ASTRONAUT TRAINING FACILITY

FOR HOUSTON. TX.

by

TODD GREER

A THESIS
IN
ARCHITECTURE

Submitted to the Architecture Faculty

of the College of Architecture
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment for
the Degree of

acceoted

Deeln, tollege of Architecture

May, 1998
to add unto what has not yet been subtracted
GREER
T A B L E OF C O N T E N T S

Abstract

T H E S I S

Theory 1

Precedent 4

Issues 6

F A C I L I T Y

Issue 7

Activity analysis 13

C O N T E X T

Site description 22

Issues 24

S P A C E S U M M A R Y

Summary of spaces. 30

Area of spaces 31

Building codes 32

B I B L I O G R A P H Y 33
H E O R
H E O R
a b s t r a c t

The purpose of this program is to extend the

notion of time to a precise moment vt^ere one can
comprehend forces that form and inscribe
notions about the evolution of time via
architecture. The intent is to define architecture as
interface between science and technology.

The thesis will explore how matter materializes

through scientific principles using technology as a
tool. This will help us understand how society is
generated.

The users of this facility are linked to these ideas

through their search for the exploration of time and
space. The astronauts serve as the impetus to
achieve a better understanding of the cosmos in their
search for ti-uth.
 H E O R
a b s t r a c t

Architecture can be explored as events that form

a praxis of impressionable nodes of contact along
a time line circumvented through the
materialization of matter.

Venturing into the twenty-first century, man must

conceive an impetus to achieve a connection to
propel mankind. In his search, he must understand
the forces that shape the index of civilization. Meaning
must be seen in the context of the setting not solely
as a self-sufficient statement about life but, as a more
tangible relationship to past and future events.

The center for the space program in Houston is a

catalyst in accelerating the ideas of how matter
materializes into built fonm. In order to facilitate this
notion, an astronaut training facility will be the vehicle
that conceives man's quest for demarcating space
ii"
and time. The site lies at the southeast comer of tiie
Johnson Space Center adjacent to the bay of
Galveston. The center will accomodate a place for if
astronauts to engage in training routines with learning
labs and flight simulation laboratories.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 H 0 R

The fundamental human impulse throughout the ages,

in eastern and western civilizations, has been to mark
the earth as a way of communicating ideas and
notions. In man's quest for demarcating space and
time, architecture has become an interface through
which science and technology are explored. Our
society is becoming acutely aware of the progression
of technology and our place in time as the turn of the
millennia approaches. These two forces have
propelled and shaped the index of our civilization from
the beginning of time. The development of science
and technology has never occurred instantaneously
between the two fields but more of a collision at
specific points in time where technology achieves the
ideas of science.

The interface can be absti'actiy depicted as

the unfolding of science and technology as forces that
have been formed with a reliance to each other. The
more fluid force, science, because of its lack of
physical development has guided the mind for the
accumulation and acceptance of knowledge into the
system in its search for ti"uth. This philosophical
knowledge is exti-acted into the built context through
technology.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 H O R Y

...

Issue Spirit of Place

NASA elicits certain images and notions about our

place in time. These images offer us unique
opportunities to become aware of the ingredients, the
complexities, and the changes in our concepts so that
we can reflect upon their significance. In this way
pieces of information become marks of intelligence,
glimpses of the way culture has become organized.

Goal
The place should become a landmark for the public
defining origins about tiie relevance of our specific
point in time.

Performance Requirements
The facility shall exhibit forms, which suggest a place
symbolic to our society.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 H E O R
P r e c e d e n t

Kansai International Airport

Bernard Tschumi

Tschumi investigates the idea of the airport becoming

the central cultural event of the urban metropolis. He
discusses the accessibility to tiie airport twenty-four
hours a day as an event which becomes linked to the
ultimate linear city.

The airport is comprised of three main elements: tiie

double strip, the wave and the slab. Each of these
forms represents different movement pattems. The
nan'owness of these bands is symbolic to tiie density
of events that are occuning simultaneously with this
cultural exchange. The composition provides ease in
extending the city or event to infinity.
Tschumi makes a bold statement about the origins of
flight by using the wave's distortion in relationship to
the oblique vertical axis. The datum plane ceases to
be ground and becomes a conceptual framework
linking earth to air.

