By STEFANIE HILL

Staff Writer

Students in Architecture 460, an architectural design class offered this quarter, are building onto the community.

As part of the requirements for completing their degrees, the fifth-year architecture students divide into groups of four to design and build separate projects throughout Lincoln Parish.

Dr. Karl Puljak, an assistant professor of architecture and professor of Architecture 460, said this class provides the students with a hands-on learning experience they do not receive in the classroom.

"It provides a great opportunity for students to see a plan all the way through, from idea to the finished project," Puljak said.

The four projects are an amphitheater classroom at James Lake in Dubach; a pavilion at Robert's Park, located on Mississippi Avenue; a play area and a healing garden for the women at Domestic Abuse Response Team shelter to relax; and an outdoor science room at Ruston Elementary School, located 200 N. Bernard St.

Each group chose which project they wanted to work on.

Puljak said many people in the community had a need, but the teams selected those they felt had the most need.

"Each group chose their project by which issue they found most important to them," Puljak said.

Billisha Johnson, a senior architecture major working on the James Lake Project, said this gives her a different outlook on architecture.

"There are so many more things you must take in consideration, like the cost of building materials," Johnson said. "What works on paper doesn't always work in real life. It opens your eyes to actuality."

Patrick Menulty, a senior architecture major, said his group decided on the James Lake Project because they wanted to try to find a way to connect the school to the community.

"The amphitheater classroom provides a place for entertainment for the community, while the school can use it for science projects and such," Menulty said.

Laura Erdely, a senior architecture major working on the Robert's Park Project, said doing this project forced her to face some of her weaknesses in dealing with architecture.

"I have a tendency to be a dreamer and explore all opportunities," Erdely said. "This project forces me down to reality and to realize what I visualize won't always work."

J.J. Cameron, a senior architecture major working on the Ruston Elementary School project, said he is excited to see his idea come to life.

"This time it is not just a presentation," Cameron said, "but an actual project that will have an impact on people in the community."