ARCH ARCC

484 Pages·2016·10.79 MB·English

Architecture Program Report
2016-2017
Volume 2
4. Supplemental Information Vol 2
4.1. Introduction to the Institution and Program History
4.2. Current Course Description
4.3. Current Faculty Resumes
4.4. Visiting Team Report from the Previous Visit
4.5. Annual Reports

Architecture Program Report – PART 2

September 2016 Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism
Carleton University

1

4.1 Introduction to the Institution and Program History

Architecture Program Report – PART 2

September 2016 Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism
Carleton University

4 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

4.1 Introduction to the Institution and Program History

4.1.a History and Description of the Institution

Carleton University will be 75 years old in 2017 when Canada celebrates its 150th birthday. The
University's origins lie in a wartime initiative to offer university-level instruction to veterans and a
younger generation of civil servants. Carleton College, as it was first known, began offering classes in
1942. During this period, the College operated out of the high-school facilities and temporary buildings
under very stringent financial conditions. Enrolment continued to expand and in 1952 Carleton's degree-
granting privileges were confirmed by the Province with the Carleton College Act. The College was
renamed Carleton University in 1957.

Carleton had been the first post-secondary institution to be established in Ontario since the nineteenth
century and its move to the current campus in 1959 coincided with a substantial expansion of the
Provincial university system. The University's development in the 1960s was characterized by rapid
increases in enrolment and by almost continuous construction activity. As organized at present, the
University consists of five faculties offering more than fifty disciplines of study. The faculties of Arts and
Social Sciences (FASS), Public Affairs and Management (PAM), Engineering and Design (FED), and
Science provide instruction to some 27,000 full-time and part-time graduate and undergraduate
students supported by approximately 2,000 faculty and staff.

4.1.b Institutional Mission
Mission Statement
Carleton @ 75 builds on the current mission statement:

Carleton University is an independent, collegial university dedicated to the advancement of learning
through disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching, study and research, the creation and dissemination of
knowledge, and the betterment of its community. It is centred in Ottawa and serves the people of Ontario,
Canada, and the world.

Carleton’s contemporary mission above reflects both its past and its present. Carleton @ 75 builds upon
this mission statement, the 2008- 13 Strategic Plan, Defining Dreams, and Carleton’s Strategic Mandate
Agreement to set the direction for Carleton University.

Carleton’s Strategic
Integrated Plan
Sustainable Communities – Global Prosperity

Carleton University will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2017. The Strategic Integrated Plan lays out the
vision, goals and strategic actions for Carleton@75 over the next five years from 2013 to 2018.
Our vision for Carleton@75: Carleton University will be known nationally and internationally as a leader in
collaborative teaching and learning, research and governance. Our students, faculty and staff will be
critically engaged, productive citizens and highly qualified contributors to the 21st century.

At Carleton, we encourage creative risk-taking enabling minds to connect, discover and generate
transformative knowledge. Through education, research, service and innovation, and through the building
of sustainable communities, we can foster new ideas and future leaders to create a more sustainably
prosperous future for Canada and the world.

READ OUR STRATEGIC PLAN →
http://carleton.ca/sip/wp-content/uploads/Strategic-Integrated-Plan.pdf

Carleton’s Strategic Integrated Plan builds on four central themes:

Theme 1: Programs and Enrolment. Carleton University will be known nationally and internationally for its
research and teaching in programs which respond to the needs of society today and which anticipate
the needs of the future.
Theme 2: Research. Carleton University will be known as a university that promotes research excellence
and connectedness. It will be recognized as a leader in research that focuses both on tangible outcomes
and the development of knowledge with longer-term impacts.
Theme 3: Students. Carleton University will be nationally and internationally known for being student
centred, linking its academic endeavours and student supports to empower students as productive and
engaged citizens in an increasingly diverse world.
Theme 4: Organizational Excellence. Carleton University will be known as a university that nurtures
leadership, encourages innovation, recognizes achievement and embraces sustainability.

