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Volume CXXXIII, Number 3 |
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BAD is all good
DREW FRIEDLAND
STAFF WRITER
One of Bowdoin's newest clubs came together this year because students were interested in an academic department that doesn't exist at the College. Under the direction of the energetic Jill Pearlman, a professor in the environmental studies department, the Bowdoin Architecture and Design Club (BAD) will organize events and trips, host speakers, and arrange other activities that will have to do with architecture and urban studies.
BAD fills a gap in Bowdoin's design offerings by allowing students to explore architecture without fighting to get into a course. "There are too few classes relating to architechture and design," said Melissa Corey '06.
The number of students trying to clinch a spot in professor Chris Glass's design class exemplifies this. In recent years, interest has surged. Last spring, 78 students-nearly four times the class cap of 20-listed the course on their application card. Students flooded last year's newly-offered upper level design course as well.
Career Counselor Tricia Williamson of the Bowdoin Career Planning Center noted student excitement about BAD and the field of architecture in general. "The programs have been well received," she said. "Students are looking for architectural classes in addition to the visual arts."
BAD attendance suggests that she is correct. Thirty people attended the first meeting last spring and interest remains high this year.
The club hopes to satisfy people who are "looking for architecture to have a bigger place on campus," said sophomore Ben Smith. He was one of many who mentioned the lack of a major or minor in design, and said he was considering the option to "self-design a major until one is offered by the College."
Williamson thinks the club will supplement the Bowdoin curriculum. She hopes it will "educate those interested about what courses to take," she said.
For those interested, BAD has a new Architectural Studies website, created by Samantha Farrell and Pearlman. Linked to the environmental studies, art history, and visual arts course pages, the site offers information about architecture and urban studies outside of Bowdoin. Links include study abroad opportunities, summer programs, and the homepages of top graduate schools in the field, as well as research resources and a "building of the week."
In recent years, Bowdoin has sent two to three students each summer to Harvard's Career Discovery Program to learn for themselves how to enter the field. Recommended for those interested in a career in design, the six-week intensive program educates students about a life in these professions by immersing them into individually tutored studio sessions, lectures by professionals, workshops, and field trips.
However, before students trek to Cambridge next summer, BAD will address the curiosity that so many students seem to have here. Starting this Sunday with Rob Rothblatt, a series of speakers will visit the campus to discuss architecture, urban planning, and other interests.
Rothblatt, a senior designer at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, will answer student's questions about architecture, his job at SOM, the profession in general, and how to pursue it as a career from Bowdoin. He will present "So You Want to Be an Architect?" on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Adams Hall.
On Monday, November 10, BAD will bring Bowdoin alumnus Ethan Kent, from the Project for Public Spaces in New York, to campus. His program works in neighborhoods to create spaces in which a community can come together.
The following Friday, November 14, BAD will host a charette, during which teams of students and faculty will compete to create the best new hypothetical design for a welcoming public space on the vacant Dudley Coe quad.
Freeman Lecturer Peter Rowe, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, will discuss modern architecture in China later in November. Also during that month, Roche-Dinkeloo architect Garry Leonard will speak to students about his firm's work, which includes the recent masterplan for the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as the Oakland Museum.
If you would like to join BAD or participate in the charette, contact Nicole Goyette (ngoyette). If you would like more information on architecture or urban design at Bowdoin, contact Jill Pearlman (jpearlm).
Stay tuned for more information on BAD events to come!
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