WE WILL START WITH PAPER
Sheets of paper - come & go - in & out - of studio life - with regularity. Rectangles of hot press, cold press, one ply, two ply, three ply, are acquired for a stream of never ending model making. Perpetually innocuous, they serve as surrogates for the real material assemblies so often denied exploration. They are thin, flimsy, bendy, and sometimes unwieldy. They seem to lack structural integrity and certainly lack formal variation.

Over fifteen weeks HOT PRESSED will consider this perceived "lacking" as its first site of potential asking: What is the construction logic associated with sheets of paper? How do simple material accumulations of bond paper, coverstock, chipboard, bristol board or poster board become implicated in complex systems of architectural assembly and performance?

WE WILL EXCHANGE MODEL FOR PROTOTYPE
Our second site of potential begins with Eladio Dieste, a Uruguayan engineer and architect, who evolved the conventional material and construction logics associated with the local Uruguayan brick. Dieste asserted a design methodology and a preference for always working with full scale prototypes. Regarding his disuse of the scaled model Dieste states "What I can say is that I have proceeded bit by bit, and that the smaller structures have been the models for the larger one."

This studio will proceed bit by bit, challeged as Dieste was, to set aside the process of model making for the process of prototyping or 1:1 constructing. It asserts that lurking in the land of flat is form to be found and grounds for legitimizing a system of construction. Bit by bit thinking asks: What is the relationship between processes for prototyping, novelty and specificity? Can prototypical making yield specific parts, or forms and performances for slices, folds, creases, seams and joints? Can prototypical making yield specific wholes or specific affects/effects affiliated with the accretion of parts?

WE WILL EXCHANGE ANALOG FOR DIGITAL
Our third site of potential begins where paper meets tool, or the process for cutting, scoring and folding with intention. Analog x-acto is replaced by digital laser cutter, a beam .005 inches in diameter, whose cutting is precisely computer numerically controlled in the x and y axis.

The studio will likewise emphasize software, or digital input, deploying the digital model as a working tool (as opposed to a strictly representational one) allowing it to become the basis for research/testing, visualization and fabrication. When paired with the laser cutter, software completes an input and output cycle which is further invested in a process of iterative making.

Each studio member is then considered a digital practitioner and digital fabricator, interrogating sheet and board logics in the context of digital tools. Iterative interrogations in the digital environment ask: What is the relationship between input, output, research and experimentation? How can digital devices, both input and output tools, become implicated in a process of iteration?

WE WILL EXCHANGE ONE OBJECT FOR (n)OBJECTS
The studio will exchange one architectural object for many architectural objects, an accounting embedded in a process of iteration. It will, likewise, trade answer for question and certainty for uncertainty. But, beyond a simple matter of accounting, what is at stake in the process of one for many is the very definition of the architectural object, its form and performance.

The studio's seminar will dissect the milieu of material, method and tool (the sets of exchanges described above) along with structure, space, form, performance and aesthetics. It will provide the theoretical ground for generating dynamical and relational geometries, operating across one, two, three and four dimensions.

Studio making and seminar thinking allow us to ask and test the following questions: How can assembly systems evolve? How can relational systems evolve? What is the potential relationship between object (part and whole) and environment? When objects invent or redistribute relationships, which relationships emerge as part fixed form? Which emerge as phenomenal or experiential?

STUDIO HOT PRESSED - IN REVIEW
This design and fabrication studio will invent sheet material systems which rely on digital input and digital output. In this studio you will be challenged, as Dieste was, to set aside the process of modeling for the process of prototyping. Prototyping is defined as 1:1 output. To approach 1:1 constructions we will consistently use a process of scaling up and testing for specificity. This studio will begin with a construction exercise introducing studio members to the ways of thinking, materials, methods and tools implicated in the studio's topic. For the majority of the semester the studio will address one project, the construction of habitable wall and boundary condition. This project is organized into three phases of research allowing each student to generate a body of work surrounded by the material, construction and fabrication questions of the studio. The seminar will support the studio's body of work by addressing ways of thinking about novelty, invention, object digital practice, form, performance, space and structure.

WHAT IS DESIGN FIVE?
Design five is an intermediate-level design studio with an emphasis on theory and research. The design five studio challenges each architecture student to develop clear working methodologies, formulate a design thesis or hypothesis, and test intention through iterative making. Each student will generate a body of work resulting from a fifteen week interrogation. The content of the work is spatial, experiential, temporal, and structural. Design five will open up the potential for architectural invention.

In this design five studio full scale fabrication will require energy and resolve. It is the energy embedded in inventing a sheet material assembly and asserting that the action of assembly, this joint, seam, crease, or surface does occur at a specific sale. It is the resolve to MAKE IT at an asserted operative scale, FAIL, and assert again. The challenge in this studio is to find a space of possible permutations and withstand the swing between iterative work and assertive work.

