Design/Build: Sustainable Forms of Architectural Practice

Today’s architects are largely responsible for executing drawings, and often have only a limited engagement with the people who construct the building, source its materials, or occupy it after completion. While the design studio — the core format in architectural education — offers opportunities for students to collaborate with faculty and one another, it rarely involves hands-on construction experience or interaction with a real client.

As a Faculty Fellow in Engaged Learning, Dillon Pranger is changing this model and developing coursework that introduces undergraduate and graduate students to a process of community engagement using the design/build practice model. In this new course, students engage with Ithaca-area community groups and sustainably sourced local materials from the start in order to develop new methods of collaboration that result in continual partnerships and sustainable building practices.

“The intent of providing a platform for dialogue between students, community clients and practitioners is to rethink the way we approach design and material consumption through communicating with, listening to and responding accordingly to one another.” —Dillon Pranger