If you’re interested in the concept of building with nature, then this is the engineering course for you. This course explores the use of natural materials and ecological processes in achieving effective and sustainable hydraulic infrastructural designs. You will learn the Building with Nature ecosystem-based design concept and its applications in water and coastal systems. During the course, you will be presented with a range of case studies to deepen your knowledge of ecological and engineering principles.

You’ll learn from leading Dutch engineers and environmental scientists who see the Building with Nature integrated design approach as fundamental to a new generation of engineers and ecologists.

Products and equipment all around us are made of materials: look around you and you will see phones, computers, cars, and buildings. We face challenges in securing the supply of materials and the impact this has on the planet. Innovative product design can help us find solutions to these challenges. This course will explore new ways of designing products.

The design of products is an important aspect of a circular economy. The circular economy approach addresses material supply challenges by keeping materials in use much longer and eventually returning materials for new use. The principle is that waste must be minimized. Products will be designed to last longer. They will be easier to Reuse, Repair, and Remanufacture. The product will eventually be broken down and Recycled. This is Design for R and is the focus of this course.

Experts from leading European universities and research organizations will explain the latest strategies in product design. Current design approaches lead to waste, loss of value and loss of resources. You will learn about the innovative ways in which companies are creating value, whilst securing their supply chains, by integrating Design for R.

This course is suitable for all learners who have an interest in product design, innovative engineering, new business activity, entrepreneurship, sustainability, circular economy and everyone who thinks that the current way we do things today needs a radical rethink.

A general introduction to the diverse roles of microorganisms in natural and artificial environments. Topics include: cellular architecture, energetics, and growth; evolution and gene flow; population and community dynamics; air, water, and soil microbiology; biogeochemical cycling; and microorganisms in biodeterioration, bioremediation, and pest control.

Ontwerpen is een combinatie van logisch redeneren en het creatief combineren van bestaande technieken om tot nieuwe, innovatieve ideeen te komen. Een goede werktuigkundig ontwerper put zijn creativiteit uit kennis van een groot aantal bestaande werktuigbouwkundige systemen. Hoe groter die kennis, hoe groter de kans dat nieuwe, innovatieve ontwerpconcepten ontstaan. Vooral kennis over niet-conventionele techniek bevordert dit creatieve ontwerpproces.

Het doel van het vak Evolving Design is om studenten de onderhavige werkprincipes te tonen van een grote hoeveelheid niet-conventionele werktuigbouwkundige systemen. Er wordt hierbij zowel gekeken naar bijzondere ontdekkingen uit het verleden als uit het heden, met een blik op de toekomst. De ontwerpprincipes worden niet simpelweg opgesomd, maar geplaatst in hun fascinerende, historische ontwikkeling om te laten zien hoe de ontwerpers hun creativiteit en vernuft gebruik(t)en om goedwerkende oplossingen te vinden binnen de beperkingen van de beschikbare fabricageprocessen en beschermingsmogelijkheden (patenten). Veel oplossingen uit het verleden zijn klaar om te worden toegepast in de technologie van de toekomst!

Het vak richt zich primair op het kwalitatief beschrijven van de werkprincipes van bestaande technologieen, met de nadruk op bewegende mechanische constructies. Hoewel het kwantatief, in detail uitwerken van de kracht-bewegingsvergelijkingen niet het hoofddoel van het vak is, zijn mechanische vergelijkingen wel essentieel als zij leiden tot een beter begrip.

Uses scale models to design environments that orchestrate contrasting material properties and conventional constructional systems to create places that foster specific ways of inhabiting space. Demonstrates how architecture differs from other forms of design. Intended for students to test aptitude for architectural design and to experience an unfamiliar mode of thought. Conducted in a studio format, with lectures on architectural theory and history, and structured for students with no previous experience in design. Required of Course IV majors.

Inspired by the work of the architect Antoni Gaudi, this research workshop will explore three-dimensional problems in the static equilibrium of structural systems. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration between computer science and architecture, we will develop design tools for determining the form of three-dimensional structural systems under a variety of loads. The goal of the workshop is to develop real-time design and analysis tools which will be useful to architects and engineers in the form-finding of efficient three-dimensional structural systems.

" This class provides an introduction to quantitative models and qualitative frameworks for studying complex engineering systems. Also taught is the art of abstracting a complex system into a model for purposes of analysis and design while dealing with complexity, emergent behavior, stochasticity, non-linearities and the requirements of many stakeholders with divergent objectives. The successful completion of the class requires a semester-long class project that deals with critical contemporary issues which require an integrative, interdisciplinary approach using the above models and frameworks."

This design-based subject provides a first course in energy and thermo-sciences with applications to sustainable energy-efficient architecture and building technology. No previous experience with subject matter is assumed. After taking this subject, students will understand introductory thermodynamics and heat transfer, know the leading order factors in building energy use, and have creatively employed their understanding of energy fundamentals and knowledge of building energy use in innovative building design projects. This year, the focus will be on design projects that will complement the new NSTAR/MIT campus efficiency program.

Furniture making is in many ways like bridge building, connections holding posts apart with spans to support a deck. Many architects have tried their hand at furniture design, Wright, Mies Van Der Rohe, Aalto, Saarinen, Le Corbusier, and Gerhy. We will review the history of furniture making in America with a visit to the Decorative Arts Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and have Cambridge artist/craftsman Mitch Ryerson show us his work and talk about design process. Students will learn traditional woodworking techniques beginning with the use of hand tools, power tools and finally woodworking machines. Students will build a single piece of furniture of an original design that must support someone weighing 185 lbs. sitting on it 12 inches off the ground made primarily of wood. Students should expect to spend approximately 80 hours in the shop outside of class time. Preregistered architecture students will get first priority but first meeting attendance is mandatory. Twelve student maximum, no exceptions.

