This foundation design studio explores the relationship among sites, drawings, models and the making of landscape architectural projects. The studio site is typically located on vacant or abandoned land in North Philadelphia along the Delaware River. Such sites are fairly large in size and present a complex set of issues, including fragmentation, lack of access, and contamination. Through the design of a park, students test and refine the relationship among project concept, modes of visualization, and project formation (organizational and material).
As a precursor to site work, students experiment with methods and materials for making organization and form in two and three dimensions. In the early part of the semester, we explore techniques of imaging that generate multiples (scenarios), serial progressions (transformations of a sort), and iterations (transformations of another). Through various grafting techniques, we use the resultant drawings and models as analogous structures in order to imagine possible future organizations and uses for the site. These studies occur in conjunction with site interpretations ranging from photographs and sketches, to measured drawings and diagrams. The objective for the studio is to develop an informed and imaginative response to the site in order to create new relationships among the site, its immediate edges and the larger neighborhood or region.
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