. The hands-on course is focused entirely on project design work.
This design research seminar explores vernacular and folklore as a point of departure to frame the theoretical position of the architect as an integration of socio-ecological systems.
This course reimagines the Cabinet of Curiosities as an immersive space for lost stories, spectral histories, and unstable memories. Rather than housing objects, these cabinets become architectures of transformation—where narratives dissolve, reassemble, and unfold in unexpected ways.
