Making Site Matter: Expanding the Field of Architectural Technology
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Date
2019
Authors
Arens, Robert
Osborn, Brian
Trudell, Carmen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Globalization and the spread of modernism have led to what critics have described as a standardization of
the built environment. As architects have turned their attention back to site in recent decades a significant
discourse surrounding its potential as a generative concern in the production of architecture has emerged.
Despite this recovery, the integration of site into architectural practice remains a work in progress. The
stalled progress is no doubt related to a tentative engagement with site in architectural education.
Through an assessment of our curriculum at Cal Poly we have found that by not addressing it explicitly in
our coursework, we leave site outside the domain of architecture and excluded from meaningful design
authorship.
In an effort to construct a broad framework for site matters within our curriculum, we have discovered
potential in incorporating site into Architectural Technology Fundamentals courses. To do so we have
reorganized these courses into three study areas: Site and Contextual Systems, Materials and
Construction Systems, and Energy and Environmental Systems. Since site is in constant dialogue with
each of these within the built environment, we find value in presenting it to students in the same
interconnected way. This paper discusses our rationale and methods for incorporating site into
architectural technology courses.
Description
13 pages