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ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
ADVANCED
SYNTHESIS
OPTION
STUDIOS
  F18-S20
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
INTRODUCTION
This is the catalog of Advanced Synthesis Option Studios F18-S20. We are announcing the next four
studios to give students in all of our studio programs the opportunity to plan ahead and chart your
future. In these advanced and specialized studios, there are opportunities for BArch, BA, MAAD, MUD,
MArch, and MsSD (S’20) students to work alongside each other

STUDIO SELECTION PROCESS
The faculty will determine the studio allocations before the beginning of each semester, (in August for
the Fall and in November for the Spring semesters).
Students are invited to consider the upcoming studios and express their preferences for the immediate semester
in the light of their short, medium and longterm interests and ambitions.

SUBMIT
We would like to receive a discursive response to the options available, with preferences expressed
for at least three F’18 studios with a minimum100 words for each, describing what you would
contribute to and gain from working in that studio.
In addition, we ask that you set out the longer term trajectory that could be the outcome of taking any
of these three preferred studios. Thus you will put the immediate set of objectives for F18 into a larger
context.
Please could you return your written response in an email to me by 9am on Monday 16th July 2018.
Students who are studying abroad for the F18 semester need not submit their preferences.
There will be an invitation for another submission of preferences in November’18 for the S19 studio
allocation process.
The F18 studio allocations will be announced on August 1st.

Mary-Lou Arscott AADip RIBA
Studio Professor + Associate Head
mlarscott@cmu.edu

cover images
FRONT Forensic Architecture +SITU Research, ‘Left-To-Die-Boat’ 2011, the drift model.
BACK Forensic Architecture +SITU Research, Limeburner’s drift model, 2011.

                              Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture 20th June 2018
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
ASO studios listed
F18
       DAMIANI    High_Rise: ‘Untitled 2018’ New York (+MARFA pre-semester, NY midsemester)
       FICCA/KING SOLID: the rise of timber? (+Montreal )
       FOLAN      Deconstructing Blight: UDBS Pittsburgh
       GRUBER     Commoning the City: urban design thesis (+ Zurich travel mid-semester)
       HAYES      Density + Complexity: megastructure for Hudson River Pier76.+NY September
       LUCCHINO   Freespace: serving humanity (+Venice Biennale mid-semester)
       QUICK 		   Re-purposing Architecture: SUCC Pittsburgh

S19
 ARSCOTT     thesis/IP
 BARD 		     Low Relief: virtual+material cultures of architectural deceit (+visit London/Paris)
 BIZON 		    Identity+Making: The American Mash-up (Ann Kalla Professor ‘18-’19)
 FOLAN       Reconstructing Authenticity: UDBS Pittsburgh
 GRUBER      Acupuncture Urbanism - Collab Studio Pittsburgh
 HAYES       4-D Architecture: New ExperimentalTheatre for NYC +NY site visit
 KLINE 		    Commoning the City: urban design thesis
 LOFTNESS /KLEE      Brain Hub: HarnessingTechnology that helps the world explore brain and behavior.
 MONDOR      Infrastructure Studio +potential Europe in Summer

F19    COLVARD    Worksapce: industrial architecture 4.0
       DAMIANI/SHAPIRO – Bouca Social Housing (+Lisbon in Summer)
       FICCA      Subject to Change: Timber evolving
       FOLAN		    Home Re_Considered: UDBS Pittsburgh
       GRUBER     Commoning the City: urban design thesis
       HAYES      Terminal Systems: JFK airport T4 expansion (+NY site visit)
       MONDOR     Infrastructure Studio - TBD
       REHMAN     thesis/IP

S20
       ARSCOTT       Moving Image: phenomenal migration
       BARD		        Low Relief: concrete material exploration
       CUPKOVA       Behavior Matters: mediated nature in material systems
       FOLAN		       Home Re_Defined: UDBS Pittsburgh
       GRUBER        Acupuncture Urbanism - Collab Studio Pittsburgh
       HAYES         Humanizing Brutalism London’ SB Centre (+London/Paris)
       KALLA visitor TBD
       KLINE 		      Commoning the City: urban design thesis

       Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture 20th June 2018
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
H i g h _ R i s e
                             “Untitled” 2018”
                             This studio will look at the role of the   Travel:
                             architectural promenade and how it         As part of the studio, the studio will visit
‘I pay a lot of attention    can be adapted to the typology of the      two of Judd’s workspaces (one rural and
to how things are done
                             high-rise. The promenade architecturale    one urban) to determine how these two
 and the whole activity
 of building something       first described by Le Corbusier as a       locations influenced his work and acted
          is interesting.’   sequence of spaces and direction of        as the context for his site specific art.
           Donald Judd       movement in the Acropolis in Athens is                                                    Donald Judd 1928-1994

                             a way of constructing views, vistas and    The studio consists of two field trips.
                             experiences. The high-rise, an American    The first to Marfa, Texas (August 21st-
                             typology, acknowledges maximizing          24nd) and the second to NYC 101 Spring
                             building area but does not address the     Street (September 14th-16th). Field Trips
                             role of the architectural sequence.        are required as part of the studio. Please
                             This studio will investigate the high-     note that Altenhof funding for travel is
                             rise typology through the hybridization    available for United States citizens and
                             of the typology with the architectural     U.S. Permanent Residents with financial
                             promenade.                                 need. Please inquire by contacting David
                             This studio will focus on a urban high-    Koltas, Assistant Head, for eligibility.
                             rise structure located in SoHo in New      - dkoltas@andrew.cmu.edu
                             York City directly across from the Judd
                             Foundation.
                             https://juddfoundation.org

                                                                                                                       Site Location
                                                                                                                       Mercer Street, NYC

                                                 F18
                                                                        48-400/500 Studio
                                                                        FALL 2018
                                                                        Damiani
                                                                        M,W,F 1.30-4.20
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
H i g h _ R i s e

This studio will focus on the writings        An inspiration to architects such as
and artistic output of Donald Judd as the     Steven Holl and Herzog & de Meuron,
intellectual underpinning of the studio,      the works of minimalist artist Donald
which will inform the spatial and detailing   Judd (1928-1994) spanned both art
agenda of the studio project. Often           and architecture through a search for
considered an artist of obdurate space,       autonomy and clarity for the objects and
Judd’s works are highly refined being         the spaces they occupy.
conscious of their context (what he called
fundamental realities), space, material,
color and detail.                             Program:
                                              The studio program will be a high-
                                              rise construction (75 feet or higher)
                                              consisting of vertical galleries, a
                                              museum store (street level), studio
                                              workspaces (mid-level) for visiting
                                                                                         Donald Judd
                                              artists and apartments (upper level).      untitled works
                                                                                         in concrete

                    F18
                                              48-400/500 Studio
                                              FALL 2018
                                              Damiani
                                              M,W,F 1.30-4.20
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
H i g h _ R i s e

                   Bi-Weekly Case Studies (Wednesdays):
                   Each of the following projects will be analyzed for how they address the promenade
                   architecturale.
                   • Schinkel: Altes Museum
                   • Labrouste: Bibliothèque Nationale
                   • Hornsbostel: New York Education Department Building
                   • Aalto: Säynätsalo Town Hall
                   • Le Corbusier: Palace of Assembly
                   • Sterling: Dusseldorf Museum
                   • OMA: Très Grande Bibliothèque
                   • Alvaro Siza: Ibere Camargo Foundation                                                James Sterling
                   • Morphosis: Perot Museum of Nature & Science                                          Dusseldorf
                                                                                                          Muesum Proposal

