Today was a good step forward for both teams, Coburg and Farmfield. We had a quick meeting at the beginning of class to discuss what we need to do moving forward this week. Spring break is a couple of weeks away, so we have a lot to do in preparation before we break for that week.
After discussing a solid plan, a few of the landscape and undergraduate students went out to the sites to do a survey of the land and locate different elevation heights, where tree roots are, and to get a more accurate understanding of the sites so that we can push forward with our respectful designs. We also had a few people stay in studio and research different materials so that we can get a better idea of how these structures will be built. I was personally part of the team that stayed behind to research different materials. Specifically, I looked at many different types of decking that could be used from hardwoods to composites to FRP. Who knew there were so many options to choose from? I really like the idea of working with a material that is more durable, but at the same time draws the community in to inhabit the space. All, of course, have their pros and cons, so I am very interested to see which one(s) we end up choosing to work with. As a member of the Farmfield team, I haven’t had a chance to catch up with Coburg, but I can tell their design is going to be amazing. (The picture above is a light study captured at the review from Friday of one of the designs from Coburg.).
We also found out that the structural engineer will be coming in on Wednesday to meet with us and check out our designs and material options to make sure they will be sufficient and work before moving forward. David said that we will really enjoy meeting with him, as it’s this will be the day that we really start seeing how our designs will be molded into final projects.
Having the support from so many people and organizations really makes these projects exciting for our whole studio. We can’t wait to see the final designs built. We hope you all are as excited as we are!