The inaugural SummerBuild workshop has come to an end. Over the course of 13 days a group of 4 students got a crash-course in Rhino/Grasshopper; evaluated a demanding site; crafted a response to said site with their newly acquired computer skills; and prototyped, fabricated, and installed that response with a very basic set of tools. The physical artifact says volumes about the success of the workshop, so I'll leave the talking to one of the photos taken on opening night:

I sat down this evening with the intent of writing something about the workshop and surprisingly find myself at a loss for words. However, looking through these images and thinking back about the workshop as a whole, I'm overwhelmed with a feeling of pride. Not regarding myself and collaborators for pulling off the workshop (although we are admittedly pretty happy about that), but rather for what the students were able to achieve in such a short amount of time. I've worked on several installations over the past couple of years and know how much goes into even the simplest project; its impressive that a team of 4 were able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. It was really an honor to work alongside the participants and could not be happier with what they accomplished. Its been a beautiful reminder of why I went back to graduate school and why I have plans to teach, something I'm truly thankful for.

SummerBuild 2013 participants:
Samantha Altieri
Steven Hien
Valerie Maccarone
Bao Nguyen

SummerBuild 2013 organizers:
Robert Trumbour
Aaron Willette

Alexander Cabral
Stephanie Rogowski
Anthony Sanchez
Jared Steinmark

Special thanks to:
Carol Burns of Taylor & Burns Architects/Wentworth Institute of Technology
Brandon Clifford of Matter Design/MIT
Mariana Ibanez of IK Studio/Harvard GSD
Simon Kim of IK Studio/UPenn
Mark Klopfer of KMDG/Wentworth Institute of Technology
Skylar Tibbets of SJET/MIT

Super-special thanks to:
the Trumbour family

ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY STEVEN HIEN