OVERVIEW
Introduction
Like last quarter, the 414 studio continues to explore the relationship of architecture to its urban situation, with special focus upon the development and spatial elaboration of the architectural program. The project, which calls for complex programmatic and user interfaces on an existing urban site, demands that each student develop a building whose identity—in terms of both image and operation—synthesize site, technology and concept. This imperative is, of course, never value-free, and therefore in order to truly engage the model of practice that the studio presents, each student must interpret the program in relation to the site and the earlier-developed plan/scenario for its development. You should ask questions such as:
• Beyond the obvious functional requirements of the brief, to what extent is the architectural idea of the building an outgrowth of the scenario (of urban life) envisioned by the plan I am inheriting?
• How specifically should a space be tailored to a given use (especially if it is intended for more than one use)?
• is the community that the school is to serve a monolithic entity, or is it comprised of multiple constituencies, with sometimes competing needs/interests?
• Along the same lines, what makes an institution be perceived as public today? Its image? Its internal workings? Its external relations (to existing site conditions)?
• To what extent should the architect address the interests and/or needs of those affected by a new building, but whose concerns are not represented by his/her client? In what ways?
Course Objectives
• To explore the generative capacity of the techniques & organizations of urban design in the development of a specific, complex urban building
• Research applicable building and zoning codes, including issues and latest standards of accessibility (ADA) and egress/fire safety as not simply problems to be solved, but as systems of movement into and through a multi-story building and its site
• To introduce the concept of “infrastructure” at a variety of scales as systems of movement within and beyond the site and their potential to organize and elaborate the architectural program.
• To understand the impact of cultural forces on design, through contextual study/analysis
• To understand programmatic adjacency and interdependence, and the implications of program in general as a “driver” for design
• To explore the design consequences of individual /collective behavior and diverse socio-economic audiences
• To learn the economic and design implications of repetitive/private vs. unique/public elements of a project
• To define and develop the interface of urban and interior spaces, including as affects elevation and façade design
• To learn space planning and interior layout and program documentation
