The Art of Teaching Design Brad Faus P’10, 2017 Lufkin Award Winner, helps students forge their own visual path BY WENDY CARLSON
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enior Oyinlolu Fasehun looks thoughtfully at the coiled stacks of paper on her desk in the Cullman Art Center. It’s the first few weeks of architecture class, and her assignment — to design a structure using only discarded booklets — is coming together. But judging by her expression, she’s not entirely sure what to do next. The billowing structure is composed of rolled pages cut from old Hotchkiss admission brochures, arranged so the photos of students face outward, representing the School’s mission of diversity and inclusiveness. “It works conceptually, but does it work aesthetically as a form?” asks Instructor in Art Brad Faus, who has come over to check on Fasehun’s work. If it’s animated, it might be more compelling, says Faus, who is this year’s Lufkin Prize winner and director of the art program. He suggests that she raise a set of the rolled pieces above the other to give the structure height, making it more dynamic. At the other end of the table, another student is trying to stabilize a three-tiered tower, while yet another student is working on a series of three forms that resemble a miniature sculpture garden. All this folding and cutting, rolling and bending, twisting and creasing of paper may seem like extreme origami. But the process helps students to better understand design concepts, like repetition, rhythm, pattern, and modulation. More importantly, it teaches them how to resolve aesthetic and structural issues while creating their own pieces. Throughout the process, students evaluate their own work and the work of their peers to give them a solid grasp of three-dimensional vocabulary and formal design concepts. This hands-on approach to teaching is a far cry from the early 1970s, when Art Instructor Blanche Hoar began to offer a course in architecture for upper mids and seniors. Her background was in drafting, so students in those early classes focused on blueprints. Their tools were T-squares and mechanical pencils rather than X-Acto knives, handsaws, and laser cutters. Back then, students focused on perfecting their lettering and accuracy of
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H o t c h k i s s
M a g a z i n e
PHOTOS BY WENDY CARLSON
The paper projects join a display of folded books in the art wing, Main lobby, and Harris House, where other examples of architecture and design by students are showcased. Some of those pieces are featured on the following pages.
Henry Wilmot ’18 works on his folded paper project.
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