Studio Information

The College of Architecture, Art + Design at Mississippi State University created the Building Construction Science Program in Fall 2008, and since Fall 2012 the School of Architecture and Building Construction Science program have had two collaborative studios reaching the 2nd and 3rd year students in both programs. The Collaborative Studios were created to address tectonic issues and to teach the students how to work together to better prepare them for careers in which their fields regularly collaborate. Ideas such as BIM (Building Information Modeling) and IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) are discussed in the 3rd year Collaborative Studio and the students are organized into project teams to create a design solution considering both architectural ideas and construction techniques. This proposal aims to expand the education of the students in their collaborations by focusing on the use of precast concrete as a method to problem solve for client needs in architectural projects. We will be using existing lecture courses in addition to the 3rd year Collaborative Studio to integrate precast concrete into the education of the architecture and construction students. We will also begin a relationship with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering by creating consulting opportunities within all classes so that the architecture and construction students can work with the engineering students on a case-by-case basis and test their ideas at the MSU Construction Materials Research Center. In addition, we will develop a working relationship with the professional architecture community through the American Institute of Architects – Mississippi Chapter (MS AIA). This additional partnership will connect the students directly to professionals through invited reviews of the student work where architects earn continuing education credit, as well as through presentations by the faculty and students at the annual AIA Mississippi State Convention. We will also be engaging the profession through a precast concrete symposium several years into the grant to showcase the work we are doing with PCI, the precast industry partners, and the allied partners. The proposed course modifications and courses will begin Spring 2020 and will continue for four years, impacting approximately 80 architecture and construction students each year for an overall impact of 320 students who will graduate with an enviable knowledge of precast concrete that their colleagues from peer institutions will not have. Additionally, there will be approximately 120 Civil and Environmental Engineering students who will also be impacted each year through the peripheral contact of outreach to their courses including: CE 3313-Construction Materials, CE 3311-Construction

Materials L  boratory, CE 4633 Concrete Structures, and CE 4993 Prestressed Concrete Structures.