Goal
To symbolically show architecture as an event /
moment relative to its position in time.

Performance Requirements
Illustrate how matter can be materialized into an
event/ moment.

Tschumi, Bernard. The Manhattar) Transcripts. London: MIT

Press, 1994. Pgs. 125-140

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 H E 0 R Y
p r e c e d e n t

Jewish Holocaust Museum

Daniel Libeskind

The experience of the mystery of architecture

occupies an important place in the work of Daniel
Libeskind.' Spiritual Content is reflected as this
primordial artifact that one must incur to achieve
significance in any building. Libeskind has a
profound desire for a new time in which the
experience of architecture aims at the liberation of
space. Here, literature, mathematics, music,
astrology, philosophy are all apart of the world of
human knowledge. He states that it is the task of
architecture to map this knowledge and create a
referential point to begin creating.

Goal
To add unto what has not yet become subtracted

] LIberskind, Daniel. 1995 RMUI Wallenberg Lecture. Ann Harbor

University of Michigan Press, 1995.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
Y
 Y

Mission Statement

This facility shall function as part of tiie introductory

phases to space flight ti'aining.

NASA is currentiy working with Boeing to explore

shifting responsibility for various NASA space
operations to one confractor. The intent of this
feasibility study is to fl^ee up funds for future space
operation developments. This opens the throughway
to defining a place where astronauts may train and
function as a team.

Facility Description

The asfronaut fraining facility shall contain

approximately twenty-four thousand square feet of
space. Activities included are educational labs and
multi-task simulators, which are used in preparation
for advanced asfronaut fraining.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 L Y

i
Issue Sense of Community

The intensive fraining required of the frainees is

designed to permit the crew to operate as a closely
integrated team. This is the most crucial aspect of
flightfrainingsince tiiey will spend long periods of time
in space togetiier.
Tschumi's school of architecture in Champs-sur-
marne, France illusfrates ideas of cohesive interaction
among students and faculty. The building's functions
are arranged around an event orientated cenfral
space, which is activated by the density of activity that
surrounds it Contained all of the building's
circulation, this space is conceived as a social and
cultural zone, designed along tiie lines of a city
promenade.

The facility shall evoke a sense of community.

Performance Requirements
In order to achieve this interplay, the user will
experience a series of core spaces that is linked to
learning labs and simulators where interaction may
occur.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 L Y

ISSUE STIMULATE
Research has proven that tiirough various
investigations of the thresholds of boredom,
confusion, enjoyment and curiosity define a
successful space. The search for stimulus-variability
and complexity are fundamental incentives in any
learning environment.

Kevin Lynch discusses some of the fundamental

principles of successful spaces in his book "Site
Planning." The way the user experiences tiie space
by moving through it has a sfrong connection to it
being excitable. He inserts tiie notion of confraction
and release as a way of experiencing space in a
dynamic environment. This notion states tiiat when
tiie user moves through a series of small narrow
spaces to large open ones a sense of stimulation is
emitted.

GOAL
The facility should exert qualities of open-endedness,
complexity and allusiveness in building which are
psychologically satisfying.

Performance Requirements
The facility will address this issue by overlaying
various organizational components to incite
opendedness and allusiveness.

Amheim, Rudolf. The Dynamics of Architectural Form. Los

Angeles: Universtiy of California Press, 1977.
Lynch, Kevin. Site Planning.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 o N X

Psychological Issue Human comfort

Newtonian principle states when two bodies interact

with each other the force on the first body due to the
second is equal and opposite to the force on the
second body due to the first. In a perfect scenario,
the amount of energy the sun radiates to the earth is
proportional to the amount of energy that is
Day
contracted and released back to the sun. Due to its
relative size, the earth contains a large heat storage
capacity. The earth takes a long time to cool off after
the sun goes down and a long time to wamri up after
the sun rises.

Goal
Therefore, building design should seek to maintain
minimal temperature variances.

Performance Requirements
The facility shall be designed to respond to the
outdoors by using earth to modulate extremes of
seasons. On sunny winter days, the building should
be able to open up to allow light in, and tiien close
itself uptightlyto keep the heat from escaping.

-Wi D KT IT T^N- 1 1 M—K

]
 Interactive Studio Auditorium

Description
To inform and incite the scope of various training
exercises through briefings and films

Acth^ity
Briefings, lectures, series of films educating trainees
in aircraft safety, including instruction in ejection,
parachute and survival techniques in the event of
emergency landings.

