Spolia Agency II

May 1

Course: 502 Design Studio | Instructor: Brian De Luna

Semester: Spring 2020 | Studio Rep.: Maria Sofia Garcia Perez

The following images were selected for Pressing Matters - the official publication of the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania - and were produced by the students in the design studios I have assisted with over the course of each semester.

Students: Reem Abi Samra, Ana Celdran, Hadi El Kebbi, Zhongming Fang, Bingyu Guo, Lauren Hanson, John Nedeau, Maria Garcia Perez, Valerie Pretto, and Diego Ramirez.

The studio takes its cue from Colin Rowe’s Collage City to design a new market for Callow Hill. Students were asked to visit the site in central Philadelphia, and select a topic of interest that discusses its architectural, infrastructural, and social qualities. Multiple pinups and discussions presented collages and figure grounds of the city as it became mapped to display information collected ranging from waterwater management to public playgrounds. The maps produced became the source of imagery for displacement and texture techniques that move beyond the drawing and towards a three-dimensional space. Each student moved towards their own distinect characters and specificities as the project took shape into new urban hybrids for Callow Hill.