ARC101 STUDENTS & TAs A CONVERSATION

CS: How were you all able to form your own version of “studio culture?” Given how our regular studio space, Crosby Hall, is under construction, was it hard to get acquainted with one another when the entire class is split up into much smaller rooms?

around other people’s desks forced us to not only to look at each other’s work, but also to form relationships like, ‘Hey, I need you to get your garbage out of my space.’ way I got through these challenges was looking to Serena (studio TA partner) for help. Working with the students and going through those design iterations was difficult at times, but worth it in the end to see their growth.

Students:

TAs:

Moderator:

Ryan Mellen, Alec Pitillo

Alec Harrigan, Serena Minix

Charlie Stevens

Students Teaching Students

Freshmen students enter their first semester with little knowledge of architecture. Fostering a place to support critical learning is part of the reason teaching assistants (TAs) are as ingrained into the course curriculum of ARC101. First-semester students experience a rigorous freshman year program designed to help students transition from high school to advanced architectural education.

TAs work closely with younger students giving them a support system, and can make a difference in how freshmen feel valued. The intention behind organizing this conversation was to uncover how a culture of care and support infrastructure develops over a semester. Hearing from a pair of TAs and two of their first-year students illustrates how their studio was able to thrive through the “mess” of ARC101.

Learning Through The Mess

Charlie Stevens: Where have you seen themes of care progress during your time at UB?

Serena Minix: I would say our culture has become a lot more active and about communication, and I think that shows in our work. My generation was very shy and timid for quite a while, but then in this post-Covid world, we’re determined to come back with a force. We’re always trying to use our skills as designers to use the thought process and problem solving we were taught and given to make the world what we see it should be, and to correct some of the injustices that we used to be silent about.

Alec Harrigan: What I found, and hopefully what students are starting to see, is that in the studio some of the best advice and comments you get are actually from your classmates.

Alex Pitillo: One thing I have noticed is that now that we are designing projects people actually inhabit, the way I think about solving problems has changed. We are starting to think about how people use space, how they interact with it, and what it can provide long after its use is done.

"It was terrifying to look at eleven, 17-19 year olds, and them look at me for the answers. I have to tell them that I do not have one, because there is not one, and that we have to find it together."

CS: How did you value the day-to-day design process, the constant back and forth discussion with TAs and your peers?

AP: I think a lot of the time I felt held back by the limitations the faculty or the project brief set. And when they said, ‘you can add stairs,’ it was kind of letting the leash off. You could get ahead but still not too far.

AP: Being in a small group kind of forces you to get to know each other, share ideas, and take a look at other people’s work to see what they’re doing.

Ryan Mellen: Shoving other people’s papers out of my space or sweeping

CS: How did you all, as a studio, navigate through all the challenges (adapting to a new lifestyle, the workload, learning a new practice) that come with ARC101?

AH: Right away there were no really big challenges. It was more of making sure there was consistent understanding of the prompt. One

RM: The studio started to get really tough around final review time because it was then that I realized there really is no end to the design process. That was kind of a horrifying and existential realization for me.

CS: What was it like to learn as firstyear students, as well as teach as first semester studio TAs?

AH: Definitely equal parts terrifying, but also way more rewarding than anything else. It was rewarding seeing students work through and seeing the love for architecture blossom.

SM: For me, teaching comes weirdly easy. In this situation, I got to look back on my years of experience at UB and correct what I felt was wrong. Making sure not to give students graduatelevel knowledge when they’re only on year one. I think the hardest thing for me was trying to keep the good stuff for the good times. There are better lessons we learn through doing rather than being told.

AP: The fact that you two were so great at two different things was great. Those one-on-one desk crits where you would talk to each of us about totally different things was indispensable. I would not have been as successful without those.