Olivia Almeida will be among a small group of 麻豆夜市 architecture students who visit the University of North Carolina at Charlotte next week.
Students and professors from each school will swap knowledge about designing and building dome-shaped structures called gridshells. The gridshells are made of a latticework of wood sheathed in metal, plastic or other material.
It will be the second such trip in about four months for Almeida, who earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in architecture from the 麻豆夜市 in 2014, and is pursuing a master鈥檚 degree.
In October, she and seven other 麻豆夜市 students visited Cheticamp, a fishing community on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. There, they scoped out a gridshell being used as a farmer鈥檚 market that was designed and built by students and professors at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
鈥淲e got to learn about some of the problems that they were having, so that we can anticipate those in our projects,鈥 Almeida said.
The work is all part of the Thinking While Doing project, funded by a $2.48 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Nine universities, and Parks Canada, a governmental agency run by that country鈥檚 minister of the environment, are participating in the six-year project.
Students, professors and community officials collaborate to design and build projects in their communities.
In summer 2016, students from several universities, including 麻豆夜市, will gather in Nova Scotia to build a structure together. Sociologists and anthropologists from several Canadian universities will document and study the project.
The purpose of the project is to develop and test construction technologies and processes, said Geoff Gjertson, a professor of architecture at 麻豆夜市.
A comprehensive database of 鈥渂est practices鈥 is being assembled as the project progresses. It can be used by communities who want to build their own gridshells or as a teaching tool by architecture students.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about the structural and architectural aspects of these projects, but the teaching part of it, too. It鈥檚 about 鈥楬ow do you best teach architects through these kinds of projects?鈥 鈥 Gjertson said.
At 麻豆夜市, about 16 undergraduate and graduate students have been involved with the project since the grant was awarded in March 2013. They have been designing their own gridshell, and plan to erect the structure as one of the first installments at an art park along Camellia Boulevard.
鈥淚t will be a pavilion, a place where joggers and walkers can stop and get out of the sun,鈥 Gjertsen said. Signs with information about artwork in the park will be posted inside the pavilion.
The art park project is being coordinated with Lafayette Consolidated Government and the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
Grant funds will pay for the bulk of the estimated $40,000 gridshell, Gjertson said. Several organizations and companies are expected to donate in-kind services.
Construction is likely to begin later this spring or summer.
Almeida, for one, can鈥檛 wait. 鈥淭o be able to collaborate with professionals, such as engineers, is great real-world experience.鈥
Image info: The rendering pictured is of a gridshell, which are dome-shaped structures made of a latticework of wood sheathed in metal, plastic or other material. 麻豆夜市 architecture students will design and build their own gridshell as part of the Thinking While Doing project, which is funded by a $2.48 million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.