Related Spaces
Learning labs, storage, lounge area

Area
3500 square feet

Users
Instructors, scientists, engineers

Estimated Number of Users

300

Performance Requirements
Train members in ort)iter habitability, routine
housekeeping and maintenance, waste management
and stowage, television operations and extravehicular
activities.
Allows for astronaut's EVA capabilities and workload
limitations to be constructed

"M O M E IN 1 TTT T I M E
J
 I L Y
I s s u e

Issue Color

Since asfronauts will be living in a resfrictive

environment for a given lengtfi of time. One must
understand tiie vital role of color and how it impacts
the feelings and productivity of the asfronauts.

Goal
The facility should reflect ways in which color and
form may stimulate mind and emotion.

Performance Requirements

Color should not dominant form but accentuate

movement systems as implied on ttie spacecraft

v-V's^pg eSfe

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Y

Issue approach and movement through space

'Seeing, approaching, entering, and becoming part

of architecture.... Going toward, and going into the
building are one. You see the building from a
distance, then you see into it, then you are in tiie
building witiiout being conscious of a defined enfry.'

The approach and sequence of spaces is important to

the way you movetiiroughthe spaces.

Goal
The facility shall reflect the notion of movement in
time

Performance Requirements
The facility shall reinforce the notion of visual
continuity between circulation and function.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Y

Issue Flexibility

NASA frains nine different teams of asfronauts at any

one given time. Head of basicfrainingfor asfronauts,
Gloria Gibson states that one of tiie fundamental
issues NASA deals witii is flexibility. " We lack an
environment in our learning areas that can be
expanded when necessary to accommodate
integrating multiple teams into a common space."
Morphosis' elementary school in Los Angeles
resolves this issue by creating a modular system
along a cenfral axis with movable partitions to allow
for various subdivisions. This type of organization has
permitted the school to grow and confract as
necessary.

Goal
The facility shall be responsive to the expandable
needs of the users.

Performance Requirements
The facility will resolve this issue by inserting a
modular system, which is adaptable to various sizes
of learning lab areas.
The facility shall be organized, in plan, as a system,
which lends itself to adaptation such as the linear
layout, achieves.

Morphosis. Architectural Design.: Sdence Museum School. June,

1992.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Y

Learning Labs
•^
Description ?.'•

Place where acquiring knowledge occurs

Activity
Studying various subjects including asfronomy,
navigation, geology, oceanography and meteorology.

Related Spaces
Lounge area, simulators, office support, and
resfrooms

Area
2700 square feet

Users
Insfructors, asfronauts

Estimated Number of Users

15 per lab

Performance Requirements
Labs need to have sufficient north light for the
extensive use of computers required in classrooms
Labs shall also provide computer hookups witii
networidng capabilities to the mainframe.

M O M N I N I M 1
 T

Parking
Description
Storage of Vehicles

Activity
partying and walking

Related spaces
Enfry to complex

Area
12,000 sq ft (30 cars)

Users
asfronaut candidates, system insfructors, staff

Performance Requirements
easily accessible to enfry
Terrain shall be landscaped to provide a sense of
connection to facility
ramps, stairs other vertical circulation components to
justify ADA requirements

Restrooms
Description
Place to relieve one

Activity
Relaxing bodily functions

Related Spaces
Lounge, office support

Area
350 square feet

Users
All persons

Estimated Number of Users

5

Performance Requirements
Place which should provide basic sense of enclosure
per unit, relaxing atnosphere

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Mechanical Room

Description
To allow for appropriate environmental and
mechanical systems to operate the facility

Activity
Installation and general maintenance of various
operating systems

Related Spaces
Storage, Mainframe

Area
2000 square feet

Users
Maintenance personnel

Estimated Number of Users

6

Performance Requirements
The design should allow at least 500 square feet per
unit
The room must provide access to the exterior tiirough
openings of six feet in widtti.
Acoustical tiles or foam should be used for sound
absorption.
Secondary exit for ease in installation and removal of
mechanical systems

M O M N I N I M I
 Mainframe

Description
place where all elecfronic data is processed

Activity
data isfransferredto tiiis area from tiie simulator labs
and then to mission confrol

