Design-Build: A Real-World Experimental Pedagogy for Architectural Education

In 2016, Team WashU was awarded a $50,000 teaching grant from the Prestress/Precast Concrete Institute (PCI) and a $300,000 start-up grant from the Office of Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton of Washington University in St. Louis to develop a two-year design studio and seminar courses based on the U.S. Solar Decathlon student competition. The Solar Decathlon series of architectural design studios were part of an academic program closely collaborated with building industry sponsors. This program created new learning networks that combine education and research activities into a holistic, valuable hands-on student design experience. More than 100 WashU architectural students were involved at different stages, including the collaborative design and building process of a solar decathlon house. The project provided our students’ unique opportunities for explorations of high-performance precast concrete designs at an advanced level of creative inquiry, design integration, and technical resolution through a systematic approach.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.107.30

Volume Editors
Amy Kulper, Grace La & Jeremy Ficca

ISBN
978-1-944214-21-0