ARC 550 is the first design studio in the M.Arch program here at SIUC. This studio focuses the students on regional design issues and problems and asks them to critically focus on the nature of a place and its people when investigating a design problem. Projects in this studio have included everything from agricultural based projects lsuch as a winery or an orchard to urban planning of regional towns and cities such as Paducah, Kentucky. This studio also contains a primary cultural diversity aspect which plays into the studio through case studies and investigation into the variety of people who have inhabited and who currently do inhabit Southern Illinois and the greater Mississippi River Delta.
arc550

su12 550
In this summer graduate studio, the students were given the initial assignment of creating a new orchard for Southern Illinois on a 40 acre piece of privately owned land north of Cobden. They were also given some potential sub-programs of a farmer’s market, a food bank, migrant field worker housing, and an educational facility focused…
su13 550
In this summer graduate studio, the students were given the task of creating a new juvenile detention/justice facility for Southern Illinois. The facility was located within Southern Illinois University’s Touch of Nature, 3100 acres of space dedicated to serving youth through experiential hands-on education as well as other user groups. The area is also used by…