Thinklab co-directors proposed and led the design of the Syracuse University School of Architecture’s Einhorn Studio project. Funded by a generous gift of Steve Einhorn (’67) and Sherry Einhorn (School of Education, ’67), the forward-looking studio opened for classes in the fall of 2013.
The project received a Professional Notable Award in the Core77 Best of Design 2014 Awards Program.
The studio is a next-generation learning environment, combining a highly adaptable interior renovation with a custom-designed technological infrastructure to enhance design learning. For more information on the studio, visit its webpage.
We wanted the studio to support the greatest potential for hands-on exploration with design technologies, and sought to design an adaptable structure that not only would accommodate this, but which would explicitly encourage team-based learning and interdisciplinary work. As well, the space is conceived to support the widest array of teaching styles and remain agile in an era of rapidly changing technologies.
The project was developed with a rigorous stakeholder engagement process, including workshops with students, faculty, administrative, custodial, and technical staff using innovative collaborative tools and techniques in a co-creation framework.. As well, students and faculty from outside the school of architecture were engaged to build a perspective on the external perception of the school as a place of potential collaboration.
The 2000 sf studio is designed as a prototype for anticipated replication (in whole or in part), maximizing impact at the lowest cost by using off-the-shelf components and technologies in a componentized way.
The studio is implemented as an adaptable stage set to support the widest array of teaching styles and remain agile in an era of rapidly changing technologies.