ARC 323D
This studio emphasizes architecture as a tectonic expression through integrating structural systems, construction methods, and materiality, assembly, spatial, and formal compositions.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Throughout the semester, students will learn to:
- Integrate some of the most fundamental aspects of the built environment— among them a simple programmatic brief and a set of specific site conditions—reflecting on how your work would impact the daily life of the future users, but also the neighborhood and its inhabitants.
- Improve your holistic understanding of what architecture involves, making you more aware of how ideas, technology, aesthetics, and experience intersect in it. You will achieve this goal through the careful study and investigation of architectural precedents and by developing your own work.
- Make you more skilled and competent at integrating and communicating your design intentions spatially, materially, and tectonically by expanding your abilities to investigate and realize those intentions. We will focus on the spatial and formal organization of structure as one potential engine for integration
DESIGN CHALLENGE: MUSICIAN-IN-RESIDENCE CENTER, AUSTIN, TEXAS
Austin is the uncontested capital of live music. Music is played everywhere; at festivals, in concert halls, clubs, coffee shops, grocery stores, in the streets, and even at the airport. The city owns its unique character to thousands of artists who have chosen to share their art with this particular community turning a once sleepy town into an oasis of music. Yet, Austin’s relentless growth has put a lot of strain on both the artists and club owners. Rising rents and property prices have forced many artists to relocate and numerous clubs to close. The situation has been further aggravated by the ongoing pandemic. Austin's music scene will need help to survive, thrive, and continue attracting visitors and new residents to the city.
As part of the many, ongoing initiatives to save the Austin music scene, an anonymous donor has joined forces with the City of Austin to create a musician-in-residency program. The goal is to offer temporary lodging and practice space but also provide a performance space that will allow the musicians to share their work with the local community. It will be your task to design the center.
The site purchased for this purpose is located on Lake Austin Boulevard, a quarter mile west of MoPac, and in close proximity to Downtown Austin and the Colorado River. The hope is that by offering the musicians a home and a stage on Lake Austin Boulevard this project also acts as a catalyst for bringing the Austin music community to this predominantly residential yet very central neighborhood