PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN/BUILD

For the last 30 years, the Howard S. Wright Neighborhood Design/Build Studio, managed by Professor Steve Badanes has engaged our students with clients and public agencies. The process of the design/build course takes students through the journey of site visits and sketching through material decisions, assembly details, and hands-on construction. This award-winning studio has given our students meaningful opportunities to design and build small usable structures for Seattle-area nonprofit groups, such as:

Urban Preschool Greenhouse Garden, Woodland Park Community Preschool Danny Woo Children’s Garden Cookery, Danny Woo Community Gardens Room for a Forest, Beacon Food Forest Urban Farm Supershed, UW Center for Urban Horticulture

Santos Rodriguez Memorial Park, El Centro De La Raza

Architecture Abroad

We take our students to Rome to confront a densely layered historical context; to Mexico to work with a rapidly changing metropolis; to Copenhagen to study pedestrian and bikefriendly infrastructure; and to Tokyo to learn from its large-scale transportation hubs. These intense international experiences prepare our graduates for the diverse cultural challenges that architects face in an increasingly global context.

SCAN DESIGN FURNITURE studio gives students the opportunity to design and fabricate their own piece of furniture using the facilities located in Gould Hall. Students - many of whom have no furniture making experience - are able to learn how to craft and design their pieces using tools in our wood and metal labs, in addition to the laser cutters and CNC routers. The studio concludes with a 10-day trip to Denmark in June partially funded by the Scan Design Foundation.