UNDERGRADUATE STUDIO

ARCH 322

UG2:

WINTER 2021

PROFESSORS

NEAL ROBINSON,
ZAIN ABUSEIR,
PETER HALQUIST, CHRISTINA HANSEN, CLAUDIA WIGGER

ROW / BOAT HOUSE

UG2 is a coordinated undergraduate studio that focuses on the social and physical contexts in which we build and how outdoor spaces can relate to and influence the design of architectural forms.

Due to COVID-19 protocols, the entire semester was conducted online and included three skill-building exercises and a culminating development of design proposals for a community and/or competitive boathouse. A wide variety of rowing sculls, sweeps and users were accommodated and cared for. In the first three exercises, students developed fluency in reading topography and proposing sensitive alterations to existing conditions. They strengthened their understanding of scale, translation and environmental care by siting a proposed cabin on a given lot along the coast of Lake Michigan. They also expanded their knowledge of programmatic, spatial, and material opportunities by carefully analyzing case study projects. The studio included a series of "grounding" workshops and a guest "Zoom" by a local rowing coach who described architecture's importance in facilitating training regimens and team building.

The culminating project asked students to select from two sites along the Huron River in southeast Michigan. They began to develop a boathouse proposal that could integrate their interests in either a public education and youth awareness program or a facility that addresses the needs of a more competitive racing community.