UOU

Author: jsm

  • ARCH: homeland miniatures: a collective digital travelbook

    CONTENT / In architectural education, one of the most common and universal representation technique is central perspective which was discovered during Renaissance period. The rational world that Renaissance offered us helps to create a universal language in the field of architecture and enables to represent our thoughts on space so as to create a dialog between ourselves and others. On the other hand, some other techniques like iconography or miniature drawing reflects another understanding of the world and space per se that could be a new way of representation in our era.

     

    The understanding of perspective in miniature drawing is different from the European Renaissance painting tradition. The scene depicted usually includes different time periods and spaces in one picture. Thus, we may say that miniature drawing is a multi-layered representation. Miniatures are always a part of book, not like a standalone work of art and because of that they are closely related with the context of the book they were included in.

     

    In our “Homeland Miniatures: A Collective Digital Travelbook” workshop, we will make a collective travelbook that represents different cities/countries through miniature drawings of those homelands. Each student will draw a miniature drawing of his/her homeland or the city where he/she is living at that moment and write a short reflection paragraph that is related with his/her drawing. By putting all these drawings together, we will create our collective digital travelbook at the end of the workshop.

     

    AIMS / To introduce a new way of looking and understanding the world around us. To start a debate between “Western” and “Eastern” thoughts. To think on how to represent a city/country through one drawing. To discover the textures, important landmarks and cultural artifacts of a city/country. To discover the multi-layered world of miniature drawings and their fragmented but yet wholistic spatial characteristics. To discuss on the emancipatory character of architectural representations. 

     

    METHOD / The tutor will give a lecture on miniature drawing and travelbooks (seyahatname) and introduce the drawing techniques through various examples. Each student will make one miniature drawing and write a short text about it. The process of the workshop will be as follows:

     

    1st > Introduction of the history and technique of miniature drawings and discussion on different cities

    2nd > Each student will start to draw fragments of spaces, textures that are related with their homelands

    3rd > Each student will propose a draft layout of his/her miniature drawing

    4th > Each student will apply all the fragments and textures to his/her miniature drawing and finalise it and write a text about it.

    5th > The tutor will put all drawings together to create the collective travelbook and each student will present his/her page in it at the final crits session. 

     

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students:

     

    March 12th, 2020 (Friday) – 30 minutes – Introduction

    March 15th, 2020 (Tuesday) – 2 hours – Fragments of spaces, textures

    March 18th, 2020 (Friday) – 2 hours – Layout of his/her miniature drawing

    March 22nd, 2020 (Tuesday) – 2 hours – Finalise the miniature drawing and the text

    March 26th, 2020 (Friday) – 2 hours – Final crits

     

    EVALUATION / The following will be considered in the evaluation process: 

     

    • Active participation in discussions and production of drawings
    • Precise drawing in his/her own way
    • Writing a critical reflection text

     

    Bibliography / 

     

    • Sener, S., (2007). “A SINGULAR ART: A Theoretical and Artistic Survey on Miniature and Hybrid Possibilities of Traditional Arts in Contemporary Art”, Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design Thesis, Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahmut Mutman, Bilkent University.
    • Avci, O., (2016). “Rethinking architectural perspective through reverse perspective in Orthodox Christian iconography”, ITU A|Z Journal of Faculty of Architecture, 12(2), p. 159-171

     

    MEF University Istanbul (TURKEY) / Ozan Avci (avcio@mef.edu.tr)

     

  • ARCH: evolution of forgotten – ignored wisdoms

    CONTENT /

    The rapid developments of the urban realms and the monstrous evolution of the socioeconomic systems together with the invading globalization deprived the people from the sustainable way of living which was forged by local conditions through the centuries.

    The workshop will revisit existing, forgotten or lost worlds and traditions or vernacular architecture not nostalgically, not just to revitalise them. But rather to rediscover cultures, and vanished wisdoms to facilitate their evolution into the contemporary world.

    Traditional elements such as courtyard typologies, shading devices of Mashrabiyas, traditional irrigational systems and building technologies are among a vast number of traditional wisdom that either was forced to extinction or to a dormant state.

    The students are asked to revisit those ‘dusted’ wisdoms, reconstruct them and reuse them in their evolved metamorphosis in the ever changing and rapidly developing urban built environments for a future of environmental and social sustainability of regional identities.

