Alumnae News June 7, 2008

International collaboration addresses design of communities struggling with growth

The Plunkett Raysich Studio launched a bold, collaborative design project that brought international and community participation together to develop solutions for small communities responding to extreme development pressure. The cross-cultural study provided a forum for more than 40 architecture and planning students in two countries to work directly with each other and the study communities of Mukwonago, WI and Radstadt, Austria.

Christine Scott Thomson, the Plunkett Raysich Visiting Professor at SARUP as well as Kim Thornton and Gunther Koppelhuber, both Professors at the Technical University of Graz, Austria, worked together to create a set of classes in which students develop design responses to issues and opportunities brought about by today’s pressures of growth and globalization. A design studio held at SARUP, and design studio held at the TU Graz, along with a companion lecture class on urban form taught by the director of the Institute of Urbanism, Joost Meuwissen, gave students the opportunity to explore the relationships between social and political tendencies within architecture and planning for small communities facing big changes. Students developed design strategies for each community that would allow local decision makers to make more informed and better choices about future development.

Both studios conducted a series of group exercises that examined the spatial and cultural effects of rapid growth, as well as, developed individual projects that demonstrate the potential of design to inspire new approaches to community concerns. Transportation and land use; lot and urban design dimensions; green spaces and waterways; and size and proportions of future development were all topics for group study. The disciplines enabled student to understand community development dynamics and demonstrate approaches to sustainable urbanism in their projects. In addition, a robust series of community events that not only facilitated student learning, but also encouraged public discourse was held in each municipality.

At the first of two open houses held in Mukwonago, SARUP students displayed work that analyzed spatial elements of the existing community and facilitated an exchange of ideas. Graduate student Rochelle Scholz said she’s had fun speaking with people from the community. “It is great to hear different perspectives and ideas,” she said. Scholz spoke with attendees and took down their ideas and suggestions. Among the comments students heard were suggestions for more support of local businesses by residents and more pride in area buildings.

As part of the collaborative work with the Technical University in Graz, SARUP students spent 10 days in Austria, visiting renowned architecture and working directly with TU Graz students and faculty. Students visited seminal early modern buildings by Wagner, Loos, and Olbrich as well as more recent works by Hollein, Coop Himmelblau, and Hadid while in Vienna. In Graz, students visited notable additions to the urban fabric by Cook + Fournier and the Arconi Studio, competed in anticipation of Graz’s designation as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2003, as well as iconic works of Domenig, a leader of the “Graz School”.

The SARUP and TU Graz students spent two days in Graz participating in introductory workshops, attending lectures and getting to know each other. Together, both classes traveled to Radstadt to participate in a 3-day community design event. Students learned about the dynamic region on a bus tour guided by Radstadt’s Mayor and the storied history of the city (Radstadt’s city charter was conferred in 1289) on a historical walking tour arranged by the cultural center sponsoring the event. For the next two days, student worked together to understand and describe the dynamics facing both communities and potential design approaches that could enhance architectural discourse and benefit each municipality.

Upon their return to the United States, SARUP students worked throughout the rest of the semester to develop a graphic argument for downtown revitalization and describe a catalyst project - the centerpiece a new strategy for the Mukwonago’s village center. Students presented their projects to a panel of reviewers that included senior SARUP faculty member Larry Witzling and TU Graz faculty members, Kim Thornton and Gunther Kopelhuber, who traveled from Austria to attend SARUP’s final reviews. The students at the TU Graz anticipate finalizing their projects for Radstad at the conclusion of their semester in June.

This year’s PRA Studio laid the groundwork for further international collaboration on the topic of small community spatial development with a focus on sustainable urbanism. The successful series of design classes, international, and local events creates and armature for on-going cross-cultural collaboration. An exhibition of work from both studios will be held in the SARUP gallery in the fall of 2008.

In addition to support from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Technical University in Graz, the project received support from the Milwaukee based design firm of Plunkett Raysich Architects and the Austrian Based architecture firm KMT/n-o-m-a-d whose two principals are each natives of Radstadt, AT and Mukwonago, WI.