School of Architecture & Planning Final Exam Arch 315/715

The Catholic University of America Prof. Barry D. Yatt, FAIA, CSI

Final Exam

The Task

Imagine this situation: You graduated from CUA two years ago and are now working as an architectural intern. Your boss asked you to quickly put together a predesign presentation to review with the client later today, before she (the client) leaves town for six weeks in Singapore.

He hands you some files of information he’s been collecting. “That’s all there is—so far” he says. Go through it and get a basic sense of the issues—what the project is about, who the players are, what information is available and what’s missing, what conflicts and opportunities are suggested, what issues are already decided and which are open to discussion. Go through it all and prepare a report to review with the client. That will enable you to come to a mutual agreement with her as to what it is that you’ll be designing to guide you and the project team while she’s away.

Write or draw as appropriate. Set priorities, since there isn’t time to do it all. In the end, you must propose one or perhaps a few alternative definitions of the design question. (You know the question—What is it that she wants you to design?)

PLEASE write legibly. With about 75 papers, if I can’t read it, I won’t take the time to grade it.

Some Major Hints

Approach: Use as much paper as you need. Format your work for presentation to the client. Don’t bother telling her what she’s told you, but get her to confirm your understanding of it where it could be interpreted in multiple ways. Explain how the facts apply to the project and their impact on the design challenge. Use the drawings, photos, and maps in the information packs as underlays or illustrations for your analysis. Use bulleted lists for textual (non-graphic) data where appropriate, in addition to diagrams and analytical sketches. Make sure your writings say enough to effectively communicate what you are thinking. Put labels and/or keys on your diagrams if needed to explain them. Then staple it all together and hand it in.

Be Strategic: We’ve talked a lot about the value of postponing problem solving long enough to define the problem. Do the same now. Take time to search the info packets for relevant information and underline it when you find it. Don’t waste time writing facts on your exam paper that are listed in the packet. Then put a few minutes into drafting an outline of the issues on which you will focus. Spend the majority of the remaining time organizing, applying, and analyzing the information with appropriate diagrams, and finally list your recommendations and proposals.

Which exams will get an “A”? The best exams will have processes that are thoughtful, thorough, and balanced, will identify design guidelines that are meaningful, concise, and complete (at least for the limited number of issues you address). They will note where specific bits of information critical to the analyses were missing, but won’t waste time with issues whose information wasn’t available. They will identify any tentative assumptions that had to be made. I’m expecting neither completely researched analyses, nor that any two students will take the same approach. Take your time, develop and use an outline, document your process (not just your conclusions), cite the information on which your conclusions are based, and communicate well.


Final Exam

Grading Sheet

Student ID ______

Imagine that you’re working with a client. Put together a pre-design analysis to review with her, one that summarizes the issues, identifies conflicts and opportunities, and proposes one or perhaps a few alternative definitions of the design question (you know the one—What do you want me to design?). Your goal is to propose an understanding of what you’ll be designing for her.

These exams will be graded using the matrix below. The squares in the matrix will be checked off wherever the student work for that item is reasonably well done. Exams with more boxes checked will receive higher grades. There are 35 boxes. A reasonable job on ten or a dozen will likely yield an A. Quality and quantity both count. All exams will be graded by Prof. Yatt.

Scope

·  Found the relevant facts among all the info provided. (e.g.: Trains run past the property, some of which are distractingly loud.)

·  Cited the source of the relevant facts. (e.g.: Site photos and visits to site)

·  Applied the facts to the specifics of the project (e.g.: Since the program is a conference center, quiet counts. Freight trains generating low frequency sound could interrupt use.)

·  Analyzed the applied facts using processes that were thoughtful, thorough, and balanced, and identifying conflicts that arise. (e.g.: The east side, along which the trains run, is the side of the property that is closest to the escalators, the side from which many people are likely to be approaching the facility.)

·  Proposed design guidelines that were meaningful, concise, and complete, at least for the limited number of issues addressed. (e.g.: Consider using program spaces that are not as adversely affected by noise, but which can be adjacent to the entry, such as the pre-function space and registration area, as buffers along the east side of the building.)

Assessment / Found / Cited / Applied / Analyzed / Proposed
Mission / Rationale / Basic Info, Interview / Politics of project / Fit / Achievability
Cost / $ figure / R.S. Means / Applic $/SF / Adequacy / Priorities
Urban Planning / Infrastr / Compr pln, maps / Use, role / Transp, commun / Feasibility
Urban Design / Mass’g, artic / Zon’g, site pln, phots / Zon calc, datums / Zon Env, Fig/Gr / Sit’g, axes, style
Ecology / Conditns / Dwg, photos / Site specific / Sun, view, noise / Orientation
Program / Descriptions / Interview / Area calc, qual / Matrix/Bub/Zone / Organization
Fitness (Code) / Use, Allow vol / IBC / Fit 503 to program / Sprinkler, frontag / Constr Classif

Other considerations

·  Included an outline that established priorities.

·  Analyses, if there, were based on facts. Disclosed justifiable assumptions.

·  Recommendations, if there, were limited to pre-design.

____ Grade


Final Exam

Basic Project Information

Project Name: Squished Coin Museum

Client Name: Squished Coin Museum, Inc.

Client Contact: Christine Henry and Pete Ducas, co-curators

Project Description: A building to house the collection of the Squished Coin Museum. It will serve visitor from around the country and internationally, adults and children. The co-curators are both M.Arch graduates of CUA; the project is intended to be an example of good design and communicate to the greater community the value of design excellence and the profession of architecture.

Project History: This collection started as a hobby. Its first and current home was and is the curator’s own house. Visitors have increased to the point that it needs its own building.

Budgetary parameters: The client is hoping that the project can be built for $2.2 million, but admits that it’s just a wild guess. Initial costs will be limited by the ability of the curators to raise funds and solicit grants, and once open for business, the limited revenues generated by admissions and profits from sales will have to cover the ongoing cost of building operations.

Zoning Code: DCMR: District of Columbia Municipal Regulations

Location: In the Northeast quadrant of Washington, DC, Ward 5.

Site: The property at the northwest corner of 12th Street and Otis Street, NE, bordered by Otis on the south, a residential property on the north, 12th Street, NE, on the east, and other residential properties on the west. 15,500 total SF.

Program: Includes multiple exhibition, presentation, retail, administrative, and support spaces

Building Code: IBC 2000

Printed 12/6/2005