MODELING INTEGRATION: Core 3 Integrate MArch Design Studio, Fall 2023

The pedagogy of the Architecture Core 3 design studio relies on physical models to explore the integration of spatial, programmatic, structural, and environmental systems. For the Fall 2023 semester students worked on a mixed-use building combining cultural and sports facilities for the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. The fixed dimensions of sports facilities, both planimetrically and sectionally, provided dimensional constraints for program organization, as well as long span structural requirements for column-free spaces.

Core 3 is taught concurrently with Structural Design II (SCI-6229) and Construction Systems (SCI-6230), so the studio benefits from the adjacency to building technology courses. Students also had the opportunity to meet with consulting engineers from Silman and Arup during the semester. Structural models produced over the course of the semester helped students develop an intuitive understanding of stress and stiffness of structural members like braced frames and trusses.

Other models highlight the use of circulatory elements, exit stairs and elevator cores as both experiential elements and part of the integration of code and life safety requirements. Large scale models of building facades highlight the relationship between structural systems and building envelopes as well as material studies of concrete shells, glass envelopes and rainscreen facades.

To integrate is to form into a unified whole. Architecture is fundamentally a part-to-whole problem, involving the complex integration of building programs, components, systems and parts into a synthetic whole. The Core 3 models on display here showcase a range of model types that demonstrate the physical aspect of the part to whole and integrative thinking of the Core 3 pedagogy.

-Eric Höweler

Instructors:
Alex Anmahian (Design Critic in Architecture), Elle Gerdeman (Design Critic in Architecture), Andrew Heid (Design Critic in Architecture), Eric Höweler (Associate Professor of Architecture) (coordinator), Jon Lott (Associate Professor of Architecture), Angela Pang (Design Critic in Architecture)

Teaching Assistants:
Honor Bishop (MArch I 2025), Joyce Chang (MArch I 2024), Catherine Chen (MArch I 2025), Juliette Dankens (MArch I 2024), Leon Fong (MArch I 2025), Zak Leazer (MArch I 2024)

Students:
Yupeng Gao (MArch I 2026), Htet Hlaing (MArch I 2026), Leah Lock (MArch I 2026), Maggie Martin (MArch I 2026), Ann Tanaka (MArch I 2026), Aries Wang (MArch I), Mingxuan Wei (MArch I 2026), Alex Yang (MArch I 2026), Sihan Zhao (MArch I 2026)