The course is a combination of historical and theoretical exploration and workshop-based experimentation with building materials and forms of construction. It introduces students to both material properties and the cultural and symbolic connotations of building materials, including wood, masonry, terra-cotta, iron and steel, glass, cements, concrete, and emerging materials. Historical developments and modern conceptions and contemporary trends are considered; time-honoured techniques are studied alongside systems and theories of digital fabrication. Large-scale experiential and technical construction drawings and physical models assist the learning in this course.