by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
It looked like a miniature Art Walk Friday afternoon at The Library at 122 Ocean St. The creations tacked to display boards weren’t fine art or watercolor, though, as they were the designs of a group of graduate students studying architecture at Florida A&M University.
The students took part in the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of Architecture’s “2009 FAMU Jacksonville Studio.” The annual project started more than a decade ago, when architecture students present a design assignment for a project in Jacksonville. Students take a day away from classes in Tallahassee to survey a site and tour Jacksonville to gain inspiration for what they will ultimately design. A few months later, the students bring their completed designs back to Jacksonville and present them to a jury made up of Jacksonville Chapter AIA members.
Past Studio projects include a maritime museum at Metropolitan Park and a master plan for Brooklyn. It was fitting that the Studio was held at The Library, as another previous assignment was the adaptive reuse and reinvention of the Haydon Burns Library Building – now The Library.
This year’s project was a health and fitness facility that included a natatorium, a facility dedicated to swimming and diving, that would be located on the Southbank near the Duval County School Board Building.
Architecture Professor Michael Alfano, who has advised students in the Studio since its inception, said: “The challenge for the students is for the design to be an iconic architectural landmark. My challenge as a professor is to let the students have their space. They are doing their building, not my building. I know I have been successful when the designs are all different.”
He also noted that one of the strengths of the Studio process is that it offers his students a “real world” experience – with one important exception.
“Budget wasn’t an issue. It’s a pure design exercise,” said Simone English, who earned a degree in architecture in Jamaica before enrolling at FAMU.
Jose Luis Aguirre earned a degree in Mexico before he decided to go graduate school at FAMU. His design ws inspired by the physical aspects of diving.
“It’s about compression and tension and torsion,” he said. “My design is very organic and it has curves. The body doesn’t have straight lines.”
One student’s design incorporated vertical green space into the exterior structure of the facility.
“It’s a vertical garden,” said student Liesel Smith. “The walls have trays with mulch medium in them and the pool is outdoors because I love Jacksonville’s weather.”
Alfano said the Jacksonville Studio has been a tremendous teaching and learning tool he believes has not only contributed to the careers of many FAMU architecture graduates, but to the local architecture community as well.
“AIA Jacksonville has been incredibly supportive and we have alumni in Jacksonville because of this experience,” said Alfano.
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