Professor: Jason Scroggin
E-mail: jasonscroggin@gmail.com

Simple Nested Hierarchy

Description:

The late architectural critic Robin Evans once famously commented that "architects don't make buildings, they make drawings and models of buildings." While we as architects in practice are removed from physical act of 1:1 construction, recent advances in technology have placed the final result of our designs within our reach.

The buildings of Mies van der Rohe are examples of architecture that organizes its elements into a simple nested hierarchy that as a whole is reducible to the sum of its parts. This seminar will look at an algorithmic use of the generic element and its potential utilization given recent technologies. How will more complex hierarchies respond to issues of program, material organization, form, and scale?

Digital Tools:

This course primarily will focus on use of digital design tools and fabrication in the architectural practice. Students will be expected to come to the studio with a willingness to experiment at all levels of design. We will engage the computer as a design tool utilizing advanced features of Rhinoceros and Maya and utilizing the school's laser cutter and milling machine as elements of the design process as well as hand modeling and drafting to produce multiple iterations or prototypes of a directed design project.

Requirements:

The course will be conducted in a laboratory format, including individual critiques and pin-ups of work supplemented by background readings culminating in a final presentation and critique of projects at the semester's end.

Complex Hierarchy