ARCHITECTURAL ALCHEMY

Students:

Faculty:

TAs:

Students of ARC102

Stephanie Cramer (coordinator), Michael Hoover, Korydon Smith Joshua Barzideh, Adrian Cruz, Denice Guillermo, Andrew Gunther, Cris Hopkins, Gabrielle Morales, Sangeetha Othayoth, Kaylen Rasua, Zakaria Siddiqui, Benjamin Wemesfelder

Term:

Course:

Program:

Spring 2022

ARC102

BS Arch

How can architectural design account for material constraints and embrace the process of construction through deliberate tectonic articulation?

This first-year studio takes the skills learned from the previous semester and uniquely builds on them, both creatively and physically. The studio introduces students to the correlation between the physical extents of the human body and the dimensions of common building materials. As with the previous semester, the primary exploration mode is through material testing, space-making, and peer collaboration. The end of the semester produces large-scale prototypes built from a mixture of materials that satisfy specific programmatic functions.

The semester begins with a game called Architectural Alchemy. This game is designed as a brainstorming aid asking students to brainstorm solutions to strange prompts, such as a ceiling made of wood to hold fire, or a floor made of concrete blocks for framing the moon. Playing the game introduces students to full-scale materials and their potential to create space and find teammates for the semesterlong group project. The studio is organized by typical phases of design: programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction. Following the flow from step to step allows the class to move collectively through the different phases, working with each other, TAs, and faculty along the way.

"The TAs helped to foster a collaborative and supportive environment while also pushing our ideas to their full potential."

- Lydia Diboun

Each team selects its own combination of programming elements, material systems, and building components. A possible combination could be a stacked concrete and folded steel plate wall/ aperture system for holding fire and aggregating refuse.

Working through an iterative process, 20 teams put forth design proposals emphasizing a clear understanding of material systems and selected programs. By studying these at different scales throughout the semester, each team's proposal transforms from a sketch on a piece of paper to an architectural construction. Working through 1"=1' 0" models, half- to full-scale prototypes, and the eventual full-scale construction taught teams about materials, building components, programs, integration, teamwork, and representation.

Studio Exhibition

The Spring semester's end allowed students to showcase their work. The full-scale constructions' interior and exterior gallery invites friends and family to inhabit and demonstrate student work.

For many students, this is the first construction of this kind, or any kind for that matter. Taking a project that once only lived as a sketch on a sticky note to an integrated system is a marvel accomplishment. It is also the first of many team projects embedded throughout the undergraduate architecture curriculum. The studio actively provides a testing ground for best practices in teamwork and an opportunity for the freshmen class to form a lasting studio culture, a bond unlike any other.