Coming to the end of the 4th year Architectural History course - Modern Ideas and Architecture students were invited to pool their efforts from the lectures and tutorials to produce a film study of contemporary Caribbean architecture using examples found in Jamaica.

Whilst the topic was fairly open to interpretation the students were expected to succinctly express the research relative to the chosen themes citing factual data as well as a correlation to the previous reading assignments.

Along with the film study, students were expected on a weekly basis to provide a synopsis of their building or area of focus, story boards, and posters presenting their themes.

the themes covered were

International Style in Jamaica
Contemporary Jamaican Architecture ::: the look of the Old
Contemporary Jamaican Architecture ::: transcending tradition
Generated by a response to climate
Container architecture
Neo-Classicism Island style
The Search for Jamaican Utopia

below is a sample of the posters

To quote a line from Kingdom Come by Jay Z, "the boy is back!" My last entry on the archinect school blog was an announcement that I had been offered a place to teach full time at the Caribbean School of Architecture starting in the fall of 2009. As one can estimate from this entry, I took the post.

Aside from the 2nd year design studio that I tutored last year, I am lecturing the 4th year students in Architectural History and Theory, a course focussing on Modern Ideas & Architecture. Previously the course had been taught by a historian and the course objective was about Architectural Theory. However as architect, I took the stance that the course really could be about application, ie. "how does one apply Modern Ideas to Architecture."

The contents of the tutorials produced by the students thus far are as follows;
Women in Modern/Contemporary Architecture
Historic Reference in Italian Rationalist Architecture
Hyper-rationalism | a look into post OMA practices

thank you for reading, now here is some visual stimuli | a room full of models from the container housing project critique

It has been quite a few since I've made a blog entry. The design studio and the final critiques came to an end in May to mark the close of the school year. A few things have transpired since then most notably an offer to teach full time at the Caribbean School of Architecture. An offer that I am seriously considering.

Aside from that I had something else to share. The school of architecture is starting their own Discover Architecture summer programme. See the poster below.

Project: All Brought Together 1


rest

rest


activity


activity (apologies on the focus)


meditation

Study Models :::: Interim Critique

These photographs, albeit a fairly moderate resolution, were taken with a Blackberry camera phone. The images were emailed to the students - allowing them to see even if crudely, what the design tutors see.

the first project for the second semester invites students to bring together the four generators, structure, meaning, climate and activities, in the design of a single building under one of three possible themes - meditation, rest or social activity.



The location of the project is one of three sites along the basin of a man-made waterfall that was constructed as part of a hydro-electric plant (now de-commissioned) frequented by visitors each weekend.

Although an academic exercise for recording surroundings we made a day of it, barbecuing chicken on rather industrial grills, consuming copious amounts of alcohol and most importantly just soaking in the qualities the site afforded us.



Tuesday they present the analysis of the site

In what could be cued as a response to Emily's post I was a jury member for the 3rd design studio project on Sustainable Housing.

The projects took 2 urban sites in a troubled inner city community North of Kingston for the proposal of a variety of housing types to satisfy the needs of young professionals, new families and mature couples as well as a commercial provision (offices and retail over two stories)

The housing proposals were varied however many lost touch with the community they were designing for, instead seeking off-the shelf solutions and failing to both use and protect themselves from the temperate environment. Or getting caught in a stylistic trap of "what a house looks like"

The BIG message that rang through was how Third World communities can embrace sustainability as a vehicle towards poverty alleviation.

Here is one of the more inventive solutions. Student: Linda Dias

In preparations for the end of semester exams the university has in place a study week. It is meant to be a non teaching time, with no tutorials or lecturers scheduled for those 5 days.

This however, for the architecture students is really a chance to tidy up their portfolios, sketch books, presentation boards and repair and take pictures of the many models they've made so far in the semester.



Ultimately the time is used to work on their final semester project without interruption. Which in the case of the 2nd year students is the final generator project on structure. So whilst I lay in bed staring at the ceiling 30+ students are packed in a fluorescent lit studio modelling away in time for the crit on Tuesday.

Last Thursday I took a group of students to see a domed house for and by a local architect (Pat Stanigar), as part of the precedent study for the final generator project in studio (structure). The 30 ft geodesic dome was completed in 2004, on the site of a previous dome (c.1984) that was burnt to the ground in 2002. The project is aptly titled the Phoenix.

The dome is made from a prefabricated kit of parts that provides the basic structure. It is a based on a hexagonal unit that is cyclically layered to a closed loop. The building is faced with insitu concrete with fiberglass additives to prevent hairline cracks.

The purity of the dome is broken by climatic considerations to deal with the tropical environment. Most notable are the angled protrusions below the equator of the dome. These triangular elements allow cooler air into the structure and can be shut during storms.

The interior of the Phoenix is spartan, walls are finished timber between the main structure and painted concrete floors. The kitchen is defined by two pods used for storage, and two counters - one longer than the other used for washing and cooking.

Two additional structures were later added (never included within the circa 1980s scheme) and provide the services and were meant to be crustacean inversions to the rigid structure of the dome.

you can see more via my flickr set

For 4 critical hours during the US Presidential Elections I will be in the Climate and Architecture critique. But this does not affect me directly as I cannot vote...I'm Jamaican


In other news...continuing from my previous post about the lecture series. I made contact with Glenn Murcutt who has been top on our list since I was at the GMMC in 2001. Turns out he's cutting down on his trans Pacific/Altantic trips to spend more time at home.

Anyway two things have arisen from this problem. Firstly finding a replacement, a quick list of names that have arisen; Rem Koolhaas (OMA), Bridget Shim (Shim Shutcliffe), David Adjaye, Bjarke Inglels (BIG). Previously we hosted Douglas Cardinal and Charles Correra

The second is the desire for a Young Architects Symposium - which oddly will be based on the topic previous seen here, and may have an open invitation for papers/abstracts as early as December.

anyway here are two random images of the recent desk critiques

So as a response to the request for Lecture Posters to "pin up on archinect" I go to speak with the folks in charge. Knowing full well that a cohesive list of presenters does not exist, I ask nonetheless.

I was told, albeit not alarmed that the creation of such a list has been attempted many times before but failed in its execution for one reason or another. It doesn't help that those available to share their professional wisdom happen to be an expensive plane ride away.



Now in the spirit of turning limes into lemonade, I proposed a solution to the head of school, of using the extremely valuable experience of the existing staff to get the ball rolling. Hah! And here is the boomerang, he loved the idea and insisted/kindly suggested that I be the one to set it up.

So I throw this out to all architects, designers, writers, futurists or anyone who may skirt the wrealm of architecture to come and share their thoughts and ideas with a room full of knowledge thirsty students...hey and if you are lucky we'll have a cold red stripe in the offering.

ps. the above poster is hypothetical and should not be used in anything aside from comic relief