Studio Culture Policy

School of Architecture and Design
1855 Broadway New York, NY
10023 7692

Old Westbury / Manhattan
February 23, 2011

Studio Culture Policy
Architecture is a field of study that requires tremendous passion and dedication.
Professors expect a great deal, the workload can be daunting, and the range of skills and
abilities one is expected to master is immense. Studio courses are particularly demanding,
which is why they need to be assessed on an ongoing basis. According to the AIAS
(American Institute of Architecture Students) Studio Culture Summit Report (2004),
studio-based education has been highly effective at facilitating life-long learning, creative
expression, self-discovery, and interdisciplinary research. It aims to foster healthy and
productive competition, effective mentoring, a strong sense of community, critical
thinking, and self-reliance. By the same token, it can also lead to rivalry and excessive
competitiveness; it can perpetuate a climate of insularity; it can stifle innovation. The
studio experience tends to reward “star” power (i.e., individualism over collaboration)
and has the potential to allow arbitrary or ungrounded instructor criticisms to go
unchallenged.1
How do you remedy the problems of studio-based architectural education without
also compromising the many benefits it affords? The AIAS’ Studio Culture Summit
Report, the Second AIAS Task Force on Studio Culture (2008), and the National
Architectural Accrediting Board’s (NAAB) Conditions of Accreditation provide us with a
number of clues. The AIAS’ recommendations include acknowledging that change is
already occurring (i.e., that studio-based education is always evolving); developing a
code of best practices; awarding effective pedagogy; improving communication and
coordination between faculty; fostering dialogue, participation, and personal
responsibility.2 NAAB, meanwhile, emphasizes the importance of creating a “positive
and respectful learning environment through the encouragement of the fundamental
values of optimism, respect, sharing, engagement, and innovation between and among the
members of its faculty, student body, administration, and staff. The school should
encourage students and faculty to appreciate these values as guiding principles of
professional conduct throughout their careers.” Every accredited school of architecture
must adopt “a written studio culture policy with a plan for its implementation and
1 Clark Kellogg and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), The Studio Culture Summit
Report (2004): 10-11. Available online at http://www.aias.org/website/download.asp?id=313
2 Ibid., 12.
maintenance and provide evidence of abiding by that policy. The plan should specifically
address issues of time management on the part of both the faculty and students.”3
What is NYIT’s studio culture policy? What, more specifically, do we mean by
this term? Here at NYIT, we interpret studio culture comprehensively and holistically. It
is not limited to studio courses, but extends to all aspects of our academic community.
Throughout our curriculum, we especially emphasize good citizenship, which for us
means being responsible for one’s actions. It means practicing mutual tolerance, respect,
and accountability. It means maintaining community and trust, where healthy competition
can thrive. At NYIT, we have a flexible admissions policy, which allows us to attract
students who hail from a range of academic and professional backgrounds. We occupy
two campuses, one in Long Island and a second in Manhattan, which has made us
extremely diverse, ethnically, socially, intellectually, and culturally. We are primarily a
commuter-based school, which means we attract individuals who are independent and
motivated, rooted in their communities, and acutely aware of the importance of timemanagement.
Our studio spaces are not always open on a twenty-four hour basis, which
has forced our students to become more organized. Our graduates are known for their
entrepreneurialism, professionalism, leadership skills, and design and technical abilities,
and we make every effort to nurture these values in studio.
A number of institutions, individuals, and organizations play a vital role in
defining and managing our academic community. This list includes the AIAS, the School
of Architecture and Design’s (SoAD) Curriculum and Technology Committees, NYIT’s
Office of Campus Life, the SoAD’s dean and campus chairs, the AIAS faculty advisors,
the AIAS national leadership, the ACSA, and the Student Government Association
(SGA). Of the organizations just mentioned, the AIAS’ role is especially important, as it
is one of the collateral organizations that comprises NAAB and as such participates in
evaluating accredited programs such as ours. At NYIT, our local AIAS chapters have
acted as effective conduits for voicing student needs and concerns. They facilitate
meetings between faculty, administration, and staff. They give students a collective
identity and holds them accountable for their conduct. They outline areas needing
improvement in our school. They partner with the faculty and administration in reevaluating
and revising our Studio Culture policy on an annual basis. They participate in
faculty committees and curriculum deliberations. They play an active role nationally in
AIAS governance.
What are the highlights of NYIT’s studio culture? We have a long-standing
tradition of encouraging design-build initiatives, which means that our students are wellequipped
to work collaboratively across disciplines. Our program boasts a number of
highly-regarded study abroad programs, which expose students to cultures and traditions
from around the world. (In recent years, studios have been conducted in Italy, The
Netherlands, Germany, China, and Egypt.) Students can expect an intimate classroom
experience taught by dedicated and accomplished professionals. Studio coordinators
work closely with faculty from our history/theory, technology, and liberal arts divisions
in coordinating their respective syllabi and course objectives. Our school boasts a twosemester
thesis sequence that allows students to pursue individualized themes and issues
with leading designers and architects. We also regularly organize events that allow
students and faculty to share ideas with one another, as well as with the NYIT community
at large.
3 To view NAAB’s Conditions of Accreditation, visit
http://www.naab.org/accreditation/2004_Conditions_2.aspx.
What are some of the resources and amenities that every NYIT student can expect
in our school? Here is a partial list, drafted by the AIAS in collaboration with the SoAD’s
faculty and administration:
• Students can always expect well-maintained classrooms, studio spaces, computer labs,
and fabrication labs. They can expect that all hardware and software they use will be
current and properly maintained, and that all classrooms will be outfitted with appropriate
media – whether it be projectors, computers, or monitors. It will also maintain plotters
and other print-related media.
• Students can also expect that their education will always be professionally relevant. They
will be prepared for portions of the ARE (Architectural Registration Examination) by the
time of graduation and will always be taught by leading scholars, researchers, and
professionals. Every effort is made to assist students with job placement, particularly
through the resources of NYIT’s Career Services Office, as well as to keep them
informed about IDP (Intern Development Program) and other opportunities relevant to
practicing architects.
• The School of Architecture and Design pledges to do everything it can to maintain an
environment that is tolerant and respectful vis-à-vis its diverse students and faculty, and
which is safe for all individuals and their property.
• The School of Architecture and Design will continue to teach professional excellence, not
only by imparting basic design and critical thinking skills, but also by emphasizing time
management, collaboration, and professionalism. We do not believe that “pulling allnighters”
needs to be a part of architectural education. On the contrary, our view is that
the best professional is the one who manages his or her time best, who is well-read and
well-rounded, and can connect her or his professional training to the concerns of the
broader world at large.
On a final note, it needs to be stressed that our goal at NYIT is to educate “the whole
architect,” and to that end one of our primary objects is to assist students with figuring out how to
get the most out of their education, not just intellectually and artistically, but also socially and
emotionally. Along these lines, if you have suggestions about how we can improve the quality of
your experience at the SoAD, or in studio more specifically, we would love to hear from you. We
encourage you to get involved with your local AIAS chapter. We urge you to communicate your
concerns to your campus chair or dean.
To obtain assistance with time-management issues, feel free to speak to NYIT’s Office
of Academic Life and Retention Services, your department chair, or faculty instructor. For more
information about studio culture in general, be sure to review the literature on this topic available
on the AIAS Website: http://www.aias.org/website/article.asp?id=78.