Ryan ChartrandThe Cal Poly architecture department will be displaying “Small Servings,” a collection of senior projects from fifth-year architecture students in Chumash Auditorium beginning today.
The fourth annual display is the final step in a year-long process of thesis work that architecture students undergo. Starting in fall of their senior year they work on developing and creating their senior projects. The process differs from the one- or two-quarter senior projects done by most Cal Poly students.
This year, more than 150 students will be showing their projects, which include everything from a project modifying the plan for the new Science and Math building to a clinic in Kenya, Africa that will soon be built.
“For our students, this is more important than the graduation ceremony because they spend most of their time on their work,” said Jonathan Reich, the fifth year faculty coordinator.
Reich said that some of the projects are practical, and some are more visionary. The best products are a combination of the two, he said.
As the coordinator for fifth year design groups, and an instructor in a design studio, Reich has had the opportunity to get to know many of the students participating in the event.
“This is a place for the students to share their work with each other and the public and its going to be an amazing event,” Reich said.
Architecture senior Carly Hornbeck has designed an orphanage and clinic to go into one of the largest slums in Bangkok, Thailand, which will be on display.
“It’s made primarily of reused materials like shipping containers, light towers from concerts and other first world materials,” Hornbeck said.
There are even some materials going into the project left over from a previous U2 concert set.
Hornbeck was inspired to design this structure after she spent time working in an orphanage in the slum. She said that the children at the orphanage were her inspiration and she wanted to do something to help them.
“The event is exciting because we worked so hard for five years and it has all been leading up to this year and doing a project that is our own idea,” Hornbeck said.
“Small Servings, teasers to a larger body of work to come, holds up to the scrutiny of a set of issues a new generation of architects will need to confront,” reads a pamphlet that is being distributed at the exhibit.
The exhibit has been organized by the architecture club Alpha Rho Chi and a committee of students with help from the architecture department faculty. Support has also been provided by alumni and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design Foundation.
The exhibit opens Friday with a ceremony from 3 to 6 p.m., and will continue through Memorial Day weekend from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free and the public is encouraged to attend.