Build Academy Courses

Frank Lloyd Wright And The XX Century

4.5

Architecture is the crystallization of the spirit of its age, and this certainly applies to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959). Wright pioneered Modern Architecture in response to industrialization, new materials, and changes in society. Then he created a new home for the 20th century in response to the decentering brought about by the end of perspective painting, the end of absolute space and time in physics, and end of a privileged position for humans in science and society. And Wright created a new notion of who we can be as human beings, bringing together the individual of the West, and the integration in the flow of nature of the East.Before Wright, most architecture was based on the past, as we see, for example in the Beaux Arts that referred back to ancient Rome. After Wright, architecture, including that of the leading European Modern Architects, was based on an honest expression of the functions, spaces, materials, and structure of a building. Wright worked in the Midwestern United States, a region that prided itself on being remote Europe, where he developed a uniquely American, modern, and democratic architecture.We begin with a brief overview of Wright’s work, a biographical sketch, and a look at the architecture at the time he began his career. Then we go into some depth on each of Wright’s major works: his Prairie Style houses, Fallingwater, Johnson Wax, the Guggenheim Museum, and more.But we are not done. Next we will look at the culture of decentering that defined the 20th century and Wright’s role in its unfolding. And finally we will look at what Wright meant by Organic Architecture, and how it unifies the cultures of the West and the East and creates the potential for a new way of being human.This is paragraph 2 of the long course description. Add more paragraphs as needed. Make sure to enclose them in paragraph tags.COURSE STRUCTUREWEEK 1: INTRODUCTIONWEEK 2: EARLY WORKWEEK 3: CALIFORNIA HOUSES AND OTHER WORKWEEK 4: WRIGHT IN THE 1930sWEEK 5: WRIGHT IN THE 1950sWEEK 6: PATTERNS IN WRIGHT’S WORKWEEK 7: WRIGHT AND THE 20TH CENTURYWEEK 8: ORGANIC ARCHITECTUREWEEK 9: WHAT WRIGHT TELLS US ABOUT TODAYWEEK 10: RE-CREATING WHO WE ARE AS HUMAN BEINGSLEARNING OUTCOMESOn completing this course you will be familiar with the arc of Frank Lloyd Wright’s career and have an in-depth understanding of some of his key buildings. You will understand how the relationship between Wright’s architecture and that of key European architects, as well as with Picasso’s Cubism and Einstein’s relativity. You will understand how the 20th century decentered us in every aspect of our lives. You will have an understanding of how architecture is the crystallization of its culture, why architecture is called the mother of the arts, and how architecture embodies and even creates our notion of who we are as human beings. And you will have the ability to apply this broad approach to the understanding of art, architecture, and culture to other areas of your interests.WORKLOADYour main obligation is to watch, absorb, and enjoy the lectures. Reading and the viewing of online videos is at a minimum. Watch the lectures and enjoy the images and descriptions of some of the most important buildings of the 20th century.If you have time to watch the videos and do some brief reading and viewing of online videos, you have time to take this course.ASSESMENTSYou will be assigned discussion groups on suggested topics, and there will be a peer graded final exam.CERTIFICATIONThose completing the course requirements, including viewing all lectures, participation in the discussion groups, taking quizzes, and passing the final exam, will be offered a Certificate from Open Online Academy. 

Arch403: Designing Resilient Schools

0

On November 9, 2013 the devastating typhoon Haiyan hit the Phillipines, causing more than 5,000 deaths and destroying the homes and cities for millions. Natural disasters are happening more and more often due to climate change. We can’t do much to stop them, but as architects we can help with the recovery and to build shelters that would withstand them. The goal of this online course is to generate design ideas for resilient schools for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan and other natural disasters. The participants in this course will design schools, which could be implemented by the Department of Education and Architecture for Humanity in the Philippines. We will engage with a team of architects, planners, engineers, and social workers. After the course, the projects and instructions will be placed on the open source platform Open Online Architecture (OOArch.org), so anyone can download and use them. An international jury will select the best projects, which will eventually be built. We’ll have weekly lectures and daily discussions on our forum. A team of professors, consultants, and teaching assistants led by Prof. Ivan Shumkov will guide and assist all students in their work.LEARNING OUTCOMESStudents will learn about resilient architecture and how it can be used in communities in need. They will improve their design and collaboration skills. During the second week of the course, each student will design individual proposals and post them on the forum. All students will be publish their design proposals and ask others for feedback and help on their projects. They will form collaboration teams, which will work together on developing integral projects that include aspects of architectural design, engineering, social space, community development, economical feasibility, sustainability and resilience.

