Micro-Design-Build: A New Gateway to Design-Build Education

Micro-design|build projects provide students with a tangible, hands-on opportunity to engage with the physicality of architecture—without requiring the investment of time, resources and energy typically associated with studio-based design|build courses. Such short-term design|build efforts produce a more limited set of pedagogical outcomes, but even small projects can yield valuable results. For instance, small-scale explorations introduce students to new tools and design techniques, lay the foundation for meaningful community engagement, and may even result in a beautifully-crafted and useful product. The micro-design|build model offers up a new set of methods, challenges and pedagogical opportunities that could be particularly useful for today’s resource- and labor-constrained design schools. For these programs, the micro-design-build model provides a pedagogical tool that is useful as preparation for, or in lieu of, longer and more committing design|build experiences.

Volume Editors
Sergio Palleroni, Ted Cavanagh & Ursula Hartig

ISBN
978-0-935502-94-7