This is a vertical elective combining students in their fourth and fifth year of the BArch program with students from the architecture graduate programs. The content of the elective options varies from year to year, and covers advanced topics that invite critical thinking and innovation in the area of building technology.Section Description: This 3-credit building technology seminar addresses two urgent challenges central to architectural practice—housing affordability and climate change—which are often treated as conflicting priorities. The course reframes this tension by exploring mass timber construction as a pathway toward sustainable, affordable housing development.Through research, design, and analysis, students will investigate how mass timber can support higher-density co-housing models that fit within existing zoning and building codes while reducing environmental impact. The seminar proposes mass timber as a compelling alternative to both conventional suburban expansion and carbon-intensive construction methods, positioning it as a viable material system for California and beyond.Course content is organized around five main components:Mass Timber 101: Introduction to mass timber systems, benefits, and design logic.Component Systems Thinking: Designing in modules and components, using Building Information Modeling tools such as Revit.Precedent Studies: Case analyses of global mass timber housing projects emphasizing structure, density, and innovation.Group Design Development: Collaborative proposal generation.Final Report: Creation of open-source guidelines and sample materials for future housing initiatives.Students will gain practical and theoretical grounding in mass timber technology, along with the ability to share their research in open-source formats that promote broader collaboration.The seminar combines lectures, guest speakers, field trips, readings, and hands-on exercises, with both synchronous and asynchronous elements. Each participant will contribute to a semester-long group research project culminating in a collective presentation and documentation.A related Integrated Studio led by the same instructor will also focus on mass timber, and students may enroll in either or both courses to deepen their engagement with this growing field of sustainable architecture.

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