Reviews for ARCH400

Information Review
Alex Donahue
ARCH400

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/20/2023
Prof Donahue was a fantastic studio 400 professor. He allowed his students to design freely within the restraints of the assignment. Every studio session he promoted open minded conversations and positive/constructive criticism to each student, and never managed to harm anyone’s ego. Rather he improved all of our imaginative and iterative processes. Discussing work with him was never stressful because he had an ability that not a lot of professors at UMD have. He was able to view a students work in their eyes and could see why they chose certain design decisions. He promoted this and encouraged us to continue on the path that our hearts and brains wanted us to. He never offered up his perspective or design choices as a replacement for ours. He promoted individual thought, even though it might have been wild or unconventional. I believe he would continue to be a great professor for this course and any architectural design courses.
Alex Donahue
ARCH400

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/01/2023
I really liked this course overall with Professor Donahue. We usually had rough drafts due every studio which led up to the critiques. This course allowed me to explore my creative skills where we could draw or do digital work in addition to making our models by hand. The rotation between the TA's and professor were helpful, allowing me to further develop ideas for my models. I also had a lot of questions and they were able to answer pretty well. More than not I was guided in the right direction in terms of what to do for projects. Most of the assignments were graded on time which was helpful and if I had questions about something I did not understand they would give me reason and sometimes allow me to make it up after explaining what I could have done better. Overall the course was good, I did have some trouble using some of the software at times since this course doesn't teach students about that, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Michael Abrams
ARCH400

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
06/12/2022
I have had Abrams for arch200, 300, and 400. Overall, what he teaches and the feedback he gives is very useful. Its clear he's knowledgeable on the subject and you can learn a lot from him. He can be a harsh grader at times and has high expectations but nothing too unreasonable. Make sure you do not miss class, even with justified reasoning it'll really set you behind. But in general I would say he is a good professor to have.
Georgeanne Matthews
ARCH400

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/21/2019
Great woman!