Architecture (ARCH)
Hands-On Learning
Environmental Design Core
Anchored through a combination of lecture courses and studio instruction, our core curriculum builds upon studios where students solve design problems at interrelated scales of the built environment: buildings, landscapes and urban systems.
- Intro to environmental product of design, 8-week studio
- Intro to architecture, 8-week studio
- Core technology 1
- ENVD Colloquium
- Core lecture: Design Theory & Thinking
- Intro to landscape architecture, 8-week studio
- Intro to sustainable planning & urban design, 8-week studio
- Core technology 2
- Core lecture: History of the Built Environment
- Choice of core design studio, 8-week studio
- Choice of core design studio, 8-week studio
- Core technology 3
- Core lecture: Ecology & Design
- Core lecture: Planning & Implementation
Students pursue in-depth projects and gain specialized skills necessary for pre-professional work or graduate study through upper-division course work.
Intro to Architecture Core
ENVD Core 8-week design studio
The second of four introductory studios introduce students to strategies and techniques of architectural design and communication in a hands-on studio environment. Students design a small-scale architectural project that responds to environmental, contextual and programmatic needs while developing the necessary skills for iterative design processes.
Fundamentals of Architecture
ENVD Core 8-week design studio
Focusing on the languages of design, as well as on traditional and digital methods of visualizing architectural ideas and forms, this course builds on the skills learned in Studio 1 and begins incorporating the dynamic forces that shape our buildings.
Foundations of Architecture
ENVD major 16-week design studio
This course kicks off the architectural specialization sequence. It introduces students to the basic strategies and techniques of architectural design. This studio focuses on concepts of medium-scale building design, siting, and climate. Through multiple design exercises, students learn how these factors assist in shaping buildings.
Intermediate Architecture
ENVD major 16-week design studio
Dealing with problems at an intermediate level of complexity, this architecture studio emphasizes the interaction of form, programmatic use, human behavior and context in creating structure.Studio options may include a client-based community engaged project, real world applications, and/or result in a physical product. Students work across analog and digital platforms to produce high quality and portfolio-worthy work.
Capstone in Architecture
ENVD major 16-week design studio
The capstone of the studio sequence, this course investigates building technology, structural systems, user experience, and environmental sustainability. Studio options may include a client-based community engaged project, real world applications, and/or result in a physical product. Outcomes include well-developed structures designed with a high level of craft, resulting in sophisticated and exhibit-worthy presentations.
ENVD Core
3 semesters of ENVD core
Interdisciplinary
six eight-week design studios
5-credit
technology course sequence
4
sixteen-week major design studios
Be Visionary.
Experiential learning is a core component of design education with students engaging in design, build and fabrication activities.
Major Objectives
B.EnvD Objectives
Critical Thinking
Students will use creative, critical, and convergent thinking to address social and environmental issues through precedents, theory, research, and problem‐defining techniques in order to analyze the need for and impact of design solutions.
ʰDz‐SDZԲ
Through iterative design students will develop conceptual or material solutions to socio‐environmental issues by synthesizing critical feedback and collaborative findings with their peers and the communities that they engage.
Communication & Representation
Students will employ graphic, verbal, written, spatial, and other communication strategies in order to organize, demonstrate and argue for design concepts and proposals.
Stewardship & Sustainability
Students will apply tenets of social and environmental justice through design stewardship and sustainability to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all project constituents.
Technical Skills & Methodologies
Students will develop the foundational technical skills and learn to apply the methodologies necessary to enter the academic and professional disciplines of environmental design.
Meet Current Students
Lleyton Karimi
Lleyton wanted to find a program that supported his ethical design goals while still teaching him relevant and applicable skills.
Nicole Chung
Nicole hopes that one day she'll be able to make a design that will be considered a landmark.
Gio Gordillo
Gio has always looked for a way to apply his love for the arts in a practical manner.
AJ Newlin
AJ encourages design students to be confident in who they are and what they can bring to the table.
2+
internships completed on average by
ENVD students before graduation
80%
of students were hired in design fields
within three months of graduation*
Most
environmental design
grads in the U.S.
Beyond Graduation
Careers in Architecture
Architecture majors might work in the following positions:
Architectural Designer
Design Performance Manager
Studio Director
Architecture Project Coordinator
Project Manager
Senior Designer
Architectural Lighting Designer
Architectural Drafter
Architect
Designer
Meet our Alumni
Founding Partner/Managing Principal
HMH Architectures + Interiors
Boulder, Colorado
Designer
Stantec ViBE
Boulder, Colorado
I value the professors pushing ideas further and allowing room for exploration.
Design Performance Manager
Lake | Flato Architects
San Antonio, Texas
Reflecting on my time at ENVD, the close-knit community of students and teachers deeply impacted me, creating lifelong friendships and connecting me with my current job.
Pathway to Licensure
B.EnvD Licensure Statement
The Bachelors in Environmental Design (B.EnvD) at the is a pioneering and integrative approach to education and research that will shape the future of design. The B.EnvD program orients students to the creation of healthy and sustainable communities with attention to social justice and economic vitality. Built upon strong traditions within the design fields, including architecture and landscape architecture, we are an inclusive and creative community committed to enriching our built, social and natural environments.
While completing the B.EnvD at CU Boulder will not by itself meet the education requirements for professional licensure in either architecture or landscape architecture in any state, it is possible that the degree and the specific courses taken might count toward licensing requirements in some states. If you are planning to eventually seek professional licensure as an architect or landscape architect, it is strongly recommended that you contact the appropriate licensing entity in the state in which you plan to practice in order to seek information and guidance regarding licensure requirements, including the educational component of those requirements. It is important to remember that licensing requirements are state specific, and differ greatly from one state to another.