Welcome to the School of Architecture at Northeastern University. All of us here are dedicated to making this young, professionally accredited program a real agent for change in Boston, and a unique place to learn about architecture in an urban setting. As part of a larger university committed to urban research, Architecture participates in many significant outreach programs aimed at transforming parts of Boston into new, vital areas that meet 21st century needs.
The curriculum focuses on establishing a high level of basic skills and fluency in design culture, and then on applying these skills to real problems. The School is not grounded in technological expertise (like a technical institute), nor in preciousness of individual genius (like an art school). Instead, Northeastern University is a design school, where students are offered the chance to learn the language of architecture so that they too can participate in the critical conversations about how to build the next layer of our evolving metropolis.
Architecture, as both a profession and an academic discipline, is in a moment of significant change in the world, and especially in the United States. In the marketplace, design is increasingly a key element of the value-added to American products and ideas. In the public sphere, architects and urban designers are struggling to define models of public life in an increasingly private age. And the resurgence of successful post-industrial cities (like Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.) creates new problems for architects to solve. At Northeastern, we have lead the way on critical subjects such as the re-urbanization of former industrial sites; new strategies on urban housing policy; planning in neglected areas of the city; and new urban school prototypes. This is a program that seeks to use advanced, critical design thinking to address the real problems of the contemporary city.
And Boston is a perfect place to do it. Not only is it the American city with perhaps the most legible series of historical layers, but because of the incredible diversity of its physical and neighborhood character, it is also the city that most demands architecture to address its development needs. In fact, architecture simply matters more in cities. The ongoing contestation and friction among so many interests makes for a dynamic set of problems that demand architectural solutions.
The School of Architecture at Northeastern University is a particular kind of experience. As an institution dedicated to co-operative education, the integration of liberal arts learning and professional training is central to our programs. After the first four or five semesters, our students spend the rest of the time as undergraduates on a schedule that alternates six months of full-time work with six months of full-time academic studies. This immersion in professional apprenticeship while still in University is perhaps the perfect way to study architecture, as our students can bring questions raised in the classroom to work, and real world problems can be subjected to rigorous academic scrutiny.
We are constantly working to improve our programs here at Northeastern, and we welcome your interest in them. Whether you are a prospective student or parent, practicing architect, city official, real estate developer, alumnus/a, or just someone interested in urban architecture we welcome you to our School and encourage your comments. Please do not hesitate to contact me at g.thrush@neu.edu
George Thrush, FAIA
Director, School of Architecture