"SPEED SHIFTS: Geo-Biological Design and the Future of Transportation
This experimental, theory-based studio will attempt to challenge what has emerged as sustainable design by re-examining several of its aspects - its terminology, its goals, and the way in which we design in response – through a study of time and change.
As an alternative to “greenwashed” architecture, we postulate that investigating time and change through biological and geological lenses can reinvigorate our design thinking and create new formal and pragmatic strategies. We will investigate whether architecture itself can encompass the inherent qualities of natural environments that make them resilient and adaptable, and students will be encouraged to challenge traditional conceptions of what is stable and what is fluid. With a nuanced understanding of biological and geological processes as they might apply to design, students will be asked to reconsider preconceived notions about architecture versus landscape and think creatively about designing for flexibility and change at varying speeds.
To test where this shift in paradigm can lead us in design, we will focus on an industry that is all about speed and is currently undergoing dramatic change: transportation. Postulating about the future of self-driving cars and busses and the urban transformations that can arise, we will recreate MBTA’s Charlestown Bus Garage and adjacent sites to unpack new potentials and respond to other pressing urban and environmental concerns. Addressing sea level rise, transportation, and urban connectivity, students will create an iconic space that will challenge what sustainable design can be at its core, learn the basics of site engineering and landscape design, and preemptively engage an industry soon to change dramatically."Jack Cochran