Students end year by designing houses
June 21, 2012 2:26PM
Eisenhower High School junior Patrick Anaya discusses the house he designed in the school’s architectural and engineering drafting course. | Supplied Photo
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Updated: July 25, 2012 6:01AM
Wall by wall, room by room, students in architectural and engineering drafting classes developed a vision for their ultimate assignment this year: Design a home of their dreams.
Employing the software Autodesk Revit, the Eisenhower High School students chose bathroom fixtures, kitchen appliances, building materials and every other detail in a house plan.
They started slowly, designing bathrooms, kitchens and other rooms. With many of the fundamental elements of house design in place, they embarked a few weeks ago on their final project.
“They were given set criteria on the size of the home,” said teacher Jeff Totsch, who limited the house to 3,000 square feet. “All the previous units were used as a guide to help students with the creation process.”
Students started by identifying the key rooms and the sensible dimensions that would coincide with the overall size of the house.
“Once rooms and living areas were identified, students created sketches of what their floor plan would look like,” Totsch said. “They then took their sketches and began designing their homes electronically on Autodesk Revit.”
Autodesk Revit, which is employed by many top architectural firms, allows students to design in three dimensions.
“The software helped them visualize how their homes would appear,” Totsch said. “It also creates realistic computer-generated renderings of their homes.”
Students completed their homes in four weeks.
“The house plans were graded with a performance based rubric that aligned with course standards and objectives,” Tosch said.
Like many courses relating to information technology, business education and family and consumer science, architectural and engineering drafting qualifies students for college credit. Students who earn an ‘A’ or ‘B’ in the class automatically earn credit for an identical class at Moraine Valley Community College. Some students graduate from high school with as much as a full semester of college credit.
Provided to the SouthtownStar