Consistency of the Architecture Programs with the General Objectives of the University’s Strategic
Plan:

In 1997, the School of Architecture submitted a report entitled, “Criteria for Choice”, to the Senate
Academic Planning Committee that outlined a program restructuring specifically dedicated to enhance the
University’s two stated areas of focus: Public Policy and High Tech. (Ref: APR, 2004). In our conscious
desire to align our program with the University’s mission and developmental plan we addressed this
objective in the restructuring of the program and its curricular structure as well as in our research
objectives. This restructuring led to the 4 + 2 (BAS + M.Arch) between 1998 and 2004. These degrees
were reviewed and accredited by the CACB (Canadian Architectural Certification Board) in the same
calendar year.

The December 2008 launch of “Defining Dreams”, the Draft for the University’s Strategic Plan, reiterated
the importance of Public Policy and High Tech with additional areas of endeavour meant to support the
“Four Pillars of Identity” (Innovation, Location, Engagement with the Community, and Solutions to Real-
world Problems). These central themes were reiterated and enhanced in the University’s 2016 Strategic
Integrated Plan: Sustainable Communities – Global Prosperity. Architecture as a discipline and the
architecture programs in particular, are well aligned with the declared areas of endeavour; Sustainability
and the Environment, Health (workplace, environment), New Digital Media (Content Design, Visualization)
and Global identities and Globalization. The BAS Majors (BAS – Design, BAS – Conservation &
Sustainability, and BAS – Urbanism), and the Professional and Post-professional graduate programs
(M.Arch, MAS and PhD) include specializations that touch on many of these central themes.

Sustainable Communities – Global Prosperity
In the most general terms, Architecture is a public practice inscribed in a public world -- the polity of the
city, suburb, etc. In both theory courses and in architectural design studios, emphasis on the public
dimension of architecture and an awareness of sustainable development continues to increase. These are
discussed and investigated at local, national and international levels.

History/theory courses like Introduction to Architecture (ARCH 1000), History of Modern Architecture
(ARCH 2300), History of Canadian Architecture (ARCH 4002), Physical Morphology of the City (ARCU
3100), History of Post War Architecture (ARCH 4301), Foundations of Modernism (ARCH 4008) and Post
WWII Urbanism (ARCU 4600) aim to equip students with the necessary foundations for understanding
and being able to meaningfully participate in current architectural production and discourse. In this sense,
these courses are valuable in supporting the University mission statement.

Architectural Technology and workshop electives have evolved to include contemporary concerns of
sustainability and architectural conservation. Material studies, supported by the school’s excellent facilities
and research units, are also contributing to architectural production and discourse in the core curriculum
including design studio. Sustainability in architectural design and production is addressed within a greater
context of history and culture, globalization, local materials and craft, conservation and adaptive re-use,
urban renewal, and alternative energy systems.

Along with the curricular changes, major initiatives have been taken in the area of Research, again with
specific attention to complementing the general objectives of the University. The School of Architecture’s
research agenda draws on the School’s established strengths in the pedagogy and craft of architecture.
Our architectural research is informed by the interaction of experimental making, theoretical investigation,
and cultural insight and includes contributions to the areas of architectural history and theory, material and
form studies, and the architectural and pedagogical applications of immersive and digital technologies.

4.1.c Program History

The School of Architecture held its first classes in the fall of 1968, with twelve students and four faculty
members. The School offered a five-year undergraduate professional degree, accredited, from the outset,
by the Ontario Association of Architects. The first degree was awarded in 1973. In the fall of 1972, the
School moved into its present purpose-built facility, designed by Toronto architects Carmen Corneil and Jeff
Stinson. The Architecture Building was planned for a total of 250 students (a number long since exceeded).
The building is highly regarded by the architectural community. It continues to provide a supportive,
appropriate environment and to constructively influence the School's programs.

During the first few years, faculty ranks increased annually as the student body grew. By 1976 the School
comprised five Full Professors, eleven Associate Professors, five Assistant Professors, and fifteen
Sessional Lecturers (Contract Instructors). The School expanded further in the 1970s, reaching 300
students and 24 faculty members by 1983-84. The academic staff was supplemented by a technical staff
comprised of a Photographic Supervisor and a Library Technician. The Technical staff expanded to include
two full-time Shop Technicians supervising the School's wood and metalworking facilities. The Library
Technician position was lost in 1991. A half-time Computer Technician position was created in 1997 through
administrative restructuring. A second, full time Computer Technician was added in 2004.

