ABSTRACT
The Architectural Engineering Department (ARCE) and the Department of Architecture (ARCH) at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo have a history of interdisciplinary collaboration in the lower level and upper level studio classes between the Architecture and Architecture Engineering students. The intent of this particular design studio was to investigate innovative strategies for vertical density and the integration of urban design strategies, sustainable building strategies, and innovative structural /architectural spatial development through a collaborative design process.
This particular studio design exercise was to develop a high-rise student-housing complex with a mixed-use student commons and a community college district headquarters on a dynamic and active city block adjacent to San Diego City College in the East Village neighborhood of San Diego. This project brief was provided by the community college district client and was refined by the student teams through precedent project research and critique from the client. The intent of this process was to maintain a critical multi-disciplinary discourse in the studio through a multitude of theoretical and practical points of view.
The notable outcome of this design studio was student prototype projects that were innovative in their approach to structure and programmatic volumes on a very small urban site. Each project accommodated and developed an activated public place across from the campus in San Diego’s East Village. Through the guidance of the client, instructors and outside practitioners, the ARCH / ARCE teams and their resultant projects were much more responsive to a broader range of urban, programmatic, formal and tectonic design issues through this collaborative design process.
