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bcWorshop develops a touching way for architect students to get involved with the community

Written by Gladys Pargas

Thursday, 04 September 2008 08:41 PM

Architecture students nearly complete the Holding House on Congo St in Dallas through the buildingcommunity WORKSHOP organization. The house will serve as a temporary home for one family at a time, while their home is being repaired. (The Shorthorn: Jacob Adkisson)

University architecture students are adding the finishing touches to a Dallas house next week that will provide a temporary home for a family.

The project, known as the Holding House located on Congo Street, has united students and local Dallas residents through the School of Architecture organization The bcWorkshop.

The building community workshop, a non-profit organization, is composed of an advisory board and students from the architecture school. The temporary “holding house” shelters a family while their permanent home undergoes renovations. After a family moves out, another moves in while another renovation project begins.

Brent Brown, architecture lecturer and bcWorkshop founder, described the holding house as the hardest and most complicated project the organization has participated in since the group began in 2005.

“We built the house on an empty lot so we wouldn’t displace families from the street they live upon or interrupt the social network that exists,” he said. “Normally a family would have to move off the street as their home is being repaired.”

Workshop participants experienced all the complicated problems associated with construction like social, environmental, and financial issues, in addition to earning summer credit.

Architecture graduate student Steve Wallace said plans for the holding house began last spring, with the design slightly similar to the neighborhood’s current homes.

“The newly remodeled homes will hold aspects that the community wants,” Wallace said. “For example, it’s really important to the neighbors and street culture to have a porch for social aspect.”

Older homes on Congo Street will be renovated but a few will be rebuilt, Wallace said.

Residents approved design ideas, attended meetings and helped with the construction of the house whenever they had an opportunity to, he said.

Architecture junior Kevin Rodriguez helped with the construction of the house this summer and said the program’s initiative to help the underprivileged uplifts a community and its residents.

“We were working with economically disadvantaged people in the area, trying to improve the livability factor, building, and design,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a great thing to be a part of because you get to know the people you are working for and you’re really making a difference in the world and in somebody’s life.”

Wallace has also seen this as a rewarding experience.

“This is the reason why I did architecture,” he said. “Not to design and build towers, malls, and big buildings, but because I want to help people — this is exactly what this project does.”

Brown said, in a nutshell, the workshop aims to bring architectural services to communities that haven’t been able to afford them.

“Building the community workshop gives communities a chance to empower themselves through design,” he said. “Architects are a luxury ... as we also offer the students an opportunity to get their hands dirty. The students are in a real environment where they deal with real people and real problems instead of abstract ones.”

The Holding House project will be completed Sept. 13, with the first family expected to move in before Oct. 1.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 24 September 2008 03:22 PM )

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