Course syllabus

COURSE-PM

ARK258 Exploration - Matter, space, structure 3

LP1 and LP2 HT21 (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 20/9 9:00 on zoom:

https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/61337998097 (Links to an external site.)

Passcode: 641858

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Contact details

Daniel Norell (Examiner)                           norelld@chalmers.se

Jens Olsson (De-facto Examiner)             jens.olsson@chalmers.se

Naima Callenberg (Tutor)                          naima@chalmers.se

Malgorzata Zboinska (Tutor)                    malgorzata.zboinska@chalmers.se

Sara Olsson (Tutor)                                    olsara@chalmers.se

Peter Christensson                                    peter@chalmers.se

Student representatives

Nemir Chaudhry                                        nemir@student.chalmers.se

Vanja Divic                                                 vanjadivic@gmail.com

Ellinore Olofsson                                       erikael@student.chalmers.se

Malina Maria Tezycka                                malinatezycka@gmail.com

Helene Wallberg                                        helene.wallberg@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. We put emphasis on an iterative design process driven by physical representations such as model making and drawing and informed by physical and computational experiments. The course aims to create space for open-ended design exploration of an individual topic which is well suited as a preparation for the thesis project. The exploration includes the 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 to improve the individual methodology within the research by design approach.

Theme

The underlying theme for the studio in 2021 is a continuation of previous years 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 in 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 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 final 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 the 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 by email and updated on Canvas accordingly. The schedule can be found under the Files tab here on Canvas.

There is a workshop planned for the second week of the course, which aims to strengthen skills in terms of tools and methods related to the theme. More information about the workshops can be found in the description under the first Module tab.

• Workshop #1 - Some Name (Karin Hedlund)   
• Reading seminar - Reuse/Appropriation/Spolia (Malgorzata Zboinska)

Facilities Resources and Equipment & Covid-19

The studio will occupy desk space for the course participants on 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 limited as a response to Chalmers guidelines for social distancing. Therefore access to the studio space is generally limited to Thursdays (the whole day) and on Friday mornings during the first study period. However,  the goal is that all teaching will be conducted without restrictions from study period 2 and onwards.

To manage the corona situation all mandatory parts of the course for the first study period, including tutoring, will be accessible over zoom. However, tutoring will also be offered in the studio space on Thursdays and Fridays and groups will be arranged to manage desired tutoring options.   

We normally encourage that the work is carried out in the studio environment which is an important milieu for learning from 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 session 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". For each of these reference group sessions (except during critique weeks) a theme will be given for you to discuss. These themes also become a topic for the following tutoring and they are     

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 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 fulfil respective hand-in requirements. 
• Compile and hand in the final project.

The project should furthermore include the following:

• A written account for the project discourse which is complemented with references to architectural projects that are related to the theme of exploration.
• An explanation of the iterative design development including a reflection on criterias for evaluation which is guiding that process. 
• Development of/ or a reflection on the choice of representation technique and how it communicates the project. 
• An exposition of the method/methodology that has been used or developed during the project.
• A purposefully and thoughtfully narrated composition of the final exhibition. 

Absence from any of the mandatory critiques will result in complementary tasks 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.