thing: an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to On January 2, 2020, a 140 meter long prefabricated metal object departed the manufacturing plant of China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group (CRSBG) in Zhongshan near Hong Kong for a 20,333 km journey. Carrying its payload for 3 months, the heavy load transport ship Zhen Hua 33 threaded its way along India’s southern tip, the Suez Canal, across the Mediterranean, up the English Channel, and through the Baltic Sea into Stockholm, the final destination for this 3,500 tonne behemoth. The scale of this voyage creates a provocative narrative, one that will forever shape the legacy of this straightforward piece of urban infrastructure. Its appearance from a remote location has captured the public’s imagination: architecture is not built – it arrives as a single object with a story to tell. A_Studio ManifestoThis studio will similarly investigate large-scale opportunities for architecture that can be shipped in its entirety to another location around the world. It will unapologetically present itself as a singular object – a foreigner. Think of it as a superthing – far ranging in its global implications yet legible as a distinct entity. Given our current reliance on shared economies and social contracts in the face of pandemic shutdowns, it is an interesting time to revisit: Are there new opportunities to be discovered at a time we are all thinking about the values of closeness and distance? Rather than focusing on separation, Superthing will explore today’s large-scale transport technologies to propose architecture that is shared, connected, and optimistic: a new aesthetic for our times.B_Site: Transport and LandingIt is required that the building is designed for transport and then maneuvered onto land as a permanent piece of large-scale architecture. Students will research, and most likely invent, off-loading maneuvers to position your superthing into its final location. We’ll privilege “what if” over tried and true logistics. Our ship for transport:Vessel: ZHEN HUA 33 (IMO 9808223, MMSI 414272000)Type: Heavy Load Carrier, built in 2017, currently sailing under the flag of ChinaGross Tonnage: 43,788Carrying Capacity: 50,352 Summer Dead Weight (metric tonnes)Overall Length: 228 metersOverall Width: 43 meters (beam)Our final site location:Located in the upper northern hemisphere far away from our home ‘base’ of CCA/San Francisco. The same site will be assigned to the entire studio. While urban in setting and international in outreach, we will each equally be designing for a site far away. C_Program: Subject & ContentThe programmatic subject for the studio is an urban Co-Work/Maker Space. It’s content – what you will spend most of your time developing – will focus on superthings and architecture designed to move somewhere else. E_Ways of WorkingWe will rely on multi-faceted representational tools to communicate final designs. Emphasis will be placed on sequential scenario drawings to describe architecture on the move. To reinforce our studio culture, students will have the option to form working groups for the semester’s design project: 1 person independent or 2 person teams.

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