Final Review

On Monday, April 20th 2015, our studio had our final review for our Green Oak Project of a design for a bunk house at Red Bird Mission in Clay County, Kentucky. Reviewers Kevin Stevens and Katherine Ambroziak from The University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design, as well as Mark Sanderson, one of the Principals at DIGSAU architects in Philadelphia and Brian Court, a partner with Miller Hull Partnership in Seattle, gave us their time, experience, and expertise for a few hours. We presented them with twelve boards, a model, and physical 1:1 scale mockups explaining the work we have done this semester.

They reviewed our research and design and believe that the work we have done looks thorough, competent, and overall like a successful project. They gave us constructive criticism and advice ranging from specific construction methods to presenting alternative ways of thinking about architecture, design, and construction.

Our work this semester seems to have been successful. We still have some things to take care of concerning handing this project over to the next set of students so that they can actually build it. Building it will be the first true test, and then evaluating the building's sustainable design qualities and construction methods. It will take some time to truly validate our work, but we all believe that the work we have done will do some true good for the people of Clay County and for any designers who wish to use our research as a precedent for their own designs.

Winning Gold at University of Tennessee Knoxville EUReCA

At The University of Tennessee, Knoxville we have our annual Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement. Even though we are still designing and our final review for this semester is less than a week away, we took the time to create a poster and give a presentation at the exhibit. This year the Green Oak Initiative won Gold in the Architecture and Design category. 

The exhibit showcased many projects and it was exciting seeing all of the work all these students have done and the potential that research projects can do for the world. Being recognized for the work that we have done this semester, as well as showcasing the work that students have done in the previous semesters, was wonderful. We are also glad we are spreading the word about the amazing work we are doing that we know will be doing some real good once we can utilize this material and construction methods.

Penultimate Review

On Wednesday, April 1st we had our penultimate review.  Bill Martella, James Rose, and Matt Culver were our reviewers and gave us a great critique and great advice that we have already started to implement into our design.

This review covered the previous semester's work with green oak, the site and context, program, research, living building challenge, sustainable strategies, materials, details, and landscape. Having a team of 12 students and a knowledgeable, passionate professor has allowed us to get so much work done. The design is nearly finished and the construction drawings constructions specifications will be finished by our next review on the 20th of April.