Crossing boundaries: Blurring the lines between engineers and architects

For the past three years an interdisciplinary studio has teamed students, academics, and practitioners to develop a master plan, college buildings and housing designs for a Polytechnic College in Tanzania, Africa. Since 2012, groups of architectural majors and architectural engineering majors developed a master plan for the college and most recently developed plans for housing and classroom facilities. The project requires students to think differently - recognizing and developing building solutions which account for cultural differences, material differences, technology differences, and resource differences; when compared to those typically designed for in westernized areas. The driving objective was to design using indigenous materials in innovative ways which minimize maintenance, address longevity issues, and implement energy and water conservation and collection. The paper will highlight lessons learned, class activities, and exercises which aided student mastery of materials, space, structures, and sustainability issues.