The College of Architecture (COA) at the Georgia Institute of Technology was established in 1908 as the Department of Architecture, offering the first four-year course of study in architecture in the Southern United States.

History

The history of the College of Architecture spans over 100 years. The College of Architecture was named in 1975, having evolved from the School of Architecture and the Department of Architecture begun in 1908. For most of the 20th century, the Architecture curriculum was directed by masters of architecture, mostly Harvard graduates (until 1975).

In 1908, Georgia Tech (as the "Georgia School of Technology") formally began teaching architecture, when Preston A. Hopkins of Boston was appointed to teach the entering class of 20 students and organize the curriculum. The new Department of Architecture, although small, was equal in rank to other academic departments of engineering at Tech. Francis P. Smith (B.S. Univ. of Pennsylvania 1907) was selected as the first department head in 1909. In 1911, the first degrees, the Bachelor of Science in Architecture, were granted. This event placed Georgia Tech among the earliest public universities in the U. S. to offer an architecture degree. By 1912, the Department of Architecture grew to 42 full-time students with three faculty members.

By 1930, the Architecture department had 132 full time students, awarded 20 degrees, and had six full-time with six part-time faculty. The curriculum during the early years was closely allied with engineering, plus the subject of construction was strongly emphasized. By the 1930s, the influence of the Beaux-Arts, formerly a dominant force in architectural education nationally, had begun to decline as the sway of Bauhaus increased. The department did not have the post-professional graduate program or an option for architectural engineering, both of which were contained in over half of the architecture schools at the time. Architectural education was mainly a product of local concerns in Atlanta, in Georgia and the South, in accordance with the mission of the Georgia School of Technology. In 1934, the five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree was created to conform with the requirements of the increasingly influential Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Under the leadership of Bush-Brown, the Architecture students declined to 66 during the depression, reached a low of 22 students during World War II, and then exploded to 462 post-war students.

In 1948, the new School of Architecture was formed and made parallel to other professional schools within the newly renamed Georgia Institute of Technology. In 1952, the School of Architecture building, designed by Bush-Brown, Gailey and Heffernan, was constructed, creating a separate identity for the school, with a highly professional curriculum. In 1975, the College of Architecture was formed to handle increased enrollment and strengthening of allied disciplines. William Fash (Oklahoma State University, M.ARCH, 1960) was appointed as first dean of Architecture in 1976. In 1975, with respect to its international thrust, the college's Paris Program was established by P. M. Heffernan. Originally located at the Ecole d'Architecture Paris Tolbiac and moved to the Ecole d'Architecture Paris la Villette, the Program provides for a full year of study for architecture students durting their senior year of undergraduate study. In 1992, a Division of Fine Arts was created in the College of Architecture, leading to a new Arts and Technology Program for course work in the areas of music, visual arts, and multimedia.

In 1995, the Center for Geographic Information Systems (CGIS) was created. The CGIS has worked on projects for the 1999 Color Infra-Red (CIR) Digital Ortho Photo Program, for the Georgia GIS Data Clearinghouse, for the NWI-Wetlands statewide digital wetland database with GIS tools, for the Trees Atlanta-Greenspace Acquisition Support System, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency‎-Air Quality, natural hazards, hydrography, and for infrastructure management.

Programs, departments and schools

• Architecture : Architecture Program
• Building Construction : Building Construction Program
• City & Regional Planning : City and Regional Planning Program
• Industrial Design : Industrial Design Program
• Music : Music Department
• PhD : PhD Program

Facilities

The College of Architecture occupies several buildings and spaces throughout campus, the center of which are the two main buildings- College of Architecture East and West- in the center of campus on Fourth Street.

• College of Architecture East Building
  • Constructed in 1952 as the college's first home
  • Designed by the firm Bush-Brown, Gailey, and Heffernan, a firm composed two former program leaders
  • Contains College Auditorium, City and Regional Planning program office, PhD program office, and IMAGINE Research Lab
  • Studio and computer labs used for Industrial Design and Architecture programs
• College of Architecture West Building
  • Constructed in 1979 with classrooms and jury space around a large, open atrium
  • Contains Dean's Office, Architecture program office, Industrial Design program office, and Architecture Library
  • Studio and computer labs used for Common First Year, Industrial Design, and Architecture programs
• Architecture Annex
  • Located behind West Building
  • Contains Building Construction program office and Center for GIS
• Hinman Building
  • Located behind of the Georgia Tech Library to the north
  • Currently contains sophomore-level Architecture studios
  • Projected for renovation to add of studio and instructional space, of faculty office space, and of research space
• Couch Building
  • Located on West Campus, amongst residence halls
  • Houses Music Department offices, performance, and practice space
  • Also contains Under the Couch, a student-operated music club
• The "Church"
  • Located on 10th Street
  • Contains Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access
• Advanced Woods Product Laboratory
  • Located on Marietta Street
  • Contains Advanced Woods Product Laboratory

Degrees

A complete list is available on the COA website.

Undergraduate

• B.S. in Architecture - A four-year, pre-professional program in Architecture (not B.Arch.)
• B.S. in Building Construction
• B.S. in Industrial Design

Graduate

• M.Arch. - A two-year, professional program in Architecture
• M.Arch II - A 3.5-year, professional program in Architecture
• M.S. with concentrations in:
  • Advanced Architectural Design
  • Architecture, Culture & Behavior
  • Building Ecology and Emerging Technologies
  • Building Technology
  • Computation, Composition and Construction
  • History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture
  • Morphology and Design
  • Urban Design
• M.S. in Building Construction and Integrated Facility Management
• M. City and Regional Planning
• M. Industrial Design
• M.S. in Music Technology

Postgraduate

• Ph.D. with concentrations in:
  • Building Construction and Integtrated Facility Management
  • Building Technology
  • City & Regional Planning
  • Culture and Behavior
  • Design Cognition
  • Design Computing
  • History, Theory and Criticism
  • Morphology and Design

Notable College of Architecture alumni

References

1. "Center for Geographic Information Systems - PROJECTS" (description), CGIS, 2002, Georgia Tech, CoA.GaTech.edu/cgis webpage: GT-CoA-CGIS-projects.
2. "Center for Geographic Information Systems - Wetlands" (description), CGIS, 2002, Georgia Tech, CoA.GaTech.edu/cgis webpage: GT-CoA-CGIS-wetlands.
3. [1]
4. Architecture (East) Occupant Information
5. [2]
6. Architecture (West) Occupant Information
7. [3]
8. Arch Annex Occupant Information
9. Hinman Occupant Information
10. Hinman Building Renovation in the College of Architecture
11. [4]
12. [5]
13. [6]
14. "College of Architecture Degree Listing" (description), College of Architecture, 2006, Georgia Institute of Technology, COA.GaTech.edu webpage: GaTech-CoA-Degrees.

External links

• College of Architecture
• Article on the College of Architecture from the New Georgia Encyclopedia