CUBE 1.2 is the final project in the Cube series. Students were required to select an architectural tactic, maximizing the potential of the tactic through the manipulation of their daturm and referential objects by establishing a set of rules in terms of constants and variables. Unlike Cube 1.1, students were required to practice implementing a process that is focused on thesis → antithesis → synthesis, which requires students to critically analyze their work according to their design intent rather than intuition. Although many students progressed from their original thesis, slowly refining and developing their designs, a few students chose to embrace the antithesis of their early thesis as a point of departure for their design. This process was aided by having desk crits during studio to fascilitate critical discussion. The below photo gallery is representative of the work completed in D1 Spring 2011.

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General observations suggest that all students have embraced the grid as a formal device for manipulating space and figure, and are consciously using their selected architectural tactics throughout the design process. The grid has enabled students the ability to envision implied space, although many students are struggling with using their planar and volumetric variables to explicitly define space. In order for the grid to function as a datum, it is necessary for objects to be integrated into the composition in reference to the grid.

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