What these works demonstrate...is a mastery over the means of production and an ability to break down the construction of a building into its constituent parts, and to use this articulation as a strategem bestowing an appropriate character on the work in hand. (Kenneth Frampton, Studies in Tectonic Culture, p. 386.)

Good architecture starts always with efficient construction. Without construction there is no architecture. Construction embodies material and its use according to its properties, that is to say, stone imposes a different method of construction from iron or concrete.... (But) we shall choose our material not only according to the standards of economy and pure science but with the spirit of emotional freedom and artistic imagination. Hence architecture finally stands beyond pure purpose; higher than the achievements of logic and cold calculation. (Frampton p. 335 (quoting Aris Konstantinidis, c. 1964))

The studio will be used as a way to explore these ideas:

How do you decide to use a material?
By understanding its natural properties in relation to a set of natural forces. By understanding how Production processes will be supportive to your intentons.

What is the fundamental problem with a material once you decide how to use it?
Figuring out how it relates to the other elements in the assembly; developing the Articulation. 

What is the fundamental problem with an assembly once you decide how to use it?
Figuring out how it relates to other assemblies and how it supports the Character you are after.

How do you figure out what Character you are after?
By developing a clear set of architectural intentions, and by knowing what means of Production you have at your disposal.

There is a circular relationship between these ideas of Character, Articulation and Production. Developing a sophisticated understanding of these relationships is our goal.