School of Architecture: General Information
2008-2009 Academic Year
119
The School of Architecture
School of Architecture
304 Richardson Memorial Building
Tulane University
New Orleans, LA 70118
Administrative Office
Dean: Kenneth Schwartz
Associate Dean: Elizabeth Gamard
Phone: (504) 865-5389
Web Site: http://www.tulane.edu/~tsahome/
E-mail: tsarch@tulane.edu
Tulane's School of Architecture prepares students for positions of leadership in
their communities and in the design professions. We offer academic programs and
professional preparation within a context of rigorous scholarship, environmental
stewardship and creative endeavor. Our degree programs address important
professional concerns--creativity, intellectual advancement, professional and
ethical responsibility, technical innovation, and civic engagement--while
developing student's imaginative and intellectual abilities in order to provide the
information and strategies needed to address contemporary design practice.
The Architecture curriculum centers on the design studio, which is the primary
academic component of each semester. This studio training is coupled with
imaginative and comprehensive instruction in architectural history, technology,
theory, digital media, techniques of representation and professional concerns. As
well, the architecture curriculum places emphasis on significant study in the
liberal arts and sciences for which Tulane is renowned. Our approach in all
coursework emphasizes a variety of theories, points of view, methods, and goals.
We not only enable a student's development as an architect, but also further the
discourse in our discipline by engaging the culture around us and expanding the
traditions of architectural thought and practice.
HISTORY
The first courses in architecture at Tulane University leading to a degree in
architectural engineering were offered in 1894 under the direction of Professor
William Woodward. An article published in 1907 noted, "the geographical
location of the city of New Orleans, its cosmopolitan character, and the age and
variety of its unique building types, make it a fit place in which to develop a
school of architecture which would be suited to its environment, maintain a
reasonableness of planning and construction, and be recognized as appropriate to
the climatic conditions." Accordingly, a full four-year professional curriculum in