     

    AIMS /

    To understand and experience the unique architectural qualities of forgotten traditional elements and mechanisms

    To share knowledge and insights from diverse cultural backgrounds

    To develop awareness, knowledge and understanding of extracted wisdom from traditional elements and their potential role in contemporary architecture

    To develop a critical approach towards sustainability and an environmental awareness [of traditional wisdoms and vernacular architecture], as integral parts of a design process.

    To amalgamate research findings in order to stitch, integrate and embed those findings in innovative and radical ways in the future architectural and urban realms.

    To take a stance, and a voice of resistance for a substantial future for humanities against the devouring globalizations and erasures of identities.

     

    METHOD /

    E L E M E N T   S T U D Y    [space, mechanisms, infrastructures, materiality, technology]

    RECORDINGS # DIS-ASSEMBLING # EVOLUTION

    • Analysing and assessing existing condition
    • Drawing and making experimentations
    • Discovering spaces & relationships through a specific methodology
    • Loose and Accurate methods of representation allowing different information to be revealed
    • Chance
    • Evolution

    The intension is to create a new reading of the ELEMENTS which can be seen in various configurations and scales. Experimentation will be tested through hybrid drawings.

    Transformation of the technical drawing becomes a device to read the different parameters and qualities of the dis- assembled and evolved elements.

    Students will develop a series of creative work starting from an existing situation (photo, drawing etc) and leading gradually to a hybrid drawing. Emphasis will be given to the evolution through the layers / depths of the built and human topographies.

    The process of drawings and results in the various stages of the development should be Recorded in a photographic sequence.

    Students will be assigned to work in groups based on their categories of interest [ELEMENTS] by the end of week one.

     

    STEPS

    Week one

    • Investigate, collect drawings, photos and other materials of a chosen traditional element/ wisdom [visit if possible]
    • Create a 2d drawing of the existing element based on your interest [suggestions: sectional drawing, layering techniques, photo collage, cut-outs etc]

    *** Exaggerate and accentuate elements that you want to focus on

    • Choose an unexpected/contrasting existing setting [you may use previous projects, existing landscapes and buildings] where you will apply your intervention

     

    Week two

    • Evolve forgotten wisdoms and facilitate the emergence of their evolution through testing and hybrid drawing investigations

    *** Specific human activities should be presented in ‘distinguished’ (not indifferent) graphic mode, adding to the general unique (not generic) atmospheres of the interventions

    *** We strongly encourage a deep dive-in into radical experimentation and provocation through alternative techniques and ways of seeing architecture

     

    SCHEDULE /

    2-week Workshop.

    Weekly 4–hour class Tuesday 9.00 – 13.00 CET [additional hours may be offered at a later stage]

     

    EVALUATION /

    The evaluation will be based on the following Expected Learning Outcomes:

    After completion of the workshop students are expected to be able to:

    • Examine and interpret traditional and vernacular conditions in relation to their appropriation and evolution in the existing natural and built environment [material and immaterial qualities of space, ambience and innovation]
    • Use appropriate representation and presentation tools, including mixed media techniques to explore a plurality of experiences/ cultures/sites via alternative representation methods.
    • Demonstrate competence in dealing with sustainability, environmental awareness and climatic modification as integral parts of a design process.
    • Experiment with materiality and mechanisms in order to achieve an atmospheric architectural environment, having as a drive the interaction of the human body and space.
    • Identify and critically address the inherent conditions of the site, deal sensitively with the social issues as an integral part of the design process

     

    Bibliography /

    • ‘From Shinto to Ando; studies in architectural anthropology in Japan’ / Gunter Nitscke ; Academy Press (October 29, 1993) ISBN 978-1854902894
    • ‘Modern Architecture: A Critical History’ Kenneth Frampton; Thames & Hudson; 5th edition (September 8, 2020) ISBN-13 : 978-0500204443 [ chapter on critical regionalism ]
    • Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture ; Kenneth Frampton ; The MIT Press; Illustrated edition (October 1, 2001) / ISBN-13 : 978-0262561495
    • ‘Atmosheres’, Zumthor; Birkhäuser Architecture; 5th Printing. edition (March 17, 2006) / ISBN-13: 978-3764374952
    • Studio Mumbai El Croquis 157

