The fourth semester studio takes a different approach to design and is often referred to as the Integrated Design Studio. Working in pairs, guidance is provided by professional engineers as well as the studio professor. The program was to integrate a boathouse for the ISMAR research group in Venice, Italy with a waste incinerator.

Our approach to the design was to cover the incinerator and boathouse under a sweeping roof whose form blended into the waterscape. The idea of opulence was derived from the formal language of the city proper and would be reflected in the facade and building cladding, while the incinerator's spartan efficiency made it oppose the city's deeply rooted vernacular. In an effort to challenge the issue of rising water the building has been elevated up off the water where possible and placed on pontoons to adjust with the fluctuating tides.

Spring 2018

Partner: Haya Alnibari

Critic: Henry Smith-Miller

Floating in the Venetian Lagoon our site disappeared into the water. The concept was driven by the idea of the program (ISMAR Boathouse) in tandem with an allegory to the fluidity of the water. The location provided easy access to ISMAR’s other facilities but kept the negative aspects of the incinerator away from the Venetian mainland.