ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND URBANISM ARCH 371 (Dharwadker/E2) Junior Design Studio, Fall 2023, CRN 71852 MW 1:00-5:50PM Architecture Building Room 200, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PHASE 0: MEAL FOR 100

Studio Cadena, “Table Top”

Download Assignment Sheet

PROMPT

Design a “meal space” for the preparation and consumption of a communal meal for a large public gathering of people who don’t previously know each other. In contrast to the organization of a typical restaurant or banquet, which divides guests into smaller social groups by table units, this meal-space should facilitate an event that is collective, cohesive, and participatory.

How can a singular designed environment accommodate two distinct activities with their own constraints, requirements, and outcomes? How can form, scale, and material organize space so that strangers interact as a community of one hundred eaters? And most importantly, how does your meal-space provide an opportunity for the public (people with different backgrounds and identities) to encounter each other and interact with one another in a way that doesn’t currently exist? In this scenario, food becomes a vehicle or prop for bring people together in new ways.

REQUIREMENTS AND CONSIDERATIONS

  • A meal space is defined by what it does as much as what it looks like.

  • The space must accommodate 100 eaters, and drawings/representations must illustrate all of them. Consider the diverse identities (age, demographics, abilities, gender affiliations) inherent to a public group. The design drawings should illustrate an understanding of both the scale of the individual body, as well as the size, scale, and distribution of the collective.

  • The “meal” is of your choosing. The meal need not be well-balanced or involve a large number of ingredients. Even a single ingredient can provide a delicious and memorable shared meal-like experience (think roasting a marshmallows on sticks around a campfire!). Consider easy-to-prepare snacks and finger foods. The food is simply a means to bring people together and share in something joyful. Curate a strategic menu and consider how the meal will be prepared, served, and eaten by the participants (no separate staff).

  • The space will be used for both the creation/preparation of a meal as well as the consumption of a meal.

  • The representations must include all elements that are necessary for the meal, such as seating, dishes, cutlery, and the food itself.

  • There is no provided site. The meal may take place in an abstract tabula rasa. While the outlying and surrounding areas may be left undefined, you must define the space’s edges/boundaries, thresholds, and entry-points.

SCHEDULE

  • Wednesday August 23: Full draft of drawings due for desk crits

  • Monday August 28: Final pin-up (location TBD)

DELIVERABLES

One 36x48 vertical sheet that includes:

  • Plan (any scale; must include 100 eaters)

  • Axonometric (any scale; must include 100 eaters)

  • 1 additional drawing of your choice: perspective, orthographic section, section-perspective, section detail, oblique projection, worms-eye, etc.