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Students present designs for an Urban Studio Headquarters and Design Center HACC student
Allison Deibert explains her architectural drawings
to a professional review board. Deibert and three
other architecture students designed a Harrisburg
Urban Studio headquarters and community design
center. Mayor Reed started the Urban Studio in the spring of 2004. The Urban Studio provides an innovative educational curriculum so architecture students can study in an urban setting and help improve disadvantaged communities. In 2005, nearly 200 students from three different schools participated in Urban Studio projects. For their final project in HACC's Architectural Design III course, Johannes Boland, Hans Landenberger, Allison Deibert and Connor Pitetti created designs that would renovate the former Gerber building on North Third Street into the Urban Studio headquarters and community design center. The city has no plans to use the building for the Urban Studio, but course instructor Bruce Quigley saw this as an opportunity to create a unique, hypothetical design project for his students. The students needed to include space for exhibitions, classes, lectures and studios as well as offices, a public gallery and a library. A two or three person administrative staff, students, faculty and Harrisburg city planners would use the facility. Different classes from a variety of schools of architecture, landscape architecture, planning and urban design could use the building several times throughout a semester while graduate or thesis students could use the studio and library on a daily basis. Prior to completion the students presented their projects to a review board consisting of local architecture professionals, Urban Studio Task Force members, Urban Studio professors and former HACC students who participated in the Urban Studio last semester. Kevin Finegan and Dwight Engle, who both worked in the Urban Studio in the Spring 2005 semester, attended the review to provide practical advice to Quigley's current students. After completing the spring 2005 semester at HACC, Engle transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and is currently enrolled in the university's third year architecture studio. He says that his work in the Urban Studio is nearly identical to what he is now studying in Chicago. "Academically, the (UIC) studio is very close to what we did last semester with (Quigley)," Engle said. "The projects we designed for the Urban Studio are very similar to what I am doing in Chicago." Earlier in the semester the HACC students created designs for a public performance and gathering space in Harrisburg. The student designs were required to include 600 square feet of sheltered performance space, dedicated seating, lawn seating, a backstage area, public restrooms, storage space and a public drinking fountain. HACC, Morgan State (Baltimore) and Penn State all currently have students working with the Urban Studio. Penn State students studied urban site conditions in Allison Hill and designed potential uses for a vacant industrial site at the location of an automotive repair facility. Another Penn State class is developing ADA accessible designs. Two Morgan State graduate students designed luxury townhouses for a vacant lot overlooking the city at the end of Bailey Street. The Harrisburg Urban Studio is inspired by Auburn University's famous Rural Studio, a program providing architectural students with a practical learning experience while enhancing the environment of disadvantaged communities. Mayor Stephen R. Reed initiated the Urban Studio in March of 2004. Pennsylvania's leading architecture colleges send students to study, design and build in the Harrisburg Urban Studio. A number of architects, engineers, contractors and construction products firms are actively supporting the project. For more information visit www.nichenews.com/urbanstudio or contact Nathan Pigott, Hershey Philbin Associates, at npigott@hersheyphilbin.com or 717.975.2148. (Click Here for More Photos of Student Designs) |
