Members of the studio went to Clifton Forge to survey the site and install concrete formwork for the foundations of the bridge.

While Marie used the backhoe to dig holes for the formwork, the students used surveying equipment to measure the proper depth for each piece.

While some students dug, others cleaned up the site by cutting brush and removing tree. It looks so much more open now! 

Meanwhile, the students back in Blacksburg finished welding the bridge and the ramp. Once the rain dies down, we will be able to paint the steel!

You've seen the pieces of our bridge over the past few weeks- all the steel, wood, and welding that is going into making this design a reality. Very soon, all of the pieces will be ready for assembly and the design will become a reality. The Smith Creek Pedestrian Bridge is more than just a...

After many days of squaring, leveling, and welding, the trusses are complete on both the bridge and the ramp! We've now moved on to welding the guardrail posts to the I-beams, and fabricating the wood guardrails. We've been using our new dado blade for the table saw to route out notches for the...

On Friday, half of the studio went to Clifton Forge to present our bridge design to the community. The audience participated with questions and comments, and a number of people volunteered to help with the landscaping portion of the project. The presentation was very well received! Facing a...

Our bridge finally became a tangible reality this week with the delivery of our steel. On Monday, all of our barstock, columns, C-channels, and angles arrived at studio. We set to work cutting everything to size. On Wednesday, our steel I-beams arrived at ESL. We were all so excited to finally...

Join us on Friday, May 3 for the public unveiling of our design for the Smith Creek Pedestrian Bridge! We will be at the Masonic Amphitheater at 5:00 PM in Clifton Forge, VA, to present our work and answer questions.

In order to use the existing concrete retaining wall as a structural foundation for our bridge, we needed to make sure that it was strong enough to withstand the forces exerted by the bridge. Four of us went to Clifton Forge on Friday to take samples of the concrete retaining wall at the...

In preparation for the construction of our bridge, six of us went out to ESL on Thursday for an introduction to welding. Only Anna has welding experience, but we couldn't expect her to weld the entire bridge by herself, so all of us will be learning the basics of mig welding. Steve Bickley was...

This morning, Keith and Marie met us in studio at 10:30 to begin red lining our drawings. We talked about everything that needs to get done by Friday in order to make this bridge a reality. So, we're working very hard right now to fix all of the errors in our drawings and make everything perfect...

Today, we met with two representatives from United Rentals to begin talking about the kind of tools we'll need on the job site. The plan is to build our bridge in three sections in Blacksburg, transport them to Clifton Forge, and then crane them into place. In order to make this happen, we'll...

Last week, Keith and Marie left us unattended while they attended a conference in San Francisco. We were given instructions to work on our bridge. We all worked very hard (and struggled at times!) but finally designed our bridge for the Amphitheatre site. When Keith and Marie returned, we showed...

Over the past month, we have been coming up with bridge designs for phase 2 of the Masonic Amphitheater project. Everyone started out by making their own bridge. As designs progressed, people teamed up to collaborate. Seventeen groups became eleven, eleven became six, six became three. And on...

Last week, we all stepped away from our bridge designs to enjoy Spring Break. Some of us went home, some went on service projects, and some of us stayed here in Blacksburg to enjoy a week of peace and quiet. During Spring Break, some of us who were here in Blacksburg went with Keith and Marie to...

On the last day of our cultural immersion weekend, we presented our autism school designs to the Shenandoah Autism Center and the town of Clifton Forge. The lovely ladies at the Clifton Forge Art School let us pin up our drawings and present our models in their facility. We spent the morning...

On Friday, we packed up for a day of driving, adventuring, and getting to know the area.    Our first stop for the day was the Humpback Bridge. It is the oldest bridge (and the state bridge!) in Virginia. It's curved profile is supported by an incredible network of trusses inside the...

Last week, we all loaded up our cars with models, drawings, cardboard stands, and a t-shirt or two and headed to Clifton Forge for a weekend of cultural immersion. We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday getting to know the town where we'll be working this spring (and getting to know each other...

We went back to ESL today to continue working. This week, we've been cleaning up and taking inventory, since most of the tools and materials haven't been used since last year's design/buildLAB finished the amphitheater. We organized our tools and all of the leftover Alpolic panels on Monday, and...

design/buildLAB does the Harlem Shake

On Monday, the design/buildLAB laced up their steel toed boots and ventured out to ESL for a day of work. A group of us took inventory of all of our tools and supplies- from saws to drills to screws, everything was counted and organized. A group went and picked up the leftover Alpolic panels that...

We are proud to announce that the Masonic Amphitheater Project, designed and built by last year's design/buildLab, has won the American-Architects Building of the Year award!   Photo: Jeff Goldberg/Esto This award humbles us and excites us for our own project this year. The 2012/2013 crew...

Join us at the Clifton Forge School of the Arts on Sunday, February 24! We will be sharing our design ideas for a new facility for the Shenandoah Autism Center. 

Thank you, readers, for making our blog the second most viewed blog on Archinect! We appreciate your interest in the Masonic Amphitheater Project and are excited to share our journey with the School for Autism with so many readers!    The spring semester has begun and we are all back in...

The semester has been incredibly busy, and we've all been working very hard on our Autism School designs. We had our final pin up for the semester on Wednesday, where we presented technical detail drawings and basswood models to Keith and Marie and their thesis students.  We've been working...

            As we move along through the design process and case studies for our School for Autism, we have interacted with professors, parents, professionals, and people involved with autism.  Recently, professors Keith and Marie Zawistowski invited Chris...

On October 3rd, the studio returned to Clifton Forge to conduct interviews at the Shenandoah Autism Center. Board Members, teachers, administrators, and even parents gathered at the school to meet with us and talk about the school. Everyone had positive experiences, as well.  We gained...

This fall, the design/buildLAB studio is designing a school for autistic children. Specifically, the students are coming up with schematic designs for the Shenandoah Autism Center in Clifton Forge. Students visited the Learning Spring School in New York City to do research, but knew that...

        After long bus rides, angry Tennesseans, good pizza, and beautiful design, we have returned fromNew York City!  In mid September the design/build LAB traveled to NYC for four days to research and study architecture to guide our Fall and Spring projects.  The...

Last year's design/buildLAB crew has moved on to Fourth Year,and a new crew has stepped up to answer the call. This year, a team of 18 students will be working on two projects in Clifton Forge, VA- programming and schematic design for the Shenandoah Autism Center, and Phase 2 of the Masonic...

After eight months, design/buildLAB students have finished the Masonic Amphitheatre.  Students worked through the night, putting the project's last screw in place shortly after sunrise the morning of the opening concert.  The day's events drew over 500 spectators who had the chance to...