Students will participate in one of these two groups for the rest of the program, doing hands-on work several days each week. This allows first-time students to gain a greater depth of knowledge in their area of concentration, even as it gives returning students the ability to do more advanced work. In past years, students in the Building track have worked on such projects as camping cabins, tent platforms, and a solar washhouse. There will be opportunities to experiment with a variety of building techniques in different phases of construction, learn basic tool-use skills, and compare the environmental costs and durability of various technologies. The aim for students will be to explore how our human relationships with the natural world can be mutually supportive, creative, and truly ecological.
Students also carry out a design project.
They may choose to work on the design of an upcoming ISE project or a project of their own. Students may work individually, but small groups are encouraged. This is a chance for students to teach and collaborate with one another as they work on common or related design projects. Design studios will build toward the presentation of projects to the group as a whole. In addition to presenting drawings, models, or other products, students will be asked to look realistically at the cost of their designs, resources used, and ecological consequences of the choices they have made.