Sophomore Design Studio

TABLE OF CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION

I taught the Sophomore design studio from 1991 through 1995. This course emphasizes theories of design applied to landscape problems at the pedestrian scale. Issues of particular concern were review of basic design, introduction to three dimensional design, design process, application of design process and theory to increasingly more complex problems. The primary text was Introduction to Landscape Design by Motloch.

A pedagogy evolved for this course. It was based on a number of experiments to achieve a balance of confidence building experiences, a high level of support for the student on the first project, rapid development of problem solving skills (formulation of appropriate design process) and ability to form and characterize space. The development of intellectual and craft skills was similarly sequenced. The first portion of the course addressed basic design elements and principles. The second part focused on design process and user behavior while in the third part the students encountered the problems of responding to an actual client, program and complex process, design and spatial problems.

DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES OF STUDENT PROJECTS - 1995

TWO DIMENSIONAL COMPOSITION

The first project had two parts and was intended to be a review of design elements and principles. It was, also, intended to be a confidence building exercise - a product which the student could be proud of. I provided the students with substantial support in the structure of the initial problems and by simplifying the process which the landscape designer usually follows. Since the student is concurrently taking the landscape graphic course, the first project does not require sophisticated graphic modeling. The first project was to create a two dimensional composition which responded to a frame. The composition below was created by Lynne Scott. The composition was then used as the aesthetic basis for the second assignment of the semester.

PLAZA DESIGN

The image below is the design of a plaza based on the two dimensional composition completed in the previous exercise. This strategy is useful in breaking preconceptions and inspiring more innovative solutions than those produced when the class is assigned the design of a plaza from the outset. This approach demonstrates that aesthetic cues can be derived from the context or frame of an exterior space. Finally, the design is successfully completed in a short period of time and requires only rudimentary graphic skills for a satisfactory product. I used a discussion of how the two dimensional composition served to structure and inspire the design to impart an understanding of design processes in which general concepts lead sequentially to specific, detailed proposals. In subsequent projects the students define, for themselves, a rational design process and follow it. The plaza below was designed by Ms. Scott.

DEXTER HOUSING PROJECT

The intermediate project of the 1995 studio was a small multiple family housing project in Seattle. The students were required to graphicly display basic design process steps (concept, programming, site inventory and analysis, schematic design, design development and design justification). A text description and a video tape of the site were used as the basis of a site analysis. This product was required to be generated in Aldus Freehand as a way to link learning in another course to the design studio. The designs below were created by Karen Boos and Jay Bemis.

MASTER PLAN FOR EASTERN IDAHO TECHNICAL COLLEGE

The final project of the 1995 class was a master plan for Eastern Idaho Technical College. A field trip was conducted to the site to collect data and meet with the client. The students did a wonderful job of creating a design process and defining the required products. They organized themselves into teams to do the inventory and analysis and schematic designs. This several site inventory and analysis sheets were required to be generated in Auto Cadd as a way to link learning in another course to the design studio. After development of a schematic master plan, individuals selected areas of the campus to design according to the schematic concepts. It was clear that the design process work on the Dexter project had been assimilated fully enough to enable the students to customize a process for a new problem with little interference by the instructor. The master plan and the focus area designs were presented to the client using an interactive compressed video link between Moscow and Idaho Falls, Idaho. The following four images show plans and sections created by individuals in the class.


D. Curtis


R. Prescott


L. Scott


B. Jarolomeck


DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES OF STUDENT PROJECTS - 1994 Generally, I have students design a small multi-family project to introduce site planning and behavioral issues which they would explore at a larger scale in other courses. The next image is a perspective by Paul Miller (1994) of a mixed housing and commercial complex.


DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES OF STUDENT PROJECTS - 1993 In 1993 the final project of the semester was the design of a plaza for the newly constructed University of Idaho Library. The image below is of a design for the Library Plaza by Lisa Spray (1993).


DISCUSSION AND EXAMPLES OF STUDENT PROJECTS - 1991 In a previous year, I experimented with requiring the students to create three dimensional models for the first project in their design studio. The rationale is that students can create better designs working directly in three dimensions rather than more abstractly in two. Also, the students have poorly developed graphic skills at this stage. This limitation frustrates the expression of many good ideas. To support this project, I created a base and a number of primitive shapes in a simple modeling program (Modelshop). The student was asked to create a three dimensional environment by manipulating the shapes (copying, rotating, stretching, etc.). The students printed a hidden line version of their designs and used these to create the perspectives shown below. You can see the sophistication of the work the students did on the first project of their first design studio. In spite of the success of this approach, it was abandonded due to the lack of funds to purchase simple 3-d modeling software and pressure to separate computers from design.

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