<p>Do architects learn in depth about different materials and their properties (like wood, steel, concrete, etc.) or is that left out while studying architecture in school?</p>
<p>odmo…I’m not an authority on this subject. However, I can tell you that my daughter is in her first year of an MArchI program and one required class she has this semester is called Materials and Construction. I believe that most arch programs include this area in their required curricula.</p>
<p>In my M. Arch program in addition to a basic materials course, we also had one semester of basic statics and then the one semester each on the structural properties of concrete, wood and steel. I also took a preservation course that covered all these materials in terms of how they ages (plus other materials like tile and terracotta and stone.)</p>
<p>I am pretty sure at Cooper we do a good amount of that stuff in 3rd and 4th year</p>
<p>We have required classes about that… but people still continue to design 130foot cantilevers… lol</p>
<p>schools do cover this but since there is just so much to know, they don’t really go into it too much. they’re assuming that you’ll learn more about it later on in life when you practice</p>
<p>Schools should give you a broad idea about the use and properties of materials, but real depth of knowledge is gained when you get out into practice. A university professor in most cases will not be able to match knowledge of an engineer/contractor/subcontractor/supplier when it comes to the specific uses and properties of materials.</p>
<p>rick</p>
<p>It depends on which school you go to 
</p>
<p>A lot of times, if your department lacks such courses, you can also take relevant courses from other depts. The trick is finding schools that give you that degree of freedom… to select your electives from a wide range of backgrounds.</p>
<p>In theory, you can design 130 ft cantilevers The costs associated with the construction might be prohibitively expensive, but it’s possible.</p>