Independent Design Research Studio I

Graduate / Professional

This course is the first in a two-part culminating studio sequence of the PostProfessional curriculum. It allows students the opportunity to build on individual and group work on contemporary issues studied in the first year research seminars by proposing and developing a final design project informed by that research. Projects aim to reach substantial completion by the end of the fall term for dissemination/implementation in the spring term. The independence of each student and project in the studio grants agency to pursue individual interests and brings a wide array of content and approaches into dialogue. At the same time, the semester is not a pure thesis format: the studio is intended to provide structure and common cause. In addition to individual critiques we have group pinups and occasional shared deliverables. While each project has specific content and an area of research, the studio pedagogy is focused on the means of translating ideas into spatial, social, and political form. While projects may originate in each student’s interests, they are expected to address and impact the broader world. Students are expected to meet regularly with their individual advisers and with both studio critics per the schedule in the syllabus. While the roles of critics and advisers often overlap, the adviser typically has more expertise in the content of the project, and the critics focus somewhat more on methodology: how to develop concepts and content from the research seminars into some form of concrete manifestation through design. In some cases, shared discussions between advisers and critics may be possible, but it is up to the student to synthesize feedback from multiple sources (including colleagues). The development of each project is ultimately up to its author. 9 Course cr MTh 1:30pm-5:30pm