ABSTRACT
Island Design Assembly (IDA) is a non-profit community design-build program led by John McLeod and Stephen Kredell of McLeod Kredell Architects in Middlebury, Vermont, and Jonathan Marvel of Marvel Architects in New York City. Island Design Assembly came about from a long-held desire to work with students in the outdoors, exploring architecture. Islesboro Central School (ICS) has a thriving farm that grows as much food as possible for the school and community. Fresh, organically grown produce supplements the school lunch program and is sold at a farmers' market on the island. This is a fine example of community engagement marked by good design and careful attention to the craft of building. Architects can elevate "ordinary" things like a farm stand or a chicken house or a compost bin into something extraordinary. The design development and construction decisions emphasize lightness and portability, and the authors test the assemblies for these qualities as Architects build them.
