Northeastern University Professional Programs · Courses
ARCH
73 courses with the subject ARCH, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ARCH 1000Architecture at Northeastern1
Introduces students pursuing a major in the School of Architecture to the intellectual and extracurricular opportunities within the school and within the College of Arts, Media and Design. Exposes students to the cultural vibrancy of Boston with the goal of building networks to facilitate the creation of a vibrant and supportive learning community.
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 1110 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of D- Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Natural/Designed World
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 1110 with a minimum grade of D- or ARCH 2260 with a minimum grade of D- or ARCH 6100 (may be taken concurrently) with a minimum grade of C- Attribute(s): NUpath Creative Express/Innov, NUpath Natural/Designed World
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 1310 with a minimum grade of D- or HIST 1250 with a minimum grade of D- or ASNS 1150 with a minimum grade of D- Attribute(s): NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Writing Intensive
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 1320 with a minimum grade of D- or HIST 1250 with a minimum grade of D- or ASNS 1150 with a minimum grade of D- Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions, NUpath Writing Intensive
Prerequisite(s): ENGL 1111 with a minimum grade of C or ENGL 1102 with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1111 with a minimum grade of C or WRIT 201M with a minimum grade of C or ENGW 1102 with a minimum grade of C or graduate program admissionCorequisite(s): ARCH 2341Attribute(s): NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 2240 with a minimum grade of D- or CIVE 2260 with a minimum grade of D- Corequisite(s): ARCH 3211Attribute(s): NUpath Analyzing/Using Data, NUpath Natural/Designed World
Offers students an opportunity to travel to select cities where, together with the faculty lead, they study firsthand the built and natural environment. This field study course is closely tied to ARCH 3361.
Prerequisite(s): (ARCH 1110 with a minimum grade of D- ; ARCH 1120 with a minimum grade of D- ; ARCH 2130 with a minimum grade of D- ) or graduate program admissionAttribute(s): NUpath Analyzing/Using Data, NUpath Natural/Designed World
Offers study in topics of global architecture in a studio setting. Topics vary by semester and by section. Taught by faculty according to their interests and expertise. Please consult School of Architecture for current offerings. May be repeated once for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Subject
ARCH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
6
Credit unit
Hours
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated once for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Offers study in topics of global architecture history. Topics vary by semester and by section. Taught by faculty according to their interests and expertise. Please consult School of Architecture for current offerings. May be repeated twice for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Subject
ARCH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
4
Credit unit
Hours
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated twice for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
ARCH 3985Topics in Global Architecture Design Theory1-4
Offers study in topics of global architectural design and theory. Topics vary by semester and by section. Taught by faculty according to their interests and expertise. Please consult School of Architecture for current offerings. May be repeated twice for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Subject
ARCH
Credits (min)
1
Credits (max)
4
Credit unit
Hours
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated twice for a maximum of 12 semester hours.
Focuses on in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student’s major field. Combined with Junior/Senior Project 2 or college-defined equivalent for 8 credit honors project. May be repeated without limit.
Prerequisite(s): ARCH 5110 with a minimum grade of C- or ARCH 5110 with a minimum grade of D- or ARCH 5115 with a minimum grade of C- or ARCH 5115 with a minimum grade of D- Attribute(s): NUpath Capstone Experience
Prerequisite(s): ((PHYS 1151 with a minimum grade of D- or PHYS 261M with a minimum grade of D- or PHYS 1141 with a minimum grade of D- ); (MATH 1341 with a minimum grade of D- or MATH 21EM with a minimum grade of D- or MATH 1241 with a minimum grade of D- ); ARCH 2240 with a minimum grade of D- ) or graduate program admissionCorequisite(s): ARCH 5231Attribute(s): NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning, NUpath Natural/Designed World
Encourages students to develop the connections between critical attitudes and techniques in design, through important historical texts. Offers a kind of “great books” approach to the integration of design and history, introducing the writings and seminal designs of Alberti, Palladio, Wright, Le Corbusier, Semper, Sitte, Rowe, Colquhoun, Moneo, Koolhaas, Rossi, Frampton, Venturi and Scott Brown, Scarpa, and Lynch.
Examines how speculative real estate development, public investments in infrastructure, and policy priorities intersect to shape the physical form and social structure of the built environment. Considers contemporary issues and dilemmas through the lens of historical examples of the capitalist city from the 1840s until the 2010s.
Exposes students to a range of critical practices and key theoretical frameworks within modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism. Studies architectural production and discourse within a broader context of technological, cultural, and social processes. Emphasizes the reciprocal exchange between architecture and its larger cultural and social context.
Explores key buildings, figures, and concepts in architectural history. Designed to familiarize students with a range of materials related to the built environment, with a particular emphasis on approaches and frameworks for analyzing such material. Focusing on the local built environment, students visit buildings and landscapes in person to develop visual analytical skills. Materials and in-class discussions provide additional context and frameworks for the study of the buildings and spaces that are the primary focus of the course.
Covers a variety of topics in architectural design theory. Examines a range of theories on the interrelationships between the social, political, and physical dimensions of architecture and urbanism.Topics vary by class section. May be repeated twice.
