Architecture Exchange East conference (ArchEX2011) is in full swing in Richmond, Virginia. Read some of the Take-aways from this session:
205 Teaching Practice: design/buildLab and the Design Practice Course at Virginia Tech
Join a discussion on the “Designing Practice” course taught at Virginia Tech, which encourages students to design their own approach to the practice of architecture--as it will most likely shape their way of life. “Designing Practice” was recently awarded the 2011 NCARB Grand Prize for the Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy.
Background: Presenters studied with Samuel Mockbee, Did Lucy House project
Presented by Marie+Keith Zawistowski
Professor of Practice at Virginia Tech University
Their Approach:
Uses architectural practice as a means to travel, as a lifestyle.
Design-build education from Rural Studio was beneficial.
Design+Practice = made practice that is defined for themselves. Creative approach to practice.
Professional Practice at Virginia Tech = how to make this work as a business, make it accessible through digital content, make students deal with real world issues
Premise: There’s no one way to practice architecture. Students are encouraged to define their own path. There’s no one-size fits all.
Remove the Abstraction (in Practice):
Design-build lab
“Get out of the ghetto” = learn to present your ideas in a way that’s not an architecture jargon, presenting them in your client’s terms, not in architect’s terms
Construction: How do you put the building together without losing the poetry?
Management: How long does it take to build a project?
Learning how to organize a jobsite. Students are allowed to figure out on their own and not telling them how to do it. They learn by doing.
Budget: The exercise of trying to figure out the cost of materials, introduces students to concepts that are real.
Collaboration: Making/building towards a solution where everyone is invested.
“If we don’t teach them practice, they’re never going to learn architecture.” -Keith
#ProjectDeliveryKnowledgeCommunity #PracticeManagementKnowledgeCommunity #Conferences #CommitteeonArchitectureforEducation #SmallFirmRoundTable #Seminars