What You Will Learn
If you are seeking the opportunity to learn and work extensively on computer-aided design (CAD) to digitally create 2D drawings and 3D models of real-world products, the architecture track within the Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree in Design program at CCM is your launch pad.
With small studio class sizes and a mentoring relationship with faculty, you can create a comprehensive foundation of both contemporary and traditional skills to enter the industry, upon your CCM graduation, as a CAD designer, 3D rendering designer or modelmaker.
If you choose to further your education at a four-year college or university, the program is designed for you to transfer and major in industrial design, interior design, architecture, fashion design, fashion merchandising, design education (teaching design) or any other design discipline.
Curriculum
The architecture track curriculum features a 30-credit design core encompassing the history of design, drawing, 2D and 3D design, color theory, design rendering and multiple courses on design concepts.
The additional 10-credit architecture track includes CAD, advanced CAD 3D and an architecture design elective.
You will also create a design portfolio for your future educational and career needs.
Careers in the Field
Graduating from CCM with an Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree in Design enables you to pursue career opportunities in industry or transfer to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Science in Architecture (B.S.Arch) or a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch).
Here is a sampling of career opportunities awaiting you!
Associate degree:
- 3D Rendering Designer
- Architect Assistant
- Architect in Training
- Architecture Intern
- CAD Modeler/Designer/Drafter
- Intermediate Architect
- Revit Drafter/Modeler
Bachelor’s degree:
- Architect
- Building Surveyor
- Historic Buildings Inspector
- Interior and Spatial Designer
- Production Designer
- Town Planner
Transfer Opportunities
The Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) degree in Architecture at CCM is designed to provide a strong foundation for students planning to transfer to accredited four-year colleges, universities, art institutes, or specialized schools of art and design that offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Science in Architecture (B.S.Arch) or a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) degree program.
CCM architecture students frequently transfer to the following colleges and universities.
In-State:
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Kean University
Out of State:
- Arizona State University
- Drexel University
- Marywood University
- New York Institute of Technology
- Thomas Jefferson University
Visit our Transfer Services page for more information.
Credit, non-credit internship experiences and job search support are facilitated through our Office of Career and Transfer Services, where you can also learn how to build a resume, and receive the tools to help you with interviewing skills to succeed! Visit our Career Services page for additional information.
Why Study Architecture at CCM?
CCM has designated studio classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment and software available to all design students.
- The class size average is 12:1 in the studio; this ratio fosters a mentoring relationship between the student and professor.
- Studios are supplied with materials and resources that allow extensive opportunities for creative exploration in research and process.
- Faculty are dedicated and highly accomplished. Many maintain professional practice, bringing real-world problems to the design curriculum and classroom.
Paying For Your Architecture Education
Earning an associate degree in design is a powerful investment that will pay off over the course of your life, in both increased earnings and job satisfaction. But what is the upfront cost, and how do you afford it?
There’s good news: Money is available to help you pay for school! Our Financial Aid staff can provide lots of information about the process of finding funds to help pay for your education.
Featured Courses
2D for Designers
Learn to use elements and principles to achieve a synthesis of form, space, composition, and content in this lecture and studio lab course. Emphasis is given on communicating ideas for realization as architectural and interior spaces, consumer products, packaging, and fashion design. The course is designed to address the range of formal issues, processes, and material practices students will encounter as they move into the more specialized areas of design.
Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) I & II
Learn the concepts and operation of engineering drawing preparation in this lecture and laboratory in this four-credit, two-semester course. Become proficient in AutoCAD to aid in reducing drawing time and improve accuracy. Additional topics include prototype drawings, blocks, attributes, x-reference, grips, paper space and development of 3-dimensional solid modeling.
Design Concepts I & II
A detailed exploration of scale and proportion through 2D and 3D-sketch problems varying in levels of complexity and duration in this lecture and laboratory in this six-credit, two-semester course. Design projects explore relationships between historical and cultural systems and human proportion. Verbal and graphic communication skills are emphasized as a method of articulating the development of visual concepts and solutions to design problems. Communication tools such as perspective are explored in detail.
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