At the Rensselaer School of Architecture, the Bachelor of Architecture degree provides students the opportunity to design and develop an independent studio project over the course of two consecutive semesters in their fifth and final year of study. Entitled Final Project, this course sequence is designed to support directed research, i.e., the curriculum provides both conceptual and creative guidance while allowing students more autonomy than is typical of an advanced design studio. In the fall semester of Final Project the concentration is largely on research, with some time allocated to site and program selection as well as preliminary design. In the spring semester by contrast, the focus is almost exclusively on design development, with the expectation that the fall semesterÕs research and preliminary design investigations will be used as a platform for the production of fully resolved architectural proposals.