ARK496 VT23 Reality studio

Course-PM

ARK496 Reality Studio lp3-lp4 VT23 (22.5 hp)
Course offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Master’s Programme Architecture and Planning Beyond Sustainability /MPDSD

  

Contact details

Examiner/teacher: Liane Thuvander, liane.thuvander@chalmers.se, +46 762 275 857
Course coordinator/teacher: Shea Hagy, shea.hagy@chalmers.se, +46 709 847 067

Other teachers:

Lina Zachrisson, zlina@chalmers.se

Anita Ollár, ollar@chalmers.se 

Advisors:
Larry Toups, toupslarry@gmail.com

Emilio Brandao, brandao@chalmers.se

Details about external collaborations and partners, external lecturers and other resources are included below under Course structure.

Course purpose

The main aim of the master studio Reality Studio is to provide each student with necessary skills and methods that are valid in any situation of change where architectural and urban design approaches are required at different system levels and scales, from urban structures, infrastructure, buildings and technical support systems to detailed construction elements and products within the built environment. The overall point of departure is human everyday needs and the support of human survival and decent life in rapidly changing or sometimes extreme environments.

The master studio works in close cooperation with stakeholders in different parts of the world, in industrialised countries as well as in developing countries, always in highly challenged contexts. The purpose is to offer the students the potential to develop professional skills that are valid and needed in challenging situations and where the aim is to find adapted solutions to the problems at hand. The overall perspective stays the same: the development and implementation of aesthetic, affordable, socially and culturally appropriate, energy and material efficient, healthy and user-friendly, always innovative design solutions that support dignified human everyday life.

The design studio Reality Studio in an extreme environment in an unfamiliar and often challenging context, involves collaboration and cooperation with local communities, NGOs, local universities, governmental institutions and wider organisations (such as UN-HABITAT). The aim is also to integrate the master education in the field of architecture, urban design and planning with development research in ways that offers the students a solid basis for their work. Vice versa the students will contribute with investigations and ideas that could be further used and developed in future research projects as well as implemented in collaboration with local stakeholders.

Masters Thesis

The studio will also aim to provide the students with inspiration, ideas and contacts for eventual future projects within the students upcoming masters thesis, especially within the masters thesis direction Design Activism Beyond Borders.

UNSDGs

The studio relates to and focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (17)

Theme Reality Studio 2023:

Message

Mission

The development and plan for implementation of resilient, socially and culturally appropriate, healthy and innovative design solutions that support dignified human everyday life. These design solutions are situated in real-world extreme environments (often in a challenging low- or middle-income foreign context), and co-created through collaboration and cooperation with local communities, NGOs, universities, governmental institutions and other organisations.

Schedule

The studio start is on February 6^th of 2023, right in the middle of study period 3 and goes on until the end of study period 4 on June 2^rd of 2023.

For the detailed and updated daily schedule, please check your Canvas Calendar.

During the weeks preceding the start of the course, more information will be made available also on Canvas (https://chalmers.instructure.com/) under the event with the course code ARK496. Students get access to the course information and material on Canvas, after admission and respective course registration.

Following Chalmers regulations, the daily schedule for booked events is placed between 8:00-17:00 (with short breaks within every 1 hour working session) and the following is the general daily structure with 8 sessions (some exceptions may occur):

• 8:00-8:45
• 9:00-9:45
• 10:00-10:45
• 11:00-11:45
• 13:15-14:00
• 14:15-15:00
• 15:15-16:00
• 16:15-17:00

NOTE: This is a full-time study course. The expected workload is of max 8 hours per day of scheduled activities and/or course work + max 1 hour per day for eventual homework activities (this hour is to be managed by the students themselves).

Start

Please note with special attention that the course will start on Monday 6^th of February at 9.00. The details for this and all other sessions in the studio are provided in the studio calendar on Canvas.

Course structure

The course consists of lectures, seminars, workshops, exercises, literature studies, FIELD WORK, project work of an architectural or urban design project, presentation and critique.

The Reality Studio 2023 is divided into three phases:

Pre-Field Study:

• Orientation and Understanding (weeks 6-8)
  During these 3-4 weeks, together as a whole class, we will meet various stakeholders from 3 different contexts from around the world, while gaining knowledge on the different challenges and communities presented by the stakeholders and delving deep into each of the presented contexts and local challenges in each location/community. Assignments with quick design iterations focusing on these contexts and their challenges will help us understand the way Reality Studio shapes another perspective over our roles as designers. Lectures, literature studies, workshops, and a self-run seminar on Field Studies will support the preparations for the field work. Students will delve into different important discussions and themes such as: Spatial Agency, Power, Anti- and De-colonization, Development Policy & Agenda 2030, Child Perspective, Poverty & Ethics, International Aid, Safety, Culture Shock & Personal Crisis Management, Preparation for Field Research, Existing Initiatives & Partnerships, Norms & Laws, Your Goals & Others' Experiences. This phase concludes with the forming of the project groups for the rest of the course, based on the students' skills and topics of interest.

