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I had high expectations for Bluff; the program was the reason I applied to graduate school and moved to Utah.
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Design build Bluff inevitably exceeded my expectations and continued to surprise me from the first day of class to the last days of the project. Instead of the largest challenge being construction or design problems, I think it was trying to get 20 designers to agree on solutions. We were handed this project with barely any guidelines, any rules, and we were set free. The extreme lack of restrictions given to us by the design build Bluff staff was intimidating. We set high goals for ourselves and we knew if we did not accomplish them, we were the only ones to blame. We were going to hold ourselves accountable and that made our success that much more powerful. The completion of Studio23 has given me a profound confidence for my abilities as a designer, builder, and leader; an accomplishment no other past academic project has even begun to match.
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There exist a whole other side to the program though, yet another surprise, because my experience as an architecture student is only one small part of the educational adventure that is design build BLUFF. Everything from living in a small town to the cultural immersion within the Navajo Nation to getting to know Studio23’s future residents, Janet Yanito and her family, has opened my life to so many new ideas, social issues, and cultural traditions. Design build Bluff pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to consider the economic, social, spiritual, environmental, and cultural impacts of my decisions. I am perpetually grateful for this opportunity and hope to always live and design by the philosophies taught within design build Bluff.
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BOOM kiva,
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Erin Darby Schoop
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Sketch of Studio 23
