In architecture school, a “desk crit” refers to the informal conversation between faculty and students (short for desk critiques). Desk crits are specifically for work-in-progress. Design education is not possible without trust between faculty and students because receiving feedback, or”critique,” requires making oneself vulnerable. Developing a rapport between faculty and students, during desk crits, is a necessary step for design education.

In our online studio courses, graduate students are required to check in with faculty, for desk crits, at least once a week through synchronous Zoom sessions. This can be as short as 20 minutes but we encourage longer durations if schedule permits. Synchronous Zoom sessions are proven methods for building rapport and trust. Online architectural design studio without synchronous Zoom sessions is a challenging and frustrating learning experience.

During Zoom sessions, studio faculty offer individualized feedback in a small group setting. Bringing your work-in-progress maximizes the effectiveness of faculty feedback on your project, but, if you are not yet ready to share your work, hearing faculty comment on other students’ projects is also very helpful.

Zoom times are determined by each studio faculty once the semester begins and range from weekdays, evenings, to weekends. Students with schedule constraints can request one-on-one sessions.

Though synchronous Zoom sessions are required, there is no penalty for missing the sessions. There is extra credit for attending live sessions. The greater reward, however, is the opportunity to elevate the quality of your studio projects. Students who are not able to make live sessions can view Zoom recordings.

Students find synchronous Zoom check-in’s incredibly valuable and helpful:

• There is clear evidence that attending weekly Zoom sessions leads to successfully achieving course learning outcomes.
• The sessions will provide you with a clearer and more efficient way to complete the work.
• Live dialogue about your design project (and other students’ projects) is essential for online design education.
• If you do not have an architectural design background, talking about your project may be new to you. Practicing verbal communication is an important professional skill, as architects need to communicate their ideas clearly and convincingly to clients, contractors, consultants, etc.
• Connecting with other students reduces the isolation that online students often feel.

Our student chapter of NOMA (https://www.noma.net/) hosts a Discord server – all are welcome!  Meet students in all years of the architecture program. Open to all students in architecture, landscape, and interior departments. This is an informal group chat for students to connect to each other outside of class. Students share memes, questions, inspirations, projects, interesting videos or guides, geeking out on all things architecture!  Students can also organize study sessions to work on assignments together.

Join at this link NOMASARTU

Here are links to information helpful for new students. Please click on the images.