From the Tulane Hullabaloo:
Students at the Tulane School of Architecture spent this week doing a bit more than their typical late night studio work. Instead, Feb. 9 to 16 marked Architects' Week, during which Architecture students from all years collaborated on a common project to help the community.
Architects' Week, or A-Week as students call it, focused this year on improving nearby Lusher Charter School, located at Nashville and Freret streets. The students aimed to create an architecturally sound outdoor social area, which will provide the school's students with plenty of shade during lunch and after-school hours.
During Architect's Week, is that Tulane students are in full control of the project from beginning to end. The project aims to simulate the full architectural process, from brainstorming to modeling to installation.
"Tulane School of Architecture students design, construct and install this entire project, right down to digging holes and pouring concrete," first-year architecture student Anne Peyton said. "Some people put in a phenomenal amount of time."
Tulane architecture students are certainly not alone in their endeavor. Visiting architect Wendell Burnette, Principal of Wendell Burnette Architects in Phoenix, Ariz., called Tulane his home for Architects' Week, as he provided feedback, critique and assistance to the students working on the project. Burnette also delivered a lecture at Tulane on Monday night as part of his visitation.
Architects' Week began last Friday with a kick off barbecue followed by an initial meeting with Burnette Saturday.
The bulk of the work took place this week, as students actually built the project - a series of wooden benches and shading devices about 96 inches high. The project is prefabricated, which means that most of it was constructed within the studio and then installed at the site.
"Architects' Week is so important because it allows students the rare opportunity to design, develop, coordinate, and then build their own project," architecture student Evan Conroy said.
But architecture students also see the value in using their unique skills to help the surrounding community.
"Architecture is about more than designing new buildings; it's about using our skills to help the communities in which we all live," Conroy said. "A-Week allows us to give back to our community while providing them with practical, well-designed structures that will impact how the students at Lusher Charter School interact at lunch far into the future."
For Architecture Student Government President Tony Vanky, the project was especially about real-world, hands-on experience.
"I think A-Week has the value in both giving students an opportunity to engage the practice of architecture in a different way than in studio," Vanky said. "This is both a slice of real life in the fact that they have a site, a budget, a client, time constraints and the fact that come Friday, real people are going to be using it."
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To Note: This week long design-build is completely within the time frame of one week. The site is given on Friday at 5pm and by 5pm, Friday one week later the structure must be occupiable.