ARCH 5430Introduction to Professional Practice in Architecture4
Focuses on how architectural practice occurs and must be understood within a larger social context, and seeks to make sense of this broader social contract from the perspective of professional design practice. Investigates normative and critical professional practices through selected readings and individual field research. Discusses the dynamic, diverse, and complex interests and objectives from the constellation of participants that bring a building to completion, especially in an urban environment. Develops project case studies that provide examples of excellent design results achieved through the application of expert professional practices.
Presents students new to architecture with the fundamentals of three-dimensional thinking and spatial representation with a series of increasingly complex assignments. Offers students an opportunity to learn a wide variety of graphical software tools and then use these tools to complete their assignments. Covers freehand sketching and physical model building skills. This intensive course is taught as a hands-on design studio (with ample studio access outside class meetings).
Engages students with a series of design interventions to improve our public realm. Touches on decarbonization and adaptive reuse topics at the scale of the human, material, building, and urban networks. Explores these ideas by offering students projects in small, underutilized city-owned land to test collaborative programming and microinfrastructure shaped by communities' needs and desires.
Focuses on a series of increasingly complex assignments that emphasize the fundamentals of architectural design. Offers students an opportunity to propose and test proposals through an iterative process using a wide variety of tools and media, including design software, physical models, and freehand sketches. Explores spatial definition, the orchestration of a spatial sequence, modulation of natural light, and responsiveness to existing conditions (whether natural or man-made). Taught as a hands-on design studio (with ample studio access outside class meetings).
Examines the state of architecture and urbanism in the two decades leading up to 2000. Explores contemporary issues in architectural theory and urban design. Examines a broad range of ideas affecting contemporary developments in architectural practice. Engages cultural and historical forces as well as contemporary criticism to define the nature of modernism, late modernism, postmodernism, and deconstruction. Case studies, analysis of theoretical models, and application of methods of history provide students with support for their own design work in studio and co-op experiences.
Explores focused research topics relevant to the graduate program curriculum. The professor presents his or her research related to a particular urban, architectural, or technical topic. This exposes the students to methods of research and topics in current and ongoing research in the field. The students have an opportunity to engage in related and parallel research projects during the course of the semester. May be repeated without limit.
Focuses on how architectural practice occurs and must be understood within a larger social context. The cultures-interests and objectives-of the constellation of participants in the bringing of a building to completion are dynamic, diverse, and complex, especially in an urban environment. Seeks to make sense of this broader social contract from within the perspective of professional design practice. As one of many participants in the process of bringing a building to completion, students review the roles, responsibilities, and interests of each contributor. Our task is to understand the obligations and constraints that constitute these relationships. Examines the products of design as manifestations of these relationships and situates them within a discourse of value-determined actions. Investigates normative and critical professional practices through selected readings and individual field research. Develops project case studies that provide examples of excellent design results achieved through the application of expert professional practices.
Offers the research portion of a two-part graduate project focused on the complex issues facing the postindustrial landscape of the contemporary city. Examines in detail the design elements of everyday building types, such as office buildings, labs, parking garages, and retail spaces, with an eye toward creating new prototypes for urban architecture that are informed by the realities of contemporary market forces. Provides the foundation for the more speculative design proposals of ARCH 7140. May be repeated without limit.
Offers the second of a two-part degree project focused on manipulating contemporary market-driven building types. Seeks to invent new variations and hybrids from the existing store of urban building types to address new challenges, such as irregular sites, new adjacencies, and other unmet demands in cities. Based on research, analysis, and modeling of different types done in the first semester, offers students an opportunity to propose synthetic solutions to the complex problems of postindustrial development, housing, and identity facing the contemporary city. May be repeated without limit.
Explores the theories and practices of integrating building systems to create high-performing, long-lasting, and humane architecture. Uses readings and case studies to critically examine how the architectural order and logics derived from ecosystems, materials, and human uses express the systemic nature of buildings. Offers students an opportunity to synthesize their prior knowledge of construction systems, environmental systems, and structural systems to consider buildings as an integrated system of systems. Engages students with multiple forms of modeling, representation, and specification through which the speculative process of design anticipates the physical processes of construction, occupancy, and change.
ARCH 7430Topics In Research Methods in Architectural Design4
Focuses on contemporary research strategies and ethics in architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Presents an overview of social science, public engagement, and spatial analytics methods for design with an eye toward developing integrated analysis, visualization, and conceptualization skills for collaborative and individual project development. Themes include ecological, economic, and social resiliency in urban environments. Offers students an opportunity to formulate original approaches to design thinking and research. May be repeated five times for a maximum of 24 semester hours.
Subject
ARCH
Credits (min)
4
Credits (max)
4
Credit unit
Hours
Type
course
Repeatable
May be repeated five times for a maximum of 24 semester hours.
