Aaron Neal

What are the concerns that drive one's creative practice? How does one set the terms for its future development? Sophomore Seminar offers strategies for students to explore, reflect upon, and connect common themes and interests in the development of an emerging creative practice that will serve as the basis of their ongoing studies at SAIC and beyond. Students will examine historical and contemporary influences and contextualize their work in relation to the diverse art-worlds of the 21st Century. Readings, screenings, and field trips will vary each semester. Presentations by visiting artists and guest speakers will provide the opportunity for students to hear unique perspectives on sustaining a creative practice. One-on-one meetings with faculty will provide students with individualized mentorship throughout the semester. During interdisciplinary critiques, students will explore a variety of formats and tools to analyze work and provide peer feedback. The class mid-term project asks students to imagine a plan for their creative life and devise a self-directed course of study for their time at school. The course concludes with an assignment asking students to develop and document a project or body of work demonstrating how the interplay of ideas, technical skills, and formal concerns evolve through iteration, experimentation and revision.

Prerequisite: Must be a sophomore to enroll.

This introductory design studio introduces a broad range of investigative techniques and applies the results to the design of a multi- level environment designed from the inside to the outside.

Course Goals and Objectives
1) Integrate ideas about enclosure and envelope with scale, site, structure, program and form, experimenting with skin effects and affects as a generator of a design, adapting an existing building, and addressing the existing building envelope.
2) Investigate the design of building skins including design, technical, structural, environmental, and social performance, ranging from cultural questions to accessibility, through the conceptual design of a small public building.
3) Develop design and graphic skills by completing the conceptual design of a small public building with a complex program, producing architectural drawings and models at an accomplished level, demonstrating a command of drawing and modeling conventions and an ability to manipulate those conventions to convey ideas relevant to a particular design idea.
4) Demonstrate awareness of the role of accessibility and sustainability in the design process.