2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Environment and Society Department of Architecture and Building Engineering Graduate major in Urban Design and Built Environment

Weathering Environments and Stone Evaluation

Academic unit or major: Graduate major in Urban Design and Built Environment
Instructor(s): Chiaki Oguchi
Class Format: Lecture (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses: -
Day of week/Period (Classrooms): 7-8 Tue (G3-117(G311))
Class: -
Course Code: UDE.E511
Number of credits: 100
Course offered: 2026
Offered quarter: 2Q
Syllabus updated: Apr 6, 2026
Language: English

Syllabus

Course overview and goals

Through lectures, as well as simple experiments and practical exercises, students will learn about the various properties of civil engineering and architectural materials, such as natural stone and concrete, including their chemical and mineralogical properties as well as their physical and mechanical properties. In addition, students will examine how these properties change under different environmental conditions and how such changes are related to the weathering and deterioration of materials.

Course description and aims

Students will understand that the microscopic properties of civil engineering and architectural materials also influence the weathering and deterioration of the materials as a whole.

Keywords

Stone materials, rocks, minerals, weathering, deterioration, salt efflorescence, XRF, XRD, microporosity

Competencies

Specialist skills
Intercultural skills
Communication skills
Critical thinking skills
Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Lecture, demonstration, and practice

Course schedule/Objectives

	Course schedule	Objectives
Class 1	Guidance/ Properties of rock and minerals	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 2	Non-destructive measurements of rock and concretes	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 3	Weathering and deterioration of stone materials	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 4	Microporosities of rocks	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 5	Chemical analyses of solid materials	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 6	Chemical analyses of solid materials	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min
Class 7	Chemical analyses of solid materials	Pre- and post-class studies: 100 min

Study advice (preparation and review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Winkler (1994): Stone in Architecture, Third Edition, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 313p.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

Yatsu, E. (1988): Nature of Weathering - An Introduction, Sozosha, Tokyo, 624p.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Presentation and discussion (40%) and reports (60%).

Related courses

CVE.C403 ： Geo-environmental Engineering
ARC.S304 ： Geotechnical Engineering
CVE.C311 ： Geotechnical Engineering in Practice

Prerequisites

You must enroll inn the university's insurance plan in advance.