Course syllabus
Schedule
Zoom (password to all meetings:ARK079)
lectures & seminars:
group work:
Physical rooms:
Art Studio, all days, one table per group, limitation of numbers
Atrium, table area - certain days
Workshop, all days, with limitations of numbers
Theme 2021: Nordic housing architecture on different scales.
The course gives a basis for reflection on Nordic housing architecture on different scales and a preliminary meeting as well as a discourse with some of its traditions, contemporary developments, buildings and architects. The course is based on lectures, student seminars, virtual excursions and an analysis through model building. The students will work in groups of about five or six students each.
Contact details
Walter Unterrainen, professor, examiner, walteru@chalmers.se
Claes Caldenby, professor em., guest lecturer, caldenby@chalmers.se
Tabita Nilsson, lecturer, teacher, tabita@chalmers.se, 0709-615052
Peter Lindblom, teacher, pl@chalmers.se
Course purpose
The course has two main aims. First to give a brief introduction to Nordic architecture. Second to work with a concrete analysis of a particular building through model building. Six buildings, all outstanding housing projects on different scales and with very different design philosophy, from four of the Nordic countries will be studied and analysed in depth. An overview model of each building will be complemented by two analytical/descriptive models as well as images, collages and text. This analysis is intended to help others understand essential qualities of the buildings in their historic, spatial and social context and also to develop, or clarify, concepts of architecture.
Private house of Alvar Aalto, Munkkiniemi, Helsinki https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/location/the-aalto-house/
Naturhus by Bengt Warne, Saltsöbaden https://www.ayd-la.com/naturhus/
Kingo houses by Jörn Utzon,Helsingoer https://dac.dk/viden/arkitektur/kingohusene/
Soeholm row houses by Arne Jacobsen, Klampenborg/Copenhagen https://www.archaic-mag.com/classics-soholm-row-houses-arne-jacobsen/
Tapionsolu houses by Kaja and Heikki Siren, Tapiola https://tectonica.archi/projects/vivienas-tapionsolu/
Träsnidaren housing by Ralph Erskine, Umeå http://www.trasnidaren.nu/fakta/historia/
Gaining by Sharing housing by Helen and Hard, Vindmoellbakken Stavanger http://www.gainingbysharing.no/modellen/
Terrace houses by Olav Selvaag in Ullernåsen/Oslo http://www.enhsa.net/archidoct/Issues/vol1_iss1/ArchiDoct_vol1_iss1%2002%20Built%20rationally%20Ascher.pdf
Student housing by C.F. Moeller in Odense https://www.archdaily.com/785806/student-housing-cf-moller
Course literature
(Books are available at the library at the School of Architecture or at the University library.)
Claes Caldenby (ed.), Sweden: 20th-century architecture. München: Prestel, 1998.
Kjeld Kjeldsen (ed.), New Nordic: architecture & identity. Humlebæk: Louisiana, 2012.
Nils Ole Lund, Nordic architecture, Arkitektens forlag, 2008.
Course design
The course in Nordic architecture is three weeks long and the work will be communicated in a final exhibition curated by the students, opening on the last day of the course. The exhibition will also have a digital format and published at namn på sidan
The students will work in project groups of five. The project groups will be pre-made but the choice of which building to pursue will be elective to a certain degree. All student groups will together be responsible for the layout, mounting and dismounting of the physical exhibition as well as the digital, and promoting them. For this purpose, the students will form a curating group.
The first week includes a presentation of the course and a brief presentation and discussion of Nordic architecture. It also includes an introduction and preparations for the model building. Literature studies, analytic drawings based on existing plans, sections and other representations as well as a virtual study trip to the buildings are the basis for a deeper understanding and reflection.
The second week will be mostly dedicated to model building with exception for a seminar between groups sharing their preliminary findings.
The third week will include model building and concrete preparations for both the physical and digital exhibitions.
Changes made since the last occasion
The selection of number and type of models has been adjusted to meet the type of buildings studied and to fit in with the time limit.
Changes due to Covid 19:
Covid 19 most probably does not allow to travel, therefore we need to help us with a virtual study trip to each building. As a consequence, the written study trip report has been taken away and more focus has been put on an oral seminar on the Nordic context concerning the projects involved.
The process of putting up the exhibition down town as a complement to the exhibition at school, as has been done before, is not considered safe during the Covid 19 circumstances. This has been replaced by an online exhibition that will reach a larger audience.
The workshop has limitations and restrictions due to Covid 19 but is open and will function within these. Maximum number of people in the machine plus bench area is currently 6. Most activities have to be booked. Full up-to-date information about this is found on the Workshop canvas page A-verkstad.
Group work is essential but has to be more physically limited than usual. Therefore, effort is put into establishing good group routines that work both digitally and physically, with individual zoom links for each group to meet and a daily routine to do so.
Learning objectives and syllabus
At the completion of the course, each student should be able to describe some aspects of Nordic architecture, its conditions and character. Also to describe a number of Nordic architects and buildings and relate them to a cultural and historical context.
Examination
To pass the course the following is required: active participation in lectures, seminars and discussions as well as contribution to reports and to the exhibition.
Grading:
For any student being present at all the lectures, trips, seminars and the model building the normal grade is 4. Lesser participation will result in the grade 3 or not passed. Exceptional contributions during the course might result in the grade 5.
Deliveries
Each project group shall deliver:
Presentation of preliminary findings & sketch for concept model, Jan 26 (oral)
Presentation of building in the Nordic context, Feb 2 (oral)
3 models of the project building (physical) with documentation in photos, Feb 5
Model report, Feb 5 (written)
The whole group shall deliver:
A physical exhibition with models and information, Feb 5
A digital exhibition with model photos and/or films and information, Feb 5
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|