                   Bi-Weekly Case studies (Wednesdays):
                   Each of the following projects will be studied for context, program, code and
                   occupancy, construction/ material, and detail:
                   • Ando: 152 Elizabeth
                   • Herzog & de Meuron: 56 Leonard Street
                   • Vinoly: 432 Park Avenue
                   • Sanaa: New Art Museum, 235 Bowery
                   • Diller, Scofidio + Renfro: The Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center
                   • SOM: Lever House, 390 Park Avenue
                   • SOM: The New School’s University Center
                   • Bernard Tschumi: Lerner Hall Student Center

                   Bi-Weekly Readings (Wednesdays):
                   The selected readings are to help position Judd’s work in the larger arts discourse.
                   • Specific Objects, 1964
                   • On Architecture, 1984
                   • Marfa_Texas, 1985
                   • 101 Spring Street, 1989
                   • It’s Hard to Find a Good Lamp,1993

                   Additional Reading:
                   • Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas, 1978
Donald Judd
untitled (stack)

                                      F18
                                                                48-400/500 Studio
                                                                FALL 2018
                                                                Damiani
                                                                M,W,F 1.30-4.20
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
COMMONING THE CITY
                            Urban Design Thesis
                            OVERVIEW
                            This two semester research-based-design
                                                                           FALL: RESEARCH-BASED DESIGN
                            studio is focused on the bottom-up
                                                                           The fall studio will develop the core Atlas,
                            transformation of cities and explores
                                                                           by researching and assembling both
                            how designers and planners can tap into
                                                                           international and Pittsburgh region cases
                            the self-organizaing behavior of cities.
                                                                           that critically explore practices of urban
                            The first semester, taught by Stefan
                                                                           commoning, and embed them in a broader
                            Gruber, will focus on collective case study
                                                                           context of societal transitions. Learning
                            research that leads to the development
                                                                           from the collective research, students
                            of an individual design thesis proposal.
                                                                           will then develop a hypothesis and begin
                            The second semester, taught by Jonathan
                                                                           testing the aquired know-how in an urban
                            Kline, will support students in developing
                                                                           milieu of their choice.
                            their individual thesis projects culminating
                            in an exhibition at the Miller Gallery. This
                                                                           SPRING: DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH
  “In Common space,         studio is required for all second year
                                                                           The spring studio will focus on
    in space produced       Master of Urban Design students. For
                                                                           developing individual thesis and design
and used as common,         MArch and ASOS students the studio is
                                                                           proposals exploring the theme of urban
 people do not simply       an opportunity to pursue a year long thesis
  use an area given by
                                                                           commoning. For the project students will
                            within a structured research environment
    an authority (local                                                    be expected to take a personal position
                            exploring urban commoning.
    state, state, public                                                   and formulate a thesis, expressed and
      institution, etc.).                                                  refined through design. The site, program
                            The commons are emerging as a key
 People actually mold                                                      and general parameters of the project
                            concept beyond the binaries of public and
     this kind of space
                            private space for tackling the challenges      will be determined during the fall, allowing
     according to their
                            of the contemporary metropolis: How            students to gather data and base materials     Die Laube,
       collective needs
                            to build urban resilience in the face of                                                      Prinzessinnengarten
  and aspirations (…)                                                      over the winter break. The projects will
                                                                                                                          Berlin,
Whereas public space        dwindelling resources? How to tackle           be featured in the thesis exhibition at the    2017 studio work
   necessarily has the      growing inequity in the face of polarizing
                                                                           Miller Gallery.
   mark of an identity,     politics? And how to articulate common
common space tends          interests despite increasing social
       to be constantly     individualization? And how to find
 redefined: commons         agency as architects given the scope
 space HAPPENS and
                            of these challenges? Here commons
    is shaped through
                            are understood as a set of practices
     collective action.”
                            dealing with the production and self-
    - Stavros Stavrides     management of collective resourcees
           in Common        and spaces beyond contemporary
     Space: the City as     forms of domination (such as class,
       Commons, 2016        gender or race). Throughout the 2018/19
                            academic year the studio will continue
                            a collaboration with ARCH+ and ifa,
                            contributing to the travelling exhibition An
                            Atlas of Commoning. Our research will be
                            featured in the international premiere of
                            the exhibition in Pittsburgh in the S’19.

                            F18/S19
                                                                           48-400/500 Studio
                                                                           Stefan Gruber (F18) Jonathan Kline (S19)
                                                                           W/F +12:30-4:20
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
S O L I D
                        The Rise of Timber?
                                                                     Although the spatial, aesthetic, and
                                                                     structural affordances of these materials
                                                                     are universally accepted and heralded,
                                                                     the ecological impact of their production
                                                                     are increasingly difficult to ignore.
                                                                     While it is naïve and problematic to
                                                                     assume a single material will serve as
                                                                     a panacea for architecture’s carbon
                                                                     footprint, tree’s natural carbon capturing
                                                                     abilities, relatively short replenishment
                                                                     rate, and abundance within responsibly
                                                                     managed forests make a compelling
                                                                     case for building with timber. A growing
                                                                     collection of large-scale timber buildings
                                                                     is upending misconceptions of building
     Man standing in                                                 with wood, while demonstrating the
    the lumberyard of                                                efficacy of timber in the city. If the 17th
Seattle Cedar Lumber
                                                                     – 20th centuries of western architecture
 Manufacturing. 1939
  -Alfred Eisenstaedt                                                embodied transitions from stone, brick,
                                                                     iron and concrete, might the 21st century     “Wood is the mother
                        INTRODUCTION                                                                               of matter ... she
                                                                     be the time for timber?
                        Wood is arguably architecture’s original                                                   renews herself by
                                                                                                                   giving, gives herself
                        additive material. Epitomized through
                                                                                                                   by renewing. Wood
                        Laugier’s myth of the primitive hut in                                                     is the bride of life in
                        which trunk became column and branch                                                       death, of death in life.
                                                                     In putting forth a material centric           She is the cool and
                        became beam, the birth of architecture
                                                                     agenda, this studio seeks to explore          shade and peace of
                        beyond the cave is inextricably tied
                                                                     what it might mean to build with              the forest. She is the
                        to the tree. Despite the virtues of this                                                   spark and ear, ember
                                                                     wood at larger scale in the city and
                        abundant and replenishable material,                                                       and dream of hearth.
                                                                     how this method of construction               In death her ahses
                        modernism largely passed by wood
                                                                     might establish novel architectural           sweeten our bodies
                        in pursuit of the promise of steel and                                                     and purify our earth.”
                                                                     scenarios. This studio aims to
                        concrete to usher in a radical new global
                                                                     challenge notions of permanence
                        style of architecture. While the stylistic                                                 - Carl Andre
                                                                     to consider architecture’s presence
                        ambitions of modernism were undercut
                                                                     through time.
                        by an era of iconic building, modernism’s
                        primary materials of concrete and steel
                        continue to serve as the basis for large-
                        scale construction across the globe.

