Center For Building Communities
The Center for Building Communities is an initiative to address architectural and urban design needs around the country. Led by Professors Sallie Hood and Ron Sakal, the Center for Building Communities represents a transformation of the South Bend Downtown Design Center, which Notre Dame architecture students have worked with since 1995, broadening its scope to serve a national constituency.
The Center for Building Communities leads studios focusing on sustainable urban design and architectural development, paying particular attention to the local and regional characteristics of the communities the projects serve. Emphasis is placed on modular building technology and the ways it can facilitate the strengthening of communities through a blend of affordable and market-rate housing, civic, commercial and mixed-use buildings.
Champion Enterprises, Inc., known for factory-built construction throughout North America and the United Kingdom, underwrote the first two design studios affiliated with the Center. The first looked at urban infill in Elkhart, Indiana. The students designed single-family homes and mixed-use commercial and residential buildings for Elkhart’s downtown, using Champion’s wood and steel technologies. Another design studio used the same technologies to develop a master plan for the historic downtown of Conway, Arkansas. This collaboration further enhances students’ experiences through exposure to a wider range of architectural styles, and the technological, economic and environmental issues specific to different regions of the country.
Read more about this topic: Notre Dame School Of Architecture
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