Architecture (BA)
The Bachelor of Arts in Architecture offers a unique interdisciplinary education rooted in the liberal arts and the timeless principles of classical design. This four-year degree program provides students with a cultivated understanding of architectural design, composition, practice, history, and theory by emphasizing the enduring beauty and functionality of classical architectural forms.
Architecture studios represent the backbone of the major. Three parallel streams support the studios: development of skills in hand-drawing and painting; education in the theory and history of architecture; and, studies of traditional and time-tested techniques of building technology.
A rising sophomore may petition the architecture faculty to accept an extraordinary portfolio from an approved summer program as substitute for one or more of the required freshman architecture and art courses.
Transfer students are accepted into the Architecture major at the discretion of the Architecture Department Chair and must complete a minimum of 60% of the ARCH courses required for the major at Benedictine College with course equivalencies and placements in the major determined by the Department Chair.
The course fees for the Sophomore, Junior, Senior, and Capstone studios 1) provide studio materials, 2) fund visiting professional critics and lecturers, and 3) defray costs for field studies, workshops, and technology.
Sophomore architecture students purchase their own hand-drafting essential tools for the architecture program curriculum that they may keep throughout their career. With rising costs of materials this equipment comes at no small cost, and that is why the application process for acceptance into the major near the end of the first year is very rigorous.
Admission to the major is competitive and there is no guarantee of acceptance. The following are the minimum criteria to meet on the application to the major—as well as remain in the major in good standing:
- Submit a Petition for Acceptance to a Major Program
- Submit transcripts up to and through the midterm grades of freshman year (including any transferred credit)
- Submit a portfolio for review by architecture faculty during the Discovery Day week in April of freshman year
- Earn a minimum grade of C in each Architecture course (or a retake is required)
- Sustain a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA by, and beyond, midterm of the spring semester of sophomore year