On Monday morning, the Art and Design Building’s architecture studio was filled with 76 human figures. Only 38 were alive.
Architecture students sat beside life-size cardboard clones of themselves they constructed for an assignment in Architectural Design II. When displayed around the Design Building Commons for a critique, it resembled a scene from a sci-fi movie.
Architecture professor Kris Palagi assigned students to create one-to-one clones of themselves using recycled cardboard, a hot-glue gun, permanent markers and box cutters.
The clones were constructed in positions associated with gameday, and resembled fans in the bleachers communicating everything from excitement to boredom.
“It was a way of engaging students in designing something that was supposed to communicate some emotion to the viewer,” Palagi said.
First-year architecture student Courtney Crane designed her clone to look like it was dozing off in the bleachers while first year architecture student Joanne Castro’s assumed an exasperated position — as if the other team just took the lead. Castro said the project was difficult but rewarding.
“I definitely learned that simplicity might be an easier way,” Castro said. “But thinking outside the box helps you to grow more and learn more.”
Palagi said the most challenging aspect of designing the clones was communicating real human movement.
“You start to see where the flat cardboard, the first iterations of these clones are really just kind of flat corpses,” he said.
Crane said it was frustrating to create the clones because they all seemed to look stiff at first.
“I hated it at first, I really did,” Crane said. “But toward the end, it was good, it was fun.”
First-year architecture student Dylan Roth said he enjoyed the project because it taught him how to observe the human form and communicate it using basic architectural skills.
“I think it’s a great analysis of the human form and motion,” Roth said.
The clones will be displayed around Baton Rouge in events open to the public. The first event is Thursday at Monochrome, a local furniture and design store, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“Because they so clearly represent the idea of communication and structure, I think they’re a wonderfully engaging student work project that can be shown,” Palagi said.
When Palagi assigned this same project while teaching at the University of Hawaii, one of his student’s clones was picked up by the director of the TV show “Last Resort,” and shown in an episode. The director saw the clone when it was displayed in the window of a local business.
Palagi hopes to show this year’s clones in other businesses in town like restaurants and potentially Area 51 Extreme Air Sports, an indoor trampoline park.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Nicholas Martino

Architecture Freshman design cardboard clones on Monday, February 01, 2016, and display them around the Quad.