Staff are welcomed and encouraged to check out student work; beyond just being impressed by projects, attending these opportunities helps build relationships with students and faculty while gaining a better sense of all of the work that happens at Taubman College. (Pro Tip: wear your name badge to help faculty and students put a face with a name!)
To find out about these opportunities, watch the Taubman College Google events calendar for general timing, as well as the weekly This Week at Taubman email and other one-off emails from the programs for specifics.
Please note that each discipline may have slightly different language for talking about these presentations of work!
Urban Planning: Public Representation of Work
Capstones
This is the most common opportunity to see urban planning student work. The capstone is a semester-long group project with ~10-12 students working with an external client, most often during the final semester of the program. Each capstone course presents to their client at the end of the semester, so they often do an open presentation for the Taubman College audience as practice (sometimes clients are invited to this session as well). This typically occurs at the end of winter semester.
Theses & Professional Projects
Some students choose these options in lieu of doing a capstone. Watch for winter semester lunchtime events shared by the chair.
Occasional other course invitations: Periodically, some courses may invite the public in to see a student project, for example, a GIS poster fair presentation, etc.
Urban Technology: Reviews and other opportunities to see student work
Reviews
UT studio courses have reviews at the midpoint and end of each semester. These are opportunities for students to present their work to Taubman faculty and invited guests (faculty from other U-M units or external to the university); staff are welcome to attend, especially the final presentations. After a brief presentation of their work, there should be time for a conversation between the presenters and audience/reviewers.
Note: Unlike architecture reviews, UT reviews are group presentations – either in pairs or small groups – and the end results are typically digital products.
Other opportunities to see student work
Outside of UT studios, other Urban Technology courses may offer opportunities to see student work. These can include other required UT courses or electives; this may take the form of group presentations or other demonstrations of student work (e.g. a website or other prototype). Keep an eye out for opportunities on the events calendar or the weekly This Week at Taubman email.
Architecture and Urban Design: Reviews
What are they, and when do they happen?
Reviews are an evaluation of student work from internal faculty and/or external guests. They allow the student to explain their studio project for the semester, so they include public speaking as well as an emphasis on clearly and concisely articulating their project – skills that will be important in many future roles. There are a few different levels you may hear of:
- “Desk crits” (desk critiques) happen periodically during the semester and are conversations with the faculty studio lead to check in on student progress as well as give feedback and suggestions.
- Mid-term reviews happen approximately halfway through the semester, and may have external guests invited but may also be more of a “practice run” with the students and faculty lead for the studio.
- Final Reviews happen during the exam period and include invited external guests who are often faculty members from other institutions or professionals out in the field.
Additional Terminology
“Pinups” refers to the fact that students will pin 2D work up on the walls for discussion.
“Models:” 3D representations of the project, often made out of poster board, wood, etc. as the base, but many are incredibly detailed with effects like miniature trees, furniture, and people.
FAQs
How does it work (and where do I sit?!)
Architecture reviews tend to take place in the 3rd floor studio spaces (CMYK, hallways, East/West Review), and the Commons. Each studio will pull up chairs around the wall and/or TV monitor where they will be viewing the work. The reviewers typically sit in a small semi-circle at the front, then other students and guests sit behind to listen to the presentation.
Am I Invited?
YES!!!
Would I Be Disruptive If I Drop In/Out?
It is most informative if you can be there for the beginning of a review session to hear the studio lead share the context of the projects and introduce the reviewers. Each student presents for a few minutes, and then a conversation is encouraged with the reviewers, so staying from start to finish with a single student takes roughly 20 minutes and is a good way to get the full picture. However, know that the culture of these events is very accepting of walking (respectfully) in and out; you are welcome to stop in for 10 minutes or a full session!