Student travel and field trips account for some of the most valuable experiences and educational moments for architecture students.
Students of University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, School of Architecture and California State Polytechnic University Pomona, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture had the opportunity to visit local producers in Southern California (Coreslab Structures LA) and Hawaii (GPRM). The visits exposed many overlapping topics but also significant differences in the producers’ approaches to local conditions, such as aggregate, job volume and finishing techniques. The two visited facilities are extremely different in their approach to production and focus on product range. While the Southern Californian Manufacturer has larger volume and also more surface space available it’s product range is not as broad as in Hawaii where less competition and a wider product range are more feasible. Additionally, climate conditions in production and supply factor in the setup of the plant and product. Students were made aware of issues of transportation on the island vs on roads in Southern California. This was partially reflected in their final proposals.
The exchange between the two schools resulted in a collaboration between teams of students in the latter half of the studio. While differences in pedagogy and course configuration led to some areas of conflict the overall exchange of ideas proved to be productive. Throughout the studio Producers and PCI West representation was directly involved in student consulting and advising.
Click on the document below to read the full report on the studio (use the square at the bottom left to get it to your full screen).