Coastal Studio ends -- work continues

During our last week on site for the semester we continued working on the egg and small shell and built the formwork for the large shell. The first layer of both is almost complete, with the second and third layers not far behind.
Coastal studio is getting ready to split up and work on two freelabs, finishing up at the end of July. More students will be joining us, working on a viewing platform in Cheverie and solar showers in Ross Creek.





























Starting the Timbrel Vault -- Bring on the bricks

The egg is starting to come together. The first layer of bricks is getting close to the top where it starts to curve in and the second and third layers of bricks are following the first layer up. With only one week left in Cheverie we are hoping to be able to complete the egg, get as far as we can on the small shell, and build some formwork for the other shells next week. 
Next we will be splitting up to complete two two week freelabs - one in Cheverie and one in Ross Creek. 
Work on the camera obscura will continue through August.

















Ready for the Brick Shell -- Back in Cheverie

After a few days to recover from our trip we got back to site. Mitch came by to level out the site and dig a hole for the heating tube to eventually go in. We got some deliveries on site and started working on the formwork for the egg and the smallest of the three shells. It took a while but the formwork came together and by the middle of the week we started laying bricks. 
















Day 17 - Savannah -- SCAD -- Telfair

Monday we booked a tour at the Savannah College of Art and Design. The campus consists of about 70 re-purposed buildings scattered throughout the city. We went on a bus that took us to look at a residence, the industrial design building, a graphic design building and a few other buildings. 
After the tour we met for lunch then headed to the Telfair Museums. We visited the Jepson Center for the Arts - designed by Moshe Safdie - and the Telfair Academy - a mansion built in 1818. 
We split up for the afternoon so everyone could have a relaxing last day in the south then met up again for dinner. 







SCAD Workshop
Staircase at SCAD




Jepson Center

Jepson Center
Jepson Center

Statue at the Telfair Academy

Indian Fields Methodist Campground

On our way to Charleston we made a couple stops. The first was at the Indian Fields Methodist Campground where 100+ cabins are arranged in an octagon around a central chapel. 
Next we stopped at Middleton Place, a former plantation and toured the grounds.
In Charleston we met with Stephen Risse, who took us on a walking tour of the city, and told us all about the historic preservation regulations that control most of the city's architecture. The regulations aim at keeping the historical appearance that Charleston has become known for, even going as far as to designate what colour certain buildings can be painted based on how they were painted in the past. At the end of the tour we went to a small building that was tucked in behind a church, and since it was not visible from the street it was allowed to be a very modern looking building.
Indian Fields Methodist Campground


Indian Fields Methodist Campground
Indian Fields Methodist Campground

Indian Fields Methodist Campground










Day 14 - Atlanta -- Scogin Elam -- Tardio -- High Art

In Atlanta we visited the office of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, and were given a great tour. The office works on a lot of innovative contemporary projects, using models as their main design tools. The have also done very well in many international competitions. We also visited one of their buildings - the Buckhead Library - but it wasn't open. 
After leaving their office we went to the High Museum of Art, designed by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano. 
Our last visit of the day was to Carlos Tardio and his partner Mary Claire DeReuil. They showed us around a custom house they had been working on and pointed us towards a few of their other projects.


MSME models


Buckhead Library

Buckhead Library Siding


High Museum of Art

High Museum of Art Ceiling

Carlos Tardio House
Carlos Tardio House

Carlos Tardio House

Carlos Tardio House

Day 13 - Rural Studio

Our second day of rural studio was spent mostly at Perry Lake Park, where rural studio had built a pavilion, three washrooms (each with a unique view), a covered bridge, and a 100 ft tall tower. We had a picnic at the pavilion, then had a debate for one of our courses. After some more exploring we headed to a church designed by Paul Rudolf then drove to Atlanta for the night.


washroom

washroom view

washroom view #2

pavilion

view from birding tower
birding tower

Paul Rudolf Church

Church Ceiling

Day 12 - Rural Studio

The day was spent touring around small towns in Alabama to see projects done by Auburn University's Rural Studio. We looked at a lot of interesting projects, and visited the rural studio office in Newbern. Here there are a series of pods that were designed and built by students for students to live in while they worked on other projects, as the university is not nearby. The cabins are used as test materials, and are each unique.
We also looked at two lamella structures that incorporated more rectilinear enclosures. The first had a building within the lamella, while the second had one side of the lamella raised up to sit on the building.

