In the final month of the semester, our studio designed and constructed a full scale mock-up of the outdoor classroom space of the Bodhidharma School in India. The mock-up doubles as a shade pavilion for the St. David’s Community Garden in East Austin. Our goals were to test the scale of the space, the effectiveness of the bamboo as a durable shade material, and its poetic potential.

We also wanted to explore alternative construction methods and materials that were more sustainable and accessible in the Austin area. We used steel, in lieu of concrete, and glass bottles, in place of recycled plastic bottles, and compressed earth block.