A novel course at Oklahoma State University's School of Architecture is giving students a deeper understanding of building facades, with a particular emphasis on materials like sheet metal.

Dr. Bodhisatta Hajra, an assistant professor of architectural engineering, drew on his nearly five years of industry experience in wind engineering and facade design to create the "Facade Design" course. The elective, first offered in spring 2024, aims to fill a knowledge gap in traditional civil engineering curricula, which often focus on concrete, steel, timber, or masonry structures.

"Most facades can be made up of different materials, like glass, sheet metal or aluminum," Hajra explained. "But these are not typically taught in any traditional course or curriculum in any university."

The course covers various types of facades, including those made from sheet metal, and explores their practical applications. It combines structural design and building science aspects of facade design, highlighting the importance of energy efficiency since the facade separates a building's exterior and interior.

Hajra noted that expertise in both the structural design of facades and building science is rare, but this course provides students with comprehensive knowledge of both areas. He hopes to bring in more industry professionals as guest speakers to give students insight into the real-world importance of facade design knowledge.

"In a lot of courses, we might take some calculations from a textbook, but here I try to incorporate that as well as the practical side of it so that students getting into the industry have an overview of what was taught in the class," Hajra said.

The course is open to any interested students and Hajra believes it will enhance their future employment opportunities.

Hajra presented a paper on the course's development and content at the American Society for Engineering Education conference in June 2024. The paper emphasized the need to educate architects and architectural engineers about building facades and the benefits of applying that knowledge in practice. He will speak about the course again at the Facade Tectonics Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in October 2024.