IT'S A GE CLASS!!!! HE NEEDS TO GET DOWN FROM HIS HIGH HORSE AND NOT GIVE OUT C'S FOR HARD WORKING STUDENTS!!! To get an A it appears that you must attend all of his office ours, not know anything about engineering, and just know how to creatively "synthesize" philosophical ideas about noteworthy pieces of architecture.

Warning: his grading philosophy is strict. When you get your midterms back Osman will say that you shouldn't question the amount of points he's given you. If you decide to challenge for more points, he said "You are challenging my authority. By asking for a re-grade I'll be in a worse mood than when I was first grading your exam and therefore, you will receive a lower score." Just warning you all about this :(

I found the second half of the class more interesting than the first, since the topics are less abstract. Osman himself is a great lecturer, who is so brilliant that the subject matter can become a little confusing, especially his analysis of the images in his slides.

I am selling my notes on the whole class for $12, and my reading responses for $1 each. These notes are comprehensive, and if you use them you will probably get an A in this class. Text me at 323-989-7489 if you are interested. Thanks!

Great lecturer. Helpful tip that i noticed: mostly south campus major struggle with this class. Creativity is key for succeeding on his exams. Good luck!

Where is my grade?

I agree with the reviewer below. I really enjoyed this class even though I didnt realize it well into the quarter. Michael is passionate about architecture and this class is like a revelation to me in that it never occurred to me that architecture could deeply change the way we conceive the space in which we live, and the way we interact with space as well as others in the same space. This class is by no means like a survey of different schools of thought in architecture history. This is more about the philosophy behind buildings, thoughts and so on. His lectures are highly organized and in fact, very dense. I went to every one of his 8am lectures and even was only late for once(which is like a miracle to me) simply because I didnt want to miss any bit of his lecture!

Easily one of the best lecturers I've had. You can tell when he's excited about something because he geeks out, jumping up and down, waving his arms and shouting in exclamation. Like the other reviewers said, go to class, take notes, and learn to discuss two juxtaposed pieces of work. The TA's will usually have a review session before the midterm and final. Tip: you don't actually have to buy the reader if you're willing to do a little digging in the libraries and online for excerpts, but it's much less of a headache to just buy it.

Some people have said this course was not what they were expecting when they read "Introduction to Architectural Studies." These people were likely those who had preconceived notions of what architecture was and refused to let go. A not-so-small hint: it's not about "buildings." Engineers can do buildings (so why do we need architects?). Architecture is more about the way we think, talk about, and represent them. Drop your preconceptions and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm not very good at architecture, so this class wasn't an easy A for me, but I can see how it would be okay. You have weekly reading assignments and participation in discussion, and one midterm and one final. The final isn't cumulative, which is nice, and he shows you all the slides that might be on the test in review sessions right before the tests, which is helpful too. Osman is very passionate about teaching architecture, but the subject itself is kind of wishy-washy, and your grade also depends a lot on your TA and whether or not he/she likes you.

I agreed with the review below. I thought I was getting into an introductory architecture class but I was deceived. It turned out to be a class about some abstract philosophical ideas loosely related to architecture (ex: air as an architectural material. What???) Your whole grade depends on your TA (I had the Asian TA and I think she hates some of us for no apparent reason).

Each week that I went to class I always came out thinking "What did I learn today again?" You probably don't need to go to class (even if he only shows a bunch of pictures, no notes/ words, rambles rapidly on each slide, and doesn't post anything online), just go to the review session because he (or his TAs) would show every slide that might be on the test.

As for the midterm/ final: You are given 5 pairs of slides (10 in total) and the TAs grade on 4 of them. However, the tricky part is finding the similarities and differences between each pair of slide. This can be tricky because each week the professor focuses on a particular theme (ex: Week 4 nature, week 6 air etc) but you often get 2 slides from different weeks that are paired together. The exams seemed time crunched as you only have 50 minutes to think and write.

It is not a difficult GE but I wouldn't take it. I definitely didn't care whether I remember anything from that class. There are probably betters one (such as DESMA 10 or Music 15) out there.

I took this class because a) I had an interest in learning about architecture b) it was my last GE as a senior and c) I read these reviews and saw that Osman received good marks.

To start with, I did minimal work, skipped whole weeks of classes / readings, and coasted straight to an A in the class.

That's all the good there was though. Not only did Osman not teach about architectural buildings or styles, the man was pompous enough to try to explain the origins of society, mankind, communication, war, peace, love, sex, learning, and god knows what else. In a class that was pitched to be an "introduction to architecture" Osman proved to me that he must have flunked out of being a successful architect but had gone too far down his educational path to find something else to do with his life.

Seriously, he was the cockiest, most arrogant, and annoying professor I have run across. His class is what I thought college would be before I arrived on campus 4 years ago -- a bunch of intellectual people sitting around pontificating about the origins of life. Unfortunately, his class is comprised of individuals with no idea about philosophy or theory (b/c surprise suprise they are taking an architecture GE not a graduate level philosophy seminar). If you have ANY other options or ideas than this class, save yourself the pain - the A may be easy to get study wise, but you'll thank yourself for not a torturous two hours per week.

On a side note, this may seem like I'm just railing on him for no reason - I'm not crazy. There was a strong contingent of us in the class that were smart individuals, getting good grades on the tests that could not stand him. We also are pretty sure he was having an affair with his TA (let you guess which one).