UNLV Charette Follow-Through: Desert Condition Example

Unlike other programs that only learn about architecture and design within a single climate zone, Ryerson and UNLV were able to leverage the charette as a platform to learn about the regional differences in construction practice, sustainable design strategies, and biomimetic approaches. 

It should be emphasized that all the work presented from the charette was done in large groups of seven students with relatively little familiarity with the design challenge.  Aside from the logistics and organizational behaviour issues that precipitate entropy and prolonged design decision making, the extremely limited time constraints created an interesting challenge for the students.  Fortunately the students were able to develop a good starting point for their designs during the charette.  The subsequent resolution executed by individual students at Ryerson kept the same rigor as they were only given 40 hours to reassess their design responses to the critical feedback from the charette at UNLV.

Once again, this is a sample of the material from the initial charette concept except in an arid condition:

Samples of Razmig's Design:

Samples of Marcella's Design:

Samples of Jessica's Design:

International Ryerson University Field Trip Registration

Please note that the International Ryerson University Field Trip Registration has been posted up by David Begg.
You are all expected to complete this form as soon as possible.  Failure to do so will prevent you from participating in Ryerson events while in Las Vegas (including the second half of assignment 2).

Note that you also must fill out the Assumption of Risks, Responsibilities and Liability Waiver that will be handed out in studio.  Please be aware that at the top of the document it states: "WARNING! BY SIGNING THIS LEGAL DOCUMENT, YOU GIVE UP CERTAIN LEGAL RIGHTS INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO SUE."

A Place to Call Your Own

Take a look at this photo and remember what the studio space was before the option studio occupied it.  Within a matter of weeks the stark walls, unfinished ceiling infrastructure, and austere interiors will be a memory.  Students should be mindful of the overhead suspended ceiling components, most notably those which are clearly still under repair.  Ideally the university will resolve this matter within the next week to ensure students may focus on the design tasks at hand!

In the beginning...

Welcome to the blog for Ryerson University's Architectural Science Fourth Year Option Studio entitled "The Architecture of Subtlety and Spectacle".  This is where students enrolled in the studio will share with their colleagues and greater architecture community notable observations, explorations, and design developments throughout the term. 

This studio option proposes an engaging challenge for architecture students: how to mediate between the delicate sensitivities we embrace in architecture and the impulses to create stunning monumental works.  As this is a studio that addresses extreme conditions, the focus of the course would center on the city of Las Vegas and its surrounding desert biomes.

Students in this studio would explore the range of spectacle and architectural/infrastructural marvels set in place to create the cultural extremes of Las Vegas.  The extravagance and gaudy cultural built environment is an excellent case study in contemporary architecture. Steeped with an understanding of these notions as articulated in seminal works including Venturi’s “Learning from Las Vegas,” Ockman’s “Architecture Culture” Anthology, Vidler’s “Histories of the Immediate Present”, and excerpts from Hays’ “Architecture Theory since 1968”, students in this studio would also understand the process that has led to how the city manifests itself and has become an icon under many lenses.

A complementary stream within the studio relates to the subtleties of architecture drawing from the extreme conditions of the desert yielding delicate, understated design bases.  Every gesture and detail within a desert ecosystem and its organisms are deliberate yet nuanced in order to maintain its operation and inherent metabolism.  Students will be exposed to the extreme conditions within arid environments (supported by a component of the field trip to the Mojave Desert) and architectural responses ranging from native traditions to contemporary efficient design models.  As the course proceeds, students will gain a greater appreciation of these responses through readings, precedents, and a series of design and fabrication exercises.  Driven by inspiration from biomimicry, current trends in parametric modeling, and rapid prototyping, students will synthesize subtleties from the natural environment in developing envelope component designs.