    Websites:

     

    University of Nicosia (CYPRUS) / Markella Menikou (menikou.m@unic.ac.cy)

    + Maria Hadjisoteriou (hadjisoteriou.m@unic.ac.cy)

    + Yiorgos Hadjichristou (hadjichristou.y@unic.ac.cy)

     

  • ARCH: ephemeral architecture: urban follies

    CONTENT / We live in a time of change. What we took for granted in the summer of 2019 is now an  enormous uncertainty. Each day we sick for answers to questions such as when can we travel? When can  we visit a museum? And I ask how can I introduce students, here and worldwide, to the World Heritage  City (WHC) of Évora?  

    Following Darwin’s quote “It Is Not the Strongest of the Species that Survives But the Most Adaptable to  Change”, in this workshop we will change the way we travel, by “bringing international students to Évora,  and to the city Museums”, and exchange knowledge about architectural heritage, as space and place.  

    Participants will be asked to design an Urban Folly (from French folie, “foolishness”, a generally non functional building that was in vogue during the 18th and early 19th centuries, to enhance a natural  landscape), an ephemeral structure to place in an urban space, where the unimaginable will happen: the city heritage will be displayed, not inside a traditional and immoveable museum, but in the square or  the street, perhaps from where the museum pieces have been found. And, by 5G technology, these  

    Follies will be in contact with the rest of the world and provide a virtual tour to the WHC of Évora. 

     

    AIMS / To raise awareness about the local heritage of a WHC. To reflect on how it can be displayed into  the public, here and elsewhere, in the outdoors. 

    METHOD / Interpreting Public Place and Local Heritage – Local participants (Évora) will be paired with  international colleagues. Then they will be given an historic urban space in Évora and describe it to the  foreign colleagues. To design an architectural structure to enable people (locals, visitors, etc.) to enjoy  the historic values of that place. To present the idea in a mock-up..  

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class  

    OFFICIAL TEACHING HOURS: 2 h Tuesdays + 2 h Thursdays 15:00-17:00 (PT)  

    02 March | Introduction of the workshop objectives (video-lecture of 15 minutes)  + questions and feedback / Introduce yourself and three major values of the  historic core of the city where you are living, in a short video (3min. máx) / Define  work groups according to shared city’s values / Group work: Start the  development of ideas  

    04 March | Group work: development of ideas and teachers’ feedback  

    9 March | Group work: teachers’ feedback on finalising Mock-up scale 1:50 and  presentations in Zoom setting.  

    11 March | Final Crit.  

    (SELF-) EVALUATION / Answer to these questions in order to identify what skills you acquired: 

    Question 1 | Our world is increasingly composed of visual images – phones,  tablets, laptops, cameras, therefore it is important to develop the ability to  recognize, sort, and rearrange them in order to create something new: did you 

    heightened your visual acuity (your ability to look at things on their own terms  but also to make visual connections and to turn those visual connections into an  evolutionary history that has a past, a present, and a future)?  

    Question 2 | This workshop has the capacity to be a consequential experience if  it is used to enhance your knowledge on cities values, on why and how they can  be used as triggers of new architectures. As you study other follies and ephemeral  architectural structures, in order to understand how you can design one that  responds to the challenge, you became an interactive learner, you expand your  mind, you exchange ideas with other students, you work together in groups, and  create real world projects and, by so doing – have you enhanced your academic  and personal life? Please explain how.  

    Question 3 | By proposing an interactive learning experience, mixing students  from different geographies and cultures, a contemporary solution (to bring cities  values to wherever you are) to a real life problem (the impossibility/difficulty to  travel to other countries to know indigenous cultures on-site) has been found and  communicated using a mock-up – How have you learned with your colleagues  and enhanced/enlarged your architecture communication methods?  

    Question 4 | Working in groups in such a short period, requires the establishment  of tasks such as data gathering, discussion/brainstorming of ideas and methods,  and time management – have you reached a definition of the concepts of space  and place to suitably respond to the workshop proposal on cultural values?  

    Question 5 | Explain how innovative your proposal is.

     

    Bibliography / https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/361/ 

    Tuan, Y.-F. (2011). Space and place: the perspective of experience. Minneapolis:  University of Minnesota Press.