                                  F18
                                                                     48-400/500 Studio
                                                                     Ficca/King
                                                                     MF 12:30-4:20PM
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
S O L I D
                             The studio is interested in not only the     The second and culminating project will
  “The hotel industry is     spatial-structural affordances of timber     focus on the design of a food market hall
in denial about Airbnb,
                             but also the psychological potential         and mid-rise hotel tower that utilizes
      the same way they
  were about the online      of wood environments and perceived           timber material systems to consider the
    travel agencies. But     notions of “natural” materials. In           internalized social spaces of the city. (10
  you can’t compete by
                             foregrounding structural-material            week duration)
    playing politics. You
    can’t stall progress.    conditions, the studio aims to extend
         The only way to     contemporary material discourse from         The studio will make extensive use
 compete with a strong       architecture’s skin to its bones.            of wood analog models to shape
       idea like Airbnb is
                                                                          our understanding of basic material
    with another strong
      idea. You provide a    ORGANIZATION AND                             properties while testing spatial
      social community       PROJECTS                                     conditions and structural configurations.
         space, because      The semester will begin by researching       These models, in the first project, will
   Airbnb can’t do that.
                             and classifying a range of tectonic          serve as proto-architectures to establish
  A hotel traditionally      approaches for building with timber to       a collective body of knowledge for the
              provided a     create a shared studio reference that        entire studio. The second project will
  manifestation of the
                             outlines the current state of practice       continue an emphasis of analog model
   social fabric of that
    city. It’s when the      and research (2 week duration). This will    production, while utilizing methods
  real estate guys got       be followed by the first design project in   of digital fabrication to consider the
  ahold of it that they      which individual students will develop a     affordances of computational material
    stopped doing it.”
                             design for a small pavilion that explores    formation.
 - Ian Schrager in 2017      the hybridization of two timber systems
     NYTimes Interview       to achieve a horizontal span and vertical
                             stack (3 week duration).

                                                                                                                        Market Hall in Ghent
                                                                                                                        Marie-José Van Hee +
                                                                                                                        Robbrecht & Daem

                                       F18
                                                                          48-400/500 Studio
                                                                          Ficca/King
                                                                          MF 12:30-4:20PM
ADVANCED SYNTHESIS OPTION STUDIOS - Squarespace
S O L I D
FIELD TRIP                                 Design, Master of Architecture, and
The studio will travel to Montreal         Bachelor of Architecture Programs
Canada over Fall Break (Oct. 18-21) to     with an anticipated size of 22-24
visit recently completed noteworthy        students. Commencing with the
timber projects by Canadian firms          second project, students will work in
Saucier Perrotte, Atelier TAG, and         teams of two for the duration of the
Coarchitecture . While in Montreal,        semester.
the studio will visit Nordic Structures,
a leading timber engineer and              WORKSHOP
fabricator.                                Teaching Assistants will offer weekly
                                           digital fabrication and computational
Students should anticipate combined        design workshops on Wednesdays.
airfare and accomodation costs
                                                                                   timber detail of the
of $500-$650. Travel details will be                                               Monte Rosa Hut by
outlined once the studio roster has                                                Gramazio Kohler
been established.
Please note that Altenhof funding
for travel is available for United
States citizens and U.S. Permanent
Residents with financial need. Please
inquire by contacting David Koltas,
Assistant Head, for eligibility.

STUDIO CONSULTANTS
Engineers from Arup with an                                                        Stade de Soccer de
expertise of Timber structures will                                                Montreal, Saucier +
offer unique perspective on the                                                    Perrotte Architects
                                                                                   + Hughes, Condon,
emerging state of mass timber
                                                                                   Marler Architects
construction.

STUDIO STRUCTURE AND
SCHEDULE
This studio will be co-led by
Professors Ficca and King, Monday
and Friday of each week. Teaching
Assistants will offer weekly digital
fabrication and computational
design workshops on Wednesdays.
The studio will operate as a ‘super-
studio’ comprised of students from
the Master of Advanced Architectural

         F18
                                           48-400/500 Studio
                                           Ficca/King
                                           MF 12:30-4:20PM
DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT

                                                                                        Demolished and
                                                                                        Removed, Gordon
                                                                                        Matta-Clark, 1974

STUDIO DESCRIPTION                          dynamics. The central aspirations
The 2018/2019 Urban Design Build Studio     of DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT are
(UDBS) will explore the relationship        multi-dimensional; with the concept
between building disassembly,               of deconstruction being probed both
material harvesting, and new housing        literally and figuratively. Literally,
construction oriented toward the            the studio will engage in building
elimination of concentrated poverty.        deconstruction as a physical operation to
Addressing dramatic shifts in regional      harvest construction material consistent
housing needs that have precipitated        with National Building Material Reuse
over the past 70 years, this Public         Association (NBMRA) standards.
Interest Design (PID) studio will utilize   Figuratively, the studio will operate
participatory processes to collaborate      as design activists to deconstruct
with residents, neighborhood partners,      pre-existing notions of blight and
and NGO’s on developing viable urban        concentrated disinvestment. Closely
housing strategies that can continue        associated with urban environments,
to evolve with regional population          the word blight and associated concepts

                     F18
                                            48-400/500 Studio
                                            John Folan
                                            day + time TBD
DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT

          East Liberty
 residents protest the
     demolition of the
Penn Plaza apartment
      complex. Photo:                                                                                            HUD deconstruction
   Pam Panchak, 2016                                                                                             project, Detroit, MI

                         have historically been pretext for drastic   gained through the deconstruction
                         forms of construction that result in         of buildings will establish tangible
                         massive displacement of populations.         abilities in assessing broad tactical
                         This studio will seek to change thinking     deconstruction strategies, material
                         and policy related to disinvestment          harvesting opportunities, and upcycled
                         through demonstrable action that focuses     material processes that can sustain
                         on inclusion, population retention,          the creation of authentic, place based
                         and sets the table for the construction      architecture.
                         of housing as part of the Spring 2019
                         CONSTRUCTING AUTHENTICITY studio.            The remainder of the semester will be
                                                                      utilized to advance the RE_CON 01
                         SCHEDULE OBJECTIVES/                         Housing Prototypes with East Liberty
                         ACTIONS/PARTNERS                             Development Incorporated (ELDI),
                         Utilizing multiple adjacent structures       UDBS/PROJECT RE_’s partner in
                         included on the city of Pittsburgh’s         the development of the project site at
                         register of condemned buildings, the         318 N. St. Clair Street. The studio will
                         studio will collaborate with PROJECT         collaboratively develop the conceptual
                         RE_’s building deconstruction crew           design proposal for 318 N. St. Clair
                         and a labor force in training on the         presented to, and approved by, ELDI’s
                         complete disassembly of three blighted       Community Planning Committee in
                         houses. Materials harvested from the         May of 2018. Students will advance the
                         deconstruction work will be utilized         project through Schematic Design (SD),
                         as a platform for the development of         Design Development (DD), and initiate
                         replicable design strategies that will
                         be implemented through the RE_CON
                         01 Housing Prototypes projected to
                         begin construction in the spring of
                         2019. Students enrolled in the studio
                         will become certified in building
                         deconstruction by the NBMRA by
                         extension of work executed on site
                         during the first four weeks of the
                         semester. Hands on/physical experience                                                  Bingo, Gorbon
                                                                                                                 Matta-Clark, 1974

                                              F18
                                                                      48-400/500 Studio
                                                                      John Folan
                                                                      day + time TBD
DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT

                                                                                          Rendered view of the
                                                                                          proposed RE_CON
                                                                                          01 housing prototype
                                                                                          and aggregated
                                                                                          development
                                                                                          approved by East
                                                                                          Liberty Development,
                                                                                          Inc. (ELDI).

Construction Documents (CD) during            collaborate with industry partners/
the fall of 2018. As a component of the       stakeholders on the development of
work, students will work closely with         potential project strategies. To achieve
ELDI, its planning committee, board, and      these objectives, the studio will 1)
community residents in advancing the          work closely with the PROJECT RE_
housing proposal through Real Estate          Deconstruction crew on the dissection/
Committee Approval, Finance Committee         dismantling of a condemned structure
Approval, and Executive Committee             to gain nuanced understanding of
Approval.                                     processes through experience; 2)
                                              extend a research partnership with
The studio will expand use of REALITY         IDeATe utilizing Reality Computing
COMPUTING (capture, compute, create)          applications to catalogue existing vacant
technologies explored in collaboration
with the IDeATe program. The studio
will utilize capture, augmented reality,
and virtual reality technologies to
advance design work, enhance efficacy
of communication with residents and
stakeholders, and increase transparency
of process. The studio will collaborate
with IDeATe students on a regular basis
throughout the semester, with specific,
self-identified liaisons bridging disparate                                               Conceptual rendering
fields of interrelated inquiry.                                                           of the virtually reality
Over the course of the semester, the                                                      and community
                                                                                          engagement tool
UDBS will gain intimate knowledge
                                                                                          developed by the
of deconstruction processes, identify                                                     UDBS for RE_
material inventories/supply chains, and                                                   CYCLE PARK.

