Final Thesis Design Review for Jan 2011 Graduation Cohort

On Sunday, October 31st, we had our final design review for the current Thesis Students who are headed for graduation in January 2011. The review was conducted with the students located individually in Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston. One student who lives in New Hampshire was able to join the critics and advisors who were on-site in Boston. Given the distance, we utilized web-ex for the design review between student presenting and critics with a secondary layer of communication through google chat to help with translations, interpretation of comments and technical difficulties between students and advisors.

Our critics were: Robyn Reed, Landscape Architect Jane Galli, Architect Shana Shevitz Cohen, Architect (shown left to right)


The advisors for this group of students were Michael Wolfson and Denise Dea.










Here are some of the more compelling parts of the students presentations. They all have worked really hard in these last few weeks of design. The next step is to reduild linkages to the ideas and concepts that they began with and do a few more weeks of design to reveal these connections to the thesis and make them overt in their design interventions, then create a book which similarly is a reflection of their thesis ideas in the final documentation.



Stacey's work has to do with the spatial implication of recall and notions of memory in a site in Houston. Her work is very engaged with ideas in relationship to layers of experience and fluidity of space which is dominated by a clear interest in material engagement.




Jason Jordan is working on a bus station with a variety of smaller programs/events which support an idea of movement and creating spatial linkages in the from the larger city into and through this transportation hub in Columbus, Ohio.




Mike Vala is working on creating a suburban awareness within the urban city of Columbus, Ohio. His work has been testing the ideas of layers of publicity and privacy needed to create a unique and working balance to create a sense of neighborhood.









LouAnn Fornataro's work deals with cross culturalization within a master plan effort for Nashua, New Hampshire. Given the population distributions in her focus area, she is bring the spatial qualities of certain Latin American architecture and weaving those ideas into the specific location of her master plan.



We wish all our student good luck for the last part of the Thesis process and we thank all of our guest critics throughout the whole year for the help and support of our students!