Architecture Class Designs Corporate Towers

This semester, students in Matt Martino’s Architectural Design Studio class have been tackling a real world architectural challenge. In January, they spoke with Patrick Fraher, a Senior Associate at Pelli Clarke & Partners, who recently designed a corporate tower in downtown Houston. Without seeing Mr. Fraher’s final project, the students were tasked with creating their own towers on the site.

In teams, the students analyzed the context of the sites and designed corporate towers that would complement Houston’s skyline.  For their final projects, they presented site maps as well as a physical model.  Using SketchUp, they built a 3D model that depicts their tower at the city scale and created a perspective view of an occupant from ground level. 

When creating their designs, the students had to consider a number of factors including: pedestrian and vehicle circulation, open spaces, views, and neighborhood identity.

In their presentations, the students traced the steps in their creative process, from research and early prototypes to the final product.  Each team received constructive feedback from their peers as well as from Mr. Martino. 

After the students submitted their work, Mr. Martino shared Patrick Fraher’s final design with them. Mr. Fraher is currently busy designing a new tower in Denver, but will circle back with the class in the next few weeks.