Project 01:
Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas
Architecture exists in the background. “It is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.” It is significant when it works indirectly and is profound precisely because it is unnecessary. It is something added. Architecture enriches our lives, by making evident the fundamental relationships of landscape and building, inside and outside, public and private. Architecture, forsaking science for art, or art for science, like painting, exists amid talk of its irrelevance….

At least until it rains.

 

Assignment
Using only basswood of any length (but no thicker than 1/4” in any other dimension), piano wire, string, rubber bands and white glue, you are to design and fabricate an apparatus that will protect one large, fresh, uncooked grade ‘A’ white chicken egg from a fall of approximately 35 feet to a concrete designated landing zone below.

The criteria for the evaluation of the apparatus is straight forward:
1/3rd points are assigned for successfully protecting the egg.
1/3rd points are assigned for coming to rest within the designated landing zone.
1/3rd points are assigned for a solution that is beautiful.

 

Project 02:
Irreconcilable Dualities
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them. –Henry David Thoreau

Assignment
Design (in model form) a span on the given site that will support a single clay brick. The span is to be both beautiful and sound. At full scale, the span should allow for the passage of two pedestrians. Along with the span there is to be a small, comfortable place for two people to sit. You may use only basswood, piano wire, and string as your building materials. Your site is to be constructed from corrugated cardboard only.

 

Project 03:
Surface, Skin, Screen
The focus of the relationship between structure and skin occurs at the architectural surface. This project begins with the theoretical and practical isolation of the building surface as the subject of architectural design. The autonomy of the surface (the “free facade”) presumes a distinction between the structural and non-structural elements of the building, between the frame and the cladding. Once the skin of the building becomes independent of its structure, it can just as well hang like a curtain, or like clothing. This architectural surface is the point of contact and transit between the urban and the architectural, the interior and the exterior, the private and the public, the artificial and the natural.

Assignment
You are to design a single architectural surface that is 48 feet long and 14 feet high that is concerned with orientation, light, weather, structural integrity, publicity, and privacy. This project will be presented in model form, 1/2″ = 1′ - 0″. Appropriate materials for the final execution include basswood, piano wire, and museum board. Each model is to be sited on a rectangular 3″ thick corrugated base with no slope.

 

Project 04:
Judicious Constraints, Lascivious Constructs
Continued intervention in the natural environment is the cause for countless calamities. We must be aware of the global affects of pollution and of the ecological damage caused by construction and its associated building activities. As architects and designers responsible for shaping our environment we have also the responsibility to consciously apply ourselves through invention, creation, commitment, and belief. We must diligently strive to improve our present conditions, a task that is particularly important during this time of frenetic construction. Part of this responsibility lies with new ways of addressing old problems.

Assignment
You are to re-design the prototypical billboard, which in their current state ubiquitously litter our cities and highways.

01) The billboard must advertise a product (ie: a soft drink).
02) It must accommodate a permanent dwelling for a caretaker.
03) The structure should be 55’ long, 22 feet high, no more than 4’ thick, and 10’ off the ground.
04) The structure should be modular and transportable to the site in units, installed on a fixed foundation.

 

Project 05:
Drawing Studies: Understanding the Quilts of Mozell Benson

Assignment
Your project is to construct a series of four drawings that aim to translate the qualities of a quilt into a two-dimensional interpretation of its material, structural, and emotional properties. The drawings will study the elements of composition, structure, repetition, pattern and color. The media of the drawings will include graphite, colored pencil, thread and collage.

Drawing instructions:

Divide two sheets of Arches hot press paper into equal halves; and orient vertically to construct the four drawings.

Drawing one will study structure, using pinholes and thread to mark the seams of the quilt on paper.

Drawing two will study composition and repetition using collaged elements (found printed matter) to represent each individual piece of fabric of the quilt that makes up the whole. The elements used in the collage should not exceed ½” in depth.

Drawing three will study pattern and color using graphite and colored pencil to construct a 8”x8” drawing of a 1’x1’ area of the quilt with extraordinary detail (approximate area will be defined separately for each quilt).

Drawing four will study the process of assembly and will be made as though one is making the quilt in the order of the assembly of pieces. The drawing should use all of the media listed above.

 

Project 06:
Learning from the Quilts : (Soft) Wall

Assignment
After designing an exterior wall for Mozell Benson’s residence/workshop, your next assignment is to design its interior counterpart. This wall should be reflective of the quilting process in a different way than the exterior one, since in addition to being a wall, it is also an extension of the actual workshop space. As an interior wall, it should also have a different materiality, or a character. Its constant proximity to human action/interaction, and its ability to define a space, underlines its different nature and expression.

 

Project 07:
Quilting Studio

Assignment
Your assignment is to design a Quilting Studio in Waverly, AL. for Mozell Benson, a nationally renowned African-American quilter. The quilting studio will enable Ms. Benson to fulfill her dream of bringing the community together through the act of quilting. The beauty of quilt-making lies not only in its physical appearance, its patterns or the fabric used; rather, in the simplicity of its utilitarian role and its ability to bring together the histories and culture of a close knit community.

Quilting as a method of production is about the human need for making, creating something out of nothing. The quilts are objects made for use, and often out of necessity, with a passion for beauty. The production practices of quilting will serve as a basis for the architectural design of the Quilting Studio

The Quilting Studio will provide a place for creative work and a teaching environment for quilt making. The Quilting Studio will be used daily by Ms. Benson for quilting and will provide a place, up to three times a week, to teach 1-10 children the art of quilting. The Studio space will also provide storage for the fabrics and thread used to piece the quilts and display of the finished quilts.

The programmatic requirements of the Quilting Studio includes the following:

- The overall Quilting Studio structure, including inside and outside spaces, should not exceed 900 sq. ft.
The Studio structure should have a connection, a transitional threshold, to the main house and to the garden.

- The interior conditioned Studio space should not exceed 600 sq. ft.
The space should provide movable tables for cutting, sewing and piecing the quilts.
The space should provide storage for the completed quilts, bundled quilts, uncompleted quilts, batting, fabric scraps,
thread/yarn and equipment.
The space should include a service area approximately 200 sq. ft. that contains a washroom with a sink and commode; a
washing machine and dryer; an area for food preparation and storage with a sink, microwave and small refrigerator; and a
break area for 10-12 people.

- The outdoor & protected, non-conditioned studio space should not exceed 300 sq. ft.