Field Study:

• Analysis and Project Creation (weeks 9-16)
  At the studio’s context in Pretoria, South Africa, the class will be merged with the unit for Urban Citizenship (a masters design studio at the University of Pretoria) and after a series of visits such as to project contexts and communities, they will be broken into their project teams, and each team will develop, together with their respective project stakeholders, more specific project questions, ideas and a plan. Through a series of specifically tailored workshops, each team will be challenged to develop methods and tools to collect information and data in order to define, analyse and understand the project sites, communities and cases. A special attention to the child perspective on each project will be raised in the field studies. This period ends with a virtual exhibition (on Miro) after the Easter weekend.

Post Field Study:

• Project Development, Design and Plan for Implementation (weeks 17-22)
  Each project team will work to create and design spatially contextualized proposals to meet the needs and challenges of the project site and community. The design proposals will address different time and spatial scales, short-term /long term, small scall/large scale, and they will be based on the information collected during the field study and knowledge gained from the stakeholders. All groups will also produce a video-reflection on child perspective in relation to their projects. Finally, each team will document and package their work in a way that will be available and useful for the stakeholders to easily implement some of the ideas proposed. This phase ends with the presentations seminar with guests and the final submissions of project reports.
  

The main assignment and outcome of the studio is a student project formulated and conducted (in group) within the frames of the course, an adequate sensitive and ethical approach, and the expected academic prerequisites, but with a necessary flexibility for adapting to local conditions and needs.

 

Course elements

 All studio projects will be developed in groups of 3 or 4 students from Reality Studio collaborating each group with 1-2 students from the unit for Urban Citizenship (University of Pretoria). The groups will be formed based on the students interests and backgrounds. Transdisciplinary working teams is a core of Reality studio. Therefore, the mix of disciplines will be prioritized in the formation of groups. The course ARK700 will be focusing on the writing and definition of the theoretical and practical framework for the Reality Studio projects. A Project Boundary Definition (following the NAIL methodology) will be developed in that course and therefore each project group in Reality Studio should have at least 2 members that are taking the ARK700 course.

The project work of an architectural or urban design project is central in the studio and the students are expected to be able to develop their own projects through interaction with teachers, fellow students and local stakeholders.

The topics are broad and to be narrowed down to workable projects, based on needs of the communities and stakeholders. The development and delimitation of the projects will be directly supported by the main assignment of the ARK700 course.

Previous projects

The reports from the student projects in Reality studio in 2020 are available at Chalmers Open Digital Repository (ODR).
link https://odr.chalmers.se/handle/20.500.12380/302067

For other previous projects, you can access them on CANVAS: Literature Folder/00_Previous RS Projects. Here is link to excel sheet (found in same folder) which catalogs the projects.

Changes made since the last occasion

The course has been changed to match the students’ feedback through the course evaluation survey, the risk assessment and collaborative decision together with students, prior to the course start, regarding travelling to Pretoria during the Spring of 2023, the reduction of external teaching resources. The main changes include:

• No specific assignment for Child Perspective but still included as part of final report;
• Clarified relationship and collaboration between UP and Chalmers students;
• The ARK700 course is scheduled in order to synchronise better with the field studies.

Learning outcomes and syllabus

Learning outcomes:

Knowledge and Understanding

1. Describe and relate to the political vision of Sustainable Development within architecture, urban design and planning.
2. Understand the meaning and impact of their professional work and agency in a broader and global perspective.
3. Understand the complexity of everyday life in specific spatial, cultural and social environments and situations.
4. Understand, behave and navigate respectfully and collaboratively in an unfamiliar context.

Ability and Skill

1. Be able to identify, select and critically analyse the most relevant information, data and elements in a local situation and on different levels (micro to macro) integrate them into both the local and larger systems and spatial contexts at play.
2. Be able to create and develop design solutions through a methodology of goal setting, data collection, design iteration and testing/prototyping.
3. Be able to define, formulate, design, visualise and communicate realistic architectural, urban design or planning proposals and sustainable solutions for and with clients, stakeholders and experts in different stages of the design process.
4. Be able to combine knowledge from different disciplines and sectors in proposals for actions and measures in architectural and urban design for sustainable development.