Offers independent work under the direction of members of the department on chosen topics. May be repeated without limit. Campus Locations Arlington VAOpens New Window Boston MAOpens New Window Burlington MAOpens New Window Charlotte NCOpens New Window London UKOpens New Window Miami FLOpens New Window Nahant MAOpens New Window New York City NYOpens New Window Oakland CAOpens New Window Portland MEOpens New Window Seattle WAOpens New Window Silicon Valley CAOpens New Window Toronto ONOpens New Window Vancouver BCOpens New Window Quick Links Registrar Opens New Window Directory Opens New Window Libraries Opens New Window Emergency Information Opens New Window Privacy Policy Opens New Window Accessibility Opens New Window Facebook. Opens New Window X. Opens New Window YouTube. Opens New Window Linkedin. Opens New Window Instagram. Opens New Window TikTok. Opens New Window Copyright 2026-2027 Northeastern University Back to top Close this window Print Options Send Page to Printer Print this page. Download Page (PDF)The PDF will include all information unique to this page. var consentListeners=[];window.addConsentListenerTA=function(b){consentListeners.push(b)};var onConsentChange=function(b,a){consentListeners.forEach(function(d){d(b,a)})},__dispatched__={},__i__=self.postMessage&&setInterval(function(){if(self.PrivacyManagerAPI&&__i__){var b={PrivacyManagerAPI:{action:"getConsentDecision",timestamp:(new Date).getTime(),self:self.location.host}};self.top.postMessage(JSON.stringify(b),"*");__i__=clearInterval(__i__)}},50); self.addEventListener("message",function(b,a){try{if(b.data&&(a=JSON.parse(b.data))&&(a=a.PrivacyManagerAPI)&&a.capabilities&&a.action=="getConsentDecision"){console.log("On consent changed!");var d=window.truste.util.readCookie("notice_behavior")||truste.eu.bindMap.behavior+","+truste.eu.bindMap.behaviorManager,f=window.truste.util.readCookie("cmapi_cookie_privacy")||"";onConsentChange(f,d);self.dataLayer&&self.dataLayer.push({event:"Consent Changed"});console.log("After On consent changed!")}if(b.data&& (a=JSON.parse(b.data))&&(a=a.PrivacyManagerAPI)&&a.capabilities&&a.action=="getConsentDecision"){var e=self.PrivacyManagerAPI.callApi("getGDPRConsentDecision",self.location.host).consentDecision;e&&e.forEach(function(c){__dispatched__[c]||(self.dataLayer&&self.dataLayer.push({event:"GDPR Pref Allows "+c}),__dispatched__[c]=1)})}}catch(c){}}); (function(a){"function"===typeof TTDUniversalPixelApi&&(a=new TTDUniversalPixelApi,a.init("gx2pmp9",["fig9091"],"https://insight.adsrvr.org/track/up","ttdUniversalPixelTag9ab70611d0784a53bffadad380ec3a95"))})(this); (function(a){"function"===typeof TTDUniversalPixelApi&&(a=new TTDUniversalPixelApi,a.init("gx2pmp9",["nddbe15"],"https://insight.adsrvr.org/track/up","ttdUniversalPixelTag6f27e0d83ee647de8696f2ef49bc29d2"))})(this); function createCookie(c,b){if(b){var a=new Date;a.setTime(a.getTime()+864E5);a="; expires\x3d"+a.toGMTString();var d="domain\x3d"+(document.domain.match(/[^\.]*\.[^.]*$/)||[""])[0]+";",e="SameSite\x3dNone; Secure";document.cookie=c+"\x3d"+b+a+"; path\x3d/;"+d+e}}createCookie("utm_source",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](8));createCookie("utm_medium",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](9));createCookie("utm_campaign",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](10));createCookie("utm_content",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](11));createCookie("utm_term",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](12)); createCookie("utm_mktoid",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](13));createCookie("nu_clientid",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](14));createCookie("nu_gclid",google_tag_manager["rm"]["758267"](15));var _STATE={}; function runOnce(){!_STATE.hasRunOnce&&window.truste&&truste.eu&&truste.eu.prefclose&&(console.log("doing run once"),_STATE.oldValue=truste.eu.bindMap.prefCookie&&truste.eu.bindMap.prefCookie.split(":")[0].replace(/[^\d.]/g,"-"),_STATE.oldMethod=truste.eu.prefclose,truste.eu.prefclose=function(){_STATE.oldMethod();truste.eu.bindMap.prefCookie&&truste.eu.bindMap.prefCookie.split(":")[0].replace(/[^\d.]/g,"-")!==_STATE.oldValue&&setTimeout(function(){window.location.reload()},20)},_STATE.hasRunOnce=!0, _STATE.i&&clearInterval(_STATE.i))}_STATE.i=setInterval(runOnce,10);document.body.addEventListener("click",function(a){a&&a.target&&a.target.id==="truste-consent-button"&&setTimeout(function(){window.location.reload()},1E3)});(function(){function b(){(window.dataLayer=window.dataLayer||[]).push({event:"lead_form_view"})}if(window.MutationObserver){var c='[id^\x3d"form_"][id$\x3d"_container"]';try{if(document.querySelector(c))b();else{var a=new MutationObserver(function(){document.querySelector(c)&&(b(),a.disconnect())});a.observe(document.documentElement,{childList:!0,subtree:!0});setTimeout(function(){a.disconnect()},1E4)}}catch(d){}}})();
