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| History |
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| The Building Institute was founded in 2002 through the generous monetary donations of Jo and Brooks Cronan. Professor Edward J. Cazayoux and Dean Brooks were instrumental in receiving the donation and initiating the Building Institute. |
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| The program was a natural outgrowth of UL Lafayette’s School of Architecture and Design. As outlined in Professor LaSala’s essay recounting the formation of the schools pedagogy, our program evolved from the influence of the Bauhaus on our faculty as well as the philosophies of Maria Montessori. Therefore, play, craft, thinking and making have long played a critical role in our pedagogy. In particular, the popularity of Prof. Cazayoux’s Hands-on Steel course illustrates this pedagogical intention and the value students place on it. |
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| The dilemma when any new program is added to a department is how to maintain it with the existing resources in a given amount of time Additional faculty cannot be added and existing course content and curriculum cannot be deleted to allow for the Building Institute. Therefore, our faculty is committed to offering the course as a special project outside of our regular workload. The summer semester, in particular, affords us the opportunity to focus on the Building Institute. We have tried two models: a course for credit and an internship. Both models have their advantages and disadvantages in terms of “carrots and sticks,” over the students. In our school there are many summer programs offered such as our sister program the Community Design Workshop and study-abroad programs. Therefore, the Building Institute must compete for students leading to the internship model. However, the program is first and foremost a pedagogical exercise and therefore we feel the students should receive academic credit for the Building Institute. |
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| The classification of the Building Institute as an elective, usually for three credits, is appropriate in the sense that it is not for everyone. Although I personally feel that construction-experience is critical for the successful practice of architecture, the reality is that half of our graduates will not enter traditional architectural practice (this is true throughout the country.) Many will work in the field but in areas where construction experience may be less critical. Many graduates will pursue artistic endeavors, related or unrelated to architecture, and many will go on to other professions such as law and business. The Building Institute has no permanent home. Fittingly, we are a transient program, traveling from project to project with our mobile shop trailer. However, one of our recent projects, Acadiana Outreach has supplied us with a base of action through the provision of office space and a warehouse for the storage of materials. |
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