The Dallas College Paris Summer Studio will be a for-credit, twelve-day Architectural survey of the Neoclassical architecture of the City of Paris, France while emphasizing the sustainable aspects of the City's urban fabric. The layout of the City of Paris will be closely studied, with an examination of how automobile traffic has been minimized over time, while the use of public transport and alternative means of getting around have been implemented on a grand scale. Lessons drawn from this exploration of Paris' sustainability will then be applied to the future redesign of urban centers closer to home: can the sustainable lessons of Paris be applied to American cities?
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The program will additionally explore the Paris’ unique look and feel through class outings to a variety of architecturally compelling locations, the experience of which each student will be required to document through the creation of an on-location freehand architectural sketch journal. This summer class will count for an equivalent course credit to ARCH-1311 Introduction to Architecture and ARCH-1302 Architectural History II.
 
What benefit will students get from the Dallas College Paris Summer Studio?

• Firsthand experience of great works of Architecture, allowing them to ‘stockpile’ strong structural/spatial concepts and ignite their design creativity. Through this experience, students will develop an understanding of what makes great Architecture powerful.
• Students will develop strong sketching and communication skills that will allow them to both articulate and skillfully market their design concepts.
• They will develop an understanding of international design and construction issues, anticipating future global construction initiatives.
• This will be an opportunity for student learning and growth, as the studio will prepare them to live and work in a globalized world, fostering international competency.
• The Studio will serve as an opportunity for the students to begin understanding cultural ideas, preferences, and passions when designing for a given location.
• Utilizing their knowledge of other cultures, students will begin accessing information and deriving understanding in a global context, enhancing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• International experience and understanding will give students an advantage in the professional realm, as this communicates to employers an elevated level of comprehension.
• Exposure to cultural values, historical legacies, and even mistakes made through history will encourage students to learn from these experiences.

 
What locations would the Summer Studio visit?

• Arc de Triomphe
• Panthéon
• The Louvre
• Hôtel des Invalides
• Eiffel Tower
• Notre-Dame Cathedral
• Palais Garnier
• Champs-Élysées
• Place des Vosges
• Day trip to Versailles

  
What will the students produce, for credit?

• Sketchbook documenting travels in and around Paris as a sequence of freehand perspective sketches (minimum of ten sketches)
• A series of inked freehand sketches reproducing the floor plans of four architecturally significant examples of French architectural design over the course of the preceding three centuries.

 
Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the skills to:

• The urban layout of the City of Paris will be closely studied with an emphasis on the city’s integration of pedestrian traffic flow, with a reduced reliance on automobile transport, carefully planned location of social gathering plazas, integration of wayfinding, and the incorporation of efficient and varied means of public transportation. These factors will be examined for their contributions to a resulting sustainable urban fabric with an eye toward applying these lessons to the future modification and design of American urban centers.
• Students will learn how sustainable aspects of urban design and architecture (such as Paris’ effective use of passive solar design) can be incorporated into aesthetically pleasing urban context.
• Students will understand the role of art and design in inspiring and motivating people on a grand scale
• They will execute the major conventions of graphic representation in architectural design work.
• They will create drawings which demonstrate a comprehension of design concepts and spatial ideas, and produce well-crafted presentation materials that communicate sustainable design ideas clearly and effectively 

 
How will this benefit Dallas College?

• The Dallas College Paris Summer Studio will align with the strategic priorities of the Office of International Engagement and Global Competitiveness by integrating global citizenship perspectives into the curriculum of the Architecture program.
• Participating students will be able to apply global lessons learned to enhance their professional marketability.
• An international academic course will lend a measure of ‘credibility’ to both the Architecture program and the School of Creative Arts, Entertainment and Design, in general.

 
 
 
Who will teach this course?

• The Paris Summer Studio will be taught by Douglas Vail, AIA, NCARB, the full-time faculty for Architecture at Dallas College. Vail is a Registered Architect and has traveled and sketched extensively throughout Europe and attended the University of Innsbruck (Austria) for a semester as a graduate student while participating in the UTA Architecture study-abroad program. More recently, he served in the Dallas College cohort at the 2024 Global Citizenship Alliance symposium in Salzburg.