View from Shore Acres State Park towards exposed sea cliff. E. Mark photo, April 2019
This page is under construction with additions prior to the start of the spring quarter.
INTRODUCTION
The studio will explore adaptive light-weight rigid and tension membrane fabric collapsible structures that are rapidly deployable, and that can be customized over time to meet the evolving needs of a community at risk, its culture, and pattern of living. Each student will also explore the healing power of the natural and built environment through the design of the site for a specific group of forcibly displaced people.[1] We will work in tandem with a landscape architecture studio, exchanging expertise, perspectives, and experiments at the Fuller Land Lab. The studio project hypothetical site will be based on oceanfront state parkland on the Oregon Coast that we will visit with a funded overnight stay at The Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, OIMB. A walking tour will be led by an environmental scientist Start Park Ranger who has led two previous tours with this studio instructor.
STUDIO PROGRAM FOR A UNHCR DEFINED COMMUNITY
The studio program starts with a single household unit. By the mid-term we expand our focus to 16 household units for a total of 80 residents: a particular number of units and size population identified as a “Community” by the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and a few common use structures. By the end of the quarter some students may wish to add a second “community” to their interpretation of the program. However, we will limit the building size so as to investigate more thoroughly the details, such as connection joints, materials, and water drainage.
Settlements that spring up in urgent conditions may last years longer than expected. The initial footprint may become obsolete with respect to supporting the health, agency, food supply, religious practices, cultural activities, and sense of hope needed. We will consider how structures can be setup to retract and unfurl, change spatial enclosure and clustering by a community to better serve its needs. Similarly, we will consider how the therapeutic healing of a forcibly displaced people can be linked to their agency in the responsible stewardship of the natural environment.
[1] Reuben Rainey, Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture, asserts that “There is no such thing as a generic healing garden”. Panel Discussion, UVA, 2013. It is to be designed for a specific group’s needs.
KEY CONCEPTS
We will emphasize providing maximum agency to residents in customizing their individual residences, provide amenities that reinforce community values and cultural expression, explore the communicating relationships between built structures with each other and the natural environment, and look at ways reinforce the restorative capacity of the environment to help alleviate the physical and psychological trauma of forcible displaced people on a case by case basis.
SCHEDULE
This is an estimated draft of the schedule. The studio program is unlikely to change. However, our discovery process and periodic recalibration of our process may help to realize objectives more effectively.
| Part 1 | April 3 – April 7 | Improvisational Shelters & Site Visit, Part A |
| Research on Fabric Structures, Sails, Wood Boat Fabrication Methods, Experimentation with Improvisational Fabric Structures UNHCR Standards and Perspectives. Displaced People Narratives State Park Field Trip (Architecture Department Field Trip Day, April 7) |
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| APRIL 10 – 14 | Improvisational Shelters & Site Continued , Part B | |
| Site, Sketches, Field Research, and Analysis. Sewing and Fabrication Methods Tensioning Methods and Shapes Restorative Green Space Concepts Fuller Land Lab Mockup Experiment |
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| Part 2 | APRIL 17 – 21 | Architecture Machines, Shelters & Site |
| Architecture Machine Test: Fabric as Skin Joints and Folding Methods Schematic Site Layout Including Walkways ,Dining and Health Structures |
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| APRIL 24 – 28 | Soft Architecture Machines, Shelters, Preliminary Service Structures, & Site | |
| Soft Architecture Machine Test: Fabric As Structure Site Analysis in relation to Building Footprint Schematic of a Few Additional Use Spaces and Structures (e.g.,sports, cooking, religion ). |
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| Part 3 | MAY 1 – 5 | Hybrid Shelters, Service Structures, & Site |
| Hybrid Architecture Machine: Emphasis on Joints and their Degrees of Freedom Site Section and Analytical Drawings Detailed Site Plan and Systems, Including Preliminary Gardens, Plantings, and Drainage Introduce Passive Solar Design and Shading Features |
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| MAY 8 – 12 | Mid-Review (Tentative Date) | |
| Date TBA or f the following week. | ||
| MAY 15 – 19 | Shelter and Shelters, Part II | |
| Building Materials, Joints, and Hardware, Foundation systems Detailed Models, Drawings, and Simulation, with Adaptive Joint Studies Passive Solar Design Development and Energy Use Evaluation Detail Site Plan for Water use, Drainage, Sanitation,and Gardens and Plantings |
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| Part 4 | MAY 22- 26 | Detailed Design for UNHCR “Community” With Optional Advanced Visualization |
| Ongoing Revisions to Semi-Permanent Shelters and Details Pre-Final Layout of Grouped Structures, Common spaces and Adjacent Support Structures |
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| MAY 29 – 2 | Preparation & Final Charette. | |
| Final layout of Grouped Structuress, Common spaces and Adjacent Support Structures Development of Final Drawings, Models, and mockups at Building Component at optionally 1/4 to 1/2 scale. Reflections On Lessons Learned with Abtract Diagramatic Implications for Larger Settlements |
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| MAY 30 – JUNE 2 | Charette Continued (Preparation) | |
| Charette continued if and as determined by Department Guidelines. | ||
| JUNE TBA | Final Review | |