Gemma Fucigna & Andrew Newbold The Laboratory for Architecture and Building - Uniting academics, ecological design, and community
With the increasing rate of climate change, it is critical to recognize and combat the fact that buildings account for close to 50% of CO2 emissions in the United States. Architectural design plays a crucial role in reducing carbon impacts. The Laboratory for Architecture and Building (LAB) is a proposed architectural research school in Eugene, Oregon that will focus on teaching and advancing building science research. The LAB provides an educational research hub for ecological building practices, while serving as an example for sustainability, that fosters engagement with the community. Researchers conducted systems research, site studies, and calculations for an urban site located at the base of Skinner’s Butte just north of downtown. This comprehensive design process resulted in a building proposal that is net-zero energy, cultivates food, harvests and recycles wastewater, engages with the community, and provides design research facilities, all on the 1.1 acre lot. The LAB stands as a learning opportunity to be implemented in communities beyond Eugene. The innovative design strategies unite education, research, and community in a building that showcases cutting edge ecological design.
Sedonah Breech What are the limits of our interior spaces? Designing offices during a pandemic
Interior Architecture is used as a tool to provide safe and healthy environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project sought to design office spaces located in Seattle, Washington in the historic Maritime Building. The design highlighted the importance of community engagement through a 2,000 square foot public access space, connected to the main 1,500 square foot office space. The client, RSTUDIO06 Architects, provided an extensive list of expectations and deadlines in the form of a document called a "program". The program was fulfilled through the use of office client interviews, material studies, space planning and square foot calculations, weekly design tests and experiments reviewed by peers and instructors, and a final analysis by the client. The result is a community space focused around the historic significance of Seattle's Alaskan Way Viaduct elevated freeway, forming an interactive Viaduct Informational Center. The RSTUDIO06 office connected to this public space applies a theme of biophilic (nature focused conditions) design that provides a safe and productive working environment during COVID-19. The space combines aspects of materiality, high and low seating conditions, variety in furniture and enclosed spaces, and the use of UV rays and passive ventilation. The research conducted to produce the design for RSTUDIO06 highlights the influence of interior spaces on the emotional and physical reactions of users' productivity and health during an ongoing pandemic.
Jillian Kellett Capitol Hill Arts Alliance: A Center for Visual and Performing Artists in the Wake of the Pandemic
Countless industries have been negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but one that has yet to make a comeback is the arts industry. The arts industry is one of America’s three key economic sectors, but COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 laid off 2.7 million arts workers (Washington Post). Since large museums and performance venues are unable to adapt for social distancing, many professionals including singers, actors, dancers, fine artists, and musicians are out of work and face uncertainty about their futures. This project offers a building program that promotes cross-pollination between disciplines and flexible exhibition spaces that accommodate social distancing. Through precedent studies and primary research, a building site was chosen and redesigned to implement solutions that addressed key research questions.
The Capitol Hill Arts Alliance is a proposed adaptive reuse project in Seattle, WA that provides safe spaces for visual and performing artists to continue creating, exhibiting, collaborating during the pandemic. The program and design address three main issues: the financial impact on artists as the industry remains closed, the closure’s effects on the local community and culture, and the need to integrate flexible architectural elements to transform space for social distancing. Though the future is still uncertain for many arts workers, this project explores design principles that address specific obstacles people in the arts industry face during the pandemic.
Marin Nagle Exploring the Impacts of Biophilic Design on Occupants' Behavior and Health
The majority of human evolution has been spent in nature, gaining sustenance from the environment. Only recently in the timeline of human evolution have we shifted to spending most of our time indoors in an artificial environment. Nowadays, on average, people spend over 90% of their time indoors. This then can lead to diminished mental and physical health and well-being. As technology has advanced, we have gathered more quantifiable data showing that occupants have both a positive physiological and physiological response by introducing elements of biophilic design. This paper begins to take a closer look at visual connections to nature as well as biomorphic forms by instituting a novel approach brought on by the pandemic in collecting more quantifiable data through self-reported 360 image surveys as well as behavioral analysis software to see the effects of implementing these two different biophilic elements. In preliminary survey studies, in general, participants found scenes with multiple biophilic design elements at play more preferable than scenes with one or none. Participants also found the scenes with visual connections to nature and implemented nature more calming and restorative than those with biomorphic forms and patterns. Participants who viewed the control room with no biophilic design elements reported feeling the most anxious. Further studies are required to determine if participants' self-reported responses will match their physiological responses.
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