Course syllabus

Course-PM

ARK142 Spatial morphology design studio VT21 (22.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner

Meta Berghauser Pont, meta.berghauserpont@chalmers.se

Course coordinator

Ioanna Stavroulaki, gianna.stavroulaki@chalmers.se

Teachers

Ioanna Stavroulaki, gianna.stavroulaki@chalmers.se

Lars Marcus, lars.marcus@chalmers.se

Jane Bobkova, evgeniya.bobkova@chalmers.se

Student representatives:

 

Course purpose

The main goal of the studio is to strengthen students’ understanding of how urban design provides a framework and creates conditions for urban life. Urban design is at its best when it is about the deliberate creation of frameworks so that desirable trends can be supported and so that social life is nudged in desirable directions.

Theories and methods in analytical Urban Morphology, especially network analysis (Space Syntax) and density analysis (Spacematrix), are used to arrive at what can be called an evidence-based-design methodology.

Schedule

TimeEdit

All lectures, GIS tutorials and presentations take place in room 582 while supervision and the workshops take place in the studio on the fifth floor (North 2A). If we deviate from this, an email will be send at least one day in advance (especially the lectures might shift to remote if needed).

Course literature

See Course Booklet.

Course design

The studio is organised around a sequence of workshops, GIS laboratories, lectures, literature seminars - and the design studio with each its own set of learning outcomes and assignments. Workshops give room for experiments, lectures transfer knowledge and inspire, GIS laboratories give the technical knowhow to conduct advanced spatial analysis, literature seminars deepen your understanding and critical reading of the central theories and methods of the course, and the design project synthesises all this.

• GIS laboratories. The use of quantitative GIS (Geographic Information System) data is central for the work in the studio and the skills are learned during the GIS laboratories. Software and tutorials are provided. Examination form: Presence at the laboratories (otherwise written assignment)
• Workshops. During the workshops the advanced spatial analysis and theoretical knowledge are applied in simple design problems and enable the students to quickly go through a "design loop" of analysing, designing alternatives and evaluating effects. Examination form: Written assignment in the form of a workshop reports.
• Literature seminars. Central theories addressing the relation between urban form and urban life are discussed based on the reading of a selection of relevant papers and book chapters. Examination form: Oral presentation and integration of the literature in the Final course report.
• Design project. The skills learned during the GIS laboratories and workshops and the knowledge of the literature seminars will be synthesised and applied. Design project presented in drawings, texts and an oral presentation at the final critics. Examination form: Final course report and Oral presentations, Posters for exhibition
• Lectures. Throughout the whole semester a series of lectures are scheduled given by experts from Chalmers, but also guests from other universities and practice. The lectures support the other course component.

Learning objectives and syllabus

Knowledge & Understanding

2. The student should be able to demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the field of urban morphology and landscape ecology, and the central theories and methods used to better understand the role of urban form in steering social, economic and environmental processes in cities.
   Main course component: Literature seminars and workshops
   Examination form: written reports related to the workshops and active usage of the literature in the final course report.
3. The student should be able to apply the methods and theories central to the course in a design assignment where the design choices are supported by research and spatial analysis.
   Main course component: Design project.
   Examination form: Final course report and oral presentation.

Skills & abilities

1. The students should be able to use GIS and PST software to analyse cities and neighbourhoods according to the theories and methods central to this course.
   Main course component: GIS laboratories.
   Examination form: Presence at the laboratories (otherwise written assignment)
   

2. The student should be able to apply the methods and theories central to the course in design.
   Main course component: Workshops and Design project.
   Examination form: Workshop reports and Final course report.

3. The student should be able to support their design choices using the methods and theories central to the course.
   Main course component: Workshops, Literature seminars and Design project.
   Examination form: Workshop reports and Final course report.

4. The student should be able to communicate results convincingly in text, drawings and maps.
   Main course component: all.
   Examination form: Final course report, Posters for exhibition and Oral presentations.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

Examination form

The grade is a weighted average of the following aspects:

1. Results: the result of the work for each element and the overall result. The separate elements considered are: workshops and reports, GIS laboratories (presence), lectures (presence), literature seminars (presentation and final report) - and the design studio (Final course report and Oral presentations, Posters for exhibition). See Course Booklet for more details.
2. Communication and presentation, including Oral presentation, Booklet and Exhibition.
3. Process: how the process, ongoing work, has been carried out.
4. Progression: how much you have developed during the semester.
5. Attendance: obligatory attendance, less the 70% attendance pulls down your grades in all judgement criteria.
6. Attitude: in the studio, towards the work, fellow students, and tutors.