5/19/2014
Previous Posts
Technological advances have had a strong hand in shaping how Architecture is practiced and how it is taught. Computers have become ubiquitous; drastically altering the landscape of almost every profession, architecture included. Architecture schools have become testing grounds for the latest and greatest computer programs with courses dedicated to the sole purpose of teaching these programs. Without proficiency in at least the most basic programs, students couldn't fit into the structure of how firms operate today. Students push these programs to the limit of their capabilities, which generally lead towards projects emphasizing formal and aesthetic qualities... (more)
5/19/2014
As construction in the studio advances and shop drawings generate some tangibility, recently the studio took some time to step back and assess the work already completed. This informal yet illuminating conversation brought forth a series of issues, considerations and thought provoking initiatives to be addressed. Of the many topics mulled through and probed, there seemed to be a reoccurring concern among the collective; unforeseen problems. For one reason or another, nearly every task completed at that juncture had experienced a set back of some fashion... (more)
5/19/2014
As architecture students, all we ever hear is the word more. We often say, “I wish I could have done more here” or “I wish I could have had more time.” Professors, thinking of Mies’ famous conceptual jingle, “Less is more” now tell us, “More is more” and “yes is more.” When I think about all of the times that I have been told to think about doing more with a project, this becomes the stigma tagged to a completed project. To a student of architecture this suggests that a design solution may never produce total satisfaction. More will always define a piece or art or architecture because it is never complete in the mind of the designer... (more)
5/18/2014
Skills learned from university based design‐build programs are extremely valuable. As architecture education becomes more desk‐based and media‐driven, design‐build programs offer a striking alternative when compared to the standard simulated classroom project experience. Our Kansas State Architectural Studio Professor, David Dowell, recently posed the question, “What have you learned from this studio?” The class agreed that there has been a great benefit from Design+Make, especially since we received the opportunity to work with a professor whose firm’s approach integrates design‐build... (more)
5/18/2014
As Gary Coates first told me in studio, we have to construct a set of rules for ourselves, and then we have to carefully decide when we are going to break them. Throughout the semester we have continually second guessed choices we have made, invalidating then reinstating has become the norm as we break our own rules. Now as the details are coming together rapidly in our last week, we look back on what we have learned and how we have gotten to this point which felt so far away only a semester ago... (more)
5/17/2014
The Design+Make studio is quickly becoming a trademark piece for the department of architecture at Kansas State University. What if the design studio became the trademark studio of the entire university? The studio is still in its infancy being just in its third year. As the studio becomes more popular to students in the upcoming years, is it the time to begin evaluating what the design class can become? Does the studio want to expand and become a college wide institution? This notion should be thoroughly explored because the identity of the studio may drastically change... (more)