The Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America’s continuing education courses offer a well-balanced curriculum on architectural classicism consisting of theory courses, practical design training and instruction in manual skills. While the Institute’s courses are oriented to practicing architects and interior designers, they are also open to those with a general interest in classicism.
All courses are taught by practicing architects, craftsmen, and artists, unless otherwise noted. Recommended skills for each course are noted in the individual course descriptions. All courses qualify for AIA/CES Learning Units as noted.
The ICA&CA Continuing Education Program is
Made Possible Through the Generous Support of the
Arthur Ross Foundation
This project is supported, in part, by an award from the
National Endowment for the Arts.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Save the Dates- 2008 Summer Intensive Professional Program
Session I: The Language of Classical Architecture May 30 – June 7
Session II: Traditional Architecture & Urbanism July 11 – 19
Panorama, Cultural Memory, and Civic Heroes in Architecture, Building Design and the Allied Arts.
“We stand in this present moment, a dedicated cohort of practioners, having dutifully mastered the classical language and re-animated our practices with its defining theories and principles. Or have we? Have we really mastered the (genius) language of the ancients or are we simply channel surfing through our stock collection of cultural bric-a-brac in search of “style”.
If you are reading this — a prelude in a continuing education brochure devoted to the study of classicism — you are likely a serious player in the cultural affairs arena. At one time you believed that architecture was heroic; a liberal-minded discipline that would do more than deliver clever piles informed by appropriated style, one-upmanship scale and pretty detailing. You worry about your soul and the well being of your fellows and ponder, with no small regret, the seeming loss of the guiding principles that have historically underpinned your discipline’s highest aspirations. You question your motives and your practice because there are times, when under a ceiling of a certain height or by tracing the turn of a winding volute, that memories not quite your own take over. You sense that you have stumbled upon something big, something with a purpose.
Chances are you stumbled into cultural memory — a numinous tract-tracing forward and backward in a seamless time/space narrative. In that expanding moment meaning and honor embraced and uplifted your day’s (seemingly purposeless) meanderings. Classicism ceased being an affected stance; it became a powerful and sexy storyteller. On the world stage unfolded an ecumenical panorama — an all-embracing, heroic, and civic consciousness rapt with beauty, justice, and social well-being.
In this true spirit of classicism and to honor the civic mindfulness that has historically informed the traditionally built environment, we have assembled this spring a liberal-minded faculty who champion the formal concerns and heroic narratives defining the classical ideal. As good fortune would have it, 2008 celebrates the 500th anniversary of the birth of Andrea Palladio. We humbly acknowledge his contributions to the architectural field, and as the year progresses we will present a range of offerings that will seek to further illuminate the formal humanist concerns he advanced.
To begin this journey, we invite you to join us at the source; we commence the New Year and prepare for the season of re-birth with the study of Latin, the one true language of classical design. With our hearts and minds so engaged we will henceforth practice our respective disciplines standing shoulder to shoulder with a renewed commitment to our shared cultural mission.
Michael Gormley
Associate Director of Education