The founding Director, Douglas Shadbolt, completed two full terms of office and retired in 1978. He was
replaced by Professor Michael Coote. Professor James Strutt served as Acting Director in 1983- 84 following
the tragic death of Professor Coote. Professor Alberto Perez-Gomez served as Director from 1983 to 1986,
followed by Professor Robert Osler as Acting Director for one year. Professor Gilbert Sutton then held the
office through 1991. Professor Stanley Loten served as Acting Director in 1991/92 while a search was
conducted for a new Director. Benjamin Gianni was appointed in 1992 for a five-year term and re-appointed
in 1997 for another 2.5 years. In 1999, Professor Gulzar Haider became Director until his retirement in 2004.
In July of 2004, Professor Stephen Fai was appointed for a one-year term while an external search was
conducted resulting in the appointment of Marco Frascari as Director of the School. During Prof. Frascari’s
protracted illness and following his untimely death, Prof. Sheryl Boyle assumed an extended interim
directorship while a new Director search was held. In 2015, Prof. Jill Stoner joined the school to become
its most recent full-term Director.

From 1968-78, the curriculum for the 5-year B.Arch. was comprised of thirty credits. This curriculum was
organized around five "divisions": Division A - history and theory, human sciences, environmental sciences;
Division B - structures, environmental controls, materials and methods of construction, design economics;
Division C - general planning, policy planning and community development, management and development,
professional practice; Division D - computations, design methodology, design education, communications;
and the Studio Division. The elective portion of course work was relatively high, nearly 50% (14.5 of 30
credits). In the Studio, the first two years were foundation years focusing on basic design, problem solving,
construction, planning, environmental factors and context. Studios in years three and four were defined on
a building type basis -- "Work Environments, Living Environments", etc. -- and were not structured
sequentially; students could take these Studios in any order. Colloquia, which were required in each
semester, operated in a mixture of lecture, seminar, and guest lecture modes. They carried the humanities
portion of the program, and were defined thematically, like the Studios, e.g. Technology, "Man and
Community," etc. Workshops were considered from the beginning of the program as intermediary devices
between course subject areas and the design theatre of the Studios -- intended to apply the Studio mode
of teaching/learning to selected subsets of the problems confronted in Studio. While this initial program
underwent more or less continuous revision, it remained essentially in place until the retirement of the first
Director, Professor Shadbolt. Some elements survive in the current curriculum.

The first major program overhaul came in 1978, under Director Michael Coote. Colloquia became electives
and were replaced by seven mandatory “Theories of Environmental Design” courses, dealing with the
history and theory of architecture and linking architecture to culture. The Design Studios became sequential
from years one through four, each a prerequisite for the next, so that a more finely tuned progression through
the years could be developed. The sequence established was: Basic Design (Year 1); site, climate and
technology (Year 2); "Built Form Influenced by Environment" (Year 3); "Built Form Influenced by
Technology" (4A); and "Built Form Influenced by Values" (4B). The previous divisional organization
remained in place for courses, workshops and administration. The Studio program was divided into "Project"
and "Seminar" courses (instituted earlier) in an effort to ensure more controlled input of information (a
strategy that proved ineffective and was soon dropped). A significant revision took place in 1980, when the
first year of the Studio program was radically transformed to pursue basic design grounded conceptually in
"thoughtful making". This has proven to be one of the most far-reaching developments the program has
seen. The elective portion of this program became somewhat reduced by the introduction of 'Theories
Electives," which required that the majority of electives be taken from a list of courses emphasizing theory
and history of architecture.

The next major change in the program came with the appointment of Professor Alberto Perez-Gomez in
1984. The commitment to ‘thoughtful making’ was given a more rigorous philosophical grounding and
extended to all levels of studio instruction. The Studio work resulting from this thrust has given the School
an international presence. The major structural reorganization at this time focused on fifth-year to provide a
series of options (Design Studio 5A, Research Thesis, and Design Thesis), allowing students tremendous
flexibility in choosing the final work best suited to their strengths and personal interests. Great emphasis
was placed on the intellectual basis of design, the poetic power of form, and academic scholarship in
Research and Design Theses. The impressive work produced in the fifth-year program has had an impact
on nearly every aspect of the program.

