Course syllabus

COURSE-PM

ARK258 Exploration - Matter, space, structure 3

LP1 and LP2 HT20 (22.5 hp)

Part of the Matter Space Structure studio.

The course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Part of the Architecture and Urban design master program (MPARC)

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Introduction to the course Monday 21/9 9:00 on zoom:

https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/61843678305 (Links to an external site.)
Password: 026322

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Contact details

Daniel Norell (Examiner)                           norelld@chalmers.se

Jens Olsson (Course leader)                    jens.olsson@chalmers.se

Naima Callenberg (Tutor)                         naima@chalmers.se

Jonas Carlson  (Tutor)                            jonas.carlson@chalmers.se

Peter Christensson (Tutor)                         peter@chalmers.se

Student representatives

Catrin Frick                                                      catrinf@student.chalmers.se 

Hanna Elisabet Astrid Haraldsson                    hannaharald@gmail.com

Hedvig Kjellander                                            hedvigk@student.chalmers.se

Osama Rahahleh                                              omrahahleh792@gmail.com

Course purpose

"Celebrating an artistic approach to architectural design."

Architecture is matter formed into space. The studio course aims to augment skills in architectural design with an understanding of the research by design approach. Emphasis is put on the iterative design process driven by physical representations such as model making and drawing, and informed by experiments in computational design. The course aims to create space for an open design exploration of an individual topic which is well suited as a preparation for the thesis project. The exploration includes collection of reference projects and background research, iterative design development of prototypes and development of representation techniques for the topic at hand. The focus in the course will be on the making, with the hands in the matter. Thus an excellent opportunity to sharpen the pencil in terms of representation as well as learning and exploring relevant tools for the research. The aim of the course is to strengthen the theoretical discourse with the concrete act of making, and improve the individual methodology within the research by design approach.

Theme

The overall theme for the studio in 2020 is a critical engagement with the notion of architectural appropriation. The term can be understood as reuse of physical objects, the mixing of motifs, materials and typologies but also reuse is terms of ideas, concepts and even cultural signifiers. We will explore how design can depart from an existing stock of buildings, materials or found forms in order to address a context. We will experiment with technologies such as scanning that allows us to capture, represent, and transform aspects of real entities and environments.  The fundamental character of the theme means that it can be well “appropriated” to the particularities of each individual project.

Schedule

See attached pdf schedule for a details including, rooms and groups.

Course Design

The course is split into four modules. Each module is finished with a documentation hand-in and a critique session (except for the last module for which there is only a portfolio hand-in). Similarly each module starts with a reflection of the individual work of the previous module, except in the first module which starts with the hand-in of a project plan. The tutoring is organised in group’s sessions and will be concentrated towards the end of each week, Thursdays and Fridays. Workshops and seminars will be introduced on Monday mornings and resulting work will be presented on Friday afternoon and will be shared with the other Matter space structure course ARK123. Note that there are exceptions to this main structure so keep an eye on the schedule for the details and latest updates. Any late changes to the schedule will be communicated on email and updated on Canvas and Time Edit accordingly. The schedule can be found under the Files tab here on Canvas.

There are in total 3 workshops included in the course, which aim to strengthen skills in terms of tools and methods related to the theme. More information about the workshops can be found in the description that belong to each Module.

• Workshop #1 - Digital representation and Translation               
• Workshop #2 - Photogrammetry - Void // Infill                           
• Workshop #3 - Photogrammetry - Project adaptation

Facilities Resources and Equipment & Covid-19

The studio will occupy desk space for the course participants in the 5th floor which is shared with the other students in the Matter Space Structure studio. Due to the unusual situation with covid-19 the number of available desks is very limited as a response to Chalmers guidelines for social distancing. Therefor access to the studio space is limited to Thursdays (the whole day) and on Friday mornings. For critique weeks (42, 46,51) we will have additional access in the Friday afternoon.  

To manage the corona situation all mandatory parts of the course, including tutoring, will be accessible over zoom. That means the course can be taken on distance. However, tutoring will also be offered in the studio space on Thursdays and Fridays. Tutoring groups will be arranged to manage desired tutoring option.   

We normally encourage that the work is carried out in the studio environment which is an important milieu for learning of each other. To facilitate a type of studio culture while following social distancing recommendations the reference groups will be an important asset. A reference group “catch up” is scheduled in the afternoon on Tuesdays as a weekly event and the zoom meeting links for these groups can be found on canvas under "Modules".    

The workshop is available weekdays between 9:00 - 16:30 but in a reduced capacity. Students will need to sign up for a time slot in order to be let at the door. Access to the workshops requires that you take an introductory course with Peter or Tabitha.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Knowledge and understanding

• Refer to relevant knowledge of the topic.
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of architectural history and theory in general.

Skills and abilities

• Seek related material from academic research and architectural examples to inform the design process and frame the project.
• Use a variety of ways to document the context in drawing and model making, manually and digitally along with the prolificness in conventional methods.
• Apply skills and abilities in design investigations where the informed drawing and model themselves become evocative arguments in the contemporary architectural conversation.

Values and approaches

• Apply individual approaches and sets of values in an explicit way, particularly the evaluation criteria associated with the design iterations.

Examination  

For a completion of the course the student is expected to:

• Hand in a project description as described in Module #1.
• Hand in a reflection at the end of each Module.
• Hand in project documentation before each critique session.
• Participate and present at each of the three critique sessions.
• Participate in workshops and seminars and fulfill respective hand in requirements. 
• Compile and hand in the final project.

Absence from any of the mandatory critiques will be result in complementary task to be handed in online in agreement with the teachers.

Course plan   

The course plane for ARK258 can be reached on Studieportalen here (Links to an external site.).

Communication with teachers

Communication with the teachers involved in the course can be done here on Canvas and also on email (email address as above). All hand-ins will be uploaded here on Canvas with a timer (set on 23:59 for the day of hand-in), so make sure to keep track of the deadlines.