Assistant Professor Sida Dai's Lab Midterm Review
October 27, 2025
Recently, we had the opportunity to sit in on Assistant Professor Sida Dai's lab midterm review.
In this project, students were tasked to design a new architectural structure inserted into an existing space they have previously studied. This structural insertion introduces a new function and programmatic activity, while responding thoughtfully to the existing spatial, material, and atmospheric qualities of the site. Rather than simply rearranging or modifying existing elements, students act as architectural "interveners," proposing a deliberate transformation of the space through design.
The inserted structure may connect, contrast, or coexist with the original building, but it always emerges from a critical reading of the site's character, constraints, and latent potential