At U-SoA, upper-level studio education extends beyond the classroom through opportunities for students to engage with real-world architectural projects and professionals in the field.
Over the past four semesters, an upper-level studio led by Part-time Lecturer Steven Miller, FAIA, RIBA, has partnered with prominent architectural firms and industry professionals to explore complex projects in hospitality, adaptive reuse, modular design and construction, and urban planning.
Each semester, students work on a project developed in collaboration with an architectural firm or project sponsor. Partners provide background information and project context, offer guidance throughout the semester, and participate in student reviews and pin-ups, giving students the opportunity to present their work and receive feedback from practicing professionals.
Recent studio projects have included a full city block in Covent Garden, London, provided by KPF, where students developed proposals for a five-star luxury hotel, spa and private club; an adaptive-reuse project in Asbury Park, New Jersey, developed with Michael Graves Architects, involving a historic boardwalk site, new hotel and meeting and entertainment facilities; and a 35-acre site in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where students explored a five-star luxury resort, marina and signature residences in collaboration with Innovation Architects.
This semester, students are working with Perkins Eastman on an international hospitality project in Saudi Arabia that explores the adaptive reuse of existing oil-rig structures in the Arabian Gulf. The project challenges students to consider hospitality, constructibility and the potential for existing structural systems to support new uses, bringing together adaptive reuse and modular design within a large-scale international context.
The projects are designed to expose students to multiple areas of architectural practice. Depending on the project, students may explore hospitality design, adaptive reuse, volumetric modular construction, urban planning, preservation and site integration. The London project, for example, combined hospitality with the adaptive reuse of listed buildings and urban planning, while the Asbury Park project incorporated hospitality, landmark adaptive reuse and modular design. The St. Thomas project focused on hospitality and modular construction as a means of addressing cost and construction time while responding to a unique island site.
The studio also brings a broad range of outside expertise into the classroom. Throughout the semester, students have the opportunity to engage with guest speakers, critics and consultants from fields including structural engineering, planning and landscape architecture, lighting design, hotel management and architectural practice. These professionals participate in lectures, discussions and project reviews, giving students exposure to the interdisciplinary collaboration that defines contemporary practice.
Miller brings extensive professional experience to the studio, including work on four- and five-star hotels, modular construction systems, preservation and adaptive-reuse projects, and urban planning projects in the Middle East, India and Europe. His professional background allows the studio to connect academic exploration with the practical considerations involved in developing and delivering complex architectural projects.
For students, the experience provides an opportunity to work through the challenges of real projects while receiving feedback directly from practicing architects and industry professionals. The relationships developed through the studio can also extend beyond the classroom, with participating firms providing students with opportunities to build professional connections and explore potential career paths.
The results have already translated into professional opportunities for students, with at least six students from the studio's first three semesters receiving job offers from participating architectural firms.
