BERKELEY ARCHITECTURE 2021 THESIS REVIEW

INSIDE-OUT LISA IWAMOTO What is a building if not a compilation of its parts?

Walls, doors, windows, skylights, stairs, ramps, chimneys, handrails, frames, beams, columns, ceilings, floors, corridors, roofs,facades. The list goes on.

These elements gang together to perform one essential purpose – separate inside from out, space from space. Encoded in this separation is a host of conventions, meanings and expectations. This thesis term proposes that we take a focused look at one or more of these elements to reconceive new possibilities between inside and out, space from space. By doing this, can we find innovative ways to design for more inclusivity? Social justice? Unexpected encounters? Better and healthier airflow? Unconventional access to light?

By asking a simple, purely architectural design question first (e.g. how do I design a window?), we can also address a larger question (e.g. How can a building façade can create an equitable civic space? Or, What are alternative ways to bring in natural light?), and subsequently arrive at a thesis topic (e.g. 25 Apertures: The Vertical Public Realm. Or, The Deep Floorplate: Alternative Modes of Living in Urban Centers).

These made-up examples serve to illustrate the possibilities of starting with a narrow architectural focus.

The opportunities for innovation are vast.

Thesis is ultimately about asking relevant questions through design and representation. Without each of these three elements – Thesis Inquiry, Design, Drawings – the architectural thesis is incomplete. Importantly, each of these elements is the representation of an idea through different formats -- one in words, one in space and form, and one in representation. As alluded to in the premise, our strategy will be to work in reverse order by prefacing the design and re-conception of a particular element first. As we shelter-in-place, this better provides a clearly defined platform for discovery. However, it is not only the design of the element itself that is important. HOW the design is revealed through drawing is what will further broaden and enrich ideas.