Designing Resilient Housing

2.5

Architects, engineers and other professionals must take action in the development of the global resilient design strategy for areas affected by natural hazards. Hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, draught and brush fires are increasingly occurring in different part of the world due to climate change. In times of crisis, the whole world should act to help refugees and environmental migrants with the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Designers have the opportunity to propose housing solutions that can help people, protecting them from natural hazards with safer homes and cities. We need to take action now.The goal of this online course is to generate designs for resilient housing for the people living in areas endangered by natural hazards. The participants in this course will design affordable and easy to build houses, which could be implemented by OCHA, USAID, WBG, and other international organizations. They will work in teams of architects, planners, engineers, and social workers from all over the world. After the course, a selection of the projects will be placed the Open Online Academy website OOAc.org, so anyone can download and use them. LEARNING OUTCOMESCourse participants will learn about the design of resilient architecture and how it can be implemented both in rural and urban settings. They will improve their design and collaboration skills, working with a global community of professionals from all over the world. They will be learning from each other, as they will present their work publicly each week and receive feedback from the professors and fellow students. The work will be done in teams, which will work together on developing integral projects that include aspects of architectural design, structural engineering, building technology, social space, community development, economic feasibility, sustainability and resilience. 

Introdución a la Cultura Visual: los fundamentos artísticos

4.8

Todas las imágenes, también las generadas más recientemente por la cultura popular y por los medios de masas, tienen una historia con antecedentes más o menos lejanos en el tiempo. Son imágenes simbólicas herederas de tradiciones iconográficas que conviene conocer para sacar el máximo provecho tanto de la experiencia personal de espectador (saber mirar) como a la aplicación de esa experiencia creativa al terreno profesional en los diferentes ámbitos del trabajo creativo. Este curso online fortalece todo tipo de oficios vinculados con la comunicación (periodística, publicitaria o audiovisual) o con el diseño gráfico y ambiental (arquitectura, ingeniería, artes, etc.).La cultura moderna (o posmoderna) se caracteriza por el dominio creciente de lo visual en todos los ámbitos de la vida cotidiana. Aunque la influencia en las mentalidades no es tanta como les gustaría a políticos, empresarios y publicistas, no cabe duda de que los nuevos medios son el vehículo de transmisión de valores, modos y costumbres más importante de nuestro tiempo. Los nuevos soportes (fotografía, cine, Tv, vídeo, cómic, grafitti, internet) y nuevos géneros (infografía, diseño gráfico, moda, publicidad, performance, net.art, etc..) han ido relegando a un segundo plano los lenguajes tradicionales de creatividad (pintura, escultura, arquitectura, artes decorativas, etc.), que imitan estos nuevos cauces de comunicación, en vez de alimentarlos en forma y contenido, como ocurría al principio.Pero el bombardeo de imágenes con mensaje al que estamos sometidos cada día a través de los Mass Media, puede hacernos olvidar que este lenguaje visual también tiene sus códigos, que se han ido elaborando en el tiempo, con raíces históricas vinculadas con el arte y la sabiduría universales. Aunque la cultura visual excede con creces el campo artístico para ocuparse de otros ámbitos sociales, culturales, económicos, políticos o de la historia de las mentalidades, sigue siendo muy útil apoyarse en la historia del arte para introducirse en este mar sin orillas de la Cultura Visual contemporánea. Esta asignatura permite que, una vez adquiridos los conocimientos básicos de arte y cultura de la imagen, el alumno pueda reconocer los estereotipos visuales dominantes en nuestra sociedad global, en todos los formatos visuales hoy dominantes.

