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Wednesday, February 19, 2025

UC Davis students design and build three unique seating areas on campus

The space outside Hunt Hall is transformed by three new structures called “follies,” created by students in the Design & Build Studio course 

 

By MEGAN PUSL — campus@theaggie.org

 

UC Davis students from the course Landscape Design Architecture (LDA) 160: Design & Build Studio, spent fall quarter 2024 designing and building three new seating areas outside of Hunt Hall. Haven Kiers and Gabino Marquez, the course instructors, led students in creating the follies on campus.

The focus of the Design & Build Studio course in the fall was to create structures known as “follies,” according to Kiers.

“My goal for these design-build projects is to give students a chance to not only to see their creative ideas and designs come to life but also to understand the practical skills and effort that go into any construction project,” Kiers said. “My hope is that projects like these provide them with a chance to try new tools, get their hands dirty and learn applied skills.”

The three follies are located outside of Hunt Hall, the landscape architecture building, and Kiers said they have seen much attention due to their close location to the Memorial Union and the Quad.

“The addition of the follies activated an underutilized space in front of Hunt Hall,” Kiers said. “It’s a great, open, sunny location, but no one ever spent time there. Since the follies have been added, the area has been full of people hanging out between classes, eating lunch [and/or] taking a coffee break.”

Every student in the LDA 160 course dedicated their time and worked hands-on to create the new seating areas on campus during a 10-week time period. Gracie Snedden, third-year landscape architecture major, explained the process of creating the follies in class.

“During the first week, everyone came up with a design without any real constraints, then we picked our favorites and voted on the top three,” Snedden said. “We split into three groups to work on design specifics like how the swings should hang or if we wanted a roof. We made the construction documents in our groups before beginning the construction process.”

Brianna Bobadilla, a third-year landscape architecture major, designed one of the three follies selected by the class for construction.

“When I was coming up with my design, I wanted it to be something that could be realistically used by the community there,” Bobadilla said. “The whole purpose behind the design is to make something that could be integrated into the UC Davis campus.”

Bobadilla explained the versatile and inclusive design of her folly.

“The folly consists of three parts,” Bobadilla said. “The [purpose] behind the middle table is that it can be accessed by wheelchair users. Also, the two benches on the sides are at a height where anyone can sit.”

Bobadilla then described the extensive time and energy that every student put into the three follies.

“Everyone in the class worked really hard to get this done,” Bobadilla said. “It was such a great experience to get to do this.”

Many UC Davis students have already utilized the new seating on campus. Amelia Swanson, a fourth-year sustainable environmental design major, shared her excitement about the new follies.

“I am so excited about the new benches outside of Hunt Hall,” Swanson said. “I have already used them several times to study with friends or to hang out waiting for my next class to start. They are all uniquely built allowing for a different experience each time I use them!”

Although LDA 160 is only open to landscape architecture students, anyone can enjoy the projects that are created by the class. The follies are open every day and time and can be found on the south side of Hunt Hall.

 

Written by: Megan Pusl— campus@theaggie.org

 

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