3rd Year Fall 16
Kent State University | College of Architecture and Environmental Design
ARCH 30101 + 30001: Third Year Design Studio I—Fall 16
Center for Urban Ecology
The productive relationship between living organisms and their urban environments is critical to the conservancy of cities. This studio investigated of the interplay between building and landscape, by probing thresholds between architecture and environment; surface and wildlife; eco-stewardship and leisure.
This exercise challenged students to examine the relationship between architecture, ecology and recreation in the design of an Urban Ecology Center along the Ohio & Erie Canalway | Towpath Trail. The facility is intended to serve towpath travelers and the general public, operating as both a learning center and resting station for cyclists, hikers and nature enthusiasts.
Students examined the opportunities for architecture to support urban biodiversity as a catalyst for public awareness of, and engagement with, Cleveland’s natural ecology. The studio targeted a selected region of an ecological corridor in Cuyahoga Industrial Valley where efforts to regenerate biological ecosystems are ongoing.
