Announcing the release of Approach 2019–20 

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is pleased to announce the publication of the latest edition of Approach, which celebrates work produced by students in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design. A digital edition of the publication can be found here. In tandem with the book, the School presents a dedicated Approach website that includes the full repository of images of student work featured in the print edition.

“This year marks an unprecedented collision of environmental and social concerns,” says Heather Woofter, director of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design. “The word ‘approach’ implies coming near someone or something. I imagine we will look back on this year as the calm before the storm, with the ingredients of new beginnings already present in these margins. We understand more than ever that the world is interconnected and that our success relies on others’ well-being.”

Approach 2019–2020 provides a substantive look inside the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design during the 2019–20 academic year. It showcases the full range of the curriculum across the graduate architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design programs, from the core studio sequence and seminars, to advanced options studios and the final degree project. Studio descriptions are paired with select images of student work covering a wide range of thematic areas, including building technology, cultural arts, ecology, housing, digital and analog fabrication, history, socially engaged practice, and urban sustainability. Approach also highlights key moments in the life of the school, including faculty publications and public programs.

"The work featured in the Approach publication reflects how, through critical thinking and unique collaborative structures, our school gives students the means and motivation to improve our world," Woofter says. "The publication also evokes the life of the school—a place of experimentation, where our programs create forums for knowledge building.”

Mónica Rivera, professor of practice and chair of the graduate architecture program, and director Heather Woofter, the Sam and Marilyn Fox Professor, served as editors of Approach 2019–20. The book and website were designed and produced by desescribir.

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