                      F18
                                              48-400/500 Studio
                                              John Folan
                                              day + time TBD
DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT
                          structures, identify viable material for   who have completed a sequence of
                          deconstructive harvesting, inventory       two (fall and spring) Urban Design
                          potential of material for up-cycle         Build Studios, and are offered based
                          construction at mass scale, visualize      on demonstrated ability to accept
                          transformed landscapes, and 3) design,     responsibility. The internships are
                          develop, and prototype full-scale          also subject to availability of external
                          material assemblies for the integration    funding The structure of the UDBS
                          into RE_CON 01 housing prototypes.         sequence is designed to afford students
                          The DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT                  an opportunity to participate in a one
                          studio is a component of a broader         year long sequence in the fulfillment of
                          Public Interest Design continuum           a Public Interest Design agenda. The
                          established by the UDBS and PROJECT        focus of each UDBS sequence evolves
                          RE_. This studio provides a pre-text for   with issues of regional and global
                          work in the Spring 2019 UDBS ASOS,         significance. The studio is open to 4th
                          RECONSTRUCTING AUTHENTICITY,               and 5th year undergraduate students in
                          and anticipated opportunity for            the BArch program as well as all Masters
                          subsequent Summer 2019 UDBS Paid           of Architecture (MArch) students.
                          Internship. Skill sets and sensibilities   Undergraduate 4th year BArch students
                          developed in each UDBS ASOS and            enrolling in the UDBS, and interested in
                          Co-requisite courses are intended          developing an expertise/focus in Public
                          to inform subsequent studios and           Interest Design may elect to continue to
                          the implementation of work through         work with the UDBS in the 5th year of
                          jurisdictional review processes. Taking    the program. MArch students enrolling
                          a project from initial concept through     during the first year of the program may
Rendered perspective      the completion of construction requires    enroll for two years as well.
view generated by the     commitment over the entire one year
UDBS as part of graphic
                          projected timeline. UDBS summer            The UDBS is a vertically integrated,
series llustrating the
                          internships are reserved for students      interdisciplinary studio. The studio
assembly sequence and
construction strategies                                              will be composed of students from
for the proposed RE_CON                                              the Masters of Architecture (MArch),
01 housing prototype.                                                Masters of Architecture Engineering
                                                                     and Construction Management (AECM),
                                                                     Bachelor of Architecture (BArch),
                                                                     Masters of Urban Design (MUD), and
                                                                     IDeATe Reality Computing Programs.
                                                                     The studio will meet Mondays,
                                                                     Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1:30PM
                                                                     to 4:20PM. Students enrolled in the
                                                                     Urban Design Build Studio (UDBS)
                                                                     DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT Studio
                                                                     are required to enroll in 48_493,
                                                                     REPRESENTING ACTIVISM (9CU).
                                                                     REPRESENTING ACTIVISM will meet
                                                                     on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

                                               F18
                                                                     48-400/500 Studio
                                                                     John Folan
                                                                     day + time TBD
DECONSTRUCTING BLIGHT
from 12:30PM to 1:20PM. Portions of          are risks in travelling to and from work
each Monday and Wednesday studio             sites, meeting locations, and other
session will be utilized for collaboration   studio related destinations visited
on Reality Computing strategies related      regularly throughout the course of the
to augmented and adaptive technologies       semester. PROJECT RE_ is the primary
with IDeATe in the Collaborative Making      construction/fabrication space utilized
Center, Hunt Library.                        by the UDBS. Students acknowledge
                                             understanding that PROJECT RE_
This studio is generously funded by          is an off-campus facility and that
Allegheny Foundation, Autodesk, the          students are responsible for their own
Heinz Endowments, and the Urban              transportation to and from the facility.
Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh        UDBS work includes physical labor and
(URA). All construction work will be         requires the utilization of construction
done in collaboration with PROJECT RE_       tools/equipment that may cause bodily
partners. Students will work shoulder to     injury. Students acknowledge that
shoulder with populations representing       they understand the risks associated
the communities where the UDBS               with using the tools and do so of their
practices.                                   own volition. The UDBS collaborates
                                             with organizations include individuals
CONTEXT STATEMENT                            with previous legal violations and/or
The UDBS is a Public Interest Design         incarceration. The Trade Institute of
(PID) entity. Each individual enrolling      Pittsburgh (TIP), a partner in PROJECT
in this studio recognizes that work          RE_, focuses its apprentice training
is executed in communities, with             on individuals re-entering society post
residents served by the Urban Design         incarceration. Students enrolling in
Build Studio (UDBS). The UDBS works          this studio acknowledge that they
across the spectrum of scales from           understand the working conditions and
urban to ergonomic. With the enormous        have elected to participate in the studio
privilege that this opportunity provides     of individual volition.
comes responsibility. Work is done for
clients with unmet needs, working to
budget and schedule demands required
to meet their needs. Students are
expected to be present for all client
meetings and participatory design
sessions. The ability to realize a project
through construction/implementation
is earned, and not an entitlement. While
every effort will be made to schedule
community/client meetings during
class time, client need/schedules will
determine times outside of scheduled
class. By enrolling in the UDBS, students
understand and acknowledge that there

                      F18
                                             48-400/500 Studio
                                             John Folan
                                             day + time TBD
DENSITY+COMPLEXITY
                             Sustainable Megastructure: Hudson River Pier 76 Redevelopment

                                                                         METHODOLOGY
                                                                         This studio will emphasize the use
                                                                         of hand sketching, physical models
                                                                         and iteration of design, research and
                                                                         analysis at varying scales and degrees of
                                                                         resolution.
                                                                         Students must also expand their mastery
                                                                         of digital and parametric tools for both
                                                                         analysis and conceptual/ morphological
                                                                         design development.

                                                                         CHALLENGE
                                                                         This studio will challenge the student
                                                                         to address the full range of complex,
                                                                         interrelated design issues of a new major
                                                                         intermodal transportation terminal
                                                                         combined with large, dense mixed-
                                                                         use program. Students will explore
Google Earth view of         INTRODUCTION                                structure, infrastructure systems and
 site area from above                                                    building morphology on a grand scale,
                             This studio is about architecture concept
     the Hudson River                                                    with major new program integrating
   with Pier 76 (front       and design methodology.
                                                                                                                     Paul Rudolph, Lower
                                                                         with already vast existing buildings and
    center), Waterway        A semester-long theoretical project for                                                 Manhattan Expressway
   Ferry Terminal and                                                    systems.
                             an extremely high density development                                                   Concept Design (1971)
  Lincoln Tunnel vent
                             on the Hudson River in Midtown
      shaft (front left ),
     Midtown Heliport        Manhattan will be the vehicle for our
   (front right), Jacob      study.
    Javits Convention        Growing populations and economies
        Center (middle
                             increasingly stress natural resources
     center), The High
  Line (middle right),       and ecosystems. Architects and
   Times Square area         developers can help to minimize and
     (rear right), Penn
                             reverse this stress by making this
Station/Empire State
   Building area (rear       growth sustainable by understanding
       center) Hudson        and deploying smart growth strategies
     Yards (rear right).     that increase development density within
                             established urban environments. Sites
                             formerly considered too burdensome,
                             such as railyards and brownfields, have
                             now become among the most desirable
                             development sites in the planet’s most
                             vibrant megacities.

