Build Test is a course offered through the School of Architecture at the University of North Carolina Charlotte
While buildings rely on the thoughtful hand of the designer, no building can be truly successful if it ignores basic thermodynamic principles. Often design and building science are considered separate fields with entirely different languages. Designers explore ideas through sketches, models, and renderings yet principles of building science are communicated through complicated models and equations. By combining students from across the UNCC campus, this interdisciplinary course strives to bridge the gap between design and the hard sciences. Students will explore ways to understand, visualize and communicate basic thermodynamic phenomena in physical and tangible ways.
Working either independently or in small teams (depending on shared interest), students will design, build, and conduct physical experiments to explore ideas found in nature, science, architecture, or any combination of the three. Students will write about their processes and findings using the conventional scientific method. The intent of these experiments is to identify and articulate phenomena, not to quantify specific heat and mass transfer values. This will be a making-intensive course, however no previous construction or fabrication experience is required. The course is open to students of all disciplines with a basic understanding of thermodynamic principles in buildings & materials.
For more information, contact Professor Liz McCormick,
lizmccormick@uncc.edu, 704-687-0111
While buildings rely on the thoughtful hand of the designer, no building can be truly successful if it ignores basic thermodynamic principles. Often design and building science are considered separate fields with entirely different languages. Designers explore ideas through sketches, models, and renderings yet principles of building science are communicated through complicated models and equations. By combining students from across the UNCC campus, this interdisciplinary course strives to bridge the gap between design and the hard sciences. Students will explore ways to understand, visualize and communicate basic thermodynamic phenomena in physical and tangible ways.
Working either independently or in small teams (depending on shared interest), students will design, build, and conduct physical experiments to explore ideas found in nature, science, architecture, or any combination of the three. Students will write about their processes and findings using the conventional scientific method. The intent of these experiments is to identify and articulate phenomena, not to quantify specific heat and mass transfer values. This will be a making-intensive course, however no previous construction or fabrication experience is required. The course is open to students of all disciplines with a basic understanding of thermodynamic principles in buildings & materials.
For more information, contact Professor Liz McCormick,
lizmccormick@uncc.edu, 704-687-0111