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The program in architecture is a combination of courses that serve the graduate/professional program, the undergraduate/pre-professional program, and the Liberal Education plan of ºÚÁÏÉçÇø. The program in interior design is a combination of courses that prepare ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to enter professional practice in that field upon graduation or continue advanced studies in either interior design or architecture. Courses serving programs in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design reflect the professional needs of the curriculum as well as the research and personal interests of the faculty and ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs.

1.3.1 Bachelor of Arts in Architecture

At the undergraduate level, a total of 48 hours in Liberal Education courses is required by the Miami Plan. Architecture ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs fulfill those credit hours with courses offered throughout the University and within the major.

The remaining requirements in the department total 80 credit hours, bringing the major to 128 credit hours. Several of these required departmental courses also meet requirements of the Miami Plan. Students are free to add additional undesignated electives that bring the total to more than 128 credit hours.

The four-year undergraduate program is intended to provide the ºÚÁÏÉçÇø with a foundation in design and liberal arts leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture (formerly Bachelor of Environmental Design).

The first two years are spent in studio, drawing, computer literacy, history, technical, and humanities courses, which attempt to introduce the entering and second-year ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to the notion that architecture is an interdisciplinary endeavor. The BA and BFA share a curriculum in the first year, with common studios and graphic support courses. The second year is intended to offer a broad range of design issues that illustrate how landscape, urbanism, history, and technology all play significant roles in shaping the environment. This curriculum also introduces ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to the various fields related to architecture and design, in support of their academic and career planning.

The third and fourth years continue the design studio sequence, affording ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs a wide variety of choices for that studio experience. In addition, a series of required and elective courses focus on the technical (environmental systems), historical (history and theory), and visual (communications process) components of the program. These courses build on the more general foundation laid in years one and two and allow the ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to place particular emphasis on areas of interest.

The BA is a pre-professional program leading to the professional Master of Architecture.

1.3.2 BFA with a major in Interior Design

The curriculum of the BFA is the same in the first year as the curriculum for Architecture ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs, with common studios and graphic support courses. During the second year, Interior Design majors begin to move into their own curriculum, although they still have some common classes with Architecture majors, including the history sequence and the introduction to building technology. However, Interior Design majors begin to focus on the psychology and behavioral aspects of interior space in the second year.

In the third and fourth years, a series of studios and required and elective courses allow ºÚÁÏÉçÇøs to learn the principles of color, lighting, furnishings, millwork, and other aspects of interior design practice. In the fourth year, a thesis preparation course leads to an independent capstone design thesis project, allowing each ºÚÁÏÉçÇø to develop a specialty within the broader discipline.

The BFA is a “first professional” program and is accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA).

1.3.3 Undergraduate Minors

The Department offers minors in landscape architecture (currently suspended), urban design (offered jointly by the Departments of Architecture and Interior Design, Political Science and Geography), and in art and architectural history (offered jointly by the Art and Architecture and Interior Design departments with assistance from the Department of Classics).