Homeless

Homeless people in tents on a sidewalk

Homeless

ARC605 | Fall 2020
Professor Edward Steinfeld

This studio explored architectural solutions to homelessness, and how inclusive design thinking can lead to innovative solutions to this global problem. The semester’s program included research, awareness raising activities, space programming and building design.  

Students worked in two to three person teams and individually to produce:

  1. Research on the causes of homelessness and strategies to eliminate it
  2. Personas of homeless people to serve as inspiration for programming and design
  3. Proposals for a real-world project in Buffalo
  4. Proposals for innovative programs and services    
  5. Compelling architectural visions   

The major question explored in the studio was: “How can inclusive design contribute to solving problems of temporary and chronic homelessness?”

Playing against type

Multiple single family houses front facades

Playing against type

ARC605 | Spring 2020
Professor Charles Davis

This studio critiques the reductive character of type thinking in western architecture by producing a culturally-inflected mode of adaptive reuse that materially indexes the complexities of black life in the city of Buffalo. The critical problems of type thinking persist in our stereotypical interpretations of black vernacular culture. Type forms such as the Shotgun house are read as a transparent reflection of the cultural essence of black domestic life despite not being revised by black Americans since the early 1920s. Such static interpretations of blackness fail to consider the complex social forces that have brought it into being, or the external conditions that have held back black life, from the rise of developer culture that replaced the Haitian craftsman in the twentieth century to the imposition of European aesthetic norms by settler colonialism.

In order to move beyond this limited conception of black material culture, students studied the spatial customs and expressive cultures of African American life that have yet to be indexed in architectural form. The content of these social histories, taken from readings in cultural studies, provided the critical basis for modifying the Euro-American housing typologies that developers created for Buffalo’s East Side. How would these models have changed if black Americans had the freedom and capital to modify them to reflect their own cultural norms? What areas of the home might have changed and what new spaces might be introduced that were not essential for white Americans during this same time period? This corrective approach to architectural typology radicalized the practice of adaptive reuse to recover the latent potential of black life that is sadly still hidden today.

UB innovation district

Wood and glass building illuminated at night

UB innovation district

ARC605 | Fall 2019
Professor Edward Steinfeld

The major project of this studio was the design of a student oriented business incubator for one of the three UB campuses. Today, more and more universities are establishing student-oriented incubators to help students prepare “start-up-culture” evolving in the business world. From a social perspective, such incubators can accelerate knowledge transfer from discoveries made by university faculty and researchers to real world problems. And, from an economic perspective, they also can increase the reputative of the university, help to attract good students and provide income from licensing or sale of intellectual property developed in university facilities. Thus the question explored in the studio was: “How can inclusive design facilitate invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for a diverse group of students, faculty and visitors?”

The project included research and analysis, visioning exercises, space programming and building design in collaboration with UB’s Capital Planning Group, Innovation HUB and other university units.

Infill – Alternative physical and financial models for affordable housing

Plan view of 2 residential neighborhoods

Infill – Alternative physical and financial models for affordable housing

ARC605 | Spring 2019
Professor Stephanie Cramer

Many neighborhoods within the city of Buffalo have a high percentage of depopulated neighborhoods and vacant lots. The city also has great need for more housing as our population is growing and is expected to experience more growth in the next decade. The housing market in Buffalo is experiencing a resurgence, with many new structures and rehabilitation efforts throughout the city.

Single lot interventions are a step in the right direction, but are usually too small to be a catalyst for lasting change and require development of existing networks and services beyond the means of small developers. Large scale developments also face their own challenges such as lack of unique character, and difficulty fitting in with existing communities. Both are islands within the city. This begs the question : how do we create infill housing with positive transformative qualities?

The first half of the semester was dedicated to developing proposals for student cooperative housing in University Heights on single infill lots. The second half explored opportunities for multi-lot infill senior cooperative housing within a community on the East Side. Students worked in small groups to define a neighborhood social structure and design common spaces. Each individual developed ‘unit’ proposals within this network.

Lee Road development

Blue stand mixer

Lee Road development

ARC605 | Fall 2018
Professor Edward Steinfeld

Contemporary university environments can be very stressful places, particularly for young adults. Often students encounter social and cultural diversity for the first time when they live on campus. Attitudes and habits of living are learned at this stage of life that can affect health and wellness throughout the lifespan. Foundations are set for life-long learning, nutrition, exercise, socialization and intimacy. But, addressing the needs of a very diverse student body requires creative thinking to optimize the use of existing resources.

