Adam Fure

Adam Fure, Kevin Bernard Moultrie Daye

The focus of the studio, as it is defined in the overall sequence of the MArch degree, is 'form,' which is a term that is understood in a multitude of ways, from the abstract relationships of geometry and space to the concrete effects of the built environment on social relations.

Over the course of the semester, students design a collective living community. In small groups, students begin discussing the nature of domestic space and what it means to share and care for each other and the planet above a sense of individual ownership and comfort. Students end the programming phase by determining a constituency for which they plan to design.

The site is a neighborhood block of formerly zoned single-family plots that the students rethink in terms of how space can be shared rather than divided. In addition to learning basic concepts of site design such as circulation, core-periphery, scalar relationships, etc., students are asked to think critically about how space is allocated at the scale of city planning, allowing them to critically examine problematic notions such as “private property” and single-family zoning.

After the initial group stage, students transition into an individual design phase where they develop a portion of their project in further detail. This stage asks students to focus on the qualitative aspects of life that would occur in their designs.