The University of Wisconsin–Madison introduced its first architectural certificate earlier this year, according to the College of Engineering.
The new certificate is offered by the College of Engineering in conjunction with the UW–Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning, according to the certificate’s website. The majority of the 15-credit certificate will be taught at UW–Madison with at least three of the credits coming from an online course offered by UW–Milwaukee.
Requirements for the course include a mandatory three-credit architectural making studio, three to four credits of architectural history classes and eight to nine credits of electives. Students have the option to fulfill certificate requirements by taking classes offered by multiple departments including Art History, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Design Studies, Mechanical Engineering and Planning and Landscape Architecture.
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The multidisciplinary approach allows students to learn how architecture functions in a broader environment, UW–Madison Mechanical Engineering assistant teaching professor Michael Cheadle said.
“When you design a building or build a building, it’s not just an architect looking at it, but it’s an architect looking at it along with mechanical engineers, civil engineers — all sorts of pulling together to come up with that design and make sure that it functions, make sure that all the utilities work,” Cheadle said. “I think it brings to them a more robust, real world experience to bring in the architectural side of it.”
UW–Madison currently offers landscape architecture and interior architecture programs, but the new certificate is the first to offer a stand alone program within the College of Engineering. The certificate currently has 52 students making it the third-largest certificate in the College of Engineering, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
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UW–Madison architecture certificate director Greg Harrington was a key figure in bringing the program to the university, Cheadle said.
In the future, it is unlikely that the UW–Madison will create a full program for architecture due to the competition it may create for UW–Milwaukee, Cheadle said.
“I would be very surprised to hear anybody here that even wants that [architecture program],” Cheadle said. “I think right now what we have is a really great opportunity for our students to continue to get the high-class education here, with an added benefit of being able to go in a direction toward architecture that could be really beneficial to a lot of people and their interests.”
