I am one member of a larger faculty that contributes to and evolves the academic curriculum within SAID, in the College of DAAP, at the University of Cincinnati.  Teaching undergraduate and graduate students in architecture and interior design is, more often then not, a complex and interactive experience, balancing resources and pedagogy with individual skills and knowledge. An epistemological core in my approach to teaching drives me to seek opportunities for “structured play” emphasizing learning through doing. I find strength in a phenomenological approach to teaching.   Embracing this view underpins a critical necessity of qualitative and tactile learning experiences in the studio.  Learning through doing, (coupling the mind with the body), takes most students further when folded within a coordinated foundation of reading and research (theory).  I am comfortable with building and making, but also realize the value that research and theory bring to the studio experience.  Craft and theory are not independent values in architecture and design . . . . they are nearly always interdependent and intertwined. 

MetroLab Studio SHNH   Seven Hills Neighborhood House   Cincinnati, Ohio

ARCH7005-004 is a graduate, MetroLab studio (summer 2015) that combines design and fabrication efforts to transform a small interior space of Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses – (neighB) - primarily through millwork / furniture design/fabrication content. The studio followed a “research-program-design-fabrication-installation” process. Course objectives included community engagement and transforming prioritized interior spaces at SHNH.

The intention was for graduate students to work closely with SHNH staff, board members, and local user groups to transform selected interior areas of SHNH (901 Findley Avenue).  The interior spaces prioritized for renovation built upon the themes and core values of the Center – transforming existing spaces into welcoming and fully functioning places that enable advancement through education and technology for members of the community.

An important goal of the studio was to develop community relations between SAID and SHNH, support the student’s creative vision for transforming interior spaces at SHNH, and explore and execute design ideas through a series of physical and spatial transformations – leading to finished interior projects by the end of the semester.

A working budget (capped at $10,000), was approved by the SHNH Board.

MetroLab Studio 6477  College of DAAP,  UC

Studio 6477 is an graduate MetroLab studio that combines design and fabrication efforts for a new PhD lounge and kitchenette in the College of DAAP at the University of Cincinnati. The scope of work within the studio was limited primarily to interior millwork and furniture content, delving into these two subject areas with emphasis placed upon design ideas and making.

The renovated space functions as a place for PhD students to study, read, talk, think, and write – alone or in small groups. An adjacent kitchenette serves as an additional break-out space and is an important programmatic component of the project.

The goal of the studio was to develop the student’s creative vision to transform an underutilized room in the College of DAAP and to explore design development through a series of physical and spatial mock-ups as the primary means of considering and testing design ideas.  The design process led to a finished and completed room with students taking responsibility for selecting and working the materials, considering the details and joinery, determining the finishes, and fabricating the hardware.

Furniture Design

The images above are selected works from my furniture seminar course. The course offers a broad and extensive view into furniture design and introduces students to topical ideas relating furniture design to the human body, theory, materials, fabrication methods, ergonomics, and spatial context, as well as economic, social and cultural arenas.

The primary objective of the course is to generate a body of knowledge in the subject through presentation, discussion and exercises focusing upon specific topical aspects. Students design and fabricate a working prototype of a furniture piece, and then present their process and final results at the end of the semester.

Materials Library

A modular materials-sample resource system was designed and fabricated by students for the SAID Material Resource Library located in the College of DAAP at the University of Cincinnati. Material samples include: woods, ceramics, composites, metals, polymers, stones, textiles, hardware and products integrated within this system. The system is organized and cross linked with a materials and product website.

Constructed Space

Inspired in part, by five readings, students explored, studied, and synthesized notions and relationships of material, light, spatial order, and detail within a framework of specific working processes. Traditional notions of program and site were temporally suspended to encourage students to direct their efforts to explore relationships between creating space out of miniature natural materials and the ideas embedded within the readings.