arcbox

After the exams and final reviews of the 2010-2011 year in FAED is time for September sessions’ workshops.

This year three workshops will take place, ranging from the smallest scale of the materiality and the tectonics of a wall; the architectural scale and its relation with the city organization trough a milk kiosk; or the largest urban scale of housing typologies and human settlements.

The workshop called Wall Works –Structure Patterns will be driven by Yutaka Sho, and Michael Beaman, and will focus on designing masonry wall systems that require no mortar, are structurally sound, resist seismic activity, and can accommodate a variety of openings for ventilation, views, circulation, and privacy for urban conditions.

Although the workshop focuses on material and tectonics, students are charged to explore urbanity through the issues including but not limited to scale, connectivity, double sided nature of the wall, visually and programmatic appropriation. The workshop will be held in two parts from 5^th to 16^th September 2011.

The first part will focus on pattern making through three concepts: tiling, interlocking, and layering. The second part will be an intensive session focused on using these 2 dimensional patterns to design, model and prototype a 3 dimensional wall system using repetitive masonry units. Each student will be supplied with model making materials, and expected to develop their project in 2 and 3 dimensions.

The work produced in this workshop may become the basis for a research seminar with students at the University of Virginia in the spring of 2012 as well as be complied in a publication that examines efficient masonry structural systems.

The milk kiosk prototypes workshop, will be held as well from the 5^th to the 16^th spetember 2011.

This one will be driven by Kilian Doherty and Nerea Amorós Elorduy with the support and sponsor of Rwanda Works.

This workshop will focus on the design for mobile kiosk prototypes. The goal is to be able to understand a bigger framework of production processes, selling strategies, and market logics, emphasizing their adaptation to the urban scenario and their specific design.

The workshop will be held in two parts. The first part will be an intensive urban understanding. We will focus on site and market analysis specifically on: the existing amata shops, and three general zones within the city where to possibly allocate these kiosks. The students will map and understand daily activities, patterns of movement and processes of production and selling. The second part will be the design of a prototype for a mobile/flexible milk kiosk. The teams will choose the best approach to it depending on lessons learned and the site where they will be working on.

The work produced in this workshop may become the basis for a further design development and real build entities that will work as prototypes for future amata kiosks.

(more info at milkkiosk-prototypes.blogspot.com)

The workshop called Urban and Rural Housing Typologies will take place from Sep 5^th to Sep 14th , every day (including weekends)

During this time the students will be invited to partner up with colleagues from University of Arkansas, USA, under the lead of an international team of designers. This Peter Rich, Tim Hall, Korydon Smith as well as Sierra Bainbridge and Tomà Berlanda.

Building upon the research started last year, in the Urban and Rural Settlement Patterns workshop, we will take an alternate approach to the current city master plan. We will be developing urban and architectural proposals that include:

• exterior public/communal spaces
• community service spaces, such as schools, churches, and health facilities
• commercial spaces
• medium-density domestic spaces for both displaced families and upper-income families

To accomplish this, we will utilize a four-phase process. First, we will explore the “unplanned” settlements of the urban, suburban, and rural environments in/around Kigali in an attempt to understand the social customs, spatial typologies, and construction methods of local Rwandans. Second, we will develop explanatory diagrams, drawings, models, and writings of our observations and interactions. Third, we will utilize this information to develop urban design goals and strategies that draw from the vernacular cultural, material, and spatial landscape.

Finally, we will develop architectural proposals that articulate and exemplify these principles.

The applications are open to participate, we hope those workshops will complement and improve the knowledge that the students learn during the semester, enjoying and enriching the faculty curricula.