This information based intensive one-year design and research master’s program is organized for the theoretical and practical reconsideration of the role of technology in the design of architecture, urbanism, and life. The School of Architecture is offering this program to architectural practitioners, graduating students from any profession, and past graduates in architecture who desire a thoughtful ‘technologization’ of their skills.

Providing a strong foundation in both theory and practice, a degree in Informatics and Architecture will prepare students with professional backgrounds for advancement in both academic research and professional development. Graduates will have developed an informed and critical knowledge of the latest software and hardware tools that exist in the workplace and will be empowered to advance themselves and their profession together.

In one and a half years, students will be able to choose from 3-D animation, computer-aided manufacturing, virtual reality design, graphics programming, and video editing software to study and apply to individual research projects. These technologies will serve as the foundation for software development, experimentation, and design integration that are an integral part of the Informatics and Architecture program, as well as for the theoretical research that is already a strength of the school.

The program is designed to support the interests of professionals who cannot enter into a multiyear design program as well as academics who want a focused time to perform research. Courses span two standard academic terms (a fall and spring term), and the research project is encouraged to extend into a third term. This additional term should encourage the incorporation of the research project into the student’s professional and extracurricular interests.

The program is a 30 credit program, with 18 credits taken from the School of Architecture course offerings. Additionally, a concentration of 12 credits is to be taken from any set of courses approved by the adviser upon entering the program. The general categories for concentrations in the program include the following.

Architectural Technologies  investigates the interrelationship of computing and building technologies and focuses on advanced developments in manufacturing technology, architectural systems modeling, and related areas. Concentration courses are drawn from the CAD, Building Technologies, and Environmental Systems offerings of the School of Architecture.

Computer-mediated Design Processes   This research track is primarily concerned with Computer-Aided Design and the redefinition of the design process through the medium of computing. Rather than simply a tool for performing well-known tasks faster and cheaper, the computer is envisioned as a medium opening up new possibilities for architectural and urban design. Fundamental work extending the breadth or scope of CAD software while at the same time providing ease of access to increasingly advanced functionality is essential to this effort. New design algorithms, new roles of computing in the client-designer-builder network, or new design processes are at the core of our research in this area.

Research   Students engaged in their thesis work are organized into research tracks which are broad enough to encourage a diversity of individual research projects but at the same time are focused enough to establish a clear research agenda. Each student develops a unique thesis project within this framework during their first semester and carries out the fundamental research during the ensuing year. These research tracks represent our interests in contributing to the computing, design, and theory culture beyond Rensselaer, and are therefore the focus of our fundraising and grant-writing efforts, as well as the focus of our contributions to conferences, publications, and seminars. Our current research tracks include synthetic space environment design, computer-mediated design processes, and simulation, data, and design.

Simulation, Data, and Design   Simulation and architectural design is a challenging research area because the design of architecture must react not only to complex physical criteria, but must be sensitive to social, cultural, and political concerns which are not easily codified into a simulation algorithm. Data and formulae are not necessarily the most useful determinants of a simulation’s importance, even though most current simulation efforts suggest this is the case. Our research into simulation is focused on the development of new simulation methods which provide creative, legible, and interactive feedback to designers, planners, and others involved in the general practice of architecture and urban design. These efforts in simulation design are concerned with issues of cultural context, availability of information, and a better understanding of data mining strategies and related simulation techniques that play an increasingly important role in shaping policies and informing design decisions.

Spatial Technologies   is a technical track that investigates the relationship of advanced technological developments which often fall outside of architectural and urban practices to the development of cities, buildings, and landscapes. Concentration courses are drawn from the School of Management, the School of Engineering, and the department of Science and Technology Studies.

Within these general categories, possible concentrations might include, but are not limited to: Architectural Representation, Urban Informatics, Spatial Simulation, or Cultural Studies in Architectural Informatics.

Spatio-Cultural Studies   is a philosophical and theoretical track that investigates the role of technological development on spatial representation and design. Concentration courses are drawn from the School of Architecture, the department of Science and Technology Studies, and the department of Information Technology.

Synthetic Space Environment Design   This research track is concerned with the exploration of immersive and augmented electronic environments and their relationship to physical space. A guiding principle of the research is to focus on complementarity rather than substitution, the latter suggested by the popular understanding of “virtual reality” as something which is outside our physical reality. The research began with a social inquiry into the perceptive impacts that immersive and augmented environments have on an individual’s cognition of and existence in their spatial environment. For research purposes, it has focused on the development of a state of the art facility for immersive online collaborative design presentation.

The degree requires 30 credit hours.