Design/Build Studio Helps Create Urban Oasis One Parklet at a Time
‘Every architect should experience building a structure that they design’ – that is the motto behind the Design/Build options studio led by Adjunct Instructors Erin Pellegrino and Charlie Firestone. This semester their students are building a Parklet, in collaboration with the Hanini Group. The concept of the ‘Parklet’ is repurposing of on-street parking for seating, park space or extra dining space used by the public. The parklet that is being built by the NCAD students aims to assist neighborhood restaurants and cafes by allowing them to expand into public space, while creating more inviting and green public space.
The fifteen studio students, in their fourth and fifth year, are working as a team to design and build the parklet. For most of them this is the first studio experience working in a team. “I have thoroughly enjoyed the process thus far. Normally, in a studio we work alone and have to figure everything out for ourselves, whereas in this studio we have had the ability to work very closely with others to further develop our ideas, and it has been a wonderful experience bouncing ideas off one another. There have definitely been some growing pains and adaptations in working with a team, but I think as a class we have adapted well and produced dynamic and successful projects thus far,” said Patrycja Ptak, one of the participants in the studio.
As a team they have produced well over 100 models, and as Ptak noted “it's been really cool to see the evolution of our ideas through all the different models.”
The parklet is designed as a pop-up structure and can be moved around. “Because of the nature of the project and the requirement for it to be modular and assembled and disassembled each year and moved around, the parklet design lends itself to be a bit more prefabricated. It must be made in manageable bite-sized pieces,” said Pellegrino. The parklet measures 7.5 ft. by 18 ft., and it will be fabricated and constructed at NJIT. It will provide seating and planting areas, as well as shading elements.
Most of the students had no real construction experience and besides working with others, they have learned a lot about the actual building of a project that they designed. “In this studio Charlie and Erin have asked us to think at a much smaller scale than we normally do, which has challenged us to resolve much more detailing and work through things by actually physically making them,” said Ptak.
Both Pellegrino and Firestone think that design-build practice is an invaluable piece of student’s education. Not just for those who are already avid builders, but for all their students, exposing them to and providing an insight into construction processes. “With this experience the student will gain that understanding of how to put things together, how to craft something that allows fitting a drill, creating panels that someone can actually lift. It will also prepare them to talk to contractors in an informed way, and design in a way that is not only beautiful, but also makes the most of the materials that are being used. It will help them develop a Craftsman ability to make things,” said Firestone.
Another valuable lesson that students are learning from this real-world project is to complete the project within the budget and on schedule. The deadline for the parklet completion is May 2nd, 2022.
Last semester the Design/Build options studio students built a Place of Dwelling (POD), and you can read more about it here.