The Senate of the University approved another set of program revisions in 1992, during Ben Gianni’s term
as director. These changes increased the number of mandatory architectural history courses from two to
four half courses, restructured the Building Construction and Environmental Controls sequence to
emphasize the interconnections between these sub-disciplines, and added a course in systems integration.
This revision eliminated ‘Theories Electives’ and concentrated elective courses in the fourth year. This
assured that students would cover courses more directly concerned with the profession in the lower years.
While the previous sequential structure of the Studio program remained intact, the content of design projects
evolved toward a greater emphasis on building design, site development, context, and planning as the
media through which the conceptual emphasis of first year found its expression in the upper years.

In 1993-94 a proposal for a post-professional M.Arch. degree program was approved by the University
Senate and the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies. The program began accepting students in the Fall of
1995 and graduated its first graduates in 1997. The degree was designed to accommodate a variety of
emphases under the heading of "Design Studies," to promote research in the School, to emphasize design
as a form of research, and to accommodate a range of thesis work (drawing, writing, etc.). In 1997, the
program was bifurcated into two research foci- “Design and Culture” and "Design and Technology". The first
considered questions of history and theory and the second issues of information technology.

In 1997, the School developed a proposal to restructure its 5-year Bachelor of Architecture to a 4- year, pre-
professional Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS) followed by a 2-year professional Masters of
Architecture degree (M.Arch). The undergraduate component was approved by the University Senate in
1997 and began accepting students in the Fall of 1998. The graduate component was approved by the
Ontario Council of Graduate Studies in 1998 as a variation on the previously approved post- professional
M.Arch. The first class accepted into the professional M.Arch. entered in September of 2001. The first
graduates from that class were conferred with the M.Arch degree in November, 2004.

The School instituted a formal co-op program in 1999 as an option within the BAS. Students must spend
minimum of three terms (two of which are contiguous) to satisfy the requirements for the co-op designation.
Work terms begin after students complete the second year of the BAS. This option is now well established
in all majors of the BAS.

The 4+2 program at Carleton is now in its 17th year and has undergone only minor changes since its
inception. Until 2008, the most significant of these changes was the development of the Directed Research
Studio (DRS) as a thesis option in the final year of the M.Arch. The DRS is seen as an important research
vehicle and a viable option for students less inclined toward independent research or who wish to focus
their thesis within the research interest of the supervising faculty member. Other changes include a short
duration (1-3 weeks) undergraduate DSA option in the third year of the BAS and a full term DSA in the first
year of the M.Arch (Barcelona 2004-6, Bern 2006-08). The School offers a visiting critics studio as an option
to graduate students who choose not to participate in the DSA.

The most recent and significant shifts began in 2009, one year ahead of the program’s last Accreditation
visit, as the school instituted 4 new Majors at the undergraduate level and a 3-year M.Arch (Professional)
degree. Beginning in 2009, students were able to access undergraduate BAS programs with Majors in
Design, Conservation & Sustainability, and Urbanism. A fourth BAS program in Philosophy & Criticism
struggled with enrolment and has since been dismantled. At the graduate level, students with 4-year
honours degrees (but without previous architectural studies), were admitted to a new M.Arch curriculum.
This newest program, reviewed and accredited by a Focused Evaluation in 2013, is increasingly popular
and shows a great potential for increased enrolment.

With these measures, the student population continues to grow and diversify. At the time of the 2004
program review, when the school was shifting from the 5-year B.Arch to the 4+2 structure, there were a total
of 285 BAS students, 51 B.Arch students, and 40 M.Arch (post professional) students making the total
population of the School 376. The 2010 APR reported a total of 286 BAS students, 7 Q-year students, 67
M.Arch (professional) students, for a total population of 359. The 2016 data shows totals of 249 BAS
students, 123 M.Arch (professional) students, 7 MAS (post-professional) students, and 7 PhD candidates
for a total population of 464. Since 2010 the school has increased its 1st year undergraduate intake from 72
to 92 in response to the restructured BAS program with three majors. The M.Arch (professional) has also
increase its 1st year intake from 28 in 2009 to 58 in 2016 with the introduction of the new 3-year professional
M.Arch. Together these increases project at total school population of roughly 460 students in the 2016-17
academic cycle and with these enrolment numbers, the School continues to be the largest architecture
program in Canada.