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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

Computer Numerical...

Theory & Feasibility

Designing Never Stops

Telling Your Story

Social Media

Herding Cats: A Lesso...

What is a Designer's...

Digital Design_Hand D...

Understanding Materi...

All Night? All Right?

Construction Safety

Communicating in the...

A Future for Seaton Hall

Biophilic Design

2 Pavilions: Diverging...

The Value of Shop Dra...

Stretching the Mold

Sacred Space

What we can Learn...

Women in the "Making"

Failing Fast & Failing...

The Power of Mock...

The Next Chapter

Value Competiton

Design Intentions

Budgeting & Architec...

Building Relationships

Art with Plumbing

Having Your Own Pla...

Communicate Early...

The 7 Phases of Fab...

SDOB

Art Intertwined with th...

Can You Please Every...

Building with Kultur

Studio Dynamic

Creative Power_Brain...

The Three Schedules...

Building New on Indig...

Women in Charge

A Sunday Afternoon in...

Designing in the Mod...

Thriving on Collaborati...

Looking at the Whole...

Studio Desk 101

Meet the Team

Making Competence

FAT: Flexible, Adapt...

Architect's Self Evalu...

Benefits of Design B...

The Truth in the Deta...

Studio Expansion: W...

design+make apprec...

Optimistic Continge...

Wood 101

Client Conversation:...

Great Expectations

The Future of Dry Fit...

Communication Brea...

Design Matters

Prototyping as a Tool

Expressive Diagraming

Blood, Sweat, and Provi...

design+make+sustain

A Departure From Fine ...

Facility Optimization as...

The Need for Quality C...

design+makeDISCUSSION

Macro / Micro

Taking a Public Interest

Conditional Making

Efficiency

Holding it Together

Keys to Graphic Commu...

This Program Has Been...

Expanded Partnerships...

Preserving Graduate Le...

Careful Consideration o...

Making the Switch

Pushing Back on the Be...

Roof_Ground_Winner

Girl Scout Camp Assesm...

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)

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