From Design Concept to Reality

The Voices from the Field class is a hybrid classroom and field-based model for integrating issues central to practice in curricula. The course puts forth a method for examining the integrated relationship between concept design and technical execution by examining active building projects with practicing architects, owners, and construction managers to advance an understanding of the myriad factors that impact design decisions during construction. In doing so, the course takes topics that are sometimes difficult to understand in an academic environment and links them to real world examples, thus providing students with direct experiential knowledge of critical practice issues.

Featured buildings are high performance projects, including those pursuing LEED certification and Living Building Challenge registration. Examining these projects demonstrates to students how project teams make decisions regarding issues of sustainability including design, materials and methods, construction processes, and maintenance concerns.