Design Build
8 Weeks - 2018
Over the course of 8 weeks, with a group of 15 students, the goal of this project was to design and build a pavilion that would serve as a meeting point for COD’s Prairie Tours as well as a resting place for the COD Community Garden and Fuel Pantry.
Students developed a range of ideas and were communicated both through physical and computer models. Regular presentations to the clients as well as the building code officials of Glen Ellyn gave a real-life experience to building a structure. After each critique, ideas were consolidated, and students formed larger groups, working together to achieve a design that was desirable to the client and was also able to be constructed in the last three weeks of the course.
The final design emphasized a large amount of seating and at multiple levels, allowing people to use the space in a variety of ways. The roof pattern evolved into a series of 1x4s and 1x2s that were positioned above and below 2x4s, making the roof have a delicate, wing-like appearance that provided ample amount of shade to the space.
Taking this course took students through the entire designing and building process that can be expected in the real world of design. Architecture students especially get accustomed to designing in the studio, creating digital and physical models of a structure, so being able to build what was designed allowed each student to gain and strengthen their skills in construction as well as designing for a real client.