MUNCIE, Indiana — Thanks to a Ball State University immersive learning experience titled i-Made, Tecumseh, Michigan, resident Steven Polchinski is seeing his creative architectural designs become reality while serving the Muncie community.
Polchinski is a third-year architecture major who’s currently working on an entrance threshold for a local makerspace. As Ball State takes aggressive measures to mitigate the threat of COVID-19, Polchinski is completing the remainder of the immersive learning course remotely and collaborating with community partners virtually.
The entrance threshold is an entry sign installation in MadJax’s courtyard. The threshold project will be the primary point of interaction with people entering the MadJax property and will serve as an inviting advertisement for the facility. To create the design, Polchinski and a small team recorded sound files from the MadJax building and used that data to generate three different patterns, which have been layered for an aesthetically innovative appeal.
“I am very excited to see this threshold take shape. It’s fascinating to see these projects realized and watch them transition from the digital realm to the real world,” Polchinski said. “Most work in architecture programs lives on the computer and never gets produced, so it will be very rewarding to see my design carried all the way to completion.”
The immersive learning experience — led by Associate Professor of Architecture Kevin Klinger — has more than 10 industry partners that contribute professional expertise and materials that bring the students’ various designs to life. The i-Made title stands for Indiana, information, and individual, the three critical elements of the project.
“We implement a forward-thinking methodology called design-through-production that allows students to see the entire process of realizing architectural work,” Klinger said. “Students conceptualize ideas and then work directly with producers who provide feedback and mentorship until the design is a physical product.”
The threshold isn’t the only design being produced in the course. From exhibitions, to farmers market improvements, transportation enhancements, and pop-up mobile libraries, students fabricate digital design solutions with partners such as the Indiana Hardwood (hardwood is the state’s largest revenue crop), Midwest Metals, Minnetrista, and more. EcoVantage even donated thermally modified Indiana Hardwood lumber, which was sourced from sustainable forests and due to thermal modification, much more durable in outdoor settings.
“The impact is manifested in that we are providing students empowering opportunities to be civically and regionally minded, to tap into a global network of knowledge, and to make a difference where they live at college,” Klinger said. “Both students and industry benefit from this exchange of ideas.”
Polchinski is using this immersive learning project to bring him closer to his career goal, which is to open his own digital design and fabrication firm.
“The studio culture, collaborative mindset, exceptional faculty, and amazing opportunities are what inspired me to become a Cardinal. I wouldn’t want to spend my time anywhere else,” Polchinski said. “And I can’t wait to apply all I’ve learned throughout my career.”
Klinger said he is glad to help students find their passion and purpose at Ball State.
“Seeing the students’ inevitable enthusiasm and leadership when they realize their responsibility and capability to make an impact is incredible,” Klinger said. “I try to light their fire and then take a step back and watch them take over.”
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