Learning

November 7, 2011

Class notes: From construction site to park in a day — hypothetically

About the class: Design Foundations Studio (Landscape Architecture 301) is an introductory course, a foundation for subsequent courses that explore project design in varied contexts and scales. The course introduces theory and practice of landscape design and site planning in a series of readings, reflections, observations and projects.

When students appeared for class Oct. 31, Associate Professors Iain Robertson and Julie Johnson surprised them with an unusual one-day assignment: Redesign the construction staging area north of College Inn.

Assignment details: Imagine that the new UW residence halls have been finished, but plans for a pocket park on the construction staging site are on hold due to budget problems. The building contractors have left behind a bunch of concrete blocks, some coils of wire, a tangle of rebar and two Halloween-orange shipping containers. The slightly sloping site is lined with gravel.

The contractor, students were also told, is happy that he doesnt have to remove surplus construction material and has kicked in $5,000 for the gathering site, and “as many shovels as needed.”

The 29 landscape architecture students — about 60 percent graduate and 40 percent undergraduate — were divided into groups of three or four. They were given 2.5 hours to design a gathering space and then post their plans on the chain link fence at the edge of the site, which is bounded by University Way and Campus Parkway.

When 4 p.m. came, students hung their drawings, and passers-by were encouraged to stop, look and comment.

One plan showed a path of concrete blocks shaped like the bumblebee logo used by the College of the Environment.  The motif continued with pole lighting arranged like a vertical honeycomb.

Another plan raised the tangles of wire above the site and equipped them with small, twinkling lights so they became sort of like disco balls.

A third plan created lighted archways from the rebar. In a fourth, the rebar became a geodesic climbing dome.  In several drawings, the shipping containers became either bars, dance pavilions or eating areas with tables and chairs.

Instructors comments: Johnson and Robertson circulated among the students as they drew plans in a third-floor classroom of Gould Hall. Pointing to two students who were building a clay model of an entrance ramp for their design, Johnson said, “This is a great example of students quickly envisioning a use for a site, and expressing it in compelling ways for a lay audience.”

Student views:

Student Mike Schwindeller wrote in an email, “Our Halloween design studio charrette assignment challenged me to quickly process an unusual set of design goals, materials, and constraints.  After getting over our initial misgivings about  the assignment parameters we jumped in, employing our limited training from the first five weeks of class. It is heartening to learn how naturally we are already able to synthesize elements of a design from plans to sections to vignettes.  We continue to be pushed to think big and communicate our ideas boldly and clearly.”

Student Diane T. Walsh wrote, “With the limited amount of time that we had in studio, the assignment challenged us to efficiently design a site and then prioritize which elements of the design could best be represented in a visually compelling way.”

Student Caitlin Lockhart wrote, “This design assignment challenged us to work around budget, material and time restrictions. Because our posters were hung on a fence outside, we had to leave our smaller-scale comfort zones and use big graphics to capture attention in a busy area. Also, we only had three hours to take what we knew about the site, brainstorm, design, and finalize our ideas when we usually have a few weeks. We exercised our ability to use clear and consistent communication between group members to produce a finalized design as quickly as possible.”