Architecture Profile Z of the University of Pennsylvania was accepted by both the Master of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania and the Master of Architecture of Cornell University. On the question of how to choose, it is very tangled, because the architecture departments of the University of Pennsylvania and Kangda University are both American Daniel projects, and it is really difficult to choose. After talking with a classmate studying in the Department of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania, he sent this article, which is very powerful and I want to share it with you. Unexpectedly, if traced back to the source, the Department of Architecture of Penn University is actually the originator of architectural education in China!

The University of Pennsylvania was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1740. It was founded by Benjamin Franklin, a famous American scientist and politician and one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence. At that time, it was a charity school This school is a famous American private research university and one of the eight Ivy League schools. So many students apply to the University of Pennsylvania every year. The following is a dialogue between alumni of the Department of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania, which is believed to be of great reference value to students who are preparing to study in the United States and apply for architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

Diversity and creativity

Dialogue between alumni of architecture department,

University of Pennsylvania

Diversification and innovation

Alumni Dialogue of Architecture Department of University of Pennsylvania

Participating guests

Grace Wai Wong: M.Arch I, Department of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, once stayed as a lecturer in the Department of Architecture and taught in the Department of Architecture, Columbia University. He has cooperated with Black Box Studio of SOM Architectural Design Office in the United States and Advanced Geometry Unit of Arup Engineering Consulting Company in the United Kingdom to study the application of parametric technology in practical engineering.

Fang Chun: Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University, Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and now works for aedas Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Yang Nan: Bachelor of Tsinghua University, Master of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, currently working for Aidas Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Zhou: Bachelor of Architecture from Zhejiang University, Master of Architecture from University of Pennsylvania, USA. She is an intern of asymptote architecture in new york asymptote architects' office, and currently works for Beijing Dada Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Bao Rui: Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University, Master of Architecture from University of Pennsylvania, USA. Now he works for aedas Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd.

Zhang: Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University, Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He once worked as an intern in a Dutch architectural firm, and now works in Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute.

Teaching style

Diversified architectural education in contemporary Ivy League universities

Yang Nan: The University of Pennsylvania (hereinafter referred to as Penn University) is one of the best schools on the east coast of the United States, and its comprehensive ranking has been in the top ten in the United States for a long time. This is an old Ivy League school in Philadelphia. We are mainly studying for a master's degree in the School of Design.

Fang Chun: The architecture department of Penn University is also very famous in the non-architecture field in China. In fact, architecture education in China follows the system of the University of Pennsylvania. The architectural education of Penn University originated from the Paris Academy of Fine Arts in the early 20th century. The earliest school of architecture in the world should be produced in France, and later it went to the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, and its teaching methods spread to the University of Pennsylvania. The first batch of architectural educators and architects in China, such as Liang Sicheng, Lin and Tong Ti, all graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. They founded several famous departments of architecture in China, which may not be the earliest but have the longest influence. For example, Northeastern University, the predecessor of Southeast University, and Tsinghua University Department of Architecture founded by Liang Sicheng in Beijing. Tracing back to the source, the architecture department of Penn University has a far-reaching influence on architectural education in China.

Grace Wai Wong: The School of Design of Penn University is a graduate school. The University of Pennsylvania has two kinds of architectural education. One is a four-year undergraduate course, which belongs to the College of Humanities of the University of Pennsylvania. The other is a three-year master's degree awarded by the School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania. To obtain a registered architect license in the United States, you must have? Professional degree? ; This professional degree can be obtained through a five-year undergraduate degree in architecture or a three-year master degree in architecture. The former degree is universal in all countries, while the latter one only exists in the United States.

There is no requirement for the applicant's bachelor's degree when enrolling the three-year master of architecture, but the prerequisite for successful application is to show the potential of becoming an excellent architect in the application materials. More than 90% of the enrolled students have received a certain degree of education in architecture or architecture-related majors; However, because the school strongly advocates the diversification of students' academic background, a certain proportion of students from other majors are determined to change to architecture every year. The master's courses in architecture department of Penn University are rich and varied: besides the traditional compulsory courses such as architectural design, visual expression, history and theory, structure and construction, there are also courses in urban design, real estate, digital architecture, industrial design and other related fields that can be selected.

Bao Rui: Yang Nan and Fang Chun and I both have bachelor's degrees in architecture, so when I was studying in the United States, I only studied for one year, and my name was Post-major. Many people who study this degree have work experience, so when you come back to study this degree, you will study architecture again. Because I have worked, I probably want to change my mind and try something else. So for this year's course, the purpose of everyone's study is more to try a new idea or a new learning method.