                                                F18
                                                                         48-400/500 Studio
                                                                         Hal Hayes
                                                                         MWF 1.30-4.20
DENSITY+COMPLEXITY
                  DISCUSSION                                   will confirm the base program for the
                  Studio discussion and design will            studio, establish two to more common
                  primarily address                            conceptual frameworks, and identify
                  massive density & complexity; design         optional program expansions.
                  and context of megastructures,               Students will then as individuals or in
                  supertalls, groundscrapers, symbiotes
                                                               ad hoc teams propose individual project
                  and parasites etc., and
                                                               definition statements for concept
                  sustainable systems integration;
                                                               development for the remainder of the
                  transportation, water conservation/
                                                               semester.
                  recycling, power generation, district
                  thermal and other systems.
                  Students will test and expand their          FOUNDATION
                  conceptual and technical design              Students will explore concept & design
                  skills in all key areas, with particular     methodology through a lens of 20th
                  focus on exploring issues arising from       century & contemporary conceptual
                  architectural, structural, infrastructural   theory and development strategies.
                  and mechanical systems at very large         Student teams will build a foundation
                  scale and extreme complexity.                of research into design speculations.
                                                               Research will analyse successful and
                  STRUCTURE                                    unsuccessful historic precedents from
                  The first three weeks will be devoted        the futuristic visions of Antonio Sant’Elia
                  to pre-design, site and market/program       through the unbuilt megastructures of
 Lebbeus Woods,
                  research in teams, from which students       Paul Rudolph and the contemporary
The Proto-Urban
   Campus 2008                                                 theories of Lebbeus Woods. and Rem
                                                               Koolhaus.

                                                               PROGRAM
                                                               The base program will be 500ksf of
                                                               recreation, cultural, intermodal transit,
                                                               and convention, with an equal amount
                                                               of open space. Additional program is
                                                               to be determined by the students in
                                                               groups during the first three weeks of the
                                                               semester.
                                                               These program frameworks will be the
                                                               basis of individual semester projects.
                                                               Each student will expand and develop
                                                               the program to create a unique individual
                                                               project which may, or may not, be related
                                                               to other student projects.

                                     F18
                                                               48-400/500 Studio
                                                               Hal Hayes
                                                               MWF 1.30-4.20
DENSITY+COMPLEXITY
                           SITE
                           The site is centered on Hudson River
                           Pier 76, a NYC Marine & Aviation
                           Department facility that is currently
                           used as the city’s tow pound. It is
                           currently planned to become 50% park
                           as part of the Hudson River Park corridor
                           and 50% mixed use development.
                           Students will expand the site as needed
                           for their individual project definitions,
                           possibly including the Javits Center,
                           Waterway Ferry Terminal, Midtown
                           Heliport, the northern terminus of the
                           High Line, several blocks of the Hudson
                           River Park, and connection to the
                           Hudson Yards subway station.

                           LECTURES
                           Studio lectures will address relevant
                           architecture and urbanism theory from
                           1920s Futurism and Post-War Modernist
                           Urban Design to Rebuild By Design and
                           current planning & development trends,
                           as well as iconic designs of New York
                           and local precedents including the Time
                           Warner Center, Riverside South Master
                           Plan, the seminal 1969 Plan for New York
                           City, Central Park, and the Gridiron Plan

                           NYC FIELD TRIP
                           New York Harbor, the Economic Engine of
     Top; Rem Koolhaas,    a Continent. The studio will make a two-
     Delirious New York,   day site visit and field trip on Sunday
Cover Image of European
                           and Monday, September 16th-17th or
         Editions (1978)
                           22nd-23rd. We will study and tour the
  Middle; Rem Koolhaas,    Hudson Yards, World Trade Center, Time
     Delirious New York,   Warner Center, Grand Central, Midtown
        “The City of the
                           Manhattan, Hudson and East River Piers,
   Captive Globe” (1978)
                           Central Park, an SOM office visit, and go
   Bottom; BIG, Rebuild    to a Broadway show.
        By Design, “The
           Big U” (2014)

                                               F18
                                                                       48-400/500 Studio
                                                                       Hal Hayes
                                                                       MWF 1.30-4.20
RE-PURPOSING ARCHITCECTURE
                           Standard Underground Cable Co.
                           INTRODUCTION

                           Creating new architecture on greenfield      The studio will visit repurposed and
                           sites is relatively easy compared to the     adapted buildings throughout the
                           challenges facing the architect who          city, talk with architects who practice
                           brings new life to aging buildings that      adaptive reuse on a daily basis, meet
                           have lost their original purpose. If you     with city officials who are responsible for
                           like puzzles and appreciate the mysteries    the zoning and building codes that affect
                           of forensics, are curious about context      design, and meet with real estate people
                           and wonder about how to design “within       who market architecture.
                           the box,” all while practicing sustainable
                           and regenerative architecture … this will
                           be a studio experience that will change
                           the way you think.

        Something old,     Re-Purposing Architecture will explore
       something new,      how the adaptive and creative reuse
  something borrowed,
                           of buildings can become community
    something blue, …
these are the things …     resources, community assets, and
    that create healthy,   agents of market change. We will learn
 engaged, and forward-     how context contributes to a sense
  looking architecture.
                           of place and influences program,
                           the difference between historical
                           preservation and adaptive reuse, and
                           how to alter an existing structural
                           system to achieve a new architectural
                           expression. We will explore how
                           architects have achieved technological
                           breakthroughs within a confined
                           framework and how building systems                                                         SUCC’s Hamilton
                                                                                                                      site (1911) architects
                           can lead to high-performance results
                                                                                                                      Prack and Perrine.
                           without having to tear down and start
                           over.                                                                                      source; Workers Arts
                                                                                                                      and Heritage Centre
                                                                                                                      (WAHC) in Hamilton, ON

                                                  F18                   48-400/500 Studio
                                                                        Stephen Quick
                                                                        day + time TBD
RE-PURPOSING ARCHITCECTURE

In the studio and as the architect, you                          Above: 1889 Hopkins
                                                                 Maps Vol sheet 15.
will simultaneously assume the roles of
                                                                 source; Historic
building developer and long-term owner                           Pittsburgh Maps
of The Standard Underground Cable                                Below: Incline on 17th St
Company building in the center of the                            Photograph source
                                                                 Heinz History Center
Strip District’s revitalization. As the
developer, you will be responsible for
determining the building’s market and
program, and as the building’s long-
term owner, you will be responsible for
achieving and maintaining tenant and
market flexibility while operating the
building as a profit-making investment.
As the architect, you will be responsible
for achieving your clients’ objectives and
meeting your professional responsibility
for environmentally sound architecture
while creating a noteworthy example
of regenerative and best-practices
architecture. At the end of the semester,
you will have a well-documented case
study of your design and representational
capabilities.

