Class Structure

Studio class days will have instructor/student desk critiques in the manner of most studios. The studio will also include in class mini-seminars and mini-charrettes. The seminars will relate selected readings to the imagination of the Fens' alternative futures. They are also to equip students with the theoretical and historical information and content necessary to successfully complete the project. The mini-charrettes will consist of quick exercises to focus intensely on issues and get quick feedback from instructor and classmates. The charrettesÌ intentions are to open the potentials of individual proposalsÛto jostle ideas from 'stuck' positions, to allow the conventional to take on richer content, and to force a designÌs iteration so that it can become better. The charrettes are also intended to help students cope with their overburdened schedules and encourage efficient design habits. By focusing on an idea very intensely for a short period of time, students can make great progress in their designs and discover quickly the limitations of an ideaÛand know more quickly how it needs to be enriched or that the idea needs to be abandoned.

While I will try my best, it has been my experience that speaking with every student in every class is not a productive model. Therefore, we will establish a (generally) regular schedule of desk critiques, that is, half the class on Mondays, half the class on Wednesdays, and quick discussions with everyone before the weekends on Fridays. We will revisit this strategy once we understand the dynamic of this particular studio.