Abstract:

Re-Constructing Curriculum examines the link between design and making in contemporary architectural education.  Alternative pedagogical models that privilege full-scale, hands-on design combine new tools and traditional craft to promote direct engagement with the empirical lessons of construction technology. 

Both analog (design-build, furniture design, etc) and digital (CNC equipment, prototyping, and 3d printing) fabrication processes are currently being exploited to fundamentally alter the nature of learning and, ultimately, the profession.  

Specific examples focused on award-winning, academic design-build projects led by faculty at the American University of Sharjah provide visual stimulus and animate the talk.  The projects includes student design-build work that has won state and regional AIA awards in the US as well as the new Digital Fabrication Lab at AUS and the student furniture design projects that were recently exhibited at the Milan furniture fair. 

The pedagogy behind this initiative seeks to reunite the craft of making with the act of design/drawing such that students, (our future practitioners), develop a full set of skills in preparation for the complexities of the contemporary office and job site.  

At the end of the Seminar/Workshop, the Participant should be able to identify new curricular developments in architectural education and the potential impact on young architects entering the profession. 

Short Profile:

Educated at the University of Virginia and Princeton University, Michael Hughes interned with Richard Meier and Frank Gehry before embarking on a ten-year project to design and build a house for his parents.  Working with his 65 year-old Father and 68 year-old Uncle, the geriatric construction crew built “The Home”, a 3000sf ADA accessible residence in Northeast Georgia.  The project developed innovative ideas within a limited budget and exposed Michael to the importance of grounding design education in tactile, hands-on experience.

Hughes has refined his vision of full-scale, design-build pedagogy while teaching at Cornell University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Colorado, and the University of Arkansas. Prof. Hughes is currently the Head of the Department of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah.

 Prof. Hughes also directs the ongoing “Tectonic Landscapes Initiative”, which focuses on small, unremarkable, and often forgotten urban places adjacent to the lives of underserved people.  Located in the boundary between architecture and landscape these projects seek to create experiential delight out of small-scale design opportunities.  Through the adaptive re-use and recycling of leftover urban space, these tectonic hybrids augment and enhance existing building infrastructures with new, primarily outdoor, spaces that provide pragmatic functions, promote play, and exhibit a social and environmental conscience.  Projects completed through the Tectonic Landscapes Initiative have been recognized with state and regional AIA Design Awards and featured in journals such as Architectural Record and Dwell.