Related Spaces
elecfronic connection to mission confrol

Area
400sqft

Users
systems directors, computer personnel

Estimated Number of Users

4

Performance Requirements
space shall allow for appropriate environmental
confrol of elecfronic equipment

Technical Support Spaces

Description
maintain elecfronic and technical support for simulator
spaces

Activity
maintaining, repairing, coordinating with mainframe
and systems directors

Related Spaces
simulator labs, mainframe, equipment storage

Area
500 square feet

Estimated Number of Users

5

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M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Lounge area

Description
Serves as a detachment from the learning
environment

Activity
socializing, relaxing, interaction

Related Spaces
learning labs, simulators, resfrooms

Area
700 square feet

Users
asfronauts, insfructors, office support

Estimated Number of Users

30 persons at any given time

Performance requirements
place tiiat releases the mind from sfructured mental
activity
should encite cohesive interaction among asfronauts
Provide sense of community

r
M O M E N T I N T I M 1
 Flight Simulation Labs

Description
Trainees develop navigation and communication skills
and practice woridng as part of a crew

//
/ / Acth/^ity
, // /1 Simulates, navigates, propels, exerts, stimulates,
/ 1 1

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reproduces
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I I I

/T7TT Related Spaces

Other simulator labs, technical support spaces

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Area
/ / 3400 square feet
// // //
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/ / /
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Users
Astronaut trainees, systems directors, technical
support

Estimated Number of Users

15

Performance Requirements
This space reproduces many of the shutties
maneuvers and responses during flight. Asfronauts
practice all phases of space flight, including launch,
ori3it, reentry and landing. They learn to respond when
system malfunctions occur and how to communicate
witii mission control. The goal is for the crew to
operate as a closely integrated team

» • • t.'<l '\X-^'^.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Clerical Support

Description
To insure thorough support to administrators and
systems directors

Activity
Coordinating, networidng, processing appropriate
information for efficient operations

1 Related Spaces
Adminisfrative offices, systems director offices

y Area
400 square feet
I } m
Users
Office support staff

Estimated Number of users

<?h
4

Performance Requirements

Administrative Offices

Description
Place where deciphering appropriate levels of goals

Activity
Scheduling, communicating, organizing activities to
insure successful operations

Related Spaces
Clerical support, learning labs

Area
1000 square feet

Users
Systems directors, administrators

Estimated Number of User

10

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Storage/Maintenance
«
Description
To contain various types of equipment for use in
fraining

Activity
refreiving and gathering various devices used in the
multiple simulator labs and learning labs

Related Spaces
shipping and receiving, simulator labs, auditorium

Area
4200 square feet

Users
staff, maintenance personnel

Estimated Number of Users

5

Performance Requirements
Provide ease in accessibility to and from simulator
labs

Shipping/Receiving

Description
reception and distribution of aerospace components

Activity
organizing, gatiiering, assorting, all components the
facility shall process for asfronaut fraining

Related Spaces
equipment storage, maintenance

Area
1250 square feet

Users
maintenance personnel, program directors

Estimated Number of Users

4

M O M E N T I N T I M E
o N
 0 n t e
s i t e d e s c r i p t i o n

Built Context

The site is located twenty-five miles soutiieast of

Houston on afriangulatedpiece of land at Johnson
Space Center in Houston. The site is generally flat
with approximately twenty percent of vegetation
coverage.
Goal
The facility should respect existing vegetation.

Performance Requirement
The complex will integrate the existing axis of
vegetation into the overall scheme.

North of Site
To the north of tiie site lies a heavily dense vegetation
area. The sewage plant for Nasa is occupied at the
northwest quadrant adjacent to tiie site. This plant is
equipped to handle all of JSC's freatnent of sewage
including any new additions to Nasa.

Goal
The complex will direct sewagefreafrnentto Johnson
Space Center's cenfralfreafrnentplant

Performance Requirements
For ease in accessibility, utilitarian functions shall
respond in close proximity to existing mechanical
operations at JSC. In addition, the facility will share
existing right of ways for shipping and receiving
materials pertinent to fraining.