Designing Resilient Schools

0

On November 9, 2013 the devastating typhoon Haiyan hit the Phillipines, causing more than 5,000 deaths and destroying the homes and cities for millions. Natural disasters are happening more and more often due to climate change. We can’t do much to stop them, but as architects we can help with the recovery and to build shelters that would withstand them.The goal of this online course is to generate design ideas for resilient schools for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan and other natural disasters. The participants in this course will design schools, which could be implemented by the Department of Education and Architecture for Humanity in the Philippines. We will engage with a team of architects, planners, engineers, and social workers. After the course, the projects and instructions will be placed on the open source platform Open Online Architecture (OOArch.org), so anyone can download and use them.An international jury will select the best projects, which will eventually be built. We’ll have weekly lectures and daily discussions on our forum. A team of professors, consultants, and teaching assistants led by Prof. Ivan Shumkov will guide and assist all students in their work.Learning OutcomesStudents will learn about resilient architeture and how it can be used in communities in need. They will improve their design and collaboration skills. During the second week of the course, each student will design individual proposals and post them on the forum. All students will be publish their design proposals and ask others for feedback and help on their projects. They will form collaboration teams, which will work together on developing integral projects that include aspects of architectural design, engineering, social space, community development, economical feasibility, sustainability and resilience.WorkloadThe involvement in the course is flexible. For architects, this is meant to be an intensive design studio course, so participants are expected to dedicate 10-20 hours a week. For others, who act as advisors and collaborators, it could take 2-5 hours of work weekly.Course FormatThe course will be organized similar to a competition for design ideas, but will encourage collaborations and teamwork. We will use peer-to-peer review as a way to exchange feedback. We will also have a course forum and team groups on Google+ where students will exchange and discuss design ideas. During the course, the projects will be developed to the phase of schematic design. At the end of the course, the 5-10 best proposals will be selected and further developed with the guidance of the course professor, consultants, and the local authorities. Some of the proposals will eventually be build if funding and local support are secured.Prior KnowledgePrevious experience in design is recommended, but there will be opportunities for others to participate. The course work will be collaboration between people from many different backgrounds: design, engineering, economics, healthcare, social studies. They will share and exchange their knowledge, skills and energy to design solutions that are resilient, feasible, sustainable, buildable, etc.Course CertificationAfter completing the course assignments, students will receive a letter of participation according to their role and degree of involvement: architect, designer, project manager, engineer, consultant, advisor, economist, communications, etc. Students who submit the final Resilient School project will be eligible for the official certificate of successful completion of the course.

Arch401: Designing Emergency Shelters

0

Architects, engineers and other professionals must take action in the development of the global emergency response to the natural or man-made disasters that are increasingly occurring in different part of the world. In times of crisis, the whole world should act to help war refugees and environmental migrants with the recovery efforts. Designers have the opportunity to propose solutions that can minimize the suffering and prevent the deaths of thousands of people. Wars have devastating effect on people’s lives. By designing refugee camps, we will provide an alternative for the people who lost their homes and had to escape, leaving everything behind. The design of a refugee camp must minimize the already made psychological damage to the refugees by creating a welcoming environment and a new temporary home. Natural disasters are happening more often due to climate change. We can’t do much to stop them, but as architects and engineers, we can offer a temporary solution by designing transitional shelters for the recovery period. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2012 hurricane Sandy in the USA, the 2013 typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, are just some of the examples of the devastation effect of natural disasters. We need to take action.The goal of this online course is to generate designs for emergency shelters for the victims of wars and natural disasters. The participants in this course will design affordable and easy to build shelters, which could be implemented by OCHA, UNHCR, WBG, and other international organisations. We will engage with a team of architects, planners, engineers, and social workers from all over the world. After the course, the projects and instructions will be placed on an open source platform, so anyone can download and use them.LEARNING OUTCOMESStudents will learn about the design of an emergency shelter and how it can be implemented in an urban setting. They will improve their design and collaboration skills, working with a global community of professionals from all over the world. Students will be learning from each other, as they will present their work publicly each week and receive feedback from the professors and fellow students. They will form teams, which will work together on developing integral projects that include aspects of architectural design, structural engineering, building technology, social space, community development, economic feasibility, sustainability and resilience.PRIOR KNOWLEDGE The course work will be collaboration between people from many different backgrounds: design, engineering, economics, healthcare, social studies. They will join their knowledge, skills and energy to design solutions that are resilient, feasible, sustainable, buildable, etc.For designers, previous architectural experience is highly recommended. We suggest the course to professionals, graduate students, and last year architectural students.For non-designers, we are looking for social workers, economists, policy makes, developers, business people who can integrate their knowledge and skills with the work of the designers. 

