Click HERE to follow Professor Tom Leytham and ten students as they sketch their way across Beijing, China. Check back daily for updates!

Students enrolled in this course will learn the fundamentals of CNC machining using the School of Architecture + Art's new 4X8 CNC router, and will develop full-scale sections of rainscreen alternatves for NU's 2013 Solar Decathlon entry, the ∆T90 House.  

Contact Professor Lutz at mlutz@norwich.edu for more information.

Architecture is in a growing state of flux. The collection and transmission of information is progressing at a rate that was unheard of a few decades ago. The use of the internet and computers has greatly increased the amount of information available to designers. Regardless, design expression is still using the structural components developed in the 18th century. Structure can be so much more than just “exposed”. Although materials are constantly experimented with, codes and regulations have a tendency to slow progress in the realm of structural experimentation. In order for the next evolution of materials to proceed in architecture, it needs an identity.

Inherent knowledge of common building materials creates a comfort within environments. Current technology found outside of architecture possesses materials that are significantly stronger and substantially lighter in weight. Materials that can be used as structure, envelopes and armor protection can all be made out of one material. These materials will change the way we build and design. This changes the meaning of how materials are used in architecture. Materials that are designed to multitask will change how we perceive and design architecture.

The investigation of the thesis question involves designing an environment to support hippotherapy. The design research will consider the movements of the horse that are most beneficial to the children. The traditional concept of a stable building will be altered, allowing for spaces designed for both horse and children. An interactive environment will create stronger bonds between the horse and child for instance through heightened child independence, safer interactions, and easier mounting with the horse.

Scale will be a large component from which design will result. The architecture will relate to three scales; the scale of the child, the horse, and the child while mounted upon the horse. Designing with these three heights in mind will allow for different experiences depending on what part of the session the child is engaged in. A welcoming landscape with integrated therapeutic elements will provide a relaxing environment for the children.

The design will become a vessel through which the children arrive, enter, receive therapy within, and then are delivered back into the world. Developing the environment to be a sequence that the child travels through will help to assimilate what is learned during the therapy sessions into the child’s everyday world.

Film has always been a major influence in my life as it has always taught me something new or just made me laugh. There has always been an importance of film and movies for me, just as there has been for architecture. This year I want to discover a strategy of connecting the two in a way that has never been done before. I believe there is a meaning behind film that could be brought out in the design of architecture. A film involves the evolution of a story, a series of scenes interconnecting with each other to complete a tale, or a journey. These scenes represent different emotions that underlay the aspects of the story, revealing something new and untold to the viewer. I feel architecture acts the same way, revealing different stories and emotions as you experience differ- ent buildings, or homes. It is almost poetic if you think of architecture as a film, a storyboard if you may, creating emotions as you walk through. It are these aspects of film that I want to bring out in my research and designs as I try to unfold the hidden connection that may exist be- tween architectur and the movies.

X (an organism) dies at T (a given time) = df. X ceases to be alive at T 

The definition is intuitively correct, aside from the fact that life (like death) cannot be explained in any conclusive way. In this sense, both life and death are intertwined; one is needed to describe the other, and neither can be simplified. Original ideas concerning this thesis revolved around cemeteries and the disposal of human remains – only recognizing the byproduct of life, not existence itself. Although this idea has not been completely abandoned, this thesis will focus mainly on the more indefinite aspects of death.  As the new statement dictates, research was conducted around the idea of a memento mori, a reminder of our own mortality. This may take form as a monument to remember loved ones, a center for natural childbirth, a Promessa facility to process remains, and a garden to return them to the soil.  All of these functions can serve to emphasize the value of perspective and cultivate a better understanding of existence. The architectural program will also be testing the boundaries of private and public space and the many taboos surrounding “hallowed ground.” Mortality is universal and timeless, associated with contradictory notions like evil, fear, bliss, reverence, and gratitude – a broad collection of emotions that could be used to enrich modern society, if society had a place in which to explore it.