Studio Description

The copy has been part of architecture ever since there were precedents to mimic. A staple component of the classical architect’s training, today it can be seen unequivocally through suburban houses and corporate site adapts. In a time when the access to content has never been easier, the use of precedent in architecture is well established as a way to harvest approaches to siting, form, program, material, and detail. This content is mixed while concealing the references to a point where they are unrecognizable. The effort to obscure is most often for the sake of novelty, but originality is a naive illusion. The copy is not a sign of inferiority but rather a posture which celebrates an act of evolutionary, disciplinary practice. Acceptance of this condition served as a point of departure for this studio.

Studio Brief

Following a series of focused short technique investigations, the design project for the semester was a Sheldon Museum Annex. In 2009, UNL hired Zaha Hadid Architects to design an annex for the Sheldon Museum which was to be located in the Haymarket in Lincoln. Their proposal went through the design process but ultimately did not get built due to funding. Similar projects have been completed for the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, AR (The Momentary) as well as the MASS MoCA, and both were used to understand program dynamics. The studio built upon the existing narrative of the Sheldon Annex and proposed a mixed-use building in Lincoln. This project asked students to sample content from various sources and mix the elements to design entirely through the act of copying.

Student Project Description

This project perceives the role of the copy as digital and generative. Initial investigations into sampling came through Photoshop collaging existing digital model content  sourced  from  Sketchup’s  3D  Warehouse  with  imagery  of  the  proposed  site. After realizing creative limitations to this process, the idea of sampling was shifted into a more rigorous exercise of sourcing high-resolution photographs of architectural works found on depository websites such as Divisare and ArchDaily, then allowing their form, materiality, structure, and intent to inform design decisions appropriate to existing site conditions. Precedent images not only served as the basis for ideation but were also digitally manipulated to produce new architectural strategies relative to screening, tectonics, and atmosphere. Furthermore, the introduction of cultural, non-architectural ideas helped reveal opportunities to enrich design possibilities, such as hip-hop and medical references.