First-year courses include required study in design, visual and digital media, architectural history and theory, technological systems, writing, and other electives in cultural knowledge and scientific inquiry. The emphasis in first-year design focuses on developing a fundamental understanding of formal, spatial and material principles in architecture, while obtaining a strong skill base in freehand drawing, descriptive geometry, material techniques, and visual and digital media. First-year electives allow students to supplement their background in physics or calculus, begin or advance foreign language study, broaden their skills in the arts, or choose any other subject area from among dozens offered by the university’s undergraduate divisions. In their first semester, students may also participate in one of the many TIDES (Tulane InterDisciplinary Experience) courses offered by the university to engage other students and faculty in an intimate, interactive environment.
Second and Third Years
Second and third-year courses cover the majority of the program requirements. Intensive studio work in architectural design is complemented by study in architectural history and theory, structures, technological systems, digital media and urban studies. In second-year, students are fully immersed in digital design techniques while learning to incorporate knowledge from historic, environmental, social, programmatic and technological studies into the design studio. This is followed by third-year, where, in the second semester, coordinated coursework allows students a truly synthetic experience in the integrated design of a complex architectural project.
Fourth Year
The fourth-year curriculum involves advanced architectural design in research studio courses as well as upper-level seminars in architectural theory, technology, professional concerns, urban studies, and digital media. In the fourth year of study, emphasis is placed on the relationship of architecture to the urban environment, both locally and globally. Students may spend one semester studying in one of the school's many programs ranging from urban design, to housing, to design/build. In the fourth-year, students will also have the opportunity for international study through various programs and research studios. Upper level study is intended to be diverse and includes many electives intended to provide significant opportunities for study within architecture as well as in the liberal arts and sciences.
Fifth Year
In the fifth year of study, students will develop an advanced thesis through research, analysis and design in one of four curricular streams.
Students pursuing the Bachelor of Architecture degree must earn a minimum of 157 credit hours in their degree and a 2.0 minimum cumulative GPA including a minimum of 30 credit hours in the Newcomb-Tulane College Core Curriculum. More information on Newcomb-Tulane College degree requirements can be found here.
Non-Architecture Courses (credit counts are approximate and vary by student)6
Additional Newcomb-Tulane core courses
34
General University Electives (as needed to reach total credit count)
Total Credit Hours
157
1
ARCH 1110 Intro to Architecture (3 c.h.) satisfies the Aesthetic and Creative Arts core requirement.
2
ARCH 1111 Topics in Architecture History/Theory (1.5 c.h.) must be taken concurrently with ARCH 1112 Topics in Architecture History/Theory (1.5 c.h.) and ARCH 2113 Topics in Architecture History/Theory (1.5 c.h.) must be taken concurrently with ARCH 2114 Topics in Architecture History/Theory (1.5 c.h.)
3
ARCH 2892 Service Learning (1 c.h.) satisfies a Service Learning core requirement.
4
These are Architecture specific requirements for fulfilling the Formal Reasoning, and Math and Natural Sciences Core Curriculum requirements.
5
A minimum of 12 architecture elective credit hours, 3 history/theory credits and 9 general architecture credits, are required. These are usually earned with five courses, but may require additional electives if any of the courses carry fewer than 3 credit-hours.
6
Usually, in addition to the courses used to fulfill the Newcomb-Tulane Core Curriculum requirements, at least two or three 3-credit-hour unrestricted university electives are needed to reach the NAAB required minimum of 40 hours of non-architecture work. However, the total number of university electives may vary for students with advanced placement credit, transfer credit, or when students chose to take courses with higher or lower credit counts.
Notes on School of Architecture and Built Environment Curriculum
NAAB requires 40 hours be taken in courses without architectural content.
The B.Arch degree requires a minimum of 157 credit hours. Given the composition of the Newcomb-Tulane and School of Architecture and Built Environment requirements, the typical student transcript will consist of a total of 117 architecture credits, and 40 non-architecture credits.
Students are strongly encouraged to reinforce and expand their skills and knowledge through professional internship experiences, recognized in the form of academic credits. Undergraduate students may earn up to a total of six credit hours for internship over the course of their degree.
Notes on Newcomb Tulane College Core Curriculum
Questions regarding these requirements should be directed to your NTC Academic Advisor.
University Core and elective courses, with the exception of TIDES and English Composition, may be completed at any time during the student’s curriculum.
To satisfy the Tier 2 Writing Intensive NTC Core Requirement students must take at least one Tier 2 designated course prior to beginning the of fifth year of study.
Architecture specific requirements within the core curriculum are described in the footnotes to the course requirements (listed above).
Recommended Plan of Study
This example plan of study for B.Arch in Architecture represents a fall semester start and encompasses all program requirements. Students are responsible for reviewing university, school, and program requirements, along with prerequisites and the sequencing of courses in coordination with their academic and major advisors.
PHYS 1050 is offered in the Fall and Spring Semester, students are strongly encouraged to complete it in their first year at Tulane.
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Students are encouraged to go abroad in their 4th year. Students going abroad in the Spring of their 4th year must take ARCH 3130 in Spring of their 3rd year.
