Summer Foundation Design Laboratory

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Summer Foundation Design Laboratory

School of Architecture + Design 201 Cowgill Hall (0205) College of Architecture Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 and Urban Studies 540/231-5383 Fax: 540/231-9938 www.archdesign.vt.edu

Summer Foundation Design Laboratory ARCH 2984 Summer 2010 Lab: Monday – Friday, 1:00-5:00 p.m. Instructors: Kathryn Albright, James Bassett, Andrew Balster, Sal Choudhury, Jonathan Grinham, Nathan Melenbrink, Jonathan Mills 201 Cowgill Hall, Phone 231-5383

The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes --Goethe

The Qualifying Design Laboratory focuses on the contemplation and purposeful construction of the built environment. This course is primarily concerned with processes of design conception as well as techniques used to analyze and represent constructed artifacts. Since this course is structured in a laboratory format, access to your faculty will be unlike typical university courses. Your faculty in the Lab will serve as your primary resource, however, you will also be encouraged to discover and cultivate sources outside of the Lab which have the potential to inform your work.

Educational Approach Our goal is to develop self-reliant students who are creatively independent, enterprising, and inventive, who have the mental agility to order and structure intellectual difficulties, and the skills, judgment, and desire to make lasting contributions for society.

The Foundation Program is predicated on the idea that the act of making involves a disciplined, comprehensive approach to thinking, observing, and interpreting. Exercises focus on developing fundamental skills, both mental and physical, essential to the disciplines of Architecture, Industrial Design, and Interior Design.

We are charged with making an educational environment that will allow you to find the comprehensive habits of mind, work, and conduct that give professional activity in design a unique character.

Lab Assumptions A lab environment that is characterized by:

information from many disciplines.

an acceptance that design work is essentially risky, potentially experimental. Both success and failure are forms of information that contribute to the scope of your work.

an engagement with the simultaneous nature of tasks and issues within design problems.

an awareness that there are many potential trajectories through your curriculum.

an awareness that the ability to think clearly and coherently, to form sound opinions and make sensible decisions, is part of an ongoing process at all stages of the design task. The form of this thought and the values established will be presented in writing, speech, drawing and making.

an awareness that you are the primary force in your education.

Invent the Future

V I R G I N I A P O L Y T E C H N I C I N S T I T U T E A N D S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y A n e q ua l o p p o r t u n i t y , a f f i r ma t i v e a c t i o n i n s t i t u t i o n Laboratory Structure The general structure of Summer Foundation Design Lab will involve a sequence of projects in various media that will involve making drawings, sketches, analytical diagrams, and three-dimensional models. Individual lab projects will vary in duration, approach, and methods of review and critique. Your involvement with the faculty can vary depending on the nature of the project or exercise and the specific needs of your work. Your individual faculty will introduce you to these methods gradually during the course of the semester. Be aware that different projects may place different demands on you as a student. Design is a highly complex activity. To fully encompass its subtleties you will be expected to work in situations that require specific responses.

Laboratory Requirements We will expect that you will attend and participate in all lab sessions, and strive to keep the social world outside of the lab and the professional world of the lab separate; though in the best sense, they should ultimately support and enrich one another. Our educational environment is founded on the idea that learning takes place best in a rich environment and part of that is maintained by your active daily involvement and commitment in the lab. To that end, we expect that all work will be based in the lab (do not work at home).

Therefore, the lab will be: Accessible (24 hours a day) Controlled and cared for by the people who work in it. Maintained as a professional working environment

Your individual lab instructor will specify necessary tools and materials.

Evaluation You will be graded on your overall performance during the semester. This evaluation will be based on periodic in-class reviews of projects and general class participation in discussions. Grading criteria include: evidence of development from initial ideas, carefully maintained documentation of process, a willingness and enthusiasm for exploratory and experimental approaches, well-executed details, and an overall depth and breadth of thought. There will be a deadline for completion of all work to be specified by the faculty.

We value the following qualities: self-reliance originality independence enterprise diligence flexibility inventiveness willingness

Advising Your primary advisor will be your individual design lab professor, he or she will be able to answer most questions you might have concerning the program and your place in it. Also, if you have a more complex situation or question that they cannot help with directly, there are other avenues of help available. Generally, we observe the following hierarchy in terms of advising:

Kathryn Albright, Chair, Foundation Program Michael Ermann, Chair, Architecture 2/3 Program Heiner Schnoedt, Chair, Architecture 4/5 Program Greg Tew, Chair, Interior Design Program Ron Kemnitzer, Chair, Industrial Design Program Brian Katen, Chair Landscape Architecture Program Scott Poole, Director, School of Architecture + Design John Browder, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs V I R G I N I A P O L Y T E C H N I C I N S T I T U T E A N D S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y A n e q u a l o p p o r t u n i t y , a f f i r ma t i v e a c t i o n i n s t i t u t i o n page 2 of 3 UNIVERSITY POLICY STATEMENTS

Honor System Due to the nature of the design lab, Honor Code violations rarely occur; however, all students enrolled in the University are responsible for observing this code of conduct.

Attendance Attendance in design lab is required. If for any reason you cannot attend make sure that you email your faculty.

Disability If you have a disability that requires special accommodation, speak to your faculty.

V I R G I N I A P O L Y T E C H N I C I N S T I T U T E A N D S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y A n e q u a l o p p o r t u n i t y , a f f i r ma t i v e a c t i o n i n s t i t u t i o n page 3 of 3

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