The Stakes are High

March 29, 2022

Things have really gotten rolling with our 3rd-year class! Scroll down to see what we’ve been working on in woodshop, history, and Rosie’s Home.

Mocking It Up

Our main project in woodshop is to create a chair. However, before we could begin recreating our chair precedents, each team was tasked with crafting a mock-up that tested all of the most difficult aspects of their chair’s construction. We learned so much about joints, jigs, lamination, and even steam-bending!

Grant and Sarah display steam-bent chair legs with a thumbs up.
Steam-bent legs for the Alto Stool
Anna displays a mock-up of the Zig Zag Chair with a thumbs up.
Finished section of the Zig Zag Chair
Will and Jon Hunt examine their mock-up folding chair.
Test of joints for the folding Frei Egidio Chair
Julia displays a mock-up of the zig zag chair.
Jon Hunt tests out the Zig Zag Chair mock up.

Our testing phase is coming to a close, but we have learned from both our mistakes and successes and can apply that knowledge to our final chair.

Historical Visits and Tomfoolery

This month, we visited Gaineswood in Demopolis, AL, along with Magnolia Grove and The Oaks (Happel-Stickney Home) in Greensboro, AL. These houses were beautifully constructed and provided opportunities for fun photo ops between sketches.

Students approach the Gainswood House in Demopolis.
Two students dance in the ballroom of Gainswood House.
Ballroom Dancing
The Gainswood Ballroom
Students overlook the city on a rooftop balcony.
View off the Gaineswood Rooftop
Students discuss the entrance to the underground storage tunnel at Gainswood.
Students examine a historic bookshelf.

1st-Year Frenzy

The 2021-2022 Foundation Unit students came to visit Rural Studio! We had a great time showing them around Newbern. On Saturday, we helped them build a variety of model stands for their latest project. The stands turned out wonderfully!

View of first-year model stands.
A class of first years sits next to their newly-built model stands.

That’s the Plan!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve created many iterations of floor plans for Rosie’s Home, gradually improving the design. We also went on site to examine the post-frame construction and discuss the building’s corner details.

Students discuss methods of corner detailing on site.
Students discuss methods of corner detailing on site.
Anna pets the site cat, Crunch.
A wall of possible floor plans and details.

This week, we finalized our floor plan and slab details and decided on a new elevation scheme. We taped out our floorplan at full scale on the floor of our studio. Next, we staked out the footprint of the building and began setting up our batter boards!

Plan Mock Up to test living space and accessibility sizes
Testing Kitchen Layout Possibilities
Putting Up the Batter Boards
Using the Site Level

After marking out the floor plan under the roof structure, we brought our clients Rosie and Frank out to show them our progress and present our projections for what the home will look like in the future. It was a great meeting, and we can’t wait to see what they think of the house when it is complete!

Check back in soon to see our progress on the foundation and framing plans!

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