A Recap of February 2020
Created by Lisa Sholtz – February 19, 2020
Over the past 5 weeks, the Greening Acopian team has been hard at work completing Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the semester-long project to redesign the east wall of Acopian. Since the first meeting, each team member has been researching information pertaining to their focus – looking at the structure and design of existing green walls, as well as talking to resources on campus. With the first major presentation fast approaching, everyone has been making an effort to narrow the focus of the project and decide on what ideas are best to apply to the engineering center.
One of the highest priority items has been to define our problem and determine the goal for our design. Much of this information can be found on the Why Acopian? page, including the most updated project goal as written by Chief Economist, Bryce Currie. It states that by altering the space on the east side of Acopian, the team hopes to create “a multidimensional collaborative space…that facilitates interaction between students of all different areas” on Lafayette College’s campus. Using this definition, the team has developed several design concepts that incorporate art, technology, and the environment into the available space. The featured image displayed above was one of the first sketches created by Artistic Design Director, Lisa Sholtz. It includes a green wall moving vertically between windows with chords that connect the wall to poles. When first drawn, it was thought that these chords could have greenery moving along them to extend the effects of the green wall into the surrounding area, creating a space for student use, whether it be to study or to take a study break. This concept has since been altered and developed into several possibilities which will be available on the Design and Layout page.
Additionally, as the design of the space has developed, so have the technical aspects. Structural Engineer, Major Jordan, has been looking into methods to support the structure and completing calculations for the key areas of stress. In an effort to determine the type of greenery that will be grown, Environmental Director, Diana De La Torre, has been speaking with members in the Biology Department about the advantages and disadvantages of various plant species. Through this collective effort, there has been significant progress in a short span of time. As week 6 begins, the team will start to decide on the full area that will be impacted by the project, specifically through the selection of wall and ground space. The midterm update will serve as the ending of Phase 2 at which point the team will begin taking the steps needed to create the final product.