Welcome to the CAC.C Studio V blog. This blog will be updated daily by the students and professor of Studio V as a way to document our design/build process, and keep all those who may be interested in our progress of the semester’s project informed.
Small buildings have always had a particular appeal. Micro works of architecture inspire an enduring charm that exceeds their function, even if that function is to be a pleasing decoration in the landscape. There are a variety of reasons for our infatuation with little forms. The miniaturization of architecture reduces it to a human scale with which we can interact more readily. We are also drawn by the intricacy of their conception and detail by the fact that smaller buildings usually possess a more tactile quality than constructions of a larger scale. The concise purpose of these structures; that they address a single function, simple use, or even a purely aesthetic aim, makes them intellectually as well as physically accessible.
This Fall the studio is collaborating with the Charleston Parks Conservancy and is devoted to the execution of one project- researching and designing for a community garden site in the Wagner Terrace community in downtown Charleston, as well as fabricating, and installing a storage/shade structure for the site. The process will include, but is not limited to:
• Prepare interpretative analysis of the subject “site”
• Prepare existing conditions documents
• Review regulatory requirements
• Analyze site and site context
• Conduct precedents research
• Review proposed program narrative
• Develop assessment of project issues
• Prepare a series of design principles and/or strategies
• Conduct programming/design workshops
• Prepare conceptual strategies/proposals
• Present the designs before the Charleston Parks Conservancy and its partners
• Prepare a full set of construction documents for approval by the City of Charleston
• Fabricate and install the approved design on site
• Prepare final bound documentation of all work completed during the semester