Researching Charleston

This week is an exciting one for the Community Build Studio! Today we are meeting with the structural engineer to work on the truss system in our design, and iron out some structural details. Some of the students in the class have started on construction documents and a larger scale connection model of the pavilion [...]

A Fast Start To February

In the Community Build studio, the beginning of February has been eventful. We are currently moving towards a February 18th deadline as we work to synthesize our many ideas and narrow down our final group design to be proposed to the city. Most of the studio met yesterday to compare sketches and study models, then [...]

The Process of Design and Presentation

Designing any structure for a client can be very difficult sometimes, almost as if you're solving a puzzle. However, the process of creating a design and presenting it can sometimes be forgotten by those who aren't involved. For example, there are multiple stages of iterations that most people won't see outside of the immediate team [...]

Studio Design Updates

The studio’s first design review is quickly approaching, and we’re in full production mode, refining our final design decisions before moving into creating presentation-quality drawings. Our shared workspace is a testament to the process, covered wall-to-wall with sketches full of the design iterations of our ideas, soon to be accompanied by physical models we will [...]

Small Group Preperation

Workload amongst small groups is ramping up this week in preparation for our presentations on Friday, where we will discuss each of our ideas with the city for our new gazebo designs. Three different iterations of design ideas were shared amongst the class today, stemming from the three groups the class has been split into. [...]

New Snow, New Community, New Food

The last few days have been anything but ordinary. Watching the city of Charleston reopen after the snow is an interesting experience, especially having grown up in the Midwest, where snow is a normal occurrence. Something that I have never seen before though is snow on the beach! I got to experience snow on the [...]

Exploring Duality in Pavilion Design

Something about a Palmetto amid snow in an empty parking lot.. Looking forward to the coming weeks distilling down thoughts and ideas for our Plymouth Park Pavilion structure. Many different ideas being thrown around, but I think the common theme in the group is duality in architecture - elements that are convertible or that serve [...]

Hearts of Steel

Our community build project has been coming together piece by piece, and it’s thrilling to see real, tangible progress as we prefabricate various structural elements like columns and rafters. This hands-on experience has been packed with challenges, but it’s also been incredibly rewarding to learn so many new skills along the way. One of the [...]