Ability of Assessment and Attitude

1. To combine scientific and artistic approaches in the design process.
2. To discuss and reflect critically on the work made and experiences in the studio.
3. To broaden the understanding of their own perspective and its limitations, through meetings with other professional and cultural perspectives on sustainable development.
4. To further develop a critical thinking and reflections on the professional role, the professional ethics and the needs for lifelong learning.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen: Study plan (Links to an external site.)

Examination form

As a minimum, to pass the course and receive a grade, you need:

• Presence at all scheduled activities is required. Some absence can be accepted if there are legitimate reasons (e.g. temporary sickness). In other cases, supplementary assignments have to be handed in in order to compensate for absence (e.g. written reviews on literature). Non-compensated absence will negatively influence the grades (Regarding missed deadlines or other compulsory activities, please contact the teachers for solution on how to compensate);

• Active participation at seminars, workshops and in group work;
• Course participation, hand-ins and assignments of sufficient quality (i.e. that fulfills the course objectives and specific requirements);
• Delayed submission of hand-ins without any approved motivation will negatively influence the grades;
• Electronic course evaluations should be filled in.

The expected student’s submissions in the studio in order to pass is divided into 2 groups:

• Hand-ins – non-graded compulsory submissions:
• Assignments – compulsory and graded (Fail, 3, 4, or 5), either individual or group submissions:

For grading details, see (RS_Evaluation matrix 2023.pdf)

Formal Specifications for the Course

Course code at Chalmers: ARK496
22,5 ECTS higher education credits
Grading: TH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail
Education cycle: Second,-cycle, Advanced level
Major subject: Architecture
Department: Architecture and Civil Engineering
Teaching language: English
Study period: 3–4, Spring term 2023
Credit distribution: At the end of study period 4

Studio working spaces for 2023

Due to the international collaboration with stakeholders and students in other parts of the globe, some of the events scheduled in the studio calendar before the field studies will be run online via Zoom.

Still, and in order to provide the students with a working place, Chalmers has assigned studio facilities. Similar to previous years, the assigned working spaces for students in this course are in the Chalmers studio facilities in Hammarkullen.

Address for the facilities in Hammarkullen:
The address is Hammarkulletorget 62B (the entrance is in front of you when you exit the tram station, and it’s between the Folkets Hus and the library), then take the elevator or the stairs up to the 7^th floor. The door code up there is: 8101. You can get to Hammarkullen with tram 4, 8 or 9 from the city centre and towards Angered, then get off at the station “Hammarkullen".

Course literature

Main literature references according to course syllabus:

• Architecture for Humanity (2006). Design Like You Give A Damn. Architectural responses to Humanitarian Crises. Metropolis Books.
• Architecture for Humanity (2012). Design Like You Give A Damn 2. Building Change from the Ground Up. Abrams Books, NY, USA.
• Architecture Sans Frontières International (2012). Challenging Practice: Essentials for the Social Production of Habitat. (available on link: https://challengingpractice.wordpress.com/)
• Awan, Nishat; Schneider, Tatjana; Till, Jeremy (2013). Spatial agency: other ways of doing architecture. Routledge.
• Easterly, W.R. (2007). White Man’s Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. Oxford
• Frediani, AA; Fench, MA; Ferrera, IN; (2011). Change by Design - Building Communities Through Participatory Design. Urban Culture Press, New Zealand.
• Hamdi, Nabeel (2004). Small Change. About the art of practice and the limits of planning in cities. New York: Earthscan
• Hamdi, Nabeel (2010). The placemaker's guide to building community. London, CPI Antony Rowe.
• Hamdi, Nebeel (2014). The placemaker's guide to big change. New York, NY Routledge.
• Lepik, Andres (cur.) (2013). Think Global Build Social, ARCH+ nr. 211/212 – Journal for Architecture and Urbanism.
• Lepik, Andres (ed.) (2011). Moderators of Change: Architecture That Helps. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, Germany.
• Lepik, Andres (2010) Small scale, big change: new architectures of social engagement. New York: Museum of Modern Art
• Nyström Maria (2002). Making -Research. In Nordic Journal of Architectural Research 2002:04
• Nyström Maria and Lars Reuterswärd (2003). Meeting Mars- recycling earth. Svensk Byggtjänst
• Pitera, Dan & Wilkins, Craig L. (2014). Activist Architecture: Philosophy and Practice of the Community Design Center. Detroit Collaborative Design Center, USA
• United Nations (2015). Transforming our world – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (available on link: https://sdgs.un.org/publications/transforming-our-world-2030-agenda-sustainable-development-17981)
• https://hercity.unhabitat.org/
• https://globalutmaning.se/her-city-toolbox/?lang=en

Lists of all mandatory literature, including descriptions of how to access the texts, reference literature, further reading, and other non-mandatory texts will be made available at the course start.