The Chronicle stops the presses- Play offers new twist on classic story
- Students create illustrations for Georgia Ports Authority
-
Graduate student channels classic horror in thesis film - Alumnus creates mobile gallery
- SCAD libraries hold artist’s book competition for students
- Griffis discusses development of Arthur legend
- Noted author speaks to students
- The Green Scene: 'We have a dream'
- Personnel File: New staff members join SCAD-Savannah
- SCAD hosts regional IDSA conference
- Titus Kaphar to speak at SCAD
- The Bee Line
- Women’s lacrosse sets records in Kennesaw State win
- Athlete Feats highlights for Feb. 22
- Baseball takes series from St. Thomas
- Women’s basketball wraps up second place in Florida Sun
- Athletics updates for Feb. 15
- Baseball off to best start in program’s history
- Big third period leads lacrosse team to victory
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Class in the Spotlight
|
Charleston project provides urban focus for architecture students
 Photo by Dennis Burnett Architecture students Coty Ekhoff (left) and Emily Bailey (second from left) present their designs for urban development to visiting professionals from Charleston, S.C. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, October 19, 2007 Courses in the Savannah College of Art and Design School of Building Arts often use downtown Savannah as a model of historic preservation, an example of various architecture principles and a template for urban space. However, students in Architecture Studio VII are getting the opportunity this quarter to examine a different historic coastal city: Charleston, S.C. The students are working in eight pairs of two people each to develop urban design projects with guidance from city representatives at the Charleston Civic Design Center. They and professor Arpad Ronaszegi traveled to South Carolina in September to examine the sites for which they are preparing design plans. “The civic design board … went over what projects they’re currently working on and helped us with looking over our sites,” said student Jennifer Cohee. “They’ve done some surveys already, so that gave us direction for what to start thinking about.” Ronaszegi explained, “There are three somewhat interconnected sites, all actually based on real needs the city has. The Charleston officials are interested to know what could happen [with those spaces].” The projects encompass more than simply developing architectural plans for buildings. “Some of them are literally industrial sites with the potential to be completely separated from the life of the city,” Ronaszegi said. “[The students’] projects are not only bringing the areas back into the life of the city, but … they’re taking local cultural, social and urban elements and intersecting them with the ideas of what the city needs.” Because of the historic downtown area’s attraction to tourists and visitors, transportation considerations are important as students develop and hone their designs. “We have to plan for vehicle traffic on the site with minimal chaos,” explained Coty Ekhoff. “The solution is to create enough parking, but at the same time allow pedestrians to walk through the area.” Charleston is extremely vulnerable to floods, so students had to take into account requirements and recommendations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “One of the most important considerations is flooding,” explained Chris Robinson. “Charleston is a high-risk area. We found out a lot of urban functions take place on the second floors of buildings.” On Oct. 10, Michael Maher, director of the Civic Design Center, and other Charleston professionals visited Savannah to hear and critique the students’ conceptual designs. “This is a real-world approach, and they gave us feedback about whether our plans are really going to work,” said Cohee. “They talked about what could be accomplished or not, as well as technical aspects of FEMA.” The class will return to Charleston Oct. 24 to present their schematic designs. Their final work will be exhibited in the Civic Design Center Nov. 14. The students, who are in their final year of study for the Master of Architecture degree, said the project is giving them an opportunity to put into practice many of the concepts they learned in previous classes. “The biggest difference is the scope of the project,” said Johan Kinnucan. “We’re zooming out now; all the different components are blown up.” Eric McManus agreed. “It’s good to get outside the walls of Eichberg and get [new] opinions on projects.” Students also said working on the Charleston designs is preparing them to begin their professional practices. “It’s a good transition to go from more student-oriented projects … to real life,” said Luke Hellkamp. “This isn’t just designing buildings; it’s designing urban ideas,” Ronaszegi said. “You’re working with urban elements and contexts … You have to look at the details and get very refined: landscape, objects, light, water or sculptural elements, materials, how buildings interact with the space.”  |
|
|