Course syllabus

Course-PM

ARK496 Reality studio lp3 VT20 (22.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

ARK700 History, theory and method 7 is running parallell and in close connection with Reality Studio. For more information, check that specific course room. 

 

Contact details

Examiner: Emilio Brandao, brandao@chalmers.se 

Course leaders and teachers: 

Catarina Östlund, catarina.ostlund@chalmers.se and Shea Hagy, shea.hagy@chalmers.se

 

Course purpose

Reality Studio is a studio within the master program MPDSD and connects to the program's overall purpose to offer the students the potential to develop professional skills that are valid in various situations and where the aim is to find adapted solutions to the problems at hand. The overall perspective is: the development and implementation of aesthetic, affordable, energy and material efficient, environmental- and user-friendly solutions that support dignified human everyday life. The design studio Reality Studio in an East African context involves cooperation with local universities and UN-habitat. The aim is also to integrate the master education 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. 

The project defining within the studio relates to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and The Big Four (Kenya Vision 2030)

This year the field study will be in Kisumu with environs, starting with an introductory week in Nairobi together with 4th year architect students and teachers at Kenyatta university.  

 

Schedule

 

Course design

Reality Studio is divided into three phases:

• Pre-Field Study - Introduction to course and preparations for the project and field study
• Field Study - Introduction (5 days) in Nairobi, Project work (5 weeks) in Kisumu, Closure of field study (3 days) in Nairobi For practical information, see Field Study Information 
• Post-Field Study - Refining, finalising and presenting the studio project

The main assignment and outcome of the studio is a number of student projects formulated and conducted (in groups) within the frames of the course and its academic prerequisites but with a necessary flexibility for adapting to local conditions and needs.

This year we have four themes, which were formulated by identifying synergies among the UNSDGs, the Kenya Vision 2030, our collaborators ongoing work and this course's learning goals and academic base. The themes are:

• Resilient manufacturing facilities, processes and products
• Affordable housing and Healthy schools
• Food chain
• Ecotourism and Inclusive public spaces

The themes are broad and to be narrowed down to workable projects. A project subject could consist of influences from more than one theme and could also be placed in the borderline between two themes etc. For detailed information, see Themes.

The project design 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. Accordingly, the field study in Kenya contains the main stages:

1. Orientation in our collaborators work and the local context
2. Group forming and Project (Area) Definition  
3. Project Work
4. Local Exhibition and Communication 

Our main collaborators are Kenyatta University, Zingira Community Crafts and Kisumu Local Interaction Platform (KLIP). 

The Studio project is supported by three series of activities/assignments during the course time, these are:

• Seminars - a series of seminars where each theme refers to the actual phase in the course/project work and the type of assignment connected to the seminar for some are group work for others individual. For description, see Seminars.
• Field Study Notes, the continuous individual documentation of site visits and other activities, project work and process, experiences, ideas and thoughts. The task ends up in a reflection assignment based on the documentation. For detailed description, go to Field Study 1 and Field Study 2
• Child Perspective - regardless the choice of project theme, the child perspective should be included in some way, concrete or theoretical. To support in this field, three workshops with children participation will be set up. One before, one during and one after the field study.  For description in detail, go to Child Perspective

The general day to day course information will be through Announcement. Any changes/updates on the Canvas-site  will also be announced there.

Tutoring times will be set up through the Canvas Calendar.

All hand-ins are digital and on Canvas, except for some exhibition material.

 

Course literature

 

Previous Reality Studio projects

 

Changes made since the last occasion

Comments from students last year mainly concerned the focus of the course (research or building) and the unclear academic framework. Students asked for more discussions about poverty, charity and general ethical considerations relating to studying/working in the Kenyan context. Continuous contact with Kenyan students and local universities was also missing as well as more information about previous projects, processes and stakeholders during the preparation time at Chalmers. The communication and continuity in the course also suffered from not having its own studio room. 

The main changes made for this year are:

• Initiated collaboration with the Department of Architecture, Kenyatta university in Nairobi which means we will start and end with them and also have contact during the project work. Except for project- and subject discussions this will also contribute to a mutual and deeper understanding of our educations, roles, conditions, approaches etc. in both Kenya and Sweden. The aim with the collaboration is to strengthen the academic frame work and exchange in the studio generally
• Restrictions regarding real construction/building. Full scale prototypes are not an appropriate result or method within this studio. This because of time, economic, societal and collaborative reasons
• The preparation part in Sweden includes more interaction with previous students
•  The project work is supported by three assignment-series, Seminar series, Field study notes and the Child perspective. The purpose with these are to open up for and structure discussions and reflections during the course and thereby give more input, support and inspiration to the projects

 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

Knowledge and Understanding
Describe and relate to the political vision of Sustainable Development.
Understand the professional role/work in a broader and global perspective.
Understand the complexity of everyday life in various environments and situations.

Ability and Skill
Be able to analyse a local situation on different levels, micro to macro and vice versa.
Be able to define and formulate a project on site and in collaboration with local stakeholders
Be able to critically search for information and assess the quality of different sources of information.
Be able to visualise/design and communicate realistic proposals and solutions for local sustainable development.

Ability of Assessment and Attitude
To combine scientific and artistic approaches in the design process.
To broaden the understanding of their own perspective and its limitations, through meetings with other professional and cultural perspectives on sustainable development.
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

 

Examination form

The studio project is assessed at three different occasions, The final seminar, Exhibition Stadsmuseum and the Final report. The Final report is the major base for the grading.  The studio project material/activities assessed and graded are:

For Reflections from the field

• Log book and reflection paper

For Final Seminar

• Project content and process
• Oral presentation
• Visual presentation

For Exhibition

• Exhibition material, 2D and 3D

For Report 

• Project content and process
• Report structure, lay out and content 
• Language and balance between text and pictures

In addition to the studio project, all the course assignments are compulsory and assessed and graded according to their specific requirements. See Assignments

Regarding missed deadlines or other compulsory activities, please contact the teachers for solution how to compensate.

For grading details, see Assessment and grading