CDR Payette OpenLAB Boston offers a radical and effective pedagogy for architectural education that embeds students and their studio courses within PAYETTE’s dynamic office culture to learn, experiment, absorb and synthesize the multiple facets of architectural practice almost instantaneously, accelerating their education and understanding of architecture, and facilitating an effective entry into the profession.

Last month, OpenLAB Boston capped off a great semester. Their project, titled Isthmus, focused on a site in Nubian Square in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. During early contextual analysis of the area, students discovered the lack of cultural and community-based programs. The students were then tasked with proposing a masterplan for the precinct, developing five parcels, collectively transforming Nubian Square.

The five teams of two were as follows:

Masterplan Amp Boonaneksap & Lana Roach Childcare Center/Dance School/Student Housing Julia Groves & Mika Sun Clinic and Senior Housing Hayden Panek & Sincere Duncan-Walker, Hampton University Community and Recreation Center Matthew Krmpotich & Min Kim Artist Workshops and Retail Alexander Dau & Jenny Huang Performing Arts and Cultural Center