Fotografía y Arquitectura

3

El estudio de la arquitectura, y especialmente de la arquitectura contemporánea, es indisociable del análisis de sus imágenes fotográficas. De ser una herramienta de trabajo o un apoyo gráfico de la arquitectura, la fotografía ha pasado a ser el centro de atención de los arquitectos más prestigiosos, hasta el punto de que puede hablarse en nuestros días del dominio de un tipo de arquitectura fotográfica, pensada desde y para su difusión a través de la imagen multiplicada. Este curso analiza en detalle el momento histórico en el que se produce el cambio, que coincide con el triunfo del movimiento moderno, cuando tanto fotografía como arquitectura se institucionalizan como los lenguajes visuales más influyentes socialmente, y también más vivos en el horizonte general del arte de vanguardia.No es preciso saber sobre técnica fotográfica. A lo largo de cuatro clases semanales se impartirán algunas sesiones sobre historia de la fotografía de arquitectura, que incluirán una síntesis de la evolución de la mirada occidental que justifica el nacimiento de la fotografía y su relación con la arquitectura.Una vez analizada la obra de los grandes maestros, en las sesiones más avanzadas del curso, el experto en fotografía de arquitectura Miguel Guzmán, impartirá varias sesiones prácticas de fotografía de arquitectura ejemplificadas en su propia trayectoria profesional.Se proporcionarán también  libros y páginas web claves para profundizar en la materia y, de la mano de los grandes maestros, adquirir las pericias necesarias para hacer este tipo de fotografía o superar incluso sus enseñanzas con nuevas formas de fotografiar.No es algo pretencioso: una vez aprendido a mirar pensando, se está capacitado también para seguir creando, e incluso abrir nuevas posibilidades para la fotografía de arquitectura del futuro.

Principles Of Sustainable Design

0

This course will explore the context, motivations, frameworks and perspectives necessary to build a deeper understanding of sustainability and to form a solid foundation for sustainable design. The course will be followed by a course focused on the practical aspects of sustainable design. This course will begin by placing sustainability in its historical context in relation to other drivers of major world view shifts including Renaissance and Modernist paradigms. A close reading of the first and second invisible hands of wealth will be presented in order to reveal sustainability as a powerful motivation for action towards a sustainable future. A number of frameworks including the Quadruple Bottom Line and Integral Sustainable Design will be studied in order to organize those actions into holistic relationships. Finally, the course will take a deeper look at the state of energy and environmental systems and their impacts which sets the stage for the final Impact Project and also lays the groundwork for the second course in the sequence: Methodologies for Sustainable Design.COURSE STRUCTUREWeek 1: The Context for Sustainability: Beginning at the origins of the planet and finishing with a close study of world view shifts in the relatively short time frame of humanity on the planet.Week 2: Motivations for Sustainability: Resolving the duality between self-interest (greed) and empathy (altruism) as a means to build a new platform for “progress” in the 21st century.Week 3: Frameworks for Sustainability: Moving beyond superficial greening efforts to authentic sustainability that features the use of the holistic Quadruple Bottom Line.Week 4: meta Frameworks for Sustainable Design: The multi-lens and meta-paradigm approach of Integral Theory and Integral Sustainable Design.Week 5: Perspectives on Energy Systems: This module features a close look at energy system (non-renewable and renewable) from an Integral perspective in order to build energy literacy as a foundation for effective sustainable design.Week 6: Perspectives on Environmental Systems and their Impacts: This module will study the impacts of non-renewable energy sources and human progress around the globe as a means to build an expanded environmental literacy.Week 7: The Impact Project: The course ends with the completion of an “impact project.” where students will collaborate to design and implement a short project that addresses the myriad problems and opportunities presented by sustainability.LEARNING OUTCOMES:At end of this course students will be able to: Analyze the origins and founding principles of sustainability Synthesize the competing motivations of empathy and self-interest to build a foundation for a new sustainable world viewCombine the cultural, ecological, economic and experiential forces into holistic frameworks for sustainabilityAnalyze the state of the world’s energy and environmental systems and value the critical role of built environment professionals in responding to that challenge