Yang Nan: A one-year master's degree is relatively avant-garde. More is to let people return to campus from practice to rethink some theories of architecture itself, or to accept the ideas of some cutting-edge architectural schools. At the same time, they can improve themselves at the technical level, do something unexpected before, and return to work through these experiences, thus inspiring more advanced and cutting-edge ideas.

course

Research-oriented comprehensive architecture teaching

Yang Nan: The School of Design of the University of Pennsylvania includes several departments: the protection and research of historical buildings; Scenery has always occupied the forefront of the United States; The largest department of the School of Architecture; Is Ian in the planning department? Macharg and other world top masters; And the School of Engineering also has some interdisciplinary research projects. From the perspective of the establishment and mutual connection of colleges and departments, this is a diversified setting. The school provides students with many courses outside the professional scope, such as real estate-related courses, which are more artistic and technical, or more inclined to landscape and urban design. Through the accumulation of credits in a certain course, you can also obtain an accredited degree awarded by the college. Therefore, students can not only focus on architecture, but also develop their hobbies in a diversified way. If you are interested in the landscape, you can also learn from the architectural field and give feedback to the landscape.

Bao Rui: I just took some landscape classes. In the second semester, I thought architecture was boring, so I wanted to choose something else and learn something new. The landscape of Penn University is good, mainly biased towards the city. It is also a relatively novel practice to combine the city with the landscape. I also took some art school courses, such as painting, which is more interesting for my life, not limited to academic things.

Yang Nan: The curriculum design of the University of Pennsylvania is very diverse. Both Wang Wei and I have studied industrial design, but different teachers teach it in different semesters. In the second semester, we also attended classes at Wharton Business School, which is one of the best business schools in the United States. We want Wharton to do business operation management in an actual project, including budget. The School of Design designs five-star hotels for customers, and the two sides continue to cooperate. In this cooperation, although everyone is a student, because Wharton's MBA students are very experienced, their work is still relatively practical. Penn University can provide such a platform for different disciplines and majors to cross, and everyone can communicate and inspire each other. Even if you are not a pure designer, you can find ways to find room and room for development instead of sitting there and drawing according to rules and ideas.

Wang Wei: The industrial design course offered by the Department of Architecture is a very successful course in the pilot project of interdisciplinary comprehensive courses that the school is developing vigorously at present, and it is deeply liked by students. The orientation of industrial design course for architectural students is clear: let students have a comprehensive understanding of industrial design and the operation mode of the industry within one semester, and then think about the reference significance of the industry to architectural design through systematic study and practical operation. The course begins with the market research of industrial products, and ends with the construction of a practical model of 1: 1 through the positioning, design and market value evaluation of a new product.

Fang Chun: The two sentences mentioned by Yang Nan just now well sum up my thoughts on the architectural education of the University of Pennsylvania or the American architectural education. In a word? Pluralistic? There's another word? Reflection? . ? Pluralistic? It is equivalent to the college providing a lot of yuan to the Department of Architecture. In fact, architecture itself is very complicated, and it is a comprehensive subject, which needs to constantly consider many factors, such as weather, site, output, owner's requirements and people's requirements. It's actually complicated. Music can have melody, art can have color, and words can have words, but architecture is diversified. From school to practice, or from practice to school, there are some opportunities to study one of these pluralism in depth, which is brought to us by the school. It is also important to think about architecture from the perspective of others. About what? Reflection? Actually, I happened to be reading a book written by an architect some time ago. He said that architecture is a consumer product, which is not much different from cups and food. So architecture is immortal? Music can be immortal, some folk songs can be sung through the ages, and art can be immortal. Van Gogh's Sunflower can always be a masterpiece. But can architecture be immortal? This is also an unanswered question. I think in this environment, you have some opportunities to rethink some problems, which is a little more academic than school. I think it is also a good opportunity for us. This is called reflection.

Yang Nan: What I just said is mainly about the setting of general education courses. In the core curriculum design studios of architecture degree, most studios have research on other disciplines, and they often start from other disciplines and then reflect on architecture. For example, in the autumn semester after 2008, the course mainly studied automobile design at the beginning. The teacher hopes that students can draw some inspiration from industrial design, and at the same time learn from the production methods of industrial design, and embody their most advanced processing technology and smooth curves of cars in architectural design. In the first half of the semester, I spent about one and a half months learning how cars are made, while the whole design studio course lasted only four months. It is a common problem to spend one-third of the time doing research in curriculum design, and even the proportion of some studios is higher. At the same time, we also have studio trips to cooperate with these studies, visit automobile factories, see how to design and manufacture cars, and then reflect on how to manufacture buildings in an industrialized way. Because of this cross-border thinking, we can think about problems from different fields in a brand-new way, so that the foundation of architectural design will be different, its logical way will also change, and the result must be an innovative, even immature, but imaginative design. In fact, most of the graduate courses in studio of Penn University obviously have this tendency.