Thomaston Farmers Market

Rural Heritage Center
Rural Heritage Center

cardboard wall interior of pod

pod exterior

 pod siding

pod walkway

Newbern Fire Station
Newbern Fire Station
Pie Lab

Pie Lab

Pie Lab

Pie Lab

Hale County Animal Shelter

Akron Boys and Girls Club

Akron Boys and Girls Club

Akron Boys and Girls Club
Akron Boys and Girls Club


Akron Boys and Girls Club

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Glass Chapel

Glass Chapel

Reuse of Car Windshields at Glass Chapel





HERO Knowledge Cafe

HERO Knowledge Cafe


Lion's Park

Lion's Park
Lion's Park

Lion's Park Playground

Town of Seaside FL

We spent the day in Seaside, the town where the Truman Show was filmed. We rented bikes after walking around the central square to look at the houses in the area. We left Seaside for our hotel in Montgomery just as the weather turned bad.










Truman House

Day 10 - Dauphin Island

We spent the tenth day of our trip in Dauphin Island. The barrier island itself is mainly sand, and is very unstable. The island moves with weather - sand is pulled from one side of the island and deposited on the opposite side. The houses on the island are constantly in danger of losing their land, while there are some properties which are now fully in the ocean.
In Dauphin Island we toured the sea lab, where we talked about the issues the island is facing and what can or should be done about them. Here we also visited a structure that was built to be atomic bomb proof. 
The first bit of our afternoon was spent on the beach, then we headed to Fairhope to check out the Windmill Market - a suggestion we got at the Sea Lab. We actually ran into the architects of the building (who had also designed the new building at the Sea Lab) who gave us a quick tour of the market. They suggested a great nearby sushi restaurant for dinner (Master Joe's). 
Driving towards Dauphin Island

View Behind the Gulf Breeze Motel












Storm Shutters

Raised Houses in Dauphin Island
Fairhope Windmill Market

Day 9 - Baton Rouge / Biloxi

We spent the day on the road heading towards Dauphin Island. Our first stop was in Baton Rouge, then headed to the Holy Rosary Church. Here we saw a really interesting building, but because the details hadn't been properly worked out the almost new buildings are already being replaced. Concrete overhangs above many of the doors have dropped below their original height, leaving no room to open the doors.
Afterwards we drove to Biloxi, a town that had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Most of the new residential construction that was happening involved some system of stilts to raise the houses above a reasonable flood height, similar to what had been done in New Orleans. Here we also saw a museum designed by Frank Gehry that was partially under construction.
In the evening we drove to Dauphin Island, and had dinner at the Oar House (really bad service, over an hour wait for food, none of us would go there again).





Holy Rosary
Holy Rosary


Holy Rosary Chapel
Holy Rosary





Biloxi







Porchdog house by Marlon Blackwell
Porchdog
Gehry Museum

Gehry Museum

Day 8 - Lafayette

On our last day in Lafayette we took a boat tour, unfortunately the water was too high for us to catch a glimpse of any alligators. Afterwards we went to check out the St. Landry Parish Visitor Information Center, where we set off an alarm and ended up meeting a couple of police officers.




Post-Break-In



Day 7 - Lafayette

In the morning we met at the Begneaud factory for a tour of their precision sheet metal plant. Afterwards we met up with Joel Breaux to have a look at the house he and his wife Lisa have been working on for the past few years - it had some amazing details and customizations, and will be published as soon as it is completed for everyone to have a look at. Next we met up with Ed Cazayoux to tour the Nature Conservancy and his home. We spent the evening at Downtown Live and at dinner with Joel and Lisa.


Begneaud Machinery



Ed's House

Day 6 - Lafayette

After driving to Lafayette we stopped for lunch at Artmosphere, then met up with Onezieme Mouton from the University of Louisiana Lafayette, to take a look at the Beau Soleil House the school had designed. He put us in touch with Stephen Ortego, who was working on a project called Eco-Lafayette that we had seen on our way into town, and we got a tour. 


National Wetlands Research Center

Beau Soleil House
Eco-Lafayette


Eco-Lafayette Interior

Crawfish