Advanced Studio V: Fall 1997 Instructor: Greg Lynn with Cory Clarke and Jefferson Ellinger The focus of the studio will be primarily on the development of tectonic systems composed of repeatable yet non-standardized building components. The con ventional approach to both the mass production of building types and the materials and methods by which they are constructed has been through the use of a prototype. Where the global configuration could change, the tectonics and components were understood as fixed, standardized and identically repeatable due to a reliance on mass production. This studio will adopt the premise that the relationship between flexible proto-types and tectonic components can be loosened and complicated, by the fact that mass production is quickly moving away from the paradigm of the standard toward the fluid cast or the multiple. This studio will focus on the development of building components and systems of construction and fabrication that entail methods of repetition that are non-standard. The intent of the studio is to research interactive organizational techniques; that is design strategies involving repetition with differentiation when seen individually. The definition of the studio as being "paperless" implies the assumption that in order to conceive and design architectural projects such as manufactured houses it is necessary to think with the computer. Design strategies, techniques and concepts that use computation creatively will be promoted throughout the term. The studio will look at the automation of computation design, physical design, fabrication, distribution and assembly of free standing domestic housing units. There will be an extremely intensive use of co mputer aided design software in the studio. The subject for the studio is the architecture of contemporary mass production and national distribution as it applies to manufactured housing. A manufactured home is defined by the Manufactured Home Institute of America (http://www.mfghome.org/consumers/definition.html) as "a single-family house constructed entirely in a controlled factory environment, built to the federal Manufacture Home Construction and Safety Standards (better known as the HUD Code)". Because these houses are increasingly produced within the control of a factory environment there are several changes to the construction and design process of mass housing. There is a cost savings due to a decrease in labor, which, if jobs are to be simultaneously eliminated and created, means new potentials for design complexity and fabrication due to the cost savings elsewhere. Because "construction cost per square foot for a new manufactured home averages anywhere for 10-35 percent less than a comparable site-built home" there is the possibility for an increasing in design complexity of 10 to 35 percent. Rather than assume that the aim is to decrease the cost of housing, the studio will investigate ways to build housing differently for the same cost. The manufactured houses must fall within a set of virtual parameters for production , but they are not standardized as variation is one of the primary concerns of these factory built systems. There is no particular site for the homes at the point of defining the virtual parameters of design. Because the studio will not have a particular geographical site, the students are responsible for defining the potential sites as demographic, economic, marketing and supply data. The units will be designed for a virtual, that is anticipatory, set of concessions. The students and critics will visit several fabrication and assembly plants where housing is manufactured in a factory environment. The studio will be taught in conjunction with a milling seminar so that both full scale mock-ups and models of the design proposals can be produced using the same type of equipment used in the house factories. Model building will be expected to study different variations within the parameters of each student's tectonic system. These models will be derived from computer output so a high level of three dimensional proficiency is mandatory in order to translate between topological mode ling software and more Cartesian software that must be used for model fabrication and architectural design. Obviously, a familiarity with the numerically controlled milling device or stereolithography modeling is a benefit. During the term both Jefferson Ellinger and Cory Clarke will substitute for Greg Lynn during assigned studio times and all three instructors will be present for all the reviews and critiques.