“The goal was to propose provocative and pragmatic ideas
for the future visioning of the Botanical Gardens, as well as
Buffalo,” Khan explains. The studio was taught by Jordan
Geiger, studio coordinator and assistant professor of architecture;
Brian Carter, professor of architecture; visiting assistant
professors Nerea Feliz and Curt Gambetta; and Brad Wales, assistant
professor of architecture.
The project grew in scope and ambition as students and faculty
engaged with Botanical Gardens staff and volunteers through
interviews, site visits and research. For instance, their
conversations with botanists led to the studio’s
incorporation of the “Buffalo Meridian” theme,
envisioned as a garden that traverses the globe along the 79th
longitude. Thus, each student project proposes a demonstration
garden with plant life from eight different biomes, from Canada to
Chile to China. To accommodate such plant diversity, student
designs also propose solutions to heating and ventilation, lighting
and spatial organization.
In addition to this, students needed to balance a contemporary
addition with the site’s historic main building, designed by
Lord Burnham in the late 1800s and one of only a dozen large
Victorian conservatories left in the U.S. Designs also needed to
resolve circulation patterns and spatial distribution for the
building’s use as both garden exhibit and special event
venue. Climate control played significantly into design concepts,
both to accommodate plant diversity and support sustainable energy
consumption.
The six projects featured in “LifeCycles” were
selected by faculty, outside design critics and Botanical Gardens
staff for their creative approaches to each of these challenges.
These students have spent the past few months advancing their
designs and developing professional scale models for the exhibit,
valuable experience for these graduating seniors.
The entire experience has been challenging and exciting, says
Vincent Ribeiro, whose project, “Selective Branching,”
is featured in the exhibit.
Speak Your Mind