University in St. Louis are working in teams to build architectural formwork to create full-scale models at Gate Precast in Tennessee. Fourteen students are working in five teams. Scott Robinson and several other Gate staff have met with the students via Zoom to offer advice and discuss the design. Then the students got to work.
"Gate will receive and prepare the molds with reinforcing and other inserts," says Pablo Moyano Fernández, Assistant Professor in Architecture who is teaching the studio. The original plan was for the students to travel to Tennessee to help pour the molds, but due to a student travel ban, that will not be possible.
"Of course, the students are very sad. They were very excited about this opportunity," says Moyano Fernández. "But they also understand the unprecedented nature of the current situation and remain extremely thankful that they were able to fabricate their molds considering that the majority of the courses are still virtual."
Moyano Fernández will go to the plant for the casting and record video of the casting of the panels and take pictures to share with the students. "Even though it is not ideal, it is much better than last spring when they had to do everything virtually with no fabrication involved," he says.