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ARCH 151 – THESIS
Professors Anthony Vidler, Hayley Eber, and David Turnbull
The key issue for the first four weeks of THESIS was thinking about how architects research and draw PROCESSES, how they DRAW LIFE, and how in relation to the LIFE of an architectural project the “site” could be interpreted as “milieu,” “genius loci,” “place,” “space,” “environment,” “surroundings,” “context,” or “ecology.”
The first part of the FALL semester was devoted to exploring when, how and in what way these notions emerged. For example, the “biosphere” in the 1920’s, ecology in the 50’s and again in the 70’s, etc., and how they were represented or “embodied” in architecture to introduce a way of understanding “green” as more than a pop buzzword and ecological thinking as obligatory.
The initial exercise took on the character normally ascribed to site or context research but in the wider frame of DRAWING LIFE into design.
We began by studying the canonic drawings that architects have made in order to arrive at conclusions and the drawings that have been considered as conclusions themselves, for example:
Le Corbusier—Ville Radieuse, Chandigargh or Unite d’Habitation program drawings, Louis Kahn—Philadelphia Plan traffic flow diagram, Candilis Josic Woods—STEM diagram, Archigram—GLOOPS, Cedric Price—Potteries THINKBELT organization charts, Guiseppe Terragni—stress analysis and façade studies, Frei Otto— minimal surface drawings, SUPERSTUDIO—allegorical drawings, ARCHIZOOM —no-stop city planning concepts, John Hejduk—VICTIMS stories, Potsdam Printer’s House & Studio drawings.
Beyond studying these LIFE DRAWINGS the students analyzed how they were internalized in an exemplary project to understand the effectiveness of a drawing, as opposed to its aesthetic individuality as a part of the process of designing.
The fundamental principle guiding our thoughts about the structure of the SPRING semester was that by May 13th, the students would have a substantial portfolio of work that is comprehensive and coherently organized. The portfolio will contain books, folders, sketchbooks, diaries, drawings, diagrams, photomontages, CDROMs, DVDs, using any and all modes of description or representation that explain the breadth and richness of the research and the sophistication of the architectural proposition(s).
It was our goal that the FINAL REVIEW and the end of year EXHIBITION of THESIS work would include the presentation of EVERY thought and action that has been necessary to arrive at the student’s architectural proposition. The final presentation is designed to communicate: architectural drawings of the highest quality will be shown with explanatory text and diagrams integrated into the drawings, photographs, models (digital and physical), on the wall, the floor, the ceiling, on a screen or screens, on paper, in any form that is necessary. We hoped that the last four weeks of THESIS would be used as a time for the systematic PROCESSING of the presentation material—the REFINEMENT of the presentation and REHEARSAL of presentation technique.
To reach this goal the schedule for the spring semester was structured as three phases just like the fall semester, but with increasing urgency and precision.
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