FACT (Fabrication And Construction Team), mentored by Jeffrey L. Day and PLAIN, mentored by Jason Griffiths, are design/build studios here with the college that engage in design intensive projects with creative, non-profit clients in collaborations that span design and construction.
In such a practice the boundaries that conventionally distinguish the profession of architecture are eroded to admit other disciplines ordinarily thought of as distinct. Under faculty leadership, the design/build studios operate an academic/professional collaborative design lab that offers students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a forum for exploration aimed at expanding the understanding of the complex relationships between thinking (conceiving, designing, theorizing) and making.
Our design/build studios are labs in which ideas and new knowledge are developed though action as well as thought. Where academic design studios focus on ideation, conceptualization and a little design development, design/build offers students an opportunity to focus on the creative opportunities embedded in the development and realization of projects. Such a practice allows production to influence design as much as design directs production.
Our design/build studios engage students in three ways: 1. through a repeatable course offering for academic credit; 2. through ad hoc independent study contracts for academic credit; and 3. through paid internships funded by grants.
Our allied firms are involved at various stages of each project to offer support and continuity for projects that span multiple semesters. Typically, our allied partners initiate projects and introduce students into the process after schematic design. In some cases, the firm collaborates with students from the beginning of design (for design/build and master planning efforts). For projects extending beyond the semester schedule, our allied partners provide continuity and maintains project momentum between periods of student engagement. In all projects, the design studios place particular emphasis on digital design and digital fabrication techniques.
FACT has worked with allied firms on ongoing projects for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Art Farm, The Sheldon Museum of Art, Community CROPS, the Salina Art Center, Theaster Gate’s ReBuild Foundation and on several exhibitions and installations. In order to realize projects, FACT frequently partners with builders, fabricators and other makers such as Cornhusker State Industries, the Nebraska State Prison’s fabrication shop management company. FACT has won numerous design awards including ACSA’s first ever national Design / Build Award in 2013. FACT projects have been published widely.
The PLAIN studios have worked on such projects as the Santee Sioux Family Resource Center, Emerge, BAXA Cabin and the South Sioux City Orchard Facility to name a few. PLAIN projects have won numerous awards and have been published widely.
Partners & Clients
Art Farm
Artist and writer residency in rural Nebraska.
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
Acknowledged as one of the premier artist residencies in the world, the Bemis Center supports artists working at the leading edge of contemporary practice.
Salina Art Center
Our mission is to create exchanges among art, artists, and audiences that reveal life.
Community CROPS
Community CROPS helps people work together to grow healthy food and live sustainably.
Sheldon Museum of Art
The Sheldon Museum of Art preserves, presents, and builds its collections, giving special emphasis to American art through cultural and transnational study.
Theaster Gates / Rebuild Foundation
Rebuild Foundation catalyzes neighborhood revitalization through artistic practices, individual empowerment and community engagement.
Emerge 2018
“Emerge” is a one hundred square foot structure designed to hold small gatherings of teachers and students visiting the Bauman Tree Farm.
Baxa Cabin
The Baxa Cabin – Cedar Point Biostation, Ogallala, NE
Santee Sioux Family Resource Center
Combining a Child Advocacy Center and a Services and Support Center, the Family Resource Center is a collaboration between Native American Santee Sioux Nation and The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation.
The South Sioux Orchard Facility
ASHED, a showcase for South Sioux City’s Ash reclamation program and the first cross-laminated timber building in Nebraska was built in response to the growing concern of Ash tree depletion by the Emerald Ash Borer.
Faculty
Students
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