Architecture | Research and Creative Work

Trans-scalar Architectures for Earth: Rain Check

Date: August 2022 - December 2022
Desert garden designed for and with geological, biological, and ecological systems at the University of Colorado Denver. (Photograph by José Ibarra.)
Student Researchers: Mónica Cárdenas Bernal, Suzanne Chang, Troy Drake, Puncha Her, Cassaundra Hicks, Lance Holland, Christopher Holm, Xavier McGee, Dania Morelli, Eric Moore, Ben Olson, Khanh Pham, Alycia Thomas, Riley Wines. Teaching Assistant: Maslin Mellick (M.Arch ‘22) Faculty Advisor: José Ibarra, Assistant Professor of Architecture

This undergraduate architecture studio focused on designing for and with geological, biological, and ecological systems. The studio entailed a series of multi-scalar investigations that engaged CU Denver's water systems and architecture’s agency to rehabilitate Earth. Using surrealist art techniques such as the exquisite corpse, the class responded to the pre-existing site and climatic conditions much like a surrealist artist would respond to pre-drawn lines on a page. This allowed us to reimagine forms of authorship for architecture in the Anthropocene, welcoming new agents to the design of our shared planet while engaging the extreme dryness and desertness of our environment.

College of Architecture and Planning

CU Denver

CU Denver Building

1250 14th Street

2000

Denver, CO 80202


303-315-1000

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