The studio will focus on the district of Gaoming, located in the northwest of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) - the fastest growing and most productive region of China. The District has recently completed a planning effort in which several design institutes and a Hong Kong planning firm prepared ideas for a new central area near the river. The class will complement these efforts by focusing on planning and design options on the waterfront of the proposed new district and ways of integrating water/hydrological factors into all aspects and land uses of a modern city (residential, commercial, industrial) - including watershed and natural ecosystem protection, economic and recreational activities, transportation, and tourism.

This course is an intensive introduction to architectural design tools and process, and is taught through a series of short exercises. The conceptual basis of each exercise is in the interrogation of the geometric principles that lie at the core of each skill. Skills covered in this course range from techniques of hand drafting, to generation of 3D computer models, physical model-building, sketching, and diagramming. Weekly lectures and pin-ups address the conventions associated with modes of architectural representation and their capacity to convey ideas. This course is tailored and offered only to first-year M.Arch students.

An old saying holds that ‰ŰĎthere are many more good ideas in the world than good ideas implemented.‰Ű This is a case-based introduction to the fundamentals of effective implementation. Developed with the needs and interests of planners--but also with broad potential application--in mind, this course is a fast-paced, case-driven introduction to developing strategy for organizations and projects, managing operations, recruiting and developing talent, taking calculated risks, measuring results (performance), and leading adaptive change, for example where new mental models and habits are required but also challenging to promote. Our cases are set in the U.S. and the developing world and in multiple work sectors (urban redevelopment, transportation, workforce development, housing, etc.). We will draw on public, private, and nonprofit implementation concepts and experience.

" This course will study the question of Global Architecture from the point of view of producing a set of lectures on that subject. The course will be run in the form of a writing seminar, except that students will be asked to prepare for the final class an hour-long lecture for an undergraduate survey course. During the semester, students will study the debates about where to locate "the global" and do some comparative analysis of various textbooks. The topic of the final lecture will be worked on during the semester. For that lecture, students will be asked to identify the themes of the survey course, and hand in the bibliography and reading list for their lecture."

This class examines the history and theory of historic preservation, focusing on the United States, but with reference to traditions and practices in other countries. The class is designed to examine the largely untold history of the historic preservation movement in this country, and explore what laws, public policies and cultural attitudes shape how we preserve or do not preserve the built environment. The class will give students a grounding in the history, theory and practice of historic preservation, but is not an applied, technical course.

Focuses on how the housing and human service systems interact: how networks and social capital can build between elements of the two systems. Explores ways in which the differing world views, professional perspectives, and institutional needs of the two systems play out operationally. Part I establishes the nature of the action frames of these two systems. Part II applies these insights to particular vulnerable groups: "at risk" households in transitional housing, the chronically mentally ill, and the frail elderly.

"The course is designed to provide a better understanding of the built environment, globalization, the current financial crisis and the impact of these factors on the rapidly changing and evolving international architecture, engineering, construction fields. We will, hopefully, obtain a better understanding of how these forces of globalization and the current financial crisis are having an impact on the built environment and how they will affect firms and your future career opportunities. We will also identify, review and discuss best practices and lessons that can be learned from recent events. We will explore the "international built environment" in detail, examining how it functions and asking what are the managerial, entrepreneurial and professional opportunities, challenges and risks in it, especially growing crossover and multi-disciplinary opportunities; and we will seek to understand what makes this "built environment" so different from other sectors."

This seminar examines efforts in developing and advanced nations and regions to create, finance, and regulate infrastructure and energy technologies from a variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives. It is conducted with intensive in-class discussions and debates.

This course is designed in the tightly controlled space between (national) security and (civil) liberty, student projects, guest presentations, readings and workshop discussions will attempt to develop positive answers to these questions. More specifically, the course will focus on the psychological, economical and political conditions of those who are marginalized and therefore deprived of parrhesia today: the silent victims and witnesses of any kind of social and cultural exclusions. "Parrhesia" was an Athenian right to frank and open speaking, the right that, like the First Amendment, demands a "fearless speaker" who must challenge political powers with criticism and unsolicited advice. Can designer and artist respond today to such a democratic call and demand? Is it possible to do so despite the (increasing) restrictions imposed on our liberties today? Can the designer or public artist operate as a proactive "parrhesiatic" agent and contribute to the protection, development and dissemination of "fearless speaking" in Public Space.

Explores the application of building technology to architecture through considerations of building construction -- materials and methods -- and systems -- structure, enclosure, climate and utility services, light, acoustics, fire safety, and accessibility. Includes lectures, laboratory exercises, site visits, problem sets, and a semester-long student investigation of a precedent building. Required of Course IV majors.

" This course will introduce students to architectural design and computation through the use of computer modeling, rendering and digital fabrication. The course focuses on teaching architectural design with CAD drawing, 3-D modeling, rendering and rapid prototyping. Students will be required to build computer models that will lead to a full package of architectural explorations with computers. Each semester we will explore the design process of a particular building type and building material. The course also investigates a few design processes of selected architects. The course is critical of design principles and building production methods. Student Assignments and Labs are graded based on the quality of design, representation and constructability. Great design input is always encouraged."