     

    Évora University (PORTUGAL) / Sofia Aleixo (saleixo@uevora.pt) + Joana Vilhena

     

  • ARCH: psychoanalysis of the design process – three paths to a library

    CONTENT / The science on various design methods and processes is a fascinating branch of knowledge which architects perhaps do not study enough. The knowledge of design methods could organise and systematise your work, offer an X-ray vision, real psychanalysis of yourself as well as other designers and your tutors. This science may also help you to overcome design blocks when you are mentally stuck. 

     

    We could provide you a long, detailed and technical lecture about various methods of design, but why not experiment on yourself and feel how it is to become three different creative personalities? 

     

    AIMS / During this workshop we will talk and learn about libraries in the 21st century – this is a fascinating topic with its own unique problems and potentials. However, the workshop is not only about libraries. It is about making you aware about the design process; about who you are… and who you could be as a conscious architect. The seminal book Revealing Architectural Design Methods, Frameworks and Tools by Philip Plowright has a surprising conclusion that there are only three main types of architectural design process which represent three schools of teaching and creation. Architects, architectural tutors and students are often not aware of that so their arguments are actually pseudo-arguments… deriving from confusion on a meta-level. Some ‘big debates’ in the architectural world or academia stem from basic misunderstanding of those three different design processes. 

     

    The workshop is also about ‘fast methods’ for designing options. In the first week, you will be asked to design one option a day following specific instructions. 

     

    The objective of the project is only partly related to designing a library. The main aim of the workshop is for you to reflect on different design methods, your own strength and weakness and on the tools that are available.

     

    During the workshop you will learn about:  

    Problem solving, problem redefinition, exploratory and evaluative thinking, architectural syntax, usefulness of bias, IBD (Intelligence-based design), pattern language, forces, intellectual tools and brainstorming, CPSP (Creative Problem Solving Process), TRIZ (theory of the resolution of invention-related tasks), domain-to-domain transfer.

     

    METHOD / During the first week of this workshop you will be asked to approach the same architectural task – designing a library – three times. Every time, you will design it according to different architectural framework. This will allow you to learn something about yourself as an architect and about your own strengths and weaknesses. In the second week, you will be asked to analyse your work, evaluate the three projects and to refine the best result during group work.  

    …And one more thing… At the end, you will be asked to reflect on the work done and reflect on who you are and who you could be.  

        

    The workshop will be an exercise on fast design. For three days you will follow a different design framework, thus learning about different design methods and tools. As a result, you will create three, probably very different, projects. For now, let’s call the three projects Alpha, Beta and Gamma. (You will learn the real names of these frameworks during the workshop). In order not to confuse you, we will not explain the different methodologies here, but they will be explained on three separate days in special materials you will be sent. 

     

    SCHEDULE/

    Week 1 – Individual design 

    Monday:  Briefing, Preparation: Identify three sites in your city where a medium size building could be designed.

    Tuesday:  Alpha briefing, Visit the Alpha site, Create Alpha design,
    Present Alpha design to fellow students in your groups.

    Wednesday:  Beta briefing, Visit the Beta site, Create Beta design,
    Present Beta design to fellow students in your groups.

    Thursday: Gamma briefing, Visit the Gamma site, Create Gamma design,
    Present Gamma design to fellow students in your groups

    Friday: Presentation of individual projects chosen within groups 

    Week 2 – group work  

    Monday-Wednesday – group work

    Thursday – final group presentation 

    Friday – individual reflection and online submission 

     

    EVALUATION / your work will be assessed according to the following criteria 

    1. Analyses/ How thoroughly and deeply did you analyse the issues and questions related to libraries in the 21st century as well as all the people involved in library life? How well did you formulate architectural questions according to those analyses? Mind that during the process of developing the project you will create several small projects. Each of these projects could have a different agenda, different analyses, different questions and different criteria. So it is important that you formulate this clearly by adding clear annotations to each initial sketch. 
    2. Concept/ How strong and coherent was the response (answer) to a problem (question) which you formulated during the analyses? Mind that in different projects the criteria ‘strong’ and ‘coherent’ could mean something different, e.g. functional, critical, original OR something different). Be clear about YOUR criteria. Clearly annotate the drawings 
    3. Development/  How systematic and rational was the choice of a design path? How many options did you take into consideration? How rigorously (according to your own criteria) did you choose the next step? (Mind that the development will be partly individual and partly group work. Engagement in each part of the work will be evident through peer assessment and the outcome you will have to submit.) 
    4. Presentation/ Did you submit all the required deliverables? How clearly did you manage to convey the final idea and how engaging was it? (The deliverables will be a combination of individual and group work. They should be clearly annotated. A very important part of the individual work will be the final reflection.) 

