OpenLAB Boston I Exploring the Fabric of Design

OpenLAB Boston I Exploring the Fabric of Design

Last semester, ten 4th year students immersed themselves in PAYETTE's practice, tackling complex design challenges across multiple scales-urban design, landscape architecture, building science, and fabrication-to develop comprehensive projects blending analysis with innovation.

Students engaged with fabrication not as an afterthought, but as an essential component of their design process. The semester commenced with a Digital Quilt exercise, a rapid iteration approach that assessed capabilities in 3D printing while fostering a deeper understanding of Nubian Square's historical and contemporary urban fabric. This analysis informed their evolving designs, reinforcing the role of making as a method of thinking.

The studio prompt was sited in Nubian Square, a historically layered site with a 394-year evolution from farmland to transportation hub to a re-emerging urban center. The semester began with a master planning period that examined the social, geological, and spatial transformations, identifying five strategic sites for intervention.

As students developed architectural interventions in Nubian Square's urban fabric, they examined the delicate balance between public I private, soft I hard, sacred I profane, analyzing how architecture can serve as a catalyst for urban reinvigoration.

Through this immersive experience, OpenLAB Boston has cultivated a deep understanding of architecture's role in shaping cities, communities, and cultural narratives.