Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1-1-2005 The evolution of design-build at Iowa State University Meredith White Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Recommended Citation White, Meredith, "The evolution of design-build at Iowa State University" (2005). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 20999. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/20999 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The evolution of design-build at Iowa State University by Meredith White A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE Major: Architecture Program of Study Conunittee: Bruce Bassler, Major Professor Jim Bolluyt Tom Leslie Arvid Osterberg Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2005 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the master's thesis of Meredith Patricia White has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy lll TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: The Design-Build Studio Tradition ............ 1 CHAPTER 2: Design-Build in the University Environment ... 5 CHAPTER 3: History of Design-Build at ISU, 1998-2004 .... 7 CHAPTER 4: The Jewell Project Background ............... 13 CHAPTER 5: The Jewell Project: Arch 402/603 .•.•.•...... 21 CHAPTER 6: The Jewell Project: Critical Analysis ....... 25 CHAPTER 7: The Jewell Project: Student Reactions ....... 36 CHAPTER 8: Cone 1 us ion . 4 0 APPENDIX A: Arch 402/603 Student Questionnaire ......... 42 APPENDIX B: Questionnaire for Bruce Bassler ............ 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 4 4 1 CHAPTER 1 The Design-Build Studio Tradition The recent tradition of the design-build architecture studio on the university level has existed with two main goals: to provide students with a hands-on design and construction experience, and to provide design services to primarily underserved groups. Different programs have evolved over the last 30 years or so with specific individual goals, but these are the central tenets of the larger idea of design­ build studio. Many design-build studios bring together two groups of people who would likely not otherwise make contact - designers, and people who wouldn't normally have the means to hire a designer. Personal interaction with designers is primarily an experience reserved only for those with the means to finance a project. While the public uses architect­ designed buildings on a daily basis, most of these structures aren't designed specifically with the general population's desires and tastes in mind. It is the owner, client, and/or investor who have direct influence on the design process, usually with minimal involvement from the larger population of day-to-day users. In the case of new construction of private homes, the services of an architect are utilized by a very 2 small percentage of the population. It was reported in 1995 that only 2% of new homebuyers in the U.S. had worked with an architect directly. 1 Design-build studios bring architectural services to the other 98% of the population, not as a package that is simply dropped upon the chosen area, but as a carefully constructed collaboration between young designers and the community or group in need. The working relationship between the student designers and the client is one of the most important parts of the experience, for both parties. Design-build is not a giver-receiver process. Information flows in both directions. Student designers give shape to the form, but the clients' lives and experiences define the program that informs the design. In design-build, students begin to realize first-hand the impact their work can have on a real community with real issues that need to be solved. Moving beyond the usual theoretical and paper-bound design, the project is also subjected to real-world problems like budget and constructability. Furthermore, with a "real" client, students' designs, often for the first time, specifically cater to the needs and preferences of an outside party. Students cannot rely solely on their own preferences. Decisions about form, materials, spatial layout, etc. are made 1Bell, Bryan. Good Deeds, Good Design: Community Service Through Architecture. 3 with the client in mind, unlike a regular studio, where such decisions are frequently based upon what the student desires. Students in design-build develop their work to a much higher level of completeness than would generally be required in a normal studio setting, as the details of the designs need to be worked out to such a degree that they can actually be constructed. Furthermore, the period of design development is shortened because of the time needed for fabrication. This combination of condensed design time and an increased need for complete design development means students need to be more conscious of the time they spend in development, and ensure that time is productive. They often become aware of this at the beginning of the studio experience. Iowa State University Associate Professor Bruce Bassler says, .. .many students don't know how to work - set a daily or weekly goal and get it done. That may sound silly, but it is uncommon to find students who can identify work that needs to be done and then do it without taking a lot of breaks or simply standing around acting as if somebody else is responsible for completing a task. He adds that the process, .. .makes them much more competent designers. They usually have had an opportunity to observe the pitfalls of poor planning or underdeveloped designs first hand and probably won't make many of the same mistakes again. 2 Students in design-build benefit from learning about the 2 Bassler, Bruce. Personal Interview. 4 construction process in different ways. They gain first-hand knowledge about how a building actually goes together. Seeing the order in which components go together and physically putting them into place is a much different experience than reading about it in a book or hearing about it in a lecture. The process may look straightforward, but until they get on a construction site and start working with the materials, students may not realize how complex even a small-scale building can be. Small errors early in a project can lead to big problems later in construction. Active participation in construction can give students a new appreciation for the responsibilities of a builder, and help them understand how their design decisions can make the builder's job and the construction process run more smoothly. 5 CHAPTER 2 Design-Build in the University Environment Of the 85 design-build and conununity-based design programs in the U.S. identified by the Association for Conununity Design, 59 are affiliated with a university. Eleven of the programs are specifically curriculum-based design-build programs in which students design and construct projects under the direction of design faculty. 3 There are a number of reasons why conununity partnership design programs are particularly well suited to the university environment. Getting students involved with service learning activities early in their careers emphasizes the importance of their future public roles as architects. The following statements were taken from the 2004 AIA Code of Ethics and Personal Conduct, and the AIA Public Policies, 2005: E.S. 2.2 Public Interest Services: Members should render public interest professional services and encourage their employees to render such services. E.S. 2.3 Civic Responsibility: Members should be involved in civic activities as citizens and professionals, and should strive to improve public appreciation and understanding of architecture and the functions and responsibilities of architects. 4 Architecture profoundly affects people. The work of architects is essential to human well being, and architects must embrace their ethical obligation to uphold this public trust. 3 Pearson, Jason University-Community Design Partnerships: Innovations in Practice. 4 2004 AJA Code of Ethics and Personal Conduct. Online. http://www.aia.org/about ethics 6 As members of their communities, architects are professionally obligated to use their knowledge, skill, and experience to engage in civic life. 5 These statements emphasize the importance the architectural profession places on serving the community and taking an active role in its wellbeing. Engaging students in such activities during their education creates an awareness of what goodwill and volunteer work can do to help a community, with the hope they will carry that experience with them into their careers. Graduates with architecture degrees are unlikely to encounter service-oriented projects during their Internship Development Program (IDP), because individual designers and local nonprofit groups, independent of private firms, organize many of those types of projects. Getting young architects involved while they are students not only reinforces the idea that helping underserved groups can have a profound impact on local communities, but structuring that experience alongside the regular educational curriculum strengthens students' design skills by requiring them to apply classroom concepts to a real world problem and all it entails. Furthermore, fostering an early interest in community-based design may encourage students to get involved with such programs as professionals. 5 AJA Public Policies, 2005. Online. http://www.aia.org/about_ethics 7 CHAPTER 3 History of Design-Build at ISU, 1998-2004 The comprehensive design-build studio at Iowa State University is a relatively young idea. The first studio, called "Concept through Construction" was offered in the spring of 1998. This experimental studio was developed at the request of the students, who were interested in projects offered at other universities, such as Sam Mockbee's Rural Studio at Auburn University.