LOCAL means a whole new thing in the era of the pandemic. With global and national
supply chains limping, with air travel slowed, and with our movement limited primarily to
the walk-able world, we are all confined to the Local. But what does Local really mean?
How, as architects, might we learn about the potentials of the Local? What makes up
the mysterious confluence of factors that result in the thing we call Place? Is it Culture?
Climate? Materials? The translation and manipulation of those materials through craft,
technique, and technology? The studio seeks to understand these questions.
While we live in local environments where these factors have been overrun by
globalization, there are places all over the world where this is not the case. Of
particulate interest to us, there are vital contemporary architectural practices who
operate within a critique of globalization; a wariness of international media, trends, and
styles; a disdain for the impacts of “flat world” labor, material supply and environmental
impacts; and an exploration of both form and architectural production that is profoundly
local in material, construction craft and technique, capacity building, and sustainability
(environmental, social, economic and cultural). Often the most inventive and remarkable
projects by these practices are located in rural places. The creativity motivated by
constrained circumstances and marginal locales has important lessons for us today.This studio proposes to travel to three widely dispersed, and wildly different, places to
re-learn about the range of formulations, qualities, and opportunities of the Local.We will be taking advantage of leaving our physical bodies behind to explore locales in
India, China, and Mexico. The vehicle for this travel will be your laptop (no passport,
visas, or inoculations required). Your lodging: your own bed. Your meals: your own
kitchen. But we will capture some of the delights and discoveries of travel through
cultural engagements you can do from home. The studio materials will include -- along
with the usual readings, lectures, tours, and projects -- easy-to-prepare recipes, links to
music, films and dance, and a wide array of other cultural activities from our chosen
locales.This unusual “travel” format also allows us to engage architects and designers from
around the world. These visiting faculty will give us studio tours and lectures, and
participate in discussions and reviews. So far the invitation list includes: Bijoy Jain
(India), Anna Heringer (Germany + Bangladesh), Anupama Kundoo (India), Rahul
Merothra (India), Hua Li (China), Liu Jiakun (China), Xiao Deli (China), Wang Shu
(China) Lu Wenyu (China), Lee Shu Fan (Hong Kong), Jorge Gracia (Mexico), Elena
Tudela (Mexico), Diego Ricalde (Mexico), Raul Cabra (Mexico), Vo Trong Nghia
(Vietnam), and Brit Andresen (Australia).
The primary mode of making in this studio will be drawing (analog and digital). During
the studio, each student will keep a collage travel journal using a wide range of
materials and strategies including: “travel” notes, mappings, hand drawings, a
bibliography, collage, reading responses, photos, notes from studio “visits” and lectures,
and so on. This journal, along with six portfolio-worthy exploratory drawings (two for
each locale), will constitute the output of the studio.

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