Project Brief

COURSE OVERVIEW: In this advanced studio, students build upon previous technical and studio coursework to deliver a fully resolved architectural project that demonstrates an integrative approach to building design. Structural logics, material assemblies, and building systems are met with the issues of codes, accessibility, and sustainability. Practicing professionals serve as embedded consultants, delivering lectures and focused critiques related to technical aspects of the studio project. For architecture degree program candidates, this course is intended to be taken in conjunction with TSM2002 Building Systems.

DESIGN INTENTION: Boston’s waterfront, like other coastal landscapes, is ever-changing. This semester we will look at one waterfront site, Sargent’s Wharf in Boston’s North End, to uncover conditions specific to that location. At the same time, we will be exploring a building type, the museum, which is undergoing its own transformation. Museums, which were once collectors and holders of objects, are now playing more active and flexible roles in their local communities. How can the evolutionary stages of both this site and this program come together in a project that uses architecture to reinvent both a place and a purpose?