Tactical Architecture 2015 Photo: TJ Maguire

Have you ever thought of running a free lab?
To celebrate twenty-five fantastic years of Free Labs we’re inviting all Dalhousie Architecture alumni to consider joining this adventure. The Labs have grown into a vital part of our school and of our students’ learning: we now see them as a way of reconnecting and enriching the whole TUNS/Dalhousie Architecture community.

Each year we host a variety of Labs ranging from large community service projects to ephemeral installations to structured experiments to heritage documentation to Labs that defy categories. We try to locate some of them in or near the school, some farther afield, and one or two in another province or even another country. Some are designed around the limited resources available from the school, others are funded externally. Every year we discover new kinds of partnership.

Drowning Girls (set for a play) 2014

The application process is informal and flexible. The only rule at this stage of the process is that every Free Lab idea will be considered. If you’re curious, there’s more information below and if you have further questions, please get in touch with Free Lab co-ordinator Emanuel Jannasch at Emanuel.Jannasch@dal.ca.

Free Lab information for prospective Lab leaders
The Dalhousie School of Architecture is inviting all alumni to submit proposals for the 2017 Free Labs. [link to text above] The application process is flexible and responds to the needs of each proposal. Some basic information is provided here, but further inquiries are welcome at any time.

Dates for 2017
Jan. – Mar. 2017          Free lab proposals developed and selected on an ongoing basis

Weds. April 19             List of Free Labs for 2017 finalized

Weds. May 3                Meeting, partly on line, of free lab leaders.

Fri. May 5                    11x 17 posters of the 12 or so selected labs pinned up for student review

Weds. May 10              Oral/slide presentation of lab options; students identify preferences

Mon. May 15               Students assigned to labs

Fri. July 14                   Free Labs begin

Fri. July 28                   Final free Lab presentations in the exhibition room

The Development Process
There is no formal application process. A few labs, usually from experienced leaders, begin with a fully developed proposal. But the majority start with a looser idea or even with a single question. These labs develop over time, with input and guidance from the Free Lab coordinator. It sometimes happens that we have a community group looking for help and a lab leader looking for ideas; this has led to some successful matchmaking.

Refuge 2014

Evaluation and Selection
Labs will be selected partly on their own merits and partly to achieve a good mix of themes and locations. Strong proposals with their own deadlines due to pending sponsorships etc. may be selected early, space will be left for late applications, right up to April 19. Strong community service proposals usually include a worthy not-for-profit client group, a manageable scope of work, a balance of design and construction, sound construction management, and an interest in learning from the culture that we’re presuming to serve.

Strong speculative or research proposals grow from a compelling question and usually culminate in a reasonably large (body-scale or room-scale) construction, and they balance broad exploration with focused goal-seeking or problem-solving.

But there is no fixed checklist of virtues, because we are always looking for new kinds of lab, and new opportunities.

The selection process will be steered by the Free Lab coordinator, but the final decisions rest with the Director of the School, Diogo Burnay.

Leadership
Some labs leaders have a long history in Free Labs or related work, and for others the Labs represent a new kind of adventure. We don’t demand a long CV but we do check that the experience of the prospective leader matches the demands of their proposal.

We’ll help you identify the logistical issues early on, and we can make some suggestions, but ultimately they’ll be yours to work out.

The School is taking a more formal approach to workplace safety than it used to, and we will provide you with some support and training in that area. The key is recognizing the responsibilities that each of us bears under the law, and living up to them.

For some labs those responsibilities are considerable, and lab leaders may arrange for someone better qualified to manage the construction safety aspect of their lab.

Deanery Project 2015

Numbers
Leaders from the full time faculty are already on salary, but sessionals and outside lab leaders are paid an honorarium of about $1800.00. (the actual rate is governed by CUPE) This may not be  not a lot, especially when leaders invest some of that money in their own travel or other expenses. But the labs were conceived to provide Faculty and others with an opportunity to conduct some research and to add to their own portfolio, and benefit from some 20 person-weeks of skilled and enthusiastic participants. The history of the Free Labs shows how great this opportunity this can be.

Group sizes vary from about six to twelve students. The school has a budget for lab expenses totaling about 75.00 per student.  For some externally funded labs this is not a significant amount, and they don’t even apply for the school funding. This is much appreciated by the organizers as it gives them some discretionary funding. The Harry Kitz fund provides approximately 1000.00 to support community projects within the HRM region; other funding may become available.

Additive Manufacturing 2015

FAQ’s
As you mull over your Free Lab ideas, other questions will arise. Send them to Emanuel and he will share his replies with all prospective Lab leaders as frequently answered questions. The labs have become a highlight of the school year, and with your involvement 2017 will be the best year ever.

You can check out a selection of social media posts and photos from the 2016 projects as a storify here!