Process
The project was structured as a two-semester effort: a semester of pre-design research (in a seminar format) followed by a semester-long design/build studio. In the first semester, sixteen 3rd and 4th year architecture students and four students from Auburn’s Building Science program worked in teams to research Habitat’s process and culture, analyze the communities where the prototype home might be built, and identify the energy conservation and construction system options that would realize the established design objectives.
The second semester of the project began with an intensive 5-week design charrette. Working initially in 8 teams of two, and then in 4 teams of four, the students spent the first five weeks of the spring semester on the development of four prototype home proposals. Each team was charged with the task of developing a 3-bedroom prototype home that responded to the goals for the project established in the research phase.
The four proposals were presented to the Habitat advisory group on February 11th, 2002; and one of the schemes was selected as the initial “DESIGNhabitat House”.
