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Voice over: Way back in the 1930s the Tennessee Valley Authority undertook its first
project: to build the Norris Dam. As a part of that project, TVA also
established the town of Norris -- one of the first planned communities in the United
States, constructed with efficient design and sustainable resources.
Today in Norris, UT's colleges of Architecture and Design and Engineering are
taking on a project inspired by the original Norris House of the 1930s.
Samuel Mortimer: The project began in the fall of 2008. It was conceived
in light of TVA's 75th anniversary and was a reinterpretation of the
original series of Norris Homes. The idea was to re-imagine
what that home would be in the 21st century.
Tricia Stuth: Today we're enjoying the fruits of some of the labors so far with the installation of the
factory-built portions of the new Norris House on the site. So we are now
seeing the two modules that were delivered today coming together which were transported here from the local plant.
Voice over: UT students and faculty members have been working side by side with Clayton
Homes, which specializes in modular and manufactured homes, in order to build the new
Norris House. Like the old house, the new Norris House will be highly energy efficient
and will achieve LEED Platinum certification, which means it will meet the very
highest environmental standards.
Tricia Stuth: Our work with Clayton Homes has been really interesting to start with understanding
what they do. They have been great teachers and very open to the
types of ideas that the students are bringing to them and really embracing those challenges as well.
Andy Hutsell: Oh, it's been fantastic. They always bring a fresh
spin on things that we do every day. And the students are just so passionate about their work.
And with this project it's extremely valuable, I think, when they go out into the world
to pursue other things they're going to be much better equipped from this experience.
Voice over: Design-build projects like this offer students a unique opportunity to practice what they've learned in a real-life environment.
Robert French: The thing that I generally tell students: when you make it in a
drawing you can make it very close to perfect. But when you work with the materials,
materials are never perfect. It does begin in dreams,
but it's realized with stuff. You know, and what they're learning about is they're learning about the stuff.
This is really life experience--I mean true, work experience that is invaluable
to the students who are involved and I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to do it.
Joan Monaco: Being a part of the initial design team and really studying
Norris and what it means to be in the city of Norris,
it's pretty amazing to see an actual built project come out of our very first visits to Norris.
Voice over: These original conceptual ideas, which once only existed on paper
and in the minds of these students, are now being realized in the real world.
And through their combined efforts, they've not only learned to be better designers,
but have also contributed to the people of Norris and its legacy.