Course syllabus
MATTER SPACE STRUCTURE | WOODFOOD
ARK132, Matter, space, structure 2 lp3 & lp4, VT21 (22.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Part of the Matter Space Structure studio
Part of the Architecture and Urban design master program (MPARC)
Course introduction
Monday 8/2, 09:00-10:30
Zoomlink: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/65590518156
Password: 202166
Contact details
Daniel Norell (Examiner) norelld@chalmers.se
Jonas Carlson (Course leader) jonas.carlson@chalmers.se
Naima Callenberg (Tutor) naima@chalmers.se
Peter Christensson (Tutor) peter@chalmers.se
Emil Adiels (Tutor) emil.adiels@chalmers.se
Student representatives
To be decided.
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 research by design methods. Emphasis is put on the iterative design process driven by physical representations such as model making and drawing and informed by computational design.
Our attention is people and the space we inhabit. The methods are driven by curiosity and celebrates an experimental and bold approach. In the studio, we insist that projects must be rooted in a context. We divide the context into the discourse and the situation. The discourse is the academic and professional context. The situation covers the complex contextual layers associated with the location of the project.
initially, the project starts with a number of alternative design concepts where basic ideas are introduced. The concepts are presented as focus points for research topics, loose formations for integrated design, and a rough mock-up of the final presentation. A project must generate new knowledge and offer innovative solutions to the problems of our time. In architecture, prototypes contain such knowledge and can be challenged as tangible design solutions with unique features to avoid that these general examples become stereotypes.
Yet, an architectural project is always a proposal. There must be a synthesis to the investigation. More or less elaborated, more or less detailed, but insisting on a core of a design application. An architectural project is not the building itself, but a scheme that communicates the design to the team of constructors, of users, of authorities, of whoever involved in building the proposed project. Architecture is communication and an architectural project must be communicated effectively as a narrative.
The focus in the course is the close relationships between spaces, materials, detailing, light etc. The holistic effect in the act of the precise assembly of matter into architectural experience and expression. Possibility to discover and in-depth study specific phenomena’s and in prototypes develop the physical “support” to achieve the effect wanted.
Methods for developing a clear understanding for the material at hand is a key part. In workshops, modelmaking, prototypes, reference studies and in the making of sketches and drawings the true soul of the material will be revealed. Knowledge paramount to succeed in the work to achieve the right surface for the hand to touch or the light or shadow to play on.
Representation tools for establishing a notion of something unbuilt, plant a dream of a certain spatial experience or precisely describe a part of a hole will be explored, developed and discussed throughout the entire course. The chosen narrative wraps around the architectural solutions and hand in hand with its representations it creates an intriguing experience and understanding of the wanted. The studio indeed understands the drawing beyond instruction and celebrates a personal strive to challenge its meaning.
Theme
“Spaces for dining is the topic and wood are the material.”
Architectural experience is created by a wide range of phenomena’s in complex relation to each other.
Spatial composition, materiality, light, darkness, is creating an exciting whole to be experienced by us. Made by the conscious and sensitive architect, giving attention to the smallest of details. Aware of the importance of the assembly and the fittings to realize the concept.
Experience occurs in situations, in the interaction between humans. The role of the space in each situation varies, from acting in the background, to an important character for the chosen situation or activity. Spaces for ceremonies and rituals can be considered obvious examples but one can easily argue for including more everyday activities as bathing and dining where the spatial interaction is of great importance for the experience.
With the meal and different settings for the dinner in focus we will in depth study the relationships between the spatial and performative aspects of eating, the gathering around the table and maybe even the tools we use to eat. Everything matters in experiencing food in a greater sense. The chef’s composition of tastes into a complete experience is in many ways similar to the methods architects use in the making of spaces. One can also argue that the experience of a eating or a space is multisensory in similar ways. Our bodies react on and record visual impression, touch, taste, scent and sound into a whole, where time also play an important role.
In a small lightweight building, placed in an exciting location in Gothenburg, you will get the opportunity to develop your skills in working in all relevant scales to create an architectural narrative with all aspects of materiality connected to the program. You will investigate the possibilities to place your building on rooftops, on embankments, on piers, submerged in water or in the ground to challenge the relation to the context, to the existing and for sure to maximize the experience for the visitor.
Gothenburg has a strong food tradition with chefs and restaurants with a national and international reputation. To deepen our understanding and discuss the topic the course has established a collaboration with Sofia B Olsson, the founding chef at VRÅ, focusing on Nordic, Japanese food.
“The hands want to see, the eyes want to caress”
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Massive wood is the material to be used for the building. Engineered wood as CLT is in larger extent used in Sweden but still seldom used constructively to its full potential. The course will challenge the material itself as well as the assembly with all the potential in the joints and the fittings. We will investigate the potentials to combine CLT with tree trunks and other massive wood species or technologies.
The course has the ambition to produce prototypes of key fittings and details in 1:1, giving you the opportunity to further understand the material, and prototype essential designs.