Design five includes a studio component and a seminar component. The studio is topic based, introduced with a question and working methodologies. The seminar supports the topic and theoretical content of the studio.

DESIGN FIVE COURSE PACKET
The required reading for the design five seminar is available in the DESIGN FIVE COURSE PACKET prepared by Speedway Printing. Reading is assigned each week and responded to each week per the outline included in the course packet.

COURSE POLICIES

Attendance Policy

Studio meets MW 1:00 - 6:00, F3:00 - 6:00

Seminar meets F 1:00 - 2:45

Attendance is mandatory. Participation in both studio and seminar is expected. Students with two unexcused absences may be dropped from the course without further notice. The minimum penalty for two unexcused absences is a full grade letter drop in your final grade for the course. Please contact me prior to the beginning of class if you expect to be late or will not be attending class.

Absences are excused only for medical conditions and personal or family emergencies. I may require written documentation for any excused absence.

A student who is absent from a class or examination for the observance of a religious holy day may complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence, if proper notice has been given. Notice must be given at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates the student will be absent. For religious holy days that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, notice should be given on the first day of the semester. It must be personally delivered to the instructor and signed and dated by the instructor, or sent certified mail, return receipt requested. A student who fails to complete missed work within the time allowed will be subject to the normal academic penalties

Grading Policy

This is a research studio. Design work is iterative. You are responsible for generating a well articulated thesis or hypothesis and body of work which tests your intentions. This body of work must be informed by both studio making and seminar thinking. Your studio and seminar work is evaluated on its rigor and evolution over sixteen weeks. Equal weight is given to all assignments.

Establishing grades for projects of a creative nature is a more complex matter than grading in other academic areas. While each project contains certain quantifiable elements by which it may be evaluated, a significant portion of each grade is derived from a broader, more subjective set of issues.

Grading is broken into four components for each assignment:

1/4 thesis develop of a set of ideas through participation in seminar discourse and the incorporation of these ideas into studio making

1/4 grasp the ideas and understanding of the studio project at hand, combined with an appropriate process of inquiry

1/4 process the consistent and rigorous development and testing of ideas

1/4 resolution the demonstration of competence, completeness, and finesse through representation

Grading Descriptions:

Your work will be evaluated on its rigor and evolution over the semester.

A : EXCELLENT WORK

Project surpasses expectations in terms of inventiveness, appropriateness, verbal and visual ability, conceptual rigor, craft, and personal development. Student pursues concepts and techniques above and beyond what is discussed in class. Project is complete on all levels.

B : GOOD WORK

Project is thorough, well researched, diligently pursued, and successfully completed. Student pursues ideas and suggestions presented in class and puts in effort to resolve required projects. Project is complete on all levels and demonstrates potential for excellence.

C : REQUIRED WORK

Project meets the minimum requirements. Suggestions made in class are not pursued with dedication or rigor. Project is incomplete in one or more areas.

D : POOR WORK

Project is incomplete. Basic skills including graphic skills, model-making skills, verbal clarity or logic of presentation are not level-appropriate. Student does not demonstrate the required design skill and knowledge base.

F : UNACCEPTABLE WORK

Project is unresolved. Minimum objectives are not met. Performance is not acceptable. Note that this grade will be assigned when you have excessive unexcused absences.

X : EXCUSED INCOMPLETE

Can be given only for legitimate reasons of illness or family emergency. Simply not completing work on time is not an adequate cause for assigning this evaluation. It may only be used after consultation with the Associate Deans' offices and with an agreement as to a new completion date. Studio work must be completed before the second week of the next design semester in which you are enrolling, according to School of Architecture policy.

ALL GRADES ARE SUBJECT TO DEDUCTIONS FOR ABSENCES, LATE WORK AND LATE ARRIVALS.

IF YOU ARE EARNING A C, D, OR F AT MID SEMESTER I MAY ISSUE AN ABSENCE/FAILING REPORT.

Disabilities:

At the beginning of the semester, students with disabilities who need physical or cognitive accommodations should notify me by presenting a letter prepared by the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Office. To ensure that the most appropriate accommodations can be provided, students should contact the SSD Office at 471-6259 or 471-4641 TTY.

Studio Safety and Security

The studio is an exceptional learning environment. Since it is a place for all, it necessitates the careful attention to the needs of everyone in it. Please me if there are any problems (music, visual pollution) that you are unable to resolve on your own. All spraying of fixative, spray paint or any other substance should be done in the shop. Security is a necessary component for a studio that is accessible to you and your colleagues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please be mindful not to admit any uninvited visitors and keep all exterior doors locked after hours.

Be smart. Be safe.