The Town Square: Highland, Illinois

This image shows the thesis project of Matt Highlander, a graduate student in the Master of Architecture program at SIUC. This image is a poster session image created to describe the project. Thesis projects are completed in the summer semester. Click the image to enlarge it for better viewing. In his words:

"My architectural thesis revolves around the Town Square. In today's society, one of the many problems that urban planners have is urban sprawl. Many towns no longer have a center where people can meet and city functions can be held in an outdoor space. Instead, new buildings pop up on the outskirts of town annd draw away from what was once the city square.
My project site is in Highland, Illinois. Highland has an excellent town square but it is lacking something that can sustain it as a primary destination for the town. It is my belief that a mixed-use residential building would be a great asset to the square and create a landmark for the town. "

In the graduate architecture program at SIUC, students complete a thesis related to the upper Mississippi River delta region. Each thesis project is selected by the student and proposed to the faculty. The graduate student then forms a committee of 3-5 faculty members to serve as critics of the project while the student completes the work.

Adventures in Architecture

If you receive Ovation TV, the channel devoted to the arts, watch for Adventures in Architecture hosted by Dan Cruickshank. The series airs weekdays at 4:00 and 5:00 pm (Central US time). There are few television shows devoted exclusively to the subject of architecture. True, some home improvement shows have segments on architecture from time-to-time, but few series are solely devoted to engaging the audience in the discussion of architecture. Adventures in Architecture is such a series.

Ovation TV runs many shows that feature architecture. Visit their programs page and click the link "architecture" to see a complete listing of what's upcoming on the network. Currently scheduled shows include Daniel Libeskind: The Making of an Architect, Visions of Space: Antoni Gaudi, and Renzo Piano: Piece by Piece, to name a few.

Back to Adventures in Architecture, the show originally aired on BBC2 in spring of 2008. Wikipedia offers a listing of the eight episodes and shows the architecture visited in each show. Dan Cruickshank is an architectural historian with a specialty in Georgian buildings. He has published several books on the subject.

Adventures in Architecture is recommended viewing for all students of architecture, including those who may not be formally seeking an education as an architect!