Alberti Exhibition and Celebration
Join us for a showcase of student work at the Alberti Exhibition and Celebration. Students in grades 4 through 8 from across the St. Louis region came to campus for a hands-on experience tackling 2- and 3-dimensional problems in architectural design, with an eye toward the greater environment. They were introduced to the field of architecture through lectures, discussions, and reviews about design projects.
About the 2023 Alberti Program
Aristotle made strong links between virtue and craft. This is perhaps not surprising when we consider that the ‘Father of Ethics defined virtue as 'having excellent and well-chosen habits.’ Not an abstract notion, but habits we should practice every day. Aristotle had a very healthy appreciation of craft and more specifically, craftsmanship and he was not the only philosopher to make links between craft and virtue. It is rather fascinating to uncover that the deep satisfaction that comes from making things is an integral part of human intelligence and endeavor.
Practicing a craft usually involves using hands and tools to create something useful. And, typically, the Ancient Greeks had a specific word for this. ‘Techne’ (pron. tek-nay) can be translated as craftsman-ship; it implies knowledge, experience, and applied skill. It is doing what is necessary. Aristotle said that ‘a craft product, when well designed and produced by a good craftsman, is not merely useful, but also has such elements as balance, proportion, and harmony.’
The Alberti Program is rooted in developing spatial understandings through making and assembling architectural components. The studio will concentrate on the individual development of design process through production of a dwelling in the landscape. The experimental design processes will focus on the procedures of making architecture allowing each student to develop a strong sense of craft and conceptual relationship to architecture. In this summer the students are asked to commit to the discipline of architecture and the importance of understanding the speculative nature of spatial order through 4 experimental projects.
Learning Outcomes
Develop high standards of design techniques through three-dimensional modeling techniques.
Ability to speculate through a fruitful and critical design process and articulate these intentions in visual and verbal forms.
Develop an understanding of scale and the relationship between the human body and architecture
Develop an understanding of material tectonics and the formation of spatial order
Understanding the importance of landscape and natural phenomena in the design process
Teaching Professor
Sung Ho Kim
Raymond E. Maritz Professor of Architecture
Staff Support
Matthew Bernstine
Emily Coffman
Teaching Assistants
Augustus Abbey, MArch ‘25
Jessica Price, BS '24
Ceci Gutierrez Torreseptien, BS '25
Erika Yanou, BS '26
Rosy Aimazan, BS '26