Surprise! We woke up this morning to three inches of snow! Snow is so rare here in Bluff! What a way to end our first trip down here! Before we left, we took a little field trip to Jean Treece's place to check out her strawbale home. We got some good ideas about plastering and finishing an alternative construction home. It's been a great first two weeks here.
Before I leave for a week, I thought it might be a good idea to explain the DesignBuildBluff program, for all of you viewers out there. It's a program designed for students in the master's program in the College of Architecture + Planning at the University of Utah. Building upon the vision of the late Samuel Mockbee and his Rural Studio, the mission of DesignBuildBluff is to realize architecture that nurtures the spirit and improves the lives of all who experience it.
When possible and practical, it employs natural building methods and non-traditional materials to create unique structures that combine a sense of doing good with designs appropriate for the task at hand.
Student members of the project DesignBuildBluff team interview and select the client family and proceed to work with them along with the other stakeholders in order to define specific needs and limitations. Back in September, our group of students interviewed several potential needy families for whom we would build a home. We selected an elderly couple, Dora and Baxter. Since then , we've had many practical experiences and lessons: presenting ideas and drawings to planning and zoning staff and boards, complying with OSHA building site safety standards--essentially planning and directing all aspects of the building process, while being assisted by experienced contractors, architects, community agencies and select specialists. Affordability, energy-efficiency and overall sustainablility are a few of the criteria against which the construction is continually being measured.
Although Hank Louis, architect, and Dennis Caulfield, contractor, assist and instruct throughout creation and construction, the lion's share of the design and labor are completed by the students, who live together for the entire semester and are required to commit to the completion of the project.