This studio explored the idea of mixing different uses in one building to produce a living, working and leisure environment that supports mind-body balance. Principles of inclusive design were applied through the lens of “biophilic design” to demonstrate how synergistic space for residences, creative production, and wellness can create an interesting architecture and enliven a university campus.

Affordable housing

Quinta Monroy Housing

Affordable housing

ARC605 | Spring 2018
Professor Stephanie Cramer

This studio explored affordable housing design opportunities when the designer is the builder, and the builder a designer. Students researched and identified various multi-modal cost reduction strategies available situated within this alternative model of construction. This research was then tested through the design of a single family residence. The prototypical homes took on low cost as a design driver, with the use of  appropriate low energy solutions, as well as inclusive design principles.

The semester started by an analysis of the work of our contemporaries at other universities grappling with the similar goal of designing and building affordable housing for their communities. This work was then revisited throughout the semester, and this study was used to track current trends and develop a new understanding of the challenges and opportunities for design innovation.

Silo City: An inclusive art destination

Bird's-eye view of grain silos

Silo City: An inclusive art destination

ARC605 | Fall 2017
Professor Edward Steinfeld

This studio explored the redevelopment of a vacant industrial complex into an arts and cultural center. The site, Silo City, is a large complex of grain elevators on the Buffalo River that is currently unoccupied. The goal was to generate ideas and excitement in the community for redevelopment of the site and to provide visualizations of what it could become with public and private investment. Principles of inclusive design were applied to demonstrate how a forbidding industrial relic can be transformed into an appealing international destination for a diverse population. The project included research and analysis, visioning exercises, urban design and building design. 

The Children’s Museum

Students working in a design studio.

The Children’s Museum

ARC605 | Spring 2017
Professor Julia Jamrozik

This studio took on the topic of the Children’s Museum at Buffalo’s Canalside as a way of investigating spaces where different children of different ages, along with their caregivers, parents, and grandparents, come together to play and learn. Considering how the spaces of childhood are designed but also how they are influenced by social ideals, philosophies, norms, and standards, the students worked through precedents to understand examples of historical and contemporary approaches. Further, thinking of creativity, movement, sensory experiences, social interaction, communication, and play, the studio allowed opportunities to investigate and design strategies at various scales from the urban approach to the tactile detail. Beyond slides and bright colors, the course analyzed and proposed designs that are open-ended, non-standard, and playful, and which respond to the inter-generational audience of the building.

Universal Housing

Magnifying glass

Universal Housing

ARC605 | Fall 2016
Professors Edward Steinfeld and Peter Russell

Habitat for Humanity’s renovation projects have the virtues of countering blight in vulnerable neighborhoods, reducing waste by re-using existing structures, and providing new homes for deserving families. Their new home construction is providing new housing in neighborhoods with large numbers of vacant homes. This was the second semester of a design-build initiative of the School that has produced ideas and information that can, over time, have a wider application. The design projects addressed all factors in the HfH process of development, including organizing financial and human resources, acquisition of properties, demolition, design, and use by occupants. The first design challenge was to design easily executable renovations for three existing homes that meet all minimum standards of the Residential Building Code of New York and HfH guidelines. The second design challenge was to design a new home prototype for HfH Buffalo. The completed drawings are sufficient for code approval by the City.

Rethinking resettlement

Houses front facade

Rethinking resettlement

ARC605 | Spring 2016
Professor Erkin Özay

How can architecture and urbanism contribute to the integration of refugee populations in an unfamiliar culture and promote the formation of authentic multicultural environments? How can we cultivate and maximize the latent potential of resettlement practices to encourage urban rejuvenation? The studio addressed these questions through research and design exploration via long-term rental housing and short-term transitory housing projects.

The students completed three separate tracks of inquiry in the first half of the semester: (1) case studies on supportive housing projects; (2) a holistic documentation of resettlement procedures in the US; and, (3) a multi-faceted analysis of Buffalo’s East Side. The students were asked to develop the exact scope and location of their projects within a 4-square-mile catchment area in East Buffalo, a grossly under-served section of the city. In addition to housing, students were tasked with constructing effective but affordable programmatic mixes in order to facilitate social integration.