Wang Wei: The theme of the design course of Penn University involves all aspects related to architecture: from urban landscape to structural units, from parameterization to green energy conservation, from geopolitics to aesthetic history. The wide range of topics benefits from the rich educational resources and free and open communication platform of the University of Pennsylvania.

The orientation of the architecture department of Penn University is to become a leader in the industry within 30-50 years after employment and promote the continuous progress in this field. As the carrier of architectural education, the theme of all courses and their high-intensity training not only impart knowledge, but also cultivate students' personality: originality, team spirit, strong psychological quality and so on. Knowledge is important, but the designer's personality and strong spiritual temperament are indispensable qualities to become a leader. Having studied and taught at the University of Pennsylvania, I feel that the training of architects in the school is comprehensive and in-depth from both the educational and educational perspectives.

Parameterized teaching

From design to construction

A comprehensive experience from shape to structure

Fang Chun: Parameterization is a formal language. Architects often get inspiration from things other than architecture. A lot of things about parameterization come from an understanding of nature, and many insects have produced such shapes after hundreds of millions of years of natural evolution, which must have scientific basis. So sometimes architects, including architects, think about this question: Why are these creatures possible? We build a building or a city. In what direction should this city develop? In the high-tech era, more and more people are at the forefront of this field. They have such doubts and are willing to find this research method. I think parameterization is such a platform and a way to study architecture. Whether it succeeds now or in the future, it tries to push our architecture development to the next stage.

Wang Wei: The methods of architectural design have been constantly evolving: the drawing technology has developed from the initial paper-and-pencil hand drawing to the present computer-aided drawing (CAD); The modeling method has developed from the early unrelated model (such as Sketch Up) to the latest related model (such as Digital Project). Parameterization, as the basic theory of relational modeling technology, has attracted much attention in recent years. The teaching of the Department of Architecture of the University of Pennsylvania in the field of parametric design is in a leading position in North American universities. The school has a strong faculty and brings together top experts in this field; The curriculum is set from shallow to deep, step by step; A variety of software is used in teaching, covering all stages from design to construction; The topics of the course are rich and varied, from morphological research to digital processing, from urban design to structural optimization. The whole teaching process is rich and in-depth, which makes students have a comprehensive understanding of parametric design from principle to technology, from application to research.

Zhou: From the perspective of teaching philosophy, Penn teaches parameterization as a design theory rather than a modeling tool. Therefore, the formal sense of parametric design in foreign countries is not the same as that in China. Perhaps teachers and students in China will think this is a very crazy thing and can't understand it if they don't touch the theory behind it. But in fact, it is a potential theoretical basis under its immature surface. Therefore, it is possible to gradually introduce this concept in China, not only in technology and software, but also in theory, so that our domestic schools can contact with students.

Yang Nan: Parameterization itself is complicated, and it is also caused by various needs or developments, so different people have different understandings of it. From the designer's understanding, it is learning from nature, but actually studying organic forms; There is a set of nonlinear philosophy in philosophy, which is based on the development of modern science and some theories of Deleuze. Technically, if this complex project is to be implemented, how to use parameterization and some mathematical models to solve it, reduce the cost and parameterize the architectural drawings, in fact, that is to say, to achieve a very efficient controllability. At the same time, I think from a historical point of view, after modernism, the trend of parameterization is no longer a doctrine, but a manifestation of people's pursuit of novelty and interest in space or form. Unlike modernism, it is the product of the political and economic background of industrialization before and after World War II. In fact, now everyone is getting richer and more peaceful politically, and everyone is pursuing a manifestation of self-personality. As the reappearance of modernism becomes more and more boring, people will come up with some complicated or novel forms, such as Venturi's? Keep up with history? In the same way, everyone engaged in deconstruction in the 1990 s, and now they engage in parametric design. In fact, they just rely on such an epidermis, a confluence of technology, philosophy, art, economy and politics. Its essence is the basic core content of developing modernism, but it emphasizes form, downplays functionalism, emphasizes individuality and downplays international design.

