News & Events
City Tech Offers New Bachelor's Degree Program in Architectural Technology
Architectural models of Manhattan's Tudor City and environs constructed by City Tech architectural technology students.
Urban renewal in the latter half of the 20th century meant demolishing structures and replacing them with "bigger and better" ones. Though bigger, these buildings were not necessarily better and, in many instances, they replaced sound structures. In recent years, "restoration and renovation" has become the preferable approach to preserving the urban fabric of cities, both from an aesthetic and a financial perspective.
Recognizing this trend, City Tech's Department of Architectural Technology will offer a new bachelor's degree program starting in spring 2003 that will emphasize the changing technology of the architectural workplace and the resurrection of often-treasured structures.
Students enrolling in the new program will be exposed to the historical, social and technological instruction necessary to participate in the renaissance of our cities. The curriculum includes instruction in architectural procedures, facilities management, structural and mechanical systems, building code requirements, the history of New York City architecture as well as the requisite physics, math and liberal arts components. The latest computer-assisted drafting and design (CADD) disciplines, including animation and rendering, will be incorporated into the program and applied in many of the courses.
The new program addresses the need of the New York City architectural profession for high-level technologists. Since architectural technology is complex and constantly re-inventing itself, graduates need to be problem-solvers. The program is designed to make sure that they are equipped to ask the right questions and know where to look for the right answers.
The program, which will offer both day and evening sessions, expands on the college's successful associate degree program in architectural technology. Like associate degree students in architectural technology, those enrolled in the baccalaureate program will have the opportunity to produce work that influences real-life projects, such as models for the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (destroyed on 9/11) and the proposed Con Edison site development adjacent to the United Nations and Tudor City. (Computerized shadow studies prepared by the architectural technology department showing the potential shadow impact on the Tudor City Parks were recently presented at the Official Public Service Commission Hearing on the Con Edison Development Project.)
Graduates of the new program will be eligible for employment in a variety of professional positions such as coordinators, project managers, field representatives and job captains in architectural offices. Or, if they choose, they may proceed for a master's degree in architecture and/or advanced degrees in planning, facilities management and the environmental sciences.
Applications from high school graduates and students holding AAS degrees in architectural technology are welcome. Transfer students from traditional architectural schools are also invited to apply. City Tech also offers additional programs in such related fields as facilities management (bachelor of technology degree), construction management technology and environmental control technology (both associate in applied science degrees).
