Previous Posts
Throughout the past 4 years of studying architecture we have never had to be aware of the cost of construction. I must say that budgets are eye opening. This is the first time I’ve had to thoroughly research and contact suppliers, keeping track of the total cost of a design idea. With the small budget we have for a current project; researching suppliers is one of the most important aspects, making sure we get the best value possible. I am learning that it is also wise to ask about donations, discounts, or pro bono services. Many companies like to donate materials if it is helping better the community or just to help students out. This just requires a little... (more)
4/26/2015
4/26/2015
In architecture, as with any creative field, design intentions are an important and integral part of design process. Without this core foundation, nothing substantial can be produced. This model helps to establish a starting point where ideas can be tested and contested. After all, design intentions help set parameters and constraints so that the main concept and its inhabitant’s wants and needs are kept in sight. But, too often, these intentions become skewed by its creator due to personal expression, philosophy, assumptions and so on. Specifically, this boils down to the architect’s intentions (how it should work) vs the end user’s reality (how it... (more)
4/30/2015
Throughout our academic career, a norm has been established for the completion of our projects. Like clockwork we prepare diagrams, compelling images, and tediously construct models up to the deadline, only to go home after with the satisfaction of finishing the project. This year has been different. This year we enter the next chapter of architecture with the construction of our designs.
The last few weeks of the Johnson County Pavilion have been a testament to the how much is really involved in... (more)
4/30/2015
Installation competitions are a unique and often thought provoking combination of Art and Architecture. Sukkah City is a competition that pushes architects and artists to think differently about what a structure is and represents. It also breathes life into certain abstract ideas and offers a medium for those ideas to become reality. This particular competition was centered around the traditional Jewish festival of Sukkot. The Sukkah, a temporary dwelling erected during Sukkot, is a unique structure that follows traditional Jewish guidelines. These traditional rules were used as guidelines in the reimaging of the Sukkah and what its... (more)
5/2/2015
Throughout the course of the Design+Make Studio, we have been tasked with designing and building new studio desks, a sukkah, pavilions in both Johnson County, Kansas and Alma, Kansas, ReStart Community Room furniture, and a Partial Partition for the new Seaton Hall. Listing them all in a row, it is amazing to realize what we have accomplished up to this point and what is still to be done within the last four weeks of the semester. Along the way, from early stages of design development through what is now final construction, we have gone through some collective class up and downs. Full Scale Mock-Ups have proved invaluable... (more)
