Option Studios
Spring 2010
Skyscraper
(6-credit)
Discipline: Architecture
Instructors: Dan Naegele & Jim Goettsch
The habitable high-rise building is quintessentially American, uniquely vertical, almost always monumental, decidedly repetitive, and often of a technological prowess that demands innovation and daring. Unlike in earlier ages, in the 21st century the design of such buildings is greatly assisted by electronic mediation provoking imaginative forms undreamt of 20 years ago. This studio explores the possibilities of building high. It seeks initially to segregate and analyze elementary components of skyscrapers: structure, skin, elevator, foundations, safety systems, lighting, location, lobby. It then demands that these components be synthesized into an utterly novel manifestation. The intent is to investigate both the building as object and the building as space. What does it mean to “dwell” 400 feet above the earth? What is the sense of “living high” and how can architecture encourage it?
Sioux City Cabin Design/Build
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Bruce Bassler
Sustainability and green design using composite and prefabricated building systems will be emphasized as the Design/Build 2009 team designs and constructs a third camping cabin for the South Sioux City Parks and Recreation Department. Students will explore the benefits of lightweight structural panels, prefabrication construction technology and minimally disruptive site installation techniques. Moveable walls and roofs will be considered as a means to blur the distinction between indoor and outdoor space. The collaborative studio of interior designers, landscape architects, architects and others will be headquartered in Ames, but will make several trips to Sioux City to install our design. A full day of on-site construction is bracketed by meeting some local celebrities for hot breakfast at the Townhouse Café and then having ribs for dinner at Famous Dave’s and other delicious Sioux City restaurants.
Affordable Green Housing: The Bridge Studio
(6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Nadia Anderson
The Bridge Studio is about building bridges between education and practice, design and community, sustainability and affordability. This spring will continue the tradition of working to bring sustainable building and neighborhood design strategies into the world of affordable housing. The community of Corning has a grant for work including the rehabilitation of one existing house and the construction of one new house. The Bridge Studio will develop the designs and documentation for these projects. Committed citizens in Corning want to make these houses, to be constructed starting in June 2010, as “green” as possible, and the Iowa Finance Authority wants to make these projects part of the Iowa Home program, serving as models for the state. We will also be working with practitioners and interns from “partner” design firms, and dealing with technical issues ranging from interior paint finishes to neighborhood water management strategies as well as a broad range of socio-economic concerns and contacts.
New Small College Planning & Design
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Lynn Paxson
Last spring an option studio helped review a number of different potential sites for the design of an interim location and a brand-new tribal college campus for the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho of Oklahoma. This spring we hope that the Nations will have narrowed down on one or two potential sites, and based on last spring’s projects may have some greater definition regarding program and vision for the college. Students will help the tribes envision their potential new college, and your work will also help them raise funds to make this project a reality. Therefore the major project for this option studio will be initial campus planning through development of the site and the design of individual campus structures. The Nations are very interested in green design issues and potentially being “off the grid.” This studio offers good opportunities for students from all College of Design disciplines to be involved in group/team and individual projects. The studio likely will take at least one brief field trip to meet and work with the tribal college planning community.
Toys!
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Mitchell Squire
In 1840, Friedrich Froebel invents Kindergarten, a departure from normative educational models, aiming to foster in individuals an uninhibited curiosity about the world around them – employing “gifts,” boxed sets of blocks in different shapes, sizes and colors. A generation later, the Futurist Fortunato Depero designed toys in order to “give flesh to the invisible, the impalpable, the imponderable and the imperceptible.” Charles and Ray Eames’ Do Nothing Machine from 1958 did just that – whirring in kinetic brilliant colors driven on solar power, designed to invoke a sense of wonder leading to a depth of thought. This studio will offer an opportunity to engage in a critical exploration of the history, interest and impact of toys in disciplines of design. Students will be responsible for research, analysis, design and creation of toys. But as Charles Eames noted, “Toys are not really as innocent as they look [but] are preludes to serious ideas;” the toys of this studio will bear both whimsy and seriousness, and will lead us to a deeper understanding of our world.
Dynamic Dialects in the Urban Neighborhood
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Carl Rogers
This studio will aim to bring new thinking to reading the urban neighborhood. We will map/draw/model transects of interrelated phenomena, forces, and issues in an existing urban neighborhood that has seen drastic change to its place over the past 100 years, focusing on issues currently impacting the urban neighborhood environment that demand reframing questions about societal needs and their implications, a sharing of dialectical expertise, and innovative approaches to old and new applications of policy, technology and materiality. Throughout the course, students must think beyond the limits of their own dialect and engage conversations with other students, instructor, residents and other technological, economical and municipal industries. We will work across the fields of landscape, architecture, design, biology, sociology and economics toward a synthetic approach to these environmental and urban issues with an understanding that humans share common aspirations in the “contemporary city.”
Iowa Falls Bridge Design/Build
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Bill Grundmann
In the past 10 years the Department of Landscape Architecture has had the opportunity to prepare a comprehensive site and landscape development plan for the Calkins Nature Area near Iowa Falls, and design and construct a number of site improvements. This spring, we will design and construct a pedestrian bridge over an existing creek below the on-site pond and near the Iowa River. The bridge will have a span of approximately 15 to 20 feet. It will be our responsibility to assist with the demolition and removal of the existing structure, establish the location and elevation of the new bridge. We will construct the bridge of treated lumber with an emphasis on low-impact development of the existing site. In addition to the construction of the pedestrian bridge, additional work related to trail reconstruction leading up to the bridge and at the approaches to the bridge, rip-rap along the embankment below the bridge, some planting, signage, etc., will be part of the entire project.
Hotel
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: Architecture, Interior Design
Instructors: Jason Alread & Cigdem Akkurt
The hotel is a means of escape, an experiment for both the designers and
the inhabitants. Hotels amplify our perception of a place and offer a means to reconsider how we live. They also deal in amusement and desire, critical realms for designers to understand amidst the technological concerns of constructing real places. Charles Eames was once asked, “Can design be used to create objects reserved solely for pleasure?” He responded, “Who would say that pleasure is not useful?” This studio is designed to integrate the knowledge, skills and philosophies of architecture and interior design. The hotel will be located on South Beach in Miami, Florida, and a site visit will be part of the studio. You will be encouraged to engage in a genuine collaboration with your team. We anticipate all of the opportunities and challenges of collaborative work, and we expect the results to be technically adept, exquisitely conceived and beautifully presented.
Farm Progress Show Pavilion Design/Build
(4- and 6-credit)
Discipline: All Design Disciplines
Instructors: Roger Baer, Cal Lewis, & Tim Borich
This studio is unique in its pedagogy and selection process. It is funded by the Farm Progress Show, which needs a new exhibit pavilion for its Fall 2010 show. The studio will design the pavilion and its exhibits during the spring semester, and then there will be opportunities for a limited number of students to be employed in the summer of 2010 for construction. Students interested in participating in this studio must apply via email to kschwenn@iastate.edu, by 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. In the email application, provide your name, degree program, year in degree program, and a 5-sentence maximum description of why you are interested in being selected for this studio.
It is critical for the success of this studio that there be a mix of disciplines.
All applicants will be informed by late Tuesday of the status of their applications. Unsuccessful applicants will then be able to register for other options starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4.