                       F18                   48-400/500 Studio
                                             Stephen Quick
                                             day + time TBD
F R E E S PAC E
                             S e r v i ng                             H u m a n i t y
                             INTRODUCTION
     MANIFESTO BY            The process of building has a signifi-   What is the “embodied power” of
   YVONNE FARRELL
                             cant impact that encompasses much        architecture? What responsibility do
              AND
SHELLEY MCNAMARA             more than the immediate needs of         we as architects have as stewards of
        FREESPACE            the client and extends well beyond       the built environment and towards
                             the timeline of its completion. This     our fellow humans? How does the
FREESPACE describes
                             process consumes extraordinary           architects’ skill in the making of space
   a generosity of spir-
  it and a sense of hu-      amounts of time, money, resources,       create the conditions for an enduring
  manity at the core of      materials, effort and energy. Serving    exchange between user and building?
architecture’s agenda,       humanity, approaching architecture       How can we add value to projects in
 focusing on the qual-
      ity of space itself.
                             with a generosity of spirit and ulti-    ways that allow them to exceed expec-
                             mately adding value to this process is   tations? Is it enough to satisfy the
     FREESPACE focus-        one quality that distinguishes archi-    needs of the client?
    es on architecture’s
                             tecture from building.
  ability to provide free
 and additional spatial                                               We will bring these questions to bear
 gifts to those who use      The studio will investigate a few        on our local context of Pittsburgh
  it and on its ability to   of the critical issues raised by the     while also exploring through readings
 address the unspoken
                             Venice Biennale 16th International       and discussion the role of the Bien-
   wishes of strangers.
                             Architecture Exhibition, FREESPACE.      nale as an institution, an exhibition
FREESPACE celebrates         This year’s curators, Yvonne Farrell     and a provocation in the making of
architecture’s capacity      and Shelley McNamara, conceived an       contemporary architecture culture.
  to find additional and
unexpected generosity
                             exhibition that presents “examples,      Readings and discussion will be
 in each project - even      proposals, elements - built or unbuilt   organized in collaboration with Dr.
    within the most pri-     - of work that exemplifies essential     Francesca Torello, Architectural His-
 vate, defensive, exclu-
                             qualities of architecture … revealing    torian. The course will include a trip
   sive or commercially
 restricted conditions.      [its] embodied power and beauty”.        to Venice to visit the Biennale Archi-
                             Together, we will consider the follow-   tecture Exhibition over mid-semester
        FREESPACE pro-       ing questions raised by this edition:    break.
                vides the
 opportunity to empha-                                                                                           Svizzera 240 - House
 sise nature’s free gifts                                                                                        Tour, The Swiss Pavilion,
  of light - sunlight and                                                                                        Giardini,
moonlight, air, gravity,                                                                                         Golden Lion Best Na-
materials - natural and                                                                                          tional Pavilion
 man-made resources.

   FREESPACE encour-
   ages reviewing ways
  of thinking, new ways
     of seeing the world,
       of inventing solu-
  tions where architec-
    ture provides for the
   well being and digni-
   ty of each citizen of
      this fragile planet.                       F18                  48-400/500 Studio
                                                                      Jennifer Lucchino
                                                                      M/F 12:30 - 4:20
F R E E S PAC E
                                                                        contexts and scales. We will explore
   FREESPACE can be a
                             STUDIO THEMES                              the potential to enhance the essential
  space for opportunity,
     a democratic space,     We will consider the following             qualities and experience of architec-
    un-programmed and        themes inspired by the Manifesto           ture in our own local setting, treat-
     free for uses not yet   FREESPACE by Yvonne Farrell and            ing Pittsburgh as a lab in which to
  conceived. There is an
                             Shelley McNamara:                          explore and apply the ideas debated
exchange between peo-
  ple and buildings that                                                at the Biennale.
happens, even if not in-     Sense of Humanity
 tended or designed, so      Providing for the well being and           STUDIO ASSIGNMENTS
   buildings themselves
     find ways of sharing
                             dignity of all citizens of the planet by   Research / Analysis
and engaging with peo-       finding additional gifts and unex-         Research of the FREESPACE exhi-
ple over time, long after    pected generosity in each project          bition will familiarize students with
   the architect has left
                             while promoting an exchange be-            the content of the exhibition and help
     the scene. Architec-
    ture has an active as    tween people and building;                 students to identify specific areas of
   well as a passive life.                                              interest and investigation.
                             Spatial Gifts                              (Weeks 1 & 2; 9 & 10)
   FREESPACE encom-
                             Celebrating space for opportunity,
      passes freedom to
imagine, the free space      unprogrammed space and social              Project 1 Interior Condition              “The desire to create
   of time and memory,       space by providing quality space for       Investigations will identify and focus    FREESPACE can be-
  binding past, present      users and strangers alike;                 on an active, collective space, of gen-   come the specific in-
    and future together,                                                                                          dividual characteris-
  building on inherited
                                                                        erous spatial volume. Students will       tic of each project. But
  cultural layers, weav-     Nature’s Free Gifts                        propose a design intervention that        space, free space, public
    ing the archaic with     Emphasizing sunlight, moonlight,           contributes to the quality and experi-    space can also reveal
      the contemporary.                                                                                           the presence or absence
                             air, gravity, natural and man-made         ence of the space.
                                                                                                                  of architecture, if we
                             resources, materials and orientation;      (Weeks 2 to 5)                            understand architectre
                                                                                                                  to be ; thinking applied
                             Ways of Thinking                                                                     to the space where we
                                                                                                                  live, that we in habit.’”
                             Challenging existing ways of seeing
                                                                                                                  - Paolo Baratta, Chair,
                             the world and encouraging or invent-                                                 La Biennale di Venezia
                             ing new ones, including the freedom
                             to imagine and the weaving of time,
                             memory and culture.

                             COURSE STRUCTURE
                             The studio will promote critical
                             design inquiry through three main
                             projects supported by research,
                             lectures and readings throughout the
                             semester. The projects are intended
                             to reinforce each other by investi-
                             gating the studio themes in various
                                                                                                                  Recasting
                                                                                                                  Alison Brooks, Arsenale

                                                  F18                   48-400/500 Studio
                                                                        Jennifer Lucchino
                                                                        M/F 12:30 - 4:20
F R E E S PAC E
Scheduled Programming         Project 2 Building Condition               Readings
          at the Biennale
                              Investigations will identify and focus     Students are required to prepare
       Saturday, October
                              on an existing building located in a       readings and actively participate in
          20th at 2:30 pm     high traffic area with a rich historical   discussions. Topics to be addressed
                              context. Students will develop design      will include the lead up and after-
Meetings on Architecture
                              proposals that reimagine the use and       math to the first Architecture Bien-
      THE PRACTICE OF
          TEACHING, Te-       role of the building.                      nale in 1980, its influence on the way
            atro alle Tese    (Weeks 5 to 10)                            we understand architecture today, the
   The panel will discuss
                                                                         commonalities between the current
  the mutually beneficial
 and reciprocal relation-
                              Project 3 Urban Condition                  exhibition and the 1980 exhibition and
     ship between teach-      Investigations will identify and focus     the postmodern relationship between
    ing and practice and      on a gap space, barrier or border          architecture and urbanism.
  include architects who
                              within the city. Students will spec-
  teach in schools of ar-
                              ulate in ways that re-conceptualize                                                                Local Sightsee-
     chitecture as part of                                               FIELD TRIP*
                                                                                                                                 ing may include:
   their creative process.    these conditions.                          Visit to the 16th International Archi-                  Punta della Dogana
                              (Weeks 10 to 12)                           tecture Exhibition, Venice, Italy                       Museum (Tadao Ando),
  Special feature-length
                                                                         * Participation preferred but not required              Il Fondaco dei
           film screening
                                                                                                                                 Tedeschi (OMA),
        Unfinished Spac-      Deliverables will include drawings
                                                                                                                                 Foundation Querini
     es: Cuba’s Architec-     and models that explore a range of         Tentative Dates                                         Stampalia (Carlo Scarpa),
       ture of Revolution     formats, techniques and scales in an       Thurs., Oct. 18 to Tues., Oct. 23, 2018                 Palazzo Grassi,
   A documentary about
  Las Escuelas Naciona-
                              effort to capture the vitality of the                                                              The Peggy Guggen-
                                                                                                                                 heim Collection.
 les de Arte in Cuba. The     design proposals.                          Tentative Itinerary
    film tells the incredi-                                              Day 1 Arrive Venice / Sightseeing                       Requirements:
  ble story of the cycle of
life of the buildings from
                                                                         Day 2 Visit Architecture Exhibition/                    Up to date passport
                                                                                                                                 Visas (for international
  their founding by Fidel                                                        Arsenale
                                                                                                                                 students)
Castro and Che Guevara                                                   Day 3 Visit Architecture Exhibition/                    Health Insurance
  to their eventual aban-
                                                                                 Giardini                                        Mandatory CMU Study
 donment and recent ef-
                                                                         Day 4 Visit Architecture Exhibition/                    Abroad Information
   forts to restore them.
                                                                                                                                 Session
                                                                                 Collateral Events in City
                                                                         Day 5 Depart Venice                                     Funding Sources:
                                                                                                                                 Altenhoff Scholarship for
                                                                                                                                 student travel (for eligible
                                                                         Tentative Budget (per person)
                                                                                                                                 SoA students).
                                                                         Flight                 $1250
                                                                         Hostel                 $ 250
                                                                         Subtotal               $1500 *
     The Japan Pavilion,                                                 Fees & Local Transport $ 75
            Architectural                                                Meals & Incidentals    $ 250 - 350
            Ethnography,
                  Giardini
                                                                         Total                  $1825 - 1925
                                                                         * RT airfare from PIT to VCE and lodging for students
                                                                         will purchased through the SoA. Deposit for airfare
                                                                         and hostel due August 15th