The advantage of Penn education is that it can show the complexity of parameters in many ways, because we have an excellent philosophy teacher Manuel Delanda, who is a first-class professor in the field of nonlinear philosophy in the United States; There are a series of top designers in the world, such as Cecil Balmond and Ali Rahim. There are technical experts like Roland Nokes. Students can learn philosophical principles, technical methods, formal languages, and treatment methods of architectural structures. It covers almost every aspect of practical application, but it is higher than the stylization of practical application, which is based on creative thinking.

Comparison of architectural education between China and America

Tradition and radical dialogue, practice and creativity go hand in hand.

Fang Chun: First of all, in American university education, the investment in education funds is very high, the parameterization is very systematic, and a strong faculty is concentrated. If students have an idea, they can actually cut it out in the lab. This may be impossible for all colleges and universities in China, and there is no such equipment in China. American education is the same as the American spirit they admire: nothing is impossible, only unexpected.

Zhang: Designing there is not a particularly narrow area. The feeling is that architecture is the mainstay, and then a circle related to architecture is introduced. But in fact, if you are interested, you can come into contact with many other courses such as industrial design and furniture design. I also have a roommate who chose ceramic design. Penn University provides you with a very relaxed environment, all these hardware facilities, teachers and so on, so that you can get in touch with art and get a chance to practice.

Yang Nan: The design courses of the University of Pennsylvania or some American schools are very evolved. In other words, when we realize the limitations and shortcomings of design courses, this studio will continue to evolve. This evolution may be a new technology, a new ideology or a new aesthetic thought, which is used to constantly explain the core essence of the studio and strengthen the richness of its content and the correctness of its theory. Therefore, the design results are also constantly innovating, and every year's homework has made a breakthrough over the previous year.

For example, in 2005 and 2006, Ali Rahim's studio was a very simple geometric shape, and then it gradually became more complicated, and then it became more complicated than usual, and then the requirements for materials, colors and textures continued to increase. At the same time, space continues to be three-dimensional and complex. After five or six years of changes, it has formed a very mature style. You will find that this is a process from scratch. In fact, there is no such environment and soil in China. Our design course in China is often a scripted teaching method, and every student faces the same teacher and the same design technique. After we went out, we experienced such a baptism of thought, and a deep-rooted traditional thinking was actually broken. You will say that this is not necessarily the case. You can completely open your eyes. As long as you have a set of theoretical knowledge, or you can promote an idea or a point of great concern, you can be yourself. This is what China needs to improve.

On the other hand, parametric teaching is still discriminated against in China. Many teachers or more traditional professors think that this is crazy, impossible to construct and has no theoretical basis. Everyone is playing with form, and the form is wrong. Isn't the most important element of architecture itself form? When customers get the plan, they will definitely say that it looks good or not, and then they will say that our area is enough and can be used. There is a discrimination against forms in China, especially traditional teachers, which is based on a lack of understanding of parameterization. Due to the lack of research on its theory and construction method, it is only a formality, so it has been criticized. Based on this, we have to say that we still have a long way to go.

Bao Rui: This is mainly due to the different ways of thinking. We hope to advance from one thing to another step by step, and we need a concrete or logical support recognized by others. But American thinking is a kind of nonlinear education, and he will suddenly give you some new ideas or new perspectives that can be integrated into my theory. As long as it is mentioned, I can make a net myself. I think we still lack such a thinking. Lack of a platform to build your own logic is like always having a logic to learn, rather than knowing and creating it yourself.

Fang Chun: Logic itself is a thing of western society. In American teaching, he gives you an A and a B, so that you can find the connection between them, or directly give a conclusion before deriving it. What we have to do is how to make this matter stand. This model is a bit of elite education. They have absorbed teachers from all continents, and teaching to solve doubts is an indispensable part of education.

Zhou: America attracts teachers from all over the world. These teachers are free to teach in several schools at the same time. He will spread his thoughts from this school to that school, and then absorb something to another school. In fact, I think it is a point-to-point communication process. Under the whole education system, the freedom of this kind of thinking is very high, instead of saying that a school teacher is indigenous, graduates from this school, then teaches in this school for generations, and sometimes even builds a fortress between schools. For example, they say that these things are very good and we have to pass them on from generation to generation, so it is difficult to accept other new things. I think this is a common phenomenon in China, that is, there are many schools, each with its own inheritance, but there are few foreign schools, because teachers are highly mobile and rarely feel like fortresses.

Wang Wei: I think education should pay more attention to the cultivation of personality temperament while preaching and teaching to solve doubts. An excellent architecture graduate should not only have a solid professional foundation, but also have perfect learning methods and persistent learning enthusiasm, an open and inclusive attitude, an innovative spirit of Excellence and a strong psychological quality. Knowledge is a variable, which will be forgotten and relearned in the process of employment, but the personality and temperament will remain basically unchanged after college, which will accompany the designer's life and affect all aspects of his design and creation.