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M 0 M E N T I N T I M E
 O N T E X
s i t e d e s c r i p t i o n

West of Site
Immediately east of tiie site lies Johnson Space
center. NASA is the major node of business in
science and technology for Houston. Flight crew
fraining buildings border the site. More specifically, the
cenfrifuge simulator, flight operations, and also tiie
adminisfrative complex for crew fraining.
Goal
The proximity of these buildings, in relation to tiie site,
will provide a tangible link to the asfronaut fraining
facility.
Performance Requirements
The facility shall respect tiie civic importance of NASA
tiirough symbolism and images of the space program.

South and East of the Site

NASA Road One contains the site in the south and
west and is a major artery connecting Houston to the
Galveston Bay area. South of tiie site is consisted
predominantiy of small commercial and residential
dwellings. An existing parking lot for NASA
employees occurs in a sfrip in tiie southeast quadrant
of the site.
Goal
As a cenfral artery highway from Houston to the Gulf,
NASA Road One shall be a key elevation for all
passerby's to experience the facility.
Perfonnance Requirements
A place shall be provided for visitors to interact witii
the complex from NASA Road One.

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 o N X

I
Issue Growth in Technology

A subsequent result of defaulting oil prices within the

past decade has resulted in diversification away from
traditional Houston industries. This economic
diversification induced growth in high technology
industries, medical research and other professional
services. The two most important areas in Houston's
economy are based upon are Govemment-(NASA)
/
and High technology(-computers, aerospace and
environmental programs.) State of the art
transmission facilities are available in the city of
Houston for voice and data communication.

Goal
The facility shall reflect the leading edge economy of

Houston in technology and aerospace programs.

Performance Requirements
The facility will emulate an aesthetic of aerospace
technology in sfructure and form.

kit!

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M O M E N T I N T I M E
 o N X

Issue Soil

Houston's climate has been classified as a

subtropical environment. Temperatures are fairiy
moderate due to the influx of winds from the Gulf of
Mexico. The ten-ain of Clear Lake consists primarily
3 of small streams and coves, which reflect the

n abundance of fog to this particular area. The prairie

m
soils of this area consists of Bernard clay loam and
Midland Beaumont associations. These soils show
characteristics of being pooriy drained, slowly
pemieable soil consisting of loam and clay. The
United States Embassy in Mexico City resolves the
dilemma of poor soil and seismic conditions by
utilizing a floating slab. This slab has enabled the
facility to witfistand movement underneath the slab.
A water fountain is integrated into the system to
equalize the pressure of the water table.

Goal
The facility shall resolve poor soil conditions.

Performance Requirements
The facility shall utilize the floating slab system to
resist unequal pressure to the foundation.

M O M N I N I M 1
 o N X T

Issue Vehicular Interface

The greater Clear Lake area lies halfway between

downtown Houston and Galveston off the Gulf
Freeway (1-45 South). It is the home of the NASA/
Johnson Space Center. The center and related
aerospace confractors employ approximately 27% of
the population. Employees from nearby
pefrochemical indusfries add to the population. A
number of residents commute to downtown Houston
and Galveston. In route to Houston, Hobby Airport is
a major mode of air fravel to tiie Houston area just ten
miles nortii of NASA.

The area is the ttiird largest recreational

boating center in the United States. There are
nineteen marinas in the area.The greater Clear Lake
area consists of nine surrounding individual cities and
is included as a part of Houston. The population is
approximately 165,000 and growing at a substantial
rate. NASA Road One runs parallel to the site and is
a sfrong connection from the gulf to the Houston area.
This communicates vacationers, weekenders and
daily commuters will encounter tiie facility via
automobile daily in the Houston/Galveston area.
Goal

Therefore, vehicular interface with the building should

be established to reinforce tiie building as a landmaric
Performance Requirements
The location of this particular site creates an important
node through which major fraffic shall provide a sfrong
interface with relation to the building.

M O M I N I M 1
 o N X

Issue Weather patterns

Winds come predominately from the south and

southeast However, in January frequent high-
pressure areas bring polar air and northeriy wind.
Polar air penefrates the area frequentiy enough to
provide a stimulus to compatible weather patterns.
The average number of days with minimum
temperatures of 32 degrees F or lower are only about
8 per year. Predominantiy clear skies and the
subfropical climate deter long periods of bad weather.

Goal
The facility shall minimize extensive solar gain and
loss.

Performance Requirements
The facility will minimize heat gain and loss by
orientating spaces along the east/west axis.

