Lecturer: Maria Freddi  

Course name: Language laboratory
Course code: 502523
Degree course: Ingegneria Edile-Architettura
Disciplinary field of science: L-LIN/12
University credits: ECTS 3
Course website: n.d.

Specific course objectives

English Writing for Architects
This course is aimed at students enrolled in the fifth year of the Master's degree in Architectural Engineering. The language of instruction is English.

Course programme

Design and construction professionals spend a large part of their professional lives writing, and yet most architects + engineers are not professional writers.
This course aims to introduce students to technical writing in English with a focus on the kinds of documents architects routinely have to write in their professions. The types of documents considered include letters, emails, reports, specifications, project descriptions and proposals, and design journals. Some hours will also be devoted to thesis writing.
At the end of the course students will be evaluated on their mastery of the writing conventions and editing guidelines that are associated with the different document types. Remember, your writings are just as important as your drawings!

Course entry requirements

There are no entry requirements

Course structure and teaching

Lectures (hours/year in lecture theatre): 30
Practical class (hours/year in lecture theatre): 15
Practicals / Workshops (hours/year in lecture theatre): 15

Suggested reading materials

Attendance is strongly advised. Teaching materials will be handed out during the course. Non-attending students are referred to the books below:

Spector, Tom and Rebecca Damron. How Architects Write. London: Routledge. 2013.

Curl, James Steven. Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2nd edition. 2006.

Testing and exams

At the end of the course students will be evaluated on an original piece of writing (group work of 2 max. 3 people is encouraged), which must follow the writing conventions introduced and practised during the course. The type of document can be of the students' own choice as long as it belongs to one of the specialist genres dealt with in the course.