By
Rebecca Missel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Architecture class combines theory with practice
Starting this fall, students in the UA College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture's Design and Build class will begin planning for a new community housing project in southwest Tucson.
The 17-acre sustainable family village known as Pueblo Nuevo - located at South 12th Avenue and West Drexel Road - will provide affordable single and multi-family housing and some commercial space.
In past semesters students have designed and built projects for the University of Arizona Recreation Center at Rincon Vista Fields, the Gila Indian Reservation and a house for Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that builds homes for low-income families.
Working as part of a team is an integral part of the class for each of the 10 students, said Richard Brittain, assistant research professor of architecture.
"One individual cannot produce a whole building," he said. "People need to collaborate to achieve a successful goal."
Unlike other studio class options, this course takes students through the entire architectural process.
"They do the design work, research systems, are intimately involved with clients, consultants and the regulatory agencies," Brittain said. "It forces them to think through the details."
Besides giving students valuable experience, the project also includes a community service element, said Wayne Moody, project planner and manager for Pueblo Nuevo.
"The goal from the developer's side is not only to help with educating students but also to meet the challenge to design low-income housing," he said. "There's a mutual benefit."
In addition to financing the project, the property owner is also contributing $5,000 to the Design and Build class to document the production.
Moody estimated the whole project would take 10 years and cost about $7 million. He also stated that these homes would be more affordable than the typical $70,000 to $90,000 cost for a single family starter home.
"We really want to push the diversity in this neighborhood," Moody said. "Single people, the elderly, families - the full range of lifestyles."
Like the structures at Rincon Vista, students are planning to build Pueblo Nuevo using the rammed earth technique. Rammed earth works similar to adobe and contains one cubic yard of earth or dirt to every cubic foot of cement.
The result combines readily available and cheap materials with energy conservation, said Mary Hardin, associate professor of architecture.
Rather than the strictly theoretical experience offered in other architecture classes, the Design and Build course offers hands-on work, Hardin said.
"Like medical students going on internships, this gets them into the reality aspect of what they're designing," she said. "Also it's a way to do community service and make a good impression about the university."
For students, Design and Build allows them to see their drawings in action instead of limiting them to paper and models.
"Knowing that it's something real and will actually be built is really exciting," said Dallas Green, architecture senior. "Every year I'm becoming more interested in community development."
While none of the students currently on the project will see it to fruition, Brittain said this aspect lends a sense of continuity.
"The students are still learning part of the whole," he said. "I'm not sure if we'll stick around til it's over because who knows what could happen."
