ARCC 4500: Fall 2005 – Design
Economics
Instructor: Vincent
Colizza
Lectures:
Wednesdays, 8:30am –
11:30am
TA’s:
Ryan Koolwine
Tim Rosenberg
E-mail: design_ec@yahoo.ca
Design Economics Main Class
Web Site: http://www.dramatispersonae.org/DesignEconomicsFrontPage.htm
City Planning and
Organization (
Entrepreneurialist
Culture Main Class Web Site: http://www.dramatispersonae.org/EnterpriseOfTheCity/HomePage/EnterpriseOfTheCityFrontPage.htm
Dr. Bruce M. Firestone Personal
Web Site: http://www.dramatispersonae.org/
Introduction:
There is an
unspoken crisis in the architectural profession. Architects are expected to
lead project teams in an increasingly complex development process sometimes
without first having studied and mastered the underlying municipal processes
and second, under a fee structure that is increasingly unrealistic. Margins in
the profession are being squeezed at the same time as the expectations and needs
of clients, municipal planners and politicians, approval agencies and community
activists are soaring. Young professional architects feel that they are
exploited by the system and that it is financially unrewarding to establish
their own practice. The Design Economics course is aimed at giving students the
skills they need to survive and thrive in a tough, competitive world; to obtain
fair value for themselves and for their profession and to meet the needs of
their clients and patrons.
Course
Description and Objectives:
In this course, we will examine the needs of today's
architectural practice, the challenges that the profession faces and look at
some solutions for the financial challenges faced in architectural practice. We
will look at the ethics of becoming an architect and developer at the same time
potentially coming into competition with one's own clients; ownership of
intellectual property; product extensions into non-traditional areas including,
for example, the architect's evolving role in construction and design in
cyberspace, data mining, data graphics and architectural signage. We will ask
whether there are other extensions of the architect's skill set that can
further enhance the profession.
We will see if there are
ways and means for architects to increase their value to clients (and, hence,
their fees) by understanding better the creation of value through design and
the design program. We will try to understand the link between quality design
and creativity, on the one hand, and the overall return of a project for a
client. We will try to refocus the professional architect away from an
exclusive reliance on cost reduction and cost control to reach a better balance
between economic inputs and economic outputs. Students will learn to justify their
designs using cost/benefit analysis; they will be able to demonstrate to their
clients that higher design costs may be more than offset by greater benefits.
Course Requirements
& Due Dates:
ARCC4500
|
Course
Participation and Attendance: |
5% |
|
|
“2 Questions”
Assignment: |
5% |
Due in
class October 5th |
|
Personal
Website: |
15% |
Initial
upload due October 19th |
|
Essay: |
10% |
Due in
class October 26th |
|
Granny
Flat Assignment: |
30% |
Due
December 7th |
|
Final
Exam: |
35% |
T.B.A. |
*NOTE – YOU
Essay
Students will be required to write one 1500 – 2000 word (approx 5 page)
essay on a choice of topics or an approved student
selected topic. Please ensure that essays are written in a
manner proper to a fourth year course, including proper citation. Essays will be reviewed for plagiarism.
The list of essay topics can be found at:
http://www.dramatispersonae.org/DesignEconomics/Essay_topics.htm
Granny Flat Assignment:
This is the major assignment component of the course and is assigned in
teams of two. The project will involve a design element, a functional program,
a critical path analysis, cost estimating and a financial analysis. The design
element will require that the student use Form Z, AutoCAD or some other CAD
program. Your design and analysis will be posted to your student Personal Web
Site for review. The project will involve written and presentation material. We
will examine the construction of a granny flat; its design and its costs and benefits. Students
will learn to use a spreadsheet program (Microsoft Excel) to prepare a budget,
a design program and calculate the costs and benefits (including the Internal
Rate of Return, IRR). Students will be expected to use the CMHC library
(referring to R. S. Means or other current cost coefficient handbooks) or other
suitable sources to do a detailed quantity survey of the project.
Personal Website
Each student will be required to master rudimentary web development
skills and post their assignments to their personal website. Students may use web hosting services made
available by
Carleton University Web Hosting Services can be found at:
http://apps.carleton.ca/ccs/web/hosting/student.asp
Grading:
For the grade in the
"A" range, the instructor will have judged the student to have
satisfied the stated objectives of the course in an outstanding to excellent
manner; for the "B" range, in an above average manner; for the
"C" range, in an average manner with C- being the lowest acceptable
grade in the Program's Core courses; for the "D" range, in the lowest
acceptable manner in non-Core courses, and for "F", not to have
satisfied the stated objectives of the course. Grades will be assigned as A+
(90-100%), A (85-89%), A- (80-84%), B+ (77-79%), B (73-76%), B- (70-72%), C+
(67-69%), C (63-66%), C- (60-62%), D+ (57-59%), D (53-56%), D- (50-52%), F
(0-49%) and ABS. (Please refer to the Calendar for regulations concerning
grades, appeals and other program requirement information.)