Frame

Galveston, Texas

Client: Artist Boat

Advanced Studio Spring 2018

Professor Coleman Coker

In collaboration with the Gulf Coast Design Lab, Derek Smith, Maggie Gaudio, Reuben Joseph, Sudarshan Iyengar, Angela Vanella, Jordan Sheets, Claire Townley, Miguel Rodriguez, Pia Garcia, Pei Wei Chang, Danlin Huang and Brandon Tharp

University of Texas Design Excellence Award Winner

Recognized by the City of Galveston with a Design and Planning Award for 2019

Published in ISSUE 15

Frame is an outdoor classroom designed for, and in conversation with, Artist Boat, a non-profit educational outreach organization in Galveston, TX. 

For nearly twenty years, Artist Boat has provided children living in the Gulf Coast region the opportunity to learn about ecology and the arts through interaction with the coastal wetlands. 

Inspired by Artist Boat’s mission, the conceptual basis for Frame is grounded in an awareness about how humans, faced with shifting and unpredictable natural conditions, impose imperfect organizational concepts in an attempt to separate and understand complex systems. 

Established on a regular 10’ x 10’ grid, the architectural elements of Frame serve to both organize space and highlight the ways in which humans relate to nature through scientific measurement. By isolating grasses from the surrounding coastal prairie, introducing ten native yaupon holly trees, and showcasing sun, wind and seasonal change, the project moves beyond its abstraction and becomes grounded in its specific location. 

Frame is a pedagogical tool, which recognizes that the value in ordering parts is to achieve a greater appreciation for the harmony of the whole.