Archinect - Features

M.Arch Students From Washington University’s Sam Fox School Publish Studio Work Investigating International Housing From a Social, Cultural, and Environmental Framework

2021-05-10T09:00:00-04:00

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis recently announced the publication of International Housing Studio: 2017-2019, which highlights the work of the 419 International Housing studio in the Master of Architecture program.

A core studio taken by all graduate architecture students, the 419 International Housing studio draws from the diverse expertise of Washington University faculty and visiting faculty, with project sites located in different parts of the world. The studio begins with a set of rotations, where students work for two weeks in one city with one instructor before moving to another city with a different instructor, with whom they develop their project for the remainder of the semester. Students explore how each city’s climate, history, and sociocultural particularities inform the making of collective housing.

To dive into the collection of student and faculty research, Archinect previews the publication that was published in Marc...

Cal Poly Pomona's Undergraduate Architecture Program Aims To Shape the Industry with Students Ready for Professional Practice

2020-11-17T12:46:00-05:00

While the notion of attending college has shifted over the years, many students look for programs that will provide a strong academic foundation and the tools to become successful professionals.

Choosing to pursue a bachelor's degree in architecture is no easy task. While the idea of becoming an architect is still an alluring profession, the intensity and rigor of an architecture program is not for the faint of heart. According to Cal Poly Pomona Department Chair George Proctor AIA, "Many first-year students of architecture discover that while the discipline is demanding, it offers far more than common preconceptions. A degree in architecture can open the door to a variety of career and professional opportunities. A degree in architecture is not like that of other disciplines, is an amalgamation of many, and could be described as a structured liberal arts degree. Every studio offers students an opportunity to learn about both, the design of buildings and environments and, the peo...

Developing a Better City With UCLA's IDEAS Urban Strategy Studio

2020-02-27T14:30:00-05:00

How do we go about shaping a better city? How can land use and urbanism be explored to create solutions for pressing urban problems? Can multidisciplinary approaches to urban planning help create new ways of defining and shaping urban growth?

In Los Angeles, ubiquitous and challenging land development conditions have positioned the University of California, Los Angeles Department of Architecture and Urban Design to unpack these topics and explore them like perhaps no other school of design can. An institution that focuses on collaborative research between its students and faculty, UCLA AUD strives to create learning environments fueled by experimentation and discovery. As a means to highlight the initiatives being focused on at the school, Archinect spoke with Associate Adjunct Professor, Jeffrey Inaba, and lecturers David Jimenez Iniesta and Gillian Shaffer of UCLA AUD's IDEAS Urban Strategy Studio. The studio is one of four research topics: Entertainment (studio previously covered...

The Architecture Student’s Guide to Studio

2019-05-30T12:53:00-04:00

Throughout your years in architecture school, one thing is always true — everything revolves around studio. It’s your living quarters for five years, where you’ll succeed and fail with a small group of comrades crazy enough to choose a career path in architecture. Studio is a kind of ecosystem we learn to obsess over. Every other class kind of becomes an afterthought. Your time in school is dominated by this phenomenon, and it comes with many cultural and social nuances, things that have been passed down year after year. In this article, we’ll look at some aspects that you, as an architecture student, experience every day, whether you’re aware of it or not. We’ll also explore some of the bizarre characteristics of studio culture and how it influences your time as a student.

Studio Visits: Gibson Thornley

2018-12-04T12:10:00-05:00

Ben Gibson and Matt Thornley met at AHMM over ten years ago. Collectively, during their time there they worked on a multitude of award winning buildings, including the Stirling Prize winning Burntwood School. In 2013 they joined forces and established Gibson Thornley.

Now hitting their stride, the team are working on a number of diverse projects across the city. At the time that I visited the team they were working on the final touches to the Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up exhibition at the V&A, a very eagerly anticipated show and we now know, very successful show, which was opened for an additional two weeks to meet the high demand.

A design-led team with lot of energy and enthusiasm for their projects and in addition, it must be said, an extremely welcoming and friendly team. Find out more about Gibson Thornley in our latest studio visit.

Studio Visits: SPPARC

2018-11-30T09:00:00-05:00

SPPARC was founded by Trevor Morriss just over ten years ago. The practice has a diverse and exciting portfolio of high-quality architecture and masterplanning projects across the city, many of which are situated in historic conservation areas.

What became immediately clear from my discussion with Trevor, the Studio Manager Serena Woodhouse and one of the architects at the practice Bryan Ratzlass was the team's innate curiosity for people and place. Each project is thoroughly researched, not out of duty but because they are passionate about the history and context of the site they are working on. 145 Kensington Church Street, for example, has an ingenious façade that cites the unique candle-making heritage of the area, a source of inspiration from the past and means to create a legacy for the future.

I popped into their very unique studio, which they designed themselves, to find out more about what it’s like to work at SPPARC.

Studio Visits: Studio Egret West

2017-07-31T06:15:00-04:00

For our latest Studio Visit we went to see Studio Egret West, based in the heart of Clerkenwell.

Lone, the Studio Manager gave me the full tour after which David sat down with me to tell me more about the practice he founded with Christophe Egret nearly thirteen years ago.

Beyond hype and gentrification: Designing studios for artists

2017-06-30T04:15:00-04:00

The production of art has been present in our work since we started the practice nearly 8 years ago. One of our first projects was the studio of photographer Ori Gersht and painter Nogah Engler, which was for us a seminal work not only in terms of establishing some of the key principles that remain fundamental in our design approach until now, but it also marked the start of a body of work in the realm of arts and culture that has evolved into a wide range of projects, from collaborations with artists to exhibition design and gallery spaces. This was a natural consequence of the strong affinity we feel towards the process of artistic production, particularly when it comes to art from the 1960’s onwards when the ideas became as important as the making and production moved away from the artist, which brought it closer to the process of making architecture. Like some forms of art, our work often emerges from an idea of how the space or building will be experienced, and this idea ends u...

Chasing rabbits — tales from a new practice.

2017-05-19T05:30:00-04:00

My first entry into the practice diaries is apt. Last week I launched a new architects practice LōF architects. I use the plural, but sat in my office — a small room at the bottom of my garden with just about enough room for either me or a swinging cat, but not both — I realise that the ’s’ is more a statement of future intent than a present reality. It’s really just me on my own.

Studio Visits: Delvendahl Martin Architects

2017-05-15T05:22:00-04:00

For our latest Studio Visit we went to see Delvendahl Martin Architects in their studio at Bow Arts, East London. We talked through their current projects, their plans for the future and had a nosey around their new model workshop come meeting room space.

Studio Visits: Studio WOK, Milan 6th April 2017

2017-04-11T03:57:00-04:00

While exploring the streets of Milan for Design Week we took the opportunity to visit local architecture practice, Studio WOK. They showed us around their studio, talked us through past and present projects as well giving us a few hot tips for Milan.

Studio Visits: YARD Architects

2017-03-24T11:27:00-04:00

For the first in a new series, Studio Visits, we went to see an emerging architecture practice in South London. As well as having a good poke around we asked them to reveal a bit more about who YARD Architects are and what goes on in their studio.

Student Works: PERFORMA_12

2012-08-21T13:56:00-04:00

The PERFORMA Studio at the University of Kentucky College of Design is an intensive research and fabrication studio run by professor Mike McKay.