M O M E N T I N T I M E I
 A C I L I T Y
a c t i v i t y a n a l y s i s

Parking Storage of Vehicles

Lounge Relaxing, Socializing

Mechanical Room Maintain

environmental/mechanical systems

Restroom relieving oneself

Clerical Support organizing, assisting, maintains

public relations and thorough communication

Learning Labs stimulating, informing, interacting

Instructor offices planning, assessing,

corresponding w/ various NASA operations

Auditorium informing tiie scope of various fraining

methodologies and briefings

Storage containing, refrieving

Simulators developing, assessing navigation and

communication skills

Mainframe processing, fransfemng, con-esponding

Shipping/Receiving fransferring equipment for

operations

Equipment Storage containing various equipment

used in tiie simulators

M O M E N T IN T I M E
 C I L I Y
s p a c e s u m m a r y

Activities No. Area Occupancy Occupancy Egress

Rate Load Factor
General

Parking 1 12000 sq ft 30
Lounge 2 700sqft 3 46
Mechanical Room 3 2000 sq ft 300 6
Restroom 2 350 sq ft 100 4

Clerical Support 3 400 sq ft 100 4

Educational

Learning Labs 9 2700 sq ft 20 15

Instructor offices 10 1000 sq ft 100 1

Auditorium 1 3500 sq ft 7 500

Restrooms 2 350 sq ft 100 4

File Storage 1 600 sq ft 300 2

Moving Simulator 1 3900 sq ft 100 39 2

Fixed Simulator 1 3375 sq ft 100 34 2

Facility

Mainframe 1 400 sq ft 100 4

Shipping/Receiving 1 1250 sq ft 300 4

Equipment Storage 1 4200 sq ft 300 14

TOTAL 24,005 sqft

** 10 percent circulation is included in each respective space

M O M E N T I N T I M E
 Bibliography

Blin-Stoyle, Roger. Eureka-Phvsics of Particles.

Bristol: Institute of Physics Publishing, 1997.

Tschumi, Bernard, The Manhattan Transcripts.

London : MIT Press, 1994.

Amheim, Rudolf. The Dynamics of Architectural

Form. Los Angelos: University of California Press,
1977.

LIberskind, Daniel. 1995 Raoul Wallenberg Lecture.

Ann Harbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995.

Laszio, Ervin. The Systems View of the Worid.

Cresskill: Hampton Press Inc., 1996.

Greene, Hert). Mind and Image: An Essay on Art &

Architecture. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press
of Kentucky, 1976.

Ritchie, Ian. Architectural Design: Science and

Technology.

RS Means: Guide to Square Foot Cost, 1997.

Callender, and Chiara Time Saver Standards for

Building Types. 3rd edition.
I
Morphosis. Architectural Design : Science Museum
School. June 1992

Anderson, Bruce. Solar Energy: Fundamentals in

Building Design. NewYori<: McGraw-Hill, 1987.

Pool, Robert. Discover. October 1997, pgs. 47-49

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M O M E N T I N T I M E
wave—place to learn and create
 t o d d g r e e r

1. Conceptual Basis: The design involved developing a prototype for learning. Three basic elements
comprised the structure of the model: pier, wave and the plane.
2. Hierarchy of spaces: Each space is interdependent upon the other. No one space contains a dominance
over the other.
3. Most compelling aspect of the design: The wave is the most compelling aspect of the design because
It alters the way one may learn in a virtual environment. It is based on the logic of the navigators
rather than on a strict progression from level to level.
4. The controlling factors were how each element interconnected into one solutioa They were all
designed as separate entities but I had to come a design solution integrating aU three.
5. Problematic aspects of the design: The most problematic aspect was overthrowing Giaccardo's
beloved 8 points to a successful thesis. As I fought to attain thisfreedom,I became immersed into a
realm of thinking beyond any studio I had encountered. Under the supervision of Professor Edgar and
Dr. Jones. I realized that architecture is much more than an envelope in which studio has taught us to
think of it. Since eternity, Texas Tech has asserted itself to l)e a school that cranks out glorified
draftsmen. In order to conceive of life, architecture must evolve in a continuous state of becoming.
If Tech plans on contending with the top schools in the nation, it must take a more progressive stance
in teaching architecture. It must disembody it's old industrial ideologies in search of zero truth.