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Contact: Anne Taylor 277-1199 |
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July 3, 2002 UNM ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS TEACH DESIGN AT SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL With the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) embarking on a $50 million project
to rebuild campus facilities on its 114-acre site, UNM Architecture Professor
Anne Taylor saw an opportunity to share her graduate students' expertise
with SFIS students. Indian owned architectural firm ASCG, Inc. and Van Gilbert Architects
as well as Flintco Construction have been commissioned to build new facilities
at the 100-year-old school. Taylor and SFIS Vice President Hal Schultz
agreed the SFIS students could benefit from architectural and construction
experiences if they knew more about design. "The school and the All Indian Pueblo Council and the SFIS school
board want to preserve pueblo culture. These students are caretakers of
their cultures," Taylor says. The UNM School of Architecture and
Planning have signed an agreement for graduate students to teach at SFIS.
Alan Shirley and Michael Antonio, Edward Valley, Mike Nothwang and Jayita
Sahni, graduate students in architecture, traveled to Santa Fe each Monday
to teach sketching, model building and basic design elements.
Michael Antonio, originally from Continental Divide, New Mexico, and
a 2002 master's in architecture graduate, says that the program gave him
the chance to give back to Native American youth. "We taught them
how to view things, look at nature and their physical environment differently.
They learned how to express themselves, in drawing, in models and even
expressing their ideas and concepts verbally. It's what architects do
and how they relate to the real world," he says. Using a project-based educational plan, the students had four projects
to choose from. They could design, build a model for and then build a
plant stand. The second project involved renovating and redesigning the
drafting studio. Thirdly, they could create a dorm room design. Finally,
they could design a model for the Tesuque Pueblo plaza. Antonio says that the students were initially reluctant to step out of
bounds and get creative. "We kept urging them on," he says.
He learned from the students, too. "The students come from many different
tribes. As a Navajo I wasn't as familiar with pueblo culture, but I watched
as they integrated their knowledge of pueblo design and created a plaza
space in the middle of the room. It was very powerful," he says.
Another result of the project is that Townsend has returned to school
to become an architect. "It may take me five to ten years to earn the degree and get the
teacher certification, but I do want to return to teaching," he says.
"I specifically want to work in programs like this, perhaps even
creating a bridge program between Santa Fe Indian School and the School
of Architecture and Planning." ### |
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SFIS
drafting teacher Bryce Townsend, of San Juan and San Felipe Pueblos, primarily
presented mechanical drafting. "The UNM students brought in architectural
elements and concepts. They broke down the design process into phases.
They helped the students develop and refine their sketches and build study
models from the sketches. They took them from an original sketch to a
final model that they presented at our Academic Fair," he says.
"The
students' dorm design may be used for the actual project," says Townsend.