Design Studies

Design Studies at Sarah Lawrence is a cross-disciplinary initiative that offers a variety of analytical approaches to the cultural act of constructing environments, buildings, and aesthetic, yet functional, objects. Courses in architectural and art history and theory, computer design, environmental studies, physics, and sculpture allow students to investigate in course work and conference a wide range of perspectives and issues dealing with all facets of built design. These perspectives include theoretical explorations in history and criticism, formal approaches that engage sociopolitical issues, sustainable problem solving, and spatial exploration using design tools both digital and analog. Courses of study might include structural engineering in physics and projects on bridge design that reflect these structural principles in courses on virtual architecture and sculpture; the study of the architecture and politics of sustainability in class and conference work for art and architectural history and environmental studies; and sculpture and art history courses that engage issues of technology, expression, and transgression in the uses of the techniques and crafts of construction. When coordinated with participating faculty, programs of study offer an excellent preparation for further engagement in the fields of architecture, both theory and practice, digital and environmental design, and engineering.