    University of Lincoln (UK) :  Marcin Mateusz Kołakowski (mkolakowski@lincoln.ac.uk) 

     

  • ARCH: architectural narrative – event

    „Dancing and architecture are the two primary and essential arts. The art of dancing stands at the source of all the arts that express themselves first in the human person. The art of building, or architecture, is the beginning of all the arts that lie outside the person; and in the end they unite.”

    Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life (1923)

     

    What is architecture? A seemingly basic question, but actually one that is open to a diverse range of subjectivity. However, it is impossible to conceal that architecture is a positive balance between Science and Art, a point at which the two fields collide yet, finding the right balance is not always so easy to do. An architect should not only be familiar with the architecture and engineering principles but also have the ability to creatively manifest an emotive idea into something tangible. The ability to capture and physicalize invisible elements of our world through storytelling is an art itself. The building is not only the walls, the floor and the roof but also the atmosphere and feelings it celebrates. Many architectural projects are based on creating a narrative and engaging users into this relationship between space and mind. Architecture is an inseparable part of all cultures and the context in which it exists. It has the ability to comment on all the immaterial structures of our societies, such as the social, cultural, economic and political, immortalizing them as physical structures. It is important to identify the greatest needs of your local society and their environment. In architecture, just as in nature, nothing is accidental. Therefore, a discussion on the same topic in a multicultural environment can lead to very interesting and unexpected conclusions, „Quot homines tot sententiae: suo’ quoique mos” eng.: „So many men, so many opinions: to each his own way.” (Terence, 161 BC).

     

    AIMS

    A workshop will be conducted remotely between universities, we wish to discover different approaches to the narration in architecture, depending on the background of the participants. First, try to imagine the feeling of the space(s) you are designing and its atmosphere before drawing the architecture. Each participant will have to discover himself and take his own position in the given topic, devise its greatest needs and respond to them through their work. Through the discussion of the brief and the individuality of each member of the group, we will try to broaden our perception and discover new ways of observing the world to develop material and immaterial storytelling. The drawing will allow us to experiment with scale, proportions, colours material, light and shadow.

     

    METHOD

    Based on the brief issued during Day 1 of the workshop we will define the needs of local society in a given topic and each individually considers the question:

    What is the most significant aspect of the brief that can be reflected in an Architectural narrative?

    Each participant will discuss their initial intuitive response to the brief, their experience, passion, and hobbies, in order to ascertain a narrative for the brief, whilst simultaneously, revealing something of ourselves to the group. To help with the preparation of the narrative, a lecture will be conducted where the topic will be discussed with examples and ideas. Everyone will have the opportunity to exchange their thoughts and discuss an outline with their lecturers, along with colleagues in the group, where all will receive support in the development of their project. We will conclude with short presentations of each narrative and 500mm x 500mm drawing, discussed in the forum. Everyone will have the opportunity to ask questions, comment on other works and provide feedback.

     

    SCHEDULE

    Week 1:

    (Monday) 25 Jan 2021 –   Introduction and Brief Release

    (Thursday) 28 Jan 2021 – Lecture and Open Discussion

    Week 2:

    (Monday) 01 Feb 2021 –   Tutorials

    (Thursday) 04 Feb 2021 – Final Presentation

     

    EVALUATION

    The workshop will focus on drawing as a primary medium. The conclusion piece will be a 500mm x 500mm drawing, exploring a range of mediums. In addition, our global studio will be required to produce a 200-word synopsis to compliment his or her work. Each piece will be considered under the following points:

    • Individuality and creativity in the process of generating an architectural narrative,
    • Understanding and responding to the needs of the local society,
    • Understanding the context and environment of the given topic,
    • Graphical representation of your idea and the ability to include the whole story in one drawing
    • Ability to express yourself through your drawing.

