Special Topics in Architecture · Architecture Planning And Preservation
You were expected to familiarize yourself quickly with grasshopper, but Adam was understanding. Reading was light.
This is a review for Special Topics: Parametric Design. However, I cannot select that course through CULPA. Adam was a good professor. He picked good manageable readings and seemed genuinely interested in our lab work.. However, he offered very little feedback: no midterm grades or comments and a final grade with no explanation. It was frustrating, and honestly came off as a bit lazy. surprising for a guy who was always available via email to help with grasshopper definitions.
Two-week midterm project, half-semester final project, weekly readings, one reading presentation and one firm presentation. Tough grader for some people (though not for others--his favorites usually get graded higher regardless if they've been lazy).
While I didn't take Adam's Parametric Design class, which is rumored by students from last year to be superior, I still found this class immensely enjoyable. The readings for the weekly seminars are well-picked and engaging, and though discussion lagged most days (due to either tiredness or unpreparedness on the part of most of the class), he encouraged decent discussion without ever taking over completely. There were always two to three presenters for each week's readings and firm presentations, which also helped to move the discussion beyond bullet-point summary. Adam's professional experience at Marble Fairbanks, as well as his background as an Art History major and a recent GSAPP-grad, gives him a fresh take on contemporary theory, and he's a great resource for pitching ideas for other papers/studio projects, etc. The weekly studio portion of the class in the DAL was where some in the class had complaints. Frustrations with learning Rhino and Grasshopper are inevitable with any class like this, and I think that most of the associated complaints--about not having enough tutorials or workshops or introduction--were just whining, not a legitimate concern of the class. What was more problematic, I thought, was having two camps of experience--the kids who had taken a Parametric Design who were well versed in the software, and those who hadn't. While I'm pretty sure that Adam di…