Architecture Project Presentations
UW-Archives recently worked with Mo Zell and her Architecture 650 class "Intermediate Design Studio: Unmaking of the Museum.” Their assignment was to create a museum display that will hold archival material safely. They were instructed to use the architectural drawings in the Willis and Lillian Leenhouts Architects records. After visiting the archives and viewing some of the architectural drawings and files, the incredibly creative students morphed the assignment. In just two weeks they went from concept to full scale and developed interactive displays that used representations of archival material in innovative ways. They not only honored the work of the Leenhouts’ but showed that the work is still relevant.
I truly enjoyed being involved peripherally in this project. Seeing the students explore the physical collection and then by using digital representations of the artifacts were able to create dynamic displays that told a clear story about how they interpreted the work of the Leenhouts’.
Yesterday the students presented their work to a group that included their peers, members of the art and architecture community in and around campus, myself, and Robin Leenhouts, the daughter of Willis and Lillian. You can see Robin in some of the images above interacting with the displays. At the end of the presentation, Robin explained to the group how moved she was to see the students working with the drawings that she grew up with and had such a close connection to. She said it was a chance to once again connect with her parents.
The exhibits will be up for the next month in the 1st floor Commons of the Architecture building. If you are in the area, I highly recommend seeing the work that was created.
-Alison, Library Services Assistant, Archives Specialist
