i n h a b i t: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MID-TERM CHARRETTE

Welcome to the online studio report for Architecture 282, the spring quarter second-year undergraduate design studio at Portland State University's department of Architecture. As our focus for the term is the investigation of community and collective experience, we recognize the importance of communication and shared information in fostering these themes. Hence, our new digital community--this blog.

Our non-virtual exploration seeks to imagine a community of dwellings and businesses in a dense and ever-changing neighborhood close to the urban core of Portland Oregon.

We are students of architecture, not developers. So over the next two months we'll be looking at the 'Portland Dense Housing' issue through a slightly different lens than what is normal out there under the construction cranes.

We will form our own design community, and will ultimately collaborate on a single 'development' to take place on the corner of north Mississippi ave. and north Fremont st. Instead of focusing on the developer-driven priorities of profitability and product marketing, we will base our work on often overlooked values--such as domestic ritual, collective social arrangement, the psychology of materials, and the physical, social, and phenomenological patterns of the surrounding neighborhood.

Yes, this project is purely hypothetical, but by exploring these priorities, we aim to delve much deeper than issues of mere 'style', 'image', or 'performance' in proposing an ideal by which future development may be judged.

Please visit this blog often and feel free to comment, as things are taking shape rather quickly as I write. We'll make sure to post all of our research and progress designs as this exciting project develops.

-your humble scribe,
Garrett Martin

Monday, May 12, 2008

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MID-TERM CHARRETTE

Thanks to everyone who sacrificed their Wednesday night last week for presenting and reviewing four very interesting proposals for this site. You can see the proposals in the previous post titled aptly, 'MID-TERM PROPOSALS'.
We presented, we discussed, we argued, and we consented: strong aspects of each strategy have percolated to the top, and a newer, better, stronger, single proposal is emerging from this rich mixture of ingredients.
Stay tuned as we present the developments of our new common project!

Frank ('shining heart') Gonzalez presenting the 'TWENTY ALOFT' scheme