European and American architectural colleges have always been in a leading position in promoting the development of architecture. This is due to the innovation and diversity of the school in the process of curriculum reform. Innovation comes from research and reference, and diversity comes from an inclusive attitude and an open vision. Take the research-oriented design course of the University of Pennsylvania as an example, which focuses on biology, geography, aerospace, automobile manufacturing and so on. The starting point of design is often to study the advantages and advantages of other fields, so as to think about and explore its reference significance to architecture. With the help of previous research, students tend to be open-minded and creative.

The architecture department of Penn University spared no effort to build a free and open academic platform, which created favorable conditions for the exchange and mutual inspiration of various disciplines. In addition to research-oriented design courses, the college also creatively offers interdisciplinary minor degrees in architecture and real estate, architecture and industrial design. Various forums and seminars held by the College have attracted experts and scholars from all over the world and teachers and students from the Department of Architecture to discuss the future development direction of architecture. Innovation and diversity are the most precious spiritual qualities passed on to students by the School of Design of Penn University.

Zhou: I envy Wei, a student who is not majoring in architecture, but studied architecture after coming to the University of Pennsylvania. Parameterized courses require higher knowledge of non-architectural undergraduates, such as programming and computer. Undergraduates majoring in science and engineering will show their advantages. The essence of architecture is diverse, just like my tutor last semester. He is very famous, and he is a master of the same level as Koolhaas, but he is from a structural background, not an architect. He can become an architect because the structure of his works is very reasonable, and the reasonable structure reflects his very reasonable form. The appearance of these masters shows that he will apply all the knowledge unrelated to architecture in different industries to architecture.

I think architecture is actually a special art, which requires not only aesthetic knowledge, but also knowledge of architecture, structuralism and physics. It is an art course that keeps pace with the times and is more theoretical. So I think its demand for diversity is particularly high. Including the Wharton course mentioned just now, it tells us from the principle of economics that architects should not only do it in a fantasy way, but also conform to the principle of economics. In China, teachers do not actively encourage or advocate offering diversified courses, which may be influenced by soil or traditional concepts.

Some suggestions on studying abroad: think twice before you act.

Wang Wei: University education is a platform. On this platform, scholars are required to improve their knowledge, skills and personality quality, and make clear their own direction of struggle. As a branch of university education, studying abroad is heating up day by day. However, due to its special geographical location and huge time and capital investment, it must be carefully considered.

For architecture students who plan to study abroad, I suggest you do three homework:

First of all, have a broad and in-depth understanding of the construction industry. The domestic undergraduate education of architecture is far from enough in the breadth and depth of understanding of the construction industry. The work involved in architectural design is complicated: from scheme design to construction, from team management to cost control, from design optimization to quality control. Because of the complexity and comprehensiveness of construction engineering, a construction worker can only engage in a certain aspect of work full-time. What are you most interested in?

Second, combine your interests and advantages to define your future career direction. Different types of work involved in architectural design have different quality requirements for employees. Scheme design needs creativity, cost control needs logicality, and team management needs interpersonal skills. What kind of job are you best suited for?

Third, study the curriculum and teaching characteristics of the school. Architecture departments in North American universities generally have obvious styles in postgraduate education: some attach importance to the protection of urban environment or history, some are good at the research of design or construction technology, and some attach importance to real estate operation or project management. Choose the right school and the right degree according to your own characteristics and career direction.

Studying abroad for further study is a bridge to improve one's professional skills and personality quality, so as to realize one's career dream in a more suitable position from a clearer perspective. Only on the basis of understanding the construction industry, one's own interests and specialties, and choosing schools rationally can we get twice the result with half the effort.

The above conversations with alumni of the University of Pennsylvania are believed to inspire students who are going to study in the United States, especially those who are going to apply for architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. I hope the students will study hard.

For more professional information, please click on the relevant links.

Architecture trains professional architectural talents, mainly learning how to design buildings and surrounding environment. The study contents mainly include architectural drawing, design, architectural history, architectural theory, engineering and construction site planning, architectural technology and technology, professional standards of architecture, and related cultural, social, economic and environmental issues.

2. Does it suit you?

If you like painting, photography, making models, making all kinds of handicrafts, science, art, history, cities and gardens. Then you might like architecture. If you have the following comprehensive qualities, you can consider studying this major: creativity, critical thinking ability, organizational ability, persuasion and influence ability, quantitative analysis ability, sketch skills and spatial thinking ability. Hands-on ability, visual acuity.

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