Beyond the Valley Blog
Stories • Updates • Events • Reflections
Architecture students, engineers, and builders have traveled from across the country and—in the case of one student—from the Black Sea to design and build a full-scale public project at Yestermorrow. Led by the dynamic team of Jersey Devil co-founders Steve Badanes and Jim Adamson, along with New York-based architect Bill Bialosky, this year’s Community Design/Build Class is working on a composting toilet structure for Shelburne Farms, a nonprofit education organization, 1400 acre working farm, and National Historic Landmark.
Students from the Eastern Seaboard and beyond have come to Yestermorrow for hands-on experience in working collectively as a team and with the client to establish the program, work within a budget, propose and develop the design, schedule the work, and construct the building. Each phase is explored as a means of making the architecture more expressive, and sustainable building practices are emphasized throughout the process.
New Orleans is represented in this student group, as is Washington state and Northampton, Mass. Intern Peter Stewart from New South Wales, Australia brings his experience in functional art and building to the class.
Civil engineer Ryan Galliford rode his bike the 2000 miles from Pensacola, Florida to Yestermorrow to take part in this class. Ryan studied building science in college; he worked toward licensure in civil engineering after graduation and currently works for a small engineering firm that encouraged him to take this class. Becoming interested in design/build, Ryan researched Jersey Devil projects and then realized he could work with the renowned team right here. From Ryan’s perspective, the Jersey Devil team is rejuvenating the medieval craft of architecture, where the designers are the builders and the built form expresses personality and values. The Community Design/Build class resonates with Ryan's desire to put his energies to productive use in the world and is a great way to learn from masters and get his hands into the design/build process while having a great time.
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| Ayse Sahin and Ryan Galliford |
Architecture student Ayse Sahin, a master's degree candidate at Istanbul Technical University, traveled from her native Turkey to be part of this year’s Community Design/Build class. Ayse is preparing to write her master's thesis on engaging building arts in architecture curricula. She heard instructor Steve Badanes lecture in Turkey and decided then and there to try to get to Yestermorrow for this summer’s class. Ayse received scholarship awards from Yestermorrow and from a Turkish organization supporting research for master's students abroad. She reports having a great experience in the class so far, and appreciates that Warren reminds her of her home village in the Black Sea city of Giresun.