Thesis Review

By Laura Thomas

In the gallery, the grad students have pinned up their thesis work, including me. My presentation was more of a conversation and discussion with my committee of where I was having design hang-ups and writing concerns with my thesis.

It was really nice to be able to see everybody individual styles and approaches really come out as our last class was group work. There were also several great ideas that I will use for future presentations. It was also the first time to get a better understanding of what exactly their thesis was on.

When I started walking around I noticed the range of thesis projects. A good chunk of medical and school work, some housing, entertainment and an airport. It also surprised me that we didn't have any industrial or heavy commercial projects. Those are both very specialized building types, in my opinion, really needs a new approach. Nah, I'm not changing my thesis to designing a strip mall but made me realize it's probably why we keep seeing boring strip malls pop up everywhere with little character of the old town square styles.

The main thing the review did was slap me in the face of how far behind I am. Without going into great detail about what I don't have it would be easier to say what I do have. Research, Lit Reviews and Case Studies. I have plenty of that and aside from garden research, I feel very well informed about my project. I have a comprehensive program and working on the masterplan and patient room layouts.
My review has given me direction of what I need to tackle next and some great ideas from other students and professors on how to do that. More than anything about our studio and my classmates is how interactive we are with each other, able and willing to provide good critiques and help when needed. So to everyone, thanks for everything and I couldn't have picked a better group of people to go through grad school with.