To bring in further expertise on the topic we have established collaboration with Ulrik Hjort Lassen. Ulrik is a carpenter and timber frame expert. He finished his PhD in 2014, University of Gothenburg, The invisible Tools of a Timber Framer. Södra wood in Värö will sponsor the material we possibly need, they now collect CLT cut-outs from wall elements for us to use.
We will focus on the representation of your design, challenging all its conventions. The drawing in its wider meaning often in various hybrids, in combination with models and all other representation techniques, is paramount in communicating a clear narrative.
Course design
The course is split into four modules. Detailed description for each module will be published continuously under Modules on Canvas. Each module is finished with a hand-in and a critique session, except for the last module for which there is only a portfolio hand-in, and for the first module which starts with the hand-in of a project plan.
The individual work is mainly executed of-campus. The ambition though, is to arrange two course elements with physical presence. One workshop and one seminar, covid-19 safe, according to Chalmers regulations.
The tutoring is organised in group’s and as individual sessions. Tutoring will mainly be conducted on-line (Zoom). If restrictions connected to the ongoing pandemic changes, physical tutoring might be possible in later parts of the course.
The following is common content for the course:
o Project idea
o Workshop
o Lectures
o Project documentation and reflection
o Critiques and seminars
o Final critique
o Collective display / Exhibition (TBD)
o Portfolio hand-in/ Reflection
The course is conducted as individual work.
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.
The schedule can be found under the Course information tab on Canvas.
Schedule
See schedule published under Course information on Canvas for detailed information.
Course literature
This list provides a rough outline for the course. Further literature, projects, and other references will be developed in relation to each project and in dialogue with each student. Many of the items below contain presentations of and references to projects and practices.
The student will throughout the whole course read and relate your project to the course literature as a backbone to the discourse. Additional literature is encouraged to add relevant to each student’s project.
A separate hand-in for a developed project-plan related to the chosen literature is planned around mid-term. Downloads and formats for the hand-ins is found on Canvas, Course information and Literature and inspiration,
Zampollo, Francesca, 2013. Food and design: space, place and experience.
Design researcher – Food design Consultant, Founder of International Food design Society, Hospitality & Society, Volume 3 Number 3, 2013 Intellect Ltd Editorial. English language. doi: 10.1386/hosp.3.3.181_2
Davidson, Cynthia, ed. 2015. Log 34: the food issue. https://www.anycorp.com/store/log34?category=Log
Birnbaum, Charlotte, 2018. Culinary Lesson: The Space of Food: SAC Journal 4
https://www.scribd.com/book/479267551/Culinary-Lesson-The-Space-of-Food-SAC-Journal-4
Ruy, David, Lessons from Molecular Gastronomy, Log 17. (New York: Anycorp, 2009): 27-40
Lavin, Sylvia, 2011. Kissing Architecture, Princeton University Press.
Bacchini, Fabio, 2018. The ontology of the architectural work and its closeness to the culinary work.
https://cityterritoryarchitecture.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40410-018-0097-1
Horwitz, Jamie, 2006. Eating Architecture. MIT Press
Fisker, Anna Marie, Food, Architecture and Experience Design. Nordic Journal of Architectural Research
Volume 20, No 1, 2008, 12 pages, Nordic Association for Architectural Research, Anna Marie Fisker and Tenna Doktor Olsen, Department of Architecture and Design, Aalborg University, Denmark
Allen, Laura, and Luke Pearson, eds. 2016. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. London: UCL Press. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1527533/1/Drawing-Futures.pdf
Pallasmaa, Juhani, 2005. The eyes of the skin. Architecture and the Senses.
Hjort Lassen, Ulrik, 2014. The Invisible Tools of a Timber Framer. A survey of principles, situations and procedures for marking. The complete thesis is found on: http://hdl.handle.net/2077/35598
Learning objectives
Knowledge and understanding
o Demonstrate knowledge about a variety of methods to obtain understanding of the context after the course.
o Demonstrate basic understanding of a conceptual design process and knowledge to control of the design process and maintain the initial conceptual properties in the final design proposal.
Refer to relevant knowledge of the topic and demonstrate a critical understanding of architectural history and theory in general.
Skills and abilities
o Synthesize ideas and intentions into physical models and make an informed selection among alternative design proposals.
o Apply various techniques of the conditions that frame the site such as modelling, collaging, diagramming. Practice the iterative method from the alternative design concepts, the spatial sketches, to the design’s presentation.
o Prove prolificness in conventional drawings and model skills along with experimental abilities in alternative representations. Use the informed drawings and models as evocative arguments in the contemporary architectural conversation.
Values and approaches
o Use the design as a rhetoric approach based on a clear set of values.
o Put forward arguments for the discourse in the project itself.
Reflect chosen approaches, values and evaluation criteria associated with the design iterations.
Syllabus
Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.
Examination form
For a completion of the course the student is expected to:
o Hand in a project description in Module #1.
o Hand in document booklet for each module showing process and reflection.
o Participate in workshops and seminars
o Participate and present at each of the critique sessions.
o Participate in the joint discussions and seminars relating to the three critique sessions.
o Compile and hand in the final project in portfolio format / reflection.
Absence from any of the mandatory elements listed above will be result in complementary tasks to be handed in online in agreement with the teachers.