                                                   F18                   48-400/500 Studio
                                                                         Jennifer Lucchino
                                                                         M/F 12:30 - 4:20
T H E S I S
                            and independent projects
All Thesis/IP Students      The definition of ‘thesis’ within the         While a project is not expected to be a
     will be required to    context of a professional program in          ‘building,’ it should rigorously address
      take Thesis Prep
                            architecture depends a lot on who you         spatial concerns including how space
      in the preceding
      Spring Semester       talk to in a diverse and often-contentious    informs and intersects with other
                            field of views that spans institutions,       processes (social, ecological, historic,
                            individuals, generations, and schools of      etc.). The scale of consideration can
                            thought and practice. Tied to the question    range from bodies to territories.
                            of ‘what is a thesis’ are of course varying
   The studio comprises     opinions on what constitutes research         In this studio students are expected
  a number of disparate     in architecture —and whether we do            to engage and develop a wide range of
and demanding projects      research to frame a project, its argument,    interrelated capacities, including critical
   that have all required                                                                                               Mona Hatoum
                            and methods, or if in conducting a            thinking, analytical writing and reflective   Hot Spot III 2009
 sustained independent
work in preparation and     design investigation we are in fact doing     design production.                            Photo: Agostino Osio
  will continue through     research.
     the Fall and Spring
                            In either case, if we agree that research
semesters . There will be
an exhibition of the work
                            is being done, then we can also say
 in the Miller Gallery in   that in crafting a thesis project, you
               April 2019   are entering a wider conversation and
                            exploring problems that have puzzled and
                            inspired others. By proposing your own
                            set of critical questions and methods of
                            inquiry, you recognize your responsibility
                            to engage seriously and rigorously with
                            prior work, and to extend its intellectual
                            scope through your own contribution. This
                            studio adopts this view.

                            The aim of this studio is to guide you to
                            through the process of clearly defining
                            and structuring a thesis project. The
                            Spring semester will follow the succesful
                            completion of the thesis development in
                            the Fall semester. The studio is a venue
                            for constructive discussion and mutual
                            critique. In addition to the core thesis
                            students a limited number of independent
                            project proposals for a semester long
                            studio project can be considered.

                            S19/F19                                       48-519 Thesis/IP
                                                                          Mary-Lou Arscott/Nida Rehman
                                                                          MWF 1.30-4.20pm
L o w - R e l i e f
The Virtual and Material Cultures of
Architectural Deceit

INTRODUCTION                                  to position the built environment as a
Modern Architecture championed                proto-virtual-interface.
                                                                                           1474: Oculus at
‘Truthfulness’ as a laudable virtue in        If a latent virtuality exists in
                                                                                           the Ducal Palace,
the built environment. Many iconic            architecture’s past can historical           Mantua, Andrea
modern architects preached and                precedent frame the use of emerging          Mantegna
(mostly) practiced legibility of material,    digital technologies – like robotics,
structure, and intent in building design.     projection mapping, and reality
The repetition, flatness, anonymity of        capture –to explore new expressions
many contemporary cities represents the       of architectural duplicity? In order to
physical inheritance of this sensibility.     address this question, Low Relief will use
Despite Modern Architecture’s                 historical research, hands-on material
insistence on truthfulness of material,       play, and full-scale prototyping of
architects before and since have              architectural elements.
deployed an array of techniques to
trick the senses, including the use of        COURSE STRUCTURE
faux materials, forced perspective, and       Low Relief will promote critical design
applied media to walls and ceilings (e.g.     inquiry through three main projects
fresco).                                      supported by workshops throughout
Low Relief will study the material            the semester. The projects are intended
cultures of deceit in architectural design    to reinforce each other with a deep
and construction. The studio will explore     dive into robotic fabrication of soft
architectural illusion not just as a visual   materials like plaster and a broad survey
technique, but as a precise shaping of        of historical construction techniques
physical material and the blending of         used to produce architectural illusions.
hybrid media forms in three dimensions.       The studio will split time and resources
The motivating frame of Low Relief            between the SoA robotics lab and MMH
coincides with a proliferation of virtual     Studios, blending the cultures of lab
reality in contemporary media, and seeks      based research and studio based inquiry.

        S19
                                              48-400/500 Studio
                                              Bard + Torello
                                              M/W/F 1:30 - 4:20
L o w - R e l i e f
    An illustration of
     ‘the Sepulchral                                                STUDIO ASSIGNMENTS
Chamber’ at Sir John
                                                                    P1_Atlas of Architectural Deceit
 Soane’s house, 1825
                                                                    A visual compendium of research ex-
                                                                    ploring the material culture of deceit
                                                                    in architectural design.
                                                                    (01.14 – 02.01)
                                                                    London + Paris Trip ( 01.03 - 01.10)

                                                                    P2_ Magic Box
                                                                    A modeling exercise exploring phys-
                                                                    ical and virtual techniques of archi-
                                                                    tectural illusion. Students will design
                                                                    and fabricate a model-scale artifact.
                                                                    (02.04 – 03.01)
                                                                    Workshop 1 ( 02.06)

                                                                    P3_ Fun House
                                                                    A fabrication exercise at full-scale
                                                                    exploring architecture as virtual real-
                                                                    ity interface.
                                                                    (03.04 – 05.03)
                                                                    Workshop 2 ( 03.06)

                         GLOBAL STUDIO TRAVEL
                                                                    STUDIO THEMES
                         Low relief will travel to London and
                                                                    In order to explore architecture’s material
                         Paris as part of the ASO global studio
                                                                    duplicity, Low Relief will focus on:
                         program. During the trip we will visit
                                                                    •    Material       play:   exploring       the
                         museums with the world’s largest
                                                                         affordances of plaster, a material
                         plaster cast collections and visit
                                                                         that can be cast, cut, and carved in a
                         regional plastering shops that have been
                                                                         variety of physical states from liquid
                         furthering plaster craft for centuries.
                                                                         to solid.
                                                                    •    Robotic Fabrication: creating new
                         Destinations will include:
                                                                         robotic workflows to explore plaster.
                         • Sir John Soane’s Museum
                         • Victoria and Albert Museum               •    Reality Computing: using 3D scanning
                         • Cité de l’Architecture et du Pat-             and projection mapping to create
                              rimoine                                    hybrid virtual / physical artifacts.
                         Note: The trip will occur before the       •    Historical      Precedent:        learning
                         start of spring term classes.                   from techniques like trompe l’oeil,
                         ( 01.03 - 01.10)                                scagliola, and anamorphic projection.

