by: Jessica Sheridan Assoc. AIA LEED AP
“Architecture School,” a six-part weekly documentary series on the Sundance Channel, premiered August 20. After the inundation of reality shows about design infiltrating television over the last couple of years, finally here is a show that brings out the best about those who study and practice architecture, and in a realistic way.
So far, two episodes have aired. A fourth- and fifth-year design studio at Tulane University, under the tutelage of Professor Byron Mouton, AIA, holds an in-studio competition to design a single-family house in a low-income neighborhood of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The first episode features the nine students and introduces the project, while the second episode takes viewers through the design process, a critique with the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans (NHS) which is helping to fund the project, and a critique with noted architecture professors and critics around the country (including former-dean Reed Kroloff, Assoc. AIA, the harshest on the panel). Finally, the students vote on whose house will actually be built.
Watching this show brought back all of the mixed memories of late nights in the studio and architecture school critiques. Through desk crits that send some students in directions that are critiqued later, students trying to channel Modern architects like Adolf Loos and John Hejduk, and claims that most students will be pulling all-nighters to try to pull off the best designs they can, it comes down to the final crit that persuades the studio to select Adriana’s S-shaped, industrial-inspired design. It is easy to empathize with the students who are working so hard because they genuinely want to make a difference in the world and positively impact an ailing community. Subsequent episodes will follow the students as they build the house together, and I look forward to watching it happen.