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A group of graduate architecture students and one landscape architecture student postponed summer vacation by a couple weeks to work with Associate Professor of Architecture Stephen Dent, UNM School of Architecture and Planning, to develop plans for an outdoor classroom in an area of the bosque at Santo Domingo Pueblo.

Photo: Ron Nelson, graduate architecture student, presents plans for his group's outdoor classroom space for Santo Domingo Pueblo.

“Santo Domingo’s cleared out an area in a 33 acre site that will include the classroom, nature trails and more,” Dent said. His students formed two teams that each presented a design with the understanding that cost of materials won’t exceed $20,000.

Both groups developed designs that feature an eastern entrance, in keeping with native tradition. Both include circular design elements reminiscent of Pueblo Bonito and a circular gallery space. Each included elements under a structure and others that are out in the open.

One group proposed using old jetty jacks that were no longer needed at the river’s edge to construct the supports for the roof of their building.

The second group creatively included an horno with a wall behind it that served as a support for the circular roof that rotated around and featured lattice work over the entrance. The wall could be used to project images or post information during class sessions, they said.

Geraldine Forbes Isais, director, architecture program, was brought in to assess the students’ work. She liked the proposed use of the angle iron, but questioned whether or not the high school students who will be doing the building of the project this summer would be skilled enough to work with it.

“I am glad that the client will make the decision about which design to use. I like elements of each that makes it hard to pick one over the other,” Forbes Isais said. She added that she appreciated all the effort the students put into the project.