CUSoA and Critical Regionalism (or lack thereof)

This was originally a comment on Tyler's post, but I have decided to spin it into my actual blog post. Just like Tyler, I have been studying architecture at Clemson for some time now (this is my sixth year as well.) In all these semesters on Clemson's campus, the most culturally diverse, unique site we have been given is a vacant lot in midtown Atlanta. Other than that, there has been a marketplace in a Greenville alleyway, Living Learning Community in DT Clemson, generic academic building next to the Esso Club, library in Six Mile, a culinary school in Greenville, and student housing in Clemson. Don't get me started on that Six Mile library.

After all these years, I have learned to accept the fact that the sites were are consistently given are in the Clemson area, I can (sort of) embrace it, as it is an environment I engage on a daily basis. I should have seen this student housing project coming.

What truly makes me cringe are the ignorant and tone-deaf design schemes that classmates of mine in undergrad and grad school produce when the site is in or around Clemson, SC. Often times these site-less projects are the ones that receive the most praise. If we are trying to push critical regionalism, why do these projects rise to the top. So much for tying our projects to their geographical and cultural context. If you ask me, I would have failed every student who proposes a whimsical "bubble" design for downtown Clemson SC. They are just in it for the pretty rendering. Doing it for the pretty rendering is a cop-out. That is not what we should strive for.