Architecture in its quest for substantiation finds itself confronted with many different demands, from the development of the material detail, to availability of structural options; from the capacities of the local building economy, even to the relationship of stair riser to tread. The systematization and regulation of these various and, often, incompatible tendencies has proven to be a resistant agent to the totalizing idealizations of architectural mastery. Studio 10 locates its pedagogy within this recurrent dilemma as it seeks to develop the student’s capacity for producing an architectural project informed by a comprehensive program from schematic design through the detailed development of programmatic spaces, building assemblies, structural and environmental systems, and sustainability and life-safety provisions. The studio will limit its mechanical systems requirements to HVAC and electrical systems.
Studio 10 is the second  “the comprehensive studio” in my academic career (the first one being Studio 8 in 2003). This one is the terminal requirement of the core studio curriculum wherein a student must demonstrate the ability to produce a complete architectural project. The program for winter 2008 is for housing with additional amenities in Gahanna, Ohio (a suburb of Columbus). The site is the vacant plot off Morse Road (see addendum for location plan). The number of units, their type, and the nature of the additional program will be determined by the collective efforts of the studio. This project is intended to both reflect and comment upon the current conditions of housing in suburban Columbus and to provide alternatives to the current development conditions. To that end, the aim is some public manifestation of the studio’s efforts (either in publication or exhibition).
The schedule for the studio is organized into three phases: the first phase, Research, is devoted to the definition of project parameters and precedents; the second phase, Schematics, is devoted to the development of schemes; and the final phase, Development, is devoted to the production of drawings and models that address the comprehensive design criteria. In all phases, students will rely on each other’s work, and the studio will be the locus and repository of ongoing research and design. In addition to the instructors of the concurrent architectural course in Construction, Structures and Mechanical Systems, the studio enlists as jurors three architectural firms with Columbus housing expertise: Jonathan Barnes and Laurie Gunzelman of Jonathan Barnes Architecture and Design, Beth Blostein and Bart Overly of Blostein / Overly Architects, and Julia McMorrough of 360 Architecture. These jurors will be a recurrent presence over the term and will attend all three reviews, providing a continuity of commentary and insight for the development of projects.