Art201: Understanding Contemporary Art

5

Have you ever wanted to understand contemporary art, but weren’t sure how to go about it? Well, this course will give you the tools you need to understand ANY contemporary work of art, no matter how obscure or difficult it seems. From Pop Art to today’s museum installations, from Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst, this course will cover that past five decades of the main developments in art history. It will take you close in, and close up to the works of the most famous, and famously difficult, artists of the past five decades. By taking you on a guided tour of the works of contemporary art’s most important artists, you will develop the skills to recognize and appreciate this art’s major protagonists. Artists covered, week by week, will include Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Franics Bacon, Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Odd Nerdrum, Anselm Kiefer, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jannis Kounellis, and Christian Boltanski. The detailed discussions of their works, in jargon free and comprehensible language, will enable you to understand the significance of contemporary art as a whole.LEARNING OUTCOMESThe student will come to have a grasp of the main developments of contemporary art and will be conversant with its vocabulary and ideas. He or she will be able to recognize the main thematic debates of this art and be conversant with them.

Personal Branding for Social Networks

3.7

Branding is not only just for organizations, products and companies, It is also for people. ‘Personal branding’ has become an increasingly widespread phrase and permanently reason. Just because more traditional branding helps organizations to draw market consciousness, public recognition and also customer loyalty for them, building your own individual brand can employ a comparably positive impact on employers and the labor market’s attention to you as a specialist.In this course the learner will understand the power of building personal networks, and how to brand him/herself effectively. Learners will develop their personal brand and will learn to use social media to leverage it.  The learner will be able to identify and then communicate what makes him/her unique and relevant and differentiated for his/her target audienceThe learner will be able to use social networks to connect, share, and develop ideas. He/she will learn to brand him/herself to participate in a collective intelligence experience and put the social media to work in his/her personal benefit. We will discuss how to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and PinInterest to connect professionally with others.Learner will develop a LinkedIn Prolife, resume and online portfolio and be able to market him/herself using professional networks.

Contemporary Architecture

5

The course will analyze major contemporary architectural ideas, ideologies, and projects in the context of both globalization and specific local contexts. We will trace the development of architecture since the early 90s by discussing the work of some of the most influential architects of our time. The critical reflection on contemporary topics will allow students to better understand the buildings and cities which we live in. When talking about the architectural protagonists of today, we will focus on their most recent work. Some references will be made to their earlier work, but the focus will be on how they adapt their thinking to current design tendencies. We will examine the evolution of their work and at the same time try to understand how they react to current challenges and opportunities in our profession and society.LEARNING OUTCOMESThe course will introduce participants to the contemporary architecture scene and allow them to position themselves into it. Students will acquire the essential skills for looking at, analyzing and understanding architecture. The final goal is to turn use architecture as a way to look at the places that we inhabit, an action for positive change, and a generator of a vision for making possible worlds.WORKLOADLiving in the world of architecture is a full-time job, but you’ll have to spend 2-3 hours per week with your computer and a few more exploring your city. The final assignment will take a few days to complete if you want to qualify for the exposition.ASSESSMENTSStudents will do research and critical analysis of architecture. They will analyze and comment on the projects presented in each chapter of the course. They will also explore buildings in the cities where they live and visit, according to the concepts introduced in the course, by taking pictures and making videos. The work will be posted every week on the course forum and discussed with others. A selection of the best projects and posts will be featured in an exhibit after completing the course.CERTIFICATIONYou be offered a certificate by Open Online Academy after you complete all the course assignments and exams. If you include it in your CV, remember that the course is offered by "Open Online Academy, New York."