The Catholic University of America

SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR ARCHITECTURE

"at the EDGE of..."


Boundaries suggest limits aimed at containing an investigation, a situation, a context. They can establish a datum, a beginning point. They can also be permeable and dynamic. Architects may begin a design process by recognizing this edge, but will quickly move forward to unravel, to challenge, and to test the perceived limits of the circumstances or situation. What emerges are exciting open-ended models of practice; alternative lenses through which to consider geographical delineations; and innovative methods of collapsing theory and building.

The Catholic University of America's 2012 Summer Institute for Architecture will explore the implications of operating on a seam as a means to occupy a space between things, ideas, or territories. The notions of the edge as a boundary as much as a threshold anticipates a moment of maximum tension. Working at a range of scales, embracing multiple processes of design and making, faculty and students will test the limits of their own assumptions to propose alternative ways of occupying, dissecting, and engaging the line(s) of separation and connection.

 

UPDATES

05.07     First Day of Reclaim+Remake and TWBTA/Stoss studio

05.14     First Day of Summer Session I Classes

05.18     Deadline to Add/Drop Summer Session I Classes

06.12     Deadline to Withdraw from Summer Session I Classes

06.25     First Day of Summer Session II Classes

06.29     Deadline to Add/Drop Summer Session II Classes

07.24     Deadline to Withdraw from Summer Session II Classes

 

 

Each Summer, the School of Architecture and Planning conducts the Summer Institute for Architecture (SIA), featuring numerous undergraduate and graduate level courses. Among these are design studios and elective courses, including history of architecture, graphics, furniture design, theory, and computer-aided design/fabrication. The faculty consists of selected members of the School of Architecture and Planning and those invited from other institutions. At SIA, students pursue and investigate the discipline of architecture with a rigor and intensity that is difficult to attain in conventional practices or academic environments. SIA presents students with opportunities to expand their understanding of architecture. Through the interactions of various creative individuals and the common research theme investigated each year, students exchange ideas and test them. They engage in direct and indirect debates in an open-ended, expansive environment, interactions that give rise to views alternative to those we are often accustomed.

DIRECTOR

Julie Ju-Youn Kim, RA AIA
Associate Professor

202-319-6106