foundations iii

foundations iii

design methods

this course is the final course in a three-part course sequence that prepares students for design studio. the course helps students develop their design intuition by introducing them to design methodologies and thinking. the main thrust of the course is the analysis-synthesis and action-reflection cycle.

students visit and analyze washington, dc's designed environment -- buildings, public spaces, art, industrial design--which helps inform their own design synthesis.

they take the lessons and exercises into the design studio to see how analysis can inform synthesis. the first synthesis exercise is a painting analysis which is then transformed into a three-dimensional object. a second exercise is analyzing a site and developing a small garden and passage way. students work in a range of media from freehand to digital modeling.