Architecture Studio Fall 2007

Customarily, architecture design studios in an educational environment are an opportunity to design structure or structures of some sort under a few select constraints. This allows creative minds to drift off into the depths of theoretical mumbo jumbo traveling through the realms of the most expensive materials available, the most expensive approaches to structural design, if any, all coming back around to a hopefully beautiful, "original" design backed by perfect reasoning and flawless dialogue. If you are sensing sarcasm than my literary handicaps aren't entirely thwarting my intent.
This past semester the constraints were quite strict. I was to design a senior housing facility in Georgetown, Colorado on a site within the boundaries of a National Historic Landmark. What this amounted to was juggling the design guidelines of the town (very strict) and one's own design preferences and skills. Where would one be stretched....where would another be sacrificed? I welcomed this refreshing project in that it was more real world, more within real constraints and real circumstances. But as I got into it I realized how difficult it was. It was difficult to put my preferences into a design that was laden with such strict guidelines. And so in the end I found myself introducing some very subtle stylistic approaches of my preference while working within the constraints of the town. I wasn't entirely pleased with the outcome but nevertheless....here it is.
FYI - Blogger doesn't like CMYK Images