Penland Programming Questionnaire

The following questions are intended to get at some of the not so obvious requirements for the Core Fellows Housing. They are targeted mostly to current and former Core Fellows and attempt to describe the nature of the experience and the motivations behind it. We all recognize that the Morgan House shaped that experience to some extent and that a new location and very different accommodation will undoubtedly shape it in new ways. Thus the emphasis is on core (no pun intended) qualities and experience. Please respond in your own personal way and from your individual experience. Clearly, the answers will be very different for different personalities. The goal is to understand the range of needs and desires and how these might be accommodated.

Questions for Core Fellows

1.       Why did you want to be a Core Fellow?

2.       Describe your relationship with your fellow fellows.

3.       The Penland community consists of several groups, permanent staff, instructors, resident artists, students, core fellows. With which of these groups do you most interact.

4.       Who do you consider to be mentors?

5.       Who are your closest friends and to what group do they belong.

6.       What are your most important support systems at Penland?

7.       How do you use digital technology in your work and socially and for entertainment.

As a way to understand the Core Fellows House, we felt it would be useful to view it through three lenses:  craft object, behavior and environmental.

Craft Object

The Core Fellows House will become a new and important addition to the Penland Campus. Each building and the campus itself is an expression of design and craft. Architecture, building and landscape are examples of art and craft that are very similar in many ways to the objects that are taught and created at Penland. At its best, buildings should possess similar values and qualities as the best work in other mediums.

1.       What are some of the aesthetic qualities of the best craft objects?

2.       How do you balance form and function in your work?

3.       What is the importance of tradition in crafts?

4.       How can a building elegantly express craft and art?

5.       What are some of the qualities that impart individual expression and personality?

Behavior

Buildings and landscape shape behavior. Architectural design can be seen as a mediator of human experience; a platform that allows and enhances certain activities and interactions.

1.       What is your morning routine? What are the first things you do to get your day started?

2.       How many people at the Core Fellows House typically cook and eat together? Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Note the different times of year and the way that the schedule varies. Describe the various eating/food preparation options.

3.       How does cleaning happen at the Core Fellows House? What are the shared responsibilities?

4.       How would you like to spend your down time? How valued is quiet time alone?

5.       Describe the social environment for the Core Fellows. How and when do you get together as a group? Do there tend to be cliques within the larger group?

6.       How often to you come and go from main campus to home? At different times of year?

7.       Describe how you use a car on a daily basis.

8.       Do you have any security concerns? Do unwelcome people ever come to the house? Is it ever locked? Do you lock your room?

9.       Do you have any fitness program while a Core Fellow? Describe.

10.   Do you use a bicycle? Where is it stored when at home.

11.   Describe in general the personal possessions that you have with you at the Core Fellows House.

12.   What are the challenges of sharing a bathroom?

Environment

The Core Fellows House will impact the environment of Penland’s Campus and community. It will be an important goal to build responsibly and sensitively. Attached to the Community Collaborate site is the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) checklist. LEED has become an accepted standard for measuring the degree to which buildings attain high performance in energy, water use and human health and safety. The design team will utilize this format to explore and evaluate the opportunities for creating a very high performing environmental response. As you review the checklist note any specific concerns and opportunities that you see for the Core Fellows House.

*Please post any comments or responses to this questionnaire in the FEEDBACK area below.  This document is also provided below so that it may be downloaded.