AMHERST, Mass., March 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- In their final year of study, all Hampshire College students complete an extended independent project, a stage of experiential learning known at the innovative Amherst, Massachusetts, liberal arts college as the Division III. The learner shapes the project, working with the guidance of a committee of faculty mentors. For her Division III, one student in the 2004 graduating class, 21-year-old Christina Salway, designed and executed a total renovation of a vintage recreational vehicle. She transformed the Covered Wagon-brand RV from its original 1950s concept of a house-on-wheels into a guest bedroom in a project titled "Examination and Reconstruction of the Traveling Home: Rebuilding the Recreational Vehicle."
Her project began with a visit to the summer cottage of family friends, located just outside Port Jervis, N.Y. Showing Salway around the property, the wife talked of building small cabins for use as guest rooms so that visiting friends of the couple or their sons could be comfortably housed. They paused to look at an abandoned trailer, huddled for nearly two decades under a cluster of pines, as the owner mused that it might provide a starting point for the guest room project. As Salway envisioned creative ways to bring the RV back to life, she realized she had stumbled across the perfect Division III: Restoring the trailer would enable her to experience the architect-client relationship while still a student. Drawing on skills she had already developed in architecture, architectural history and design courses and internships, she could convert a built environment into a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing living space.
The two women spent days cleaning out the trailer, scrubbing away mildew and evicting mice. A crack along one end of the roofline had resulted in serious water damage, with warped walls and sagging cabinets, but Salway-who decided at age six after changing the uses of all the rooms in her dollhouse that she wanted to be an architect-saw the potential in the spatially ingenious structure.
Salway and her dad towed the trailer to the Hampshire campus, where she could consult with faculty supervising her project as well as have access to fabrication tools available through the college's Lemelson program for student inventors. In the course of the project, she would repair the roof, pull the kitchen, rewire, sand and paint exterior metal, remove decayed interior wood, stain and install new paneling and lay a new floor.
Working closely with her professors, Salway drew up conceptual designs. As she researched the history of recreational vehicles for the major academic paper integral to all Division IIIs, she discovered, to her surprise, that her project was part of a much larger movement, with restoration of vintage recreational vehicles quite popular at present.
She wanted to blend the clients' particular aesthetic with what she was learning about the conventions of RV design and restoration. She sought an aesthetic flow from their New York City loft to their summer cabin to the trailer so that "people wouldn't feel they were being put up in a random trailer that had been plopped onto the property, but in a space that both felt and looked like the places they associated with this family."
To keep the space versatile, she used double-sided cushions, durable yet attractive fabric, linoleum floors with throw rugs for ease of cleaning, ample light for reading or socializing, and materials that would show the least amount of dirt tracked in from outdoors.
The new floor plan involved removing the kitchen. This was in keeping with the RV's intended use as a guest bedroom, and conveniently solved the problem of the sagging cabinets while expanding both floor space and room overhead.
Hampshire art history professor Sura Levine chaired Salway's faculty committee, providing valuable assistance on design questions. Colin Twitchell, director of Hampshire's Lemelson program, helped her develop requisite technical knowledge. She learned to use a band saw, jig saw and table saw, doing her own woodworking for the interior panels and moldings, including portions of the curved ceiling. Professors Karen Koehler of Hampshire and Gretchen Schneider of Smith brought architectural expertise to the committee.
Development of problem-solving skills is part of the Division III process. True to form, Salway encountered unexpected obstacles and learned to handle them as they arose. When removal of the kitchen sink exposed a wheel well, she hid it with a gorgeous curved-front, antique oak dresser that she refinished after buying it online and driving to Ohio to pick it up-and provided much-needed storage space.
Scouring flea markets and tag sales, she collected decorative objects fitting the trailer's vintage look, including paint-by-numbers art, Arts and Crafts style pottery and Fiesta ware. She used new material printed with vintage pink, sea foam and magenta floral patterns to sew curtains for the windows, and sturdy canvas ticking in coordinating colors for cushions for the bench sofas and overhead bed.
The entire project was completed at a cost of $1,605, far
less than even Salway had anticipated. She was awarded a
$400 grant from Hampshire College from a fund available to
assist students with their Division III projects. She and
the RV owners split the remainder of the expenses. Her
investment enabled her to complete her bachelor's degree
with a wealth of experiential knowledge in design and
building that propels her toward her goal of becoming an
architect. The owners gained a guest bedroom for their
summer cottage that can comfortably sleep up to five people
and is, in the words of Salway's Hampshire faculty committee
leader Levine, "something that everyone who saw it coveted."
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