Reply To: Design/ Build Course as Graduate project

This wasn’t uncommon at the college I attended, but with less build and more design.  Many times both grads and undergrads would do something based in the real world that mostly ended up as information/alternatives given to the ‘client’.  I recall our entire studio doing some community park work, including facilitating a public involvement session where residents gave input on things they wanted and sat with our teams and cutouts of typical facilities to see what would fit on the site and how to arrange it.  My own final project was a concept level plan for a fitness trail at an industrial park – I had some interaction with the owners and they got a copy of what I produced, though I wouldn’t liken it to a real world project with a lot of back and forth.  For the most part internships served to give real world field experience in my program beyond what was already incorporated into our studios (which was not insignificant).

I also know there were a couple of actual small built projects that were done by students.  The thing there is liability, responsibility, and warranty.  You more have to have a company/entity/person actually responsible for the job while the students essentially serve as volunteer labor.  And it’s different if it’s just a project built on/for the university than if you’re doing something for an actual unassociated client.  I would talk to some of the professors and professionals who have actually run those kinds of projects/courses.