ENVIRONMENT, FORM, FEEDBACK: Constructed Riparian Ecologies
| 3rd Year Core Design Studio | Fall 2013 |
| CMU School of Architecture | Coordinator & Instructor : Dana Cupkova | Section Instructors Kelle Brooks, Madeline Gannon, Frank Melendez, Matt Plecity |
Ecology posits that all entities that have thermodynamic relationships with each other are bound together in complex systems of energy and information exchange: ecosystems. This studio focuses on the introduction of systemic thinking that links the design of architectural forms to specific site ecology while introducing performative considerations such as energy processing, climate responsiveness, air flow, and water flow into the early stages of the design process. Moving away from the design of discrete city forms, we approach the development of architectural interventions through the negotiation of a series of parameters that move across different scales and give shape to the contemporary city edge. This studio invests in the definition of new architectural, infrastructural and landscape strategies that inform potentials for actively restructuring the public environment with provisions for water access, while addressing particular environmental remediation methods in support of constructing new synthetic natural systems. Working on the edge of two distinct environments, between ground and water, we investigate strategies for systemic adaptation of new public spaces and landscapes at the edge of Allegheny River, in the area of Strip District.
| STUDENTS: Laura Gonzales, Gabriel Jose Vidal-Hallett, Victoria Pai, Max Park, Richard Chou, Eva Peng |