Course syllabus

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COURSE-PM

ARK258 Exploration - Matter, space, structure 3

LP1 and LP2 HT19 (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)

Contact details

Morten Lund (Examiner)                           mortenl@chalmers.se

Jens Olsson (Course leader)                    jens.olsson@chalmers.se

Naima Callenberg (Tutor)                         naima@chalmers.se

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. Emphasis is put on the iterative design process driven by physical representations such as model making and drawing, and informed by experiments in computational design. The course aims to create space for an open design exploration of an individual topic which is well suited as a preparation for the thesis project. The exploration includes 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 improve the individual methodology within the research by design approach.

Theme

The overall theme for the studio in 2019 is boarders, and specifically for this course the focus will a critical engagement with the dichotomy of the analogue and the digital. This duality will be explored in relation to three key concepts that are central to the design process. The drawing, the algorithm and the physical model. These are regarded as relevant to explore independent of the particularities of a specific project.

Schedule

See attached pdf schedule for a 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 portfolio 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 in the first two modules and at the beginning of the week, Mondays and Tuesdays, in the third module. Lectures and workshops will be concentrated mainly to the first two module, usually placed on Tuesdays 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 on email and updated on Canvas and Time Edit accordingly. The schedule can be found under the Files tab here on Canvas.

There is space in the schedule for the Nordic Architecture fair (15/10) and the AHA festival (12/11 – 14/11) both of which are highly relevant initiatives for the studio in large, thus participation is recommended.

Wednesdays are furthermore often left free in the schedule such that the course will not collide with ARK641 or any of the open lectures at Kunskapstrappan.

In the middle of the semester there are three days reserved for a study trip. Details, exact dates and times will be announced later. The course will take care of travel expenses and accommodation but food and drinks are payed by the participants.

There are in total 5 workshops included in the course, which aim to strengthen skills in terms of tools and methods. More information about the workshops can be found in the description that belong to each Module.

  • Landscape and Laser cutting          (half day)
  • Modelling & Milling                             (half day)
  • Sketch & Model                                     (full day)
  • Exploring the Edge                              (3 days)
  • Section Animation                               (half day)

Facilities Resources and Equipment

The studio will occupy desk space for the course participants in the 5th floor which is shared with the other students in the Matter Space Structure studio. We do encourage that you work and spend time in the studio which is an important milieu for learning of each other.

The workshop is available weekdays between 9:00 - 16:30 and is the place of choice for modelling work that is unfit for the studio. It is equipped with a rage or tools and machines for wood working including some digital machines and also supply materials for model making in materials like cardboard, wood, foam, plastic etc. 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 a 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.
  • Compile and hand in the final project as a project plan for the master thesis.

Absence from any of the mandatory critiques will be result in complementary task to be handed in online in agreement with the teachers.

Course plan   

The course plane for ARK258 can be reached on Studieportalen here.

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.

Course summary:

Date Details Due