                                 S19
                                                                    48-400/500 Studio
                                                                    Bard + Torello
                                                                    M/W/F 1:30 - 4:20
L o w - R e l i e f

                       SUPPORTING COURSES                              OBJECTIVES
                       #48-368                                         •     You can test ideas at full scale using
                       Rediscovering Antiquity                               material affordance to inform your
                       Dr. Francesca Torello will be teaching, a             design process.
                       seminar supporting the studio during the        •     You can program, simulate, and
                       Fall 2018 Semester. Although encouraged,              execute basic robot paths.
                       the course is not required for participation    •     You can design and implement
                       in the studio.                                        custom       end     of    arm     tools   for
                                                                             fabrication.
                       #48-455                                         •     In        addition        to     compelling
                       Introduction to Architectural Robotics                representation, you can leverage
                       This seminar will be offered in the Fall of           digital tools to construct physical
                       2018 and Spring of 2019. It is required as a          artifacts.
                       pre-requisite or co-requisite for all studio    •     You       can      leverage      parametric
                       participants.                                         workflows       to   efficiently     manage
                                                                             complex fabrication tasks
                                                                       •     You can use detailed understanding
                                                                             of historical precedent to inspire

 Architectural cast
 collection, Cité de
l’Architecture et du
  Patrimoine, Paris

                                 S19
                                                                      48-400/500 Studio
                                                                      Bard + Torello
                                                                      M/W/F 1:30 - 4:20
IDENTITY & MAKING
                             The American Mashup
                             INTRODUCTION                                  architecture and culture. Play makes
      To act, in its most    Living within today’s global                  room for much that is not possible in
          general sense,
                             infrastructure, where movement and            reality: to slip into roles outside oneself,
       means to take an
    initiative, to begin.”   displacement is commonplace; what             to take risks without consequences, and
         Hannah Arendt       does it mean to identify yourself? The        to challenge the codes and customs of
             The Human       counter to globalism, the prevalence of       his society. Can activism through play
         Condition, 1958
                             nationalism, has spread exponentially.        and pageantry create public discourse?
                             Where seeming infrastructural space           It is through the interaction, experience,
                             is expanding, why is the sense of             and discourse we create our identities.
                             a homeland or historic identity so            As designers and makers, it is in the
                             compelling?                                   process of making proposals and making
       Heather Bizon is      In this way, one’s identity and in            reactions where collaboration and
        appointed as the     particular the identifiers we use as          dialogue coupled with making as thinking
      ‘18/’19 Ann Kalla
                             descriptors, suffer from an inherent          test and create new futures.
      Professor in SoA.
    Heather Bizon is an      spatial conflict of the relationship of the   Focusing on design at a multitude of
    artist and architect     interior to the exterior.                     scales, how do the people of the site
working in New Haven,        This studio will take the notion              become a place itself?
         CT. Ms. Bizon’s
       works explore the
                             of aesthetics and play relative to
individual’s perceptual                                                                                                   The 11 separate
   of space and public/                                                                                                   nation-states, where
        private domains                                                                                                   dominant cultures
    through new media                                                                                                     explain our voting
         and technology,                                                                                                  behaviors and attitudes
               sculpture,                                                                                                 toward everything from
       architecture, and                                                                                                  social issues to the
  film. She has worked                                                                                                    role of government.
  with MOS architects
            collaborating                                                                                                 “Our continent’s
          on projects of a                                                                                                famed mobility has
          range of scales                                                                                                 been reinforcing, not
from film to landscape                                                                                                    dissolving, regional
to exhibitions to public                                                                                                  differences, as people
  works, including PS1                                                                                                    increasingly sort
      Young Architect’s                                                                                                   themselves into like-
            Pavilion 2009,                                                                                                minded communities.”
    Ordos 100 House in                                                                                                    - American Nations: A
 Mongolia Lot 006, and                                                                                                    History of the Eleven
      Marfa Drive In and                                                                                                  Rival Regional Cultures
Park. Heather received                                                                                                    in North America,
        her B.Arch from                                                                                                   Colin Woodard, 2013
      Cornell University
     and M.Arch II from
        Yale Univerisity.

                                                     S19
                                                                           48-400/500 Studio
                                                                           Heather Bizon (18/19 Ann Kalla Professor)
                                                                           day + time: TBD
IDENTITY & MAKING
                            MASHUPS                                    SITE
                            The history of mashup culture in general   As Architects, we analyze the site:
      “Ah, yes, the Andy
   Murray syndrome…         can be dated back to the beginnings        its conditions - physical, ecological,
     Alexander Graham       of dada and conceptual art. Artists        temporal, historical. How does the           Left
       Bell, when he was    such as Marcel Duchamp were the first                                                   S.L.A.B.S
                                                                       people of the site become a place itself?
       working away with                                                                                            While they might
                            to introduce already existing objects,     The traditions and histories of the people
    his bake-a-light and                                                                                            resemble the low-riders
  his wires in his shed,    which they rearranged and combined         and the spaces they occupy in the City       you see cruising through
        he was a Scottish   in collages, to the world of higher art.   create a subculture that exists as a         many American cities,
          crackpot. When                                                                                            slabs form a cross-
                            These artists believed that even though    temporal and unfixed site.
          he invented the                                                                                           section of Houston
       telephone, he was    certain artifacts were ascribed a          What do we have in common and what           music, culture and
    a British genius…If     certain meaning, this meaning could be     connects us? And how do we articulate        community, making
you’re English and you      altered through rearranging them and       our identity?                                them more than mere
do something brilliant,                                                                                             souped-up rides. It is
                            putting them into a new context.
   you remain English.                                                                                              an art form and social
    If you’re Scottish or                                              Pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods;       practice that builds and
        Welsh and you do    Mashups were part of a tactic of           each with its own rites and rituals.         maintains community
    something brilliant,    political and media pranksterism.                                                       across generational
                                                                       Neighborhoods are separated by both
      the English decide                                                                                            lines and expression
                            Turn-of-the-millennium ‘DJ mashups’        physical boundaries (bridges, rivers,
   that you are, in fact,                                                                                           of creating their
British.”               -   originate in disc jockeys’ musical         elevation changes etc) as well as socio      own definition of the
 Jeremy Clarkson, The       combinations and medleys of songs          political and economic differences.          “American Dream”.
Grand Tour, Sn. 1 Ep.11                                                                                             2016
                            produced by others. To fully appreciate    As such, Pittsburgh presents unique
                     2016
                            a representation, the viewer or listener   opportunities as sites of identity,          Middle
                            must understand this ‘worlding’ aspect:    community, and social exchange. We           Jahnkoy’s designer,

                            an image does not simply present an                                                     Maria Kazakova, a
                                                                       will explore the different neighborhoods
                                                                                                                    Russian-born designer of
                            object or a moment, but represents a       of Pittsburgh relative to their cultural     Siberian descent fashion
                            world.                                     traditions and temporal events.              artist, creating/designing
                            We will take up the tactic of the Mashup   Who will live in the Pittsburgh of the       hand-stitched Pumas.
                                                                                                                    2017
                            and expand upon the American “melting      future, what will happen to those who
                            pot”. What does combining cultural and     have called the City their home for          Right
                            spatial traditions and typologies do to    generations, and what does the future        Chinese - American -
                            affect and transform our built reality?    neighborhood look like?                      Hispanic Festival Float

                                                   S19
                                                                       48-400/500 Studio
                                                                       Heather Bizon (18/19 Ann Kalla Professor)
                                                                       day + time: TBD
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