The second-year studio sequence positions formal, spatial, technological, and material design inquiry in critical relationship with context – social, cultural, physical, and environmental. External and internal logics of site, city, program, and tectonics are the topics of research and production. The studios introduce students to the subject of architecture (its varied approaches, cultural addresses, political profiles, etc.) in relation to the object of architecture (i.e., the built artifact) introduced in first year.
ARC208 explores factors and forces influencing the generation of architectural form and tectonic resolution through the lens of site, system, surface, and section in a “landscape” context. Conventional program is modest in scope with the expectation that design projects have a high level of resolution. Site is positioned as a complex landscape of artifacts, organizations and processes that operate at diverse spatial and temporal scales.
