Intensive in Classical Architecture

The Intensive, the ICAA's longest running program, is an eight-day immersion in the core curriculum. The program is designed for professionals and students with limited time, who seek a methodical introduction to the language of classical architecture. The program is generally held annually each January in New York City; information about the upcoming 2025 New York Intensive in Classical Architecture can be found here.

In addition, one Regional Intensive program is held each year in collaboration with an ICAA Chapter. In 2024, the Regional Intensive will be held in Newport, Rhode Island for the first time in collaboration with the ICAA New England Chapter. More information about this program is available here.

Participants learn how to draw, identify, render, and compose with the classical elements to form an understanding of the basic tenets on which the classical tradition is founded.

Topics include: the classical elements and composition, proportion, architectural representation through drawing and rendering, the study of precedent, and the literature of classical architecture.

The week culminates in a studio project in which students use the classical canon in the design of a small building. Students are guided through a design process rooted in the Beaux-Arts system in which an initial parti is developed during an esquisse and a charrette into a finished design proposal. The program concludes with a review by an esteemed panel of architects.

Participants in the Intensive in Classical Architecture are eligible to receive 64 credits towards the ICAA Certificate in Classical Architecture, and the topics covered fulfill the Certificate's Core Curriculum requirements.

To find out more about the Intensive in Classical Architecture, email [email protected] or call 212-730-9646 ext. 112.