IN-PERSON: Learning. Life. Work

Abstract

This paper outlines a two-semester sequence of undergraduate design studios that place mass timber at the center of its pedagogy, focusing on the particular contingencies of the material’s extraction, production, transportation, and installation. Over the course of two successive design studios, students were given the opportunity to explore the technical as well as formal and aesthetic possibilities of mass timber elements through the design of an all-CLT pavilion structure and a series of low-rise infill housing projects. Throughout both semesters, students collaborated directly with structural engineers and mass timber fabricators and installers to gain a detailed understanding of the technical constraints and structural limitations of various mass timber systems, including one-way post and beam systems, two-way post and plate systems, and full CLT bearing wall systems. Ultimately, by participating in an extended studio sequence focused on the design and implementation of mass timber within the built environment, students developed the knowledge and skills necessary to operate with critical agency as they transition from an academic setting into professional practice. Exposing students to the regulatory restrictions and fabrication, transportation, and structural constraints of mass timber within a recursive learning environment allowed students to engage with the realities of professional practice in informed and creative ways, extending their thinking beyond a passive reception of normative best practices or shallow conceptualizations of mass timber and toward broader, more critical interpretations of mass timber’s role in design education and practice.