     

    London South Bank University (UK)

    Luke Murray – murral13@lsbu.ac.uk

    Piotr Smiechowicz – smiechp2@lsbu.ac.uk

    Yianna Moustaka – moustay3@lsbu.ac.uk

    Ibrahim Rajah – rajahi2@lsbu.ac.uk

     

  • ARCH: permissive city

    CONTENT / In many cities, globalisation has contributed to the emergence of new urban environments which, over very short periods of time, have replicated similar and homogenous spaces, evacuated public ownership, erased local singularities and produced what may be defined as a generic and franchised city. Most of these cities retain urban environments developed on the long term, where palimpsest spaces give a fair share to public space and where the character and singularity of place are preserved.

    This process raises a variety of questions, particularly that of the appropriation of public space by people in these two ‘versions’ of the city. Considering that the work of time in the construction of urban space cannot be replaced, it becomes crucial to identify the conditions which may accelerate the process of appropriation of public spaces by users whilst encouraging the emergence of uncontrolled and non-programmed uses and spatial arrangements.

     

    AIMS / The workshop will explore how the implementation of more inclusive approaches in terms of public space design and usage may promote more vibrant urban environments

    To this end, two urban fragments, one “palimpsest” and the other “generic”, will be explored through the prisms of public life.  At first, emphasis will be put on identifying the types of public spaces encountered, the variety and density of uses observed as well as the factors that appear to favour or constrain individual and collective ownership of these spaces. Secondly, lessons will be drawn from this understanding to suggest conceptual processes that promote the appropriation of public space by people and allow them over time to develop their own responses and solutions.

     

    METHOD /

    Session 00: Introduction

    Organised in groups of 3 to 4 students, you will introduce yourself with a 2 to 3 minutes video, explaining why you chose to attend this workshop and what urban sites you wish to investigate.

     

    Session 01 – Immersion, interpretation and representation

    You shall choose two urban environments of the same surface. The first one will be a part of the “palimpsest city” where you would usually enjoy dwelling and spending time, the second will be a part of the “generic city”, as described above.

    Using walking as an exploration too, you will dwell through site for an average of 2 hours. You shall prepare the itinerary of your journey beforehand using a map, but you will allow yourself to drift once on the spot.

    Whilst on site:

    – Identify the main types open spaces you encounter (sidewalks, paths, squares, café terraces, playgrounds, etc.) and the forms of public life that take place in them as well as in the spaces visible from them (e.g., outdoor extensions of dwellings), distinguishing between spontaneous and more official uses;

    – Associate keywords with each identified situation;

    – Register your perception and feelings in each place (e.g., excitement, anxiety, boredom, …);

    – Register your perception of time and the density of the uses you observe along the way.

     

    – Seek potential correlations between the shape and location of the open spaces and their degree of appropriation by people.

    Once off site:

    – Process your observations and “findings” by organising this new knowledge in a “narrative” (example: exploration book, graphic novel, comic strip, video, etc.) that clearly highlights your understanding of the issue of public life in your two chosen urban environments;

    – Indicate your route “before” and “during” the drift, highlighting times of movement and pause. When using graphical supports such as plans or maps, use the same scale for both urban fragments.

     

    Session 02 – / Reflexions & projections

    Based on your previous work and if necessary, by referring to existing practices and experiences, define the broad outlines of “proposals” or “recommendations” that could set up and promote a more people centred urban life in your generic city fragment.  Beyond the production of artefacts, you may focus on defining processes which will ultimately contribute to this objective (i.e., alternative urban morphologies / specific spatial arrangements / new urban planning rules / experimentation and prefiguration phases / Post-occupation phases / new “permission to do” for inhabitants / ….

    The presentation format remains free, but shall be in continuity with your previous work.

     

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop / Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students:

     

    Session 00 – Introduction / 15 Feb 2020.

    Session 01 – Development (Immersion, interpretation and representation) / 15-19 Feb 2021.

    Session 02 – Final Crit (Reflexions & projections) / 26 Feb 2021.

     

    EVALUATION / Fulfilment of the requirements of sessions 00, 01 & 02

     

    École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux (France)

    Hocine Aliouane-Shaw (hocine.perso@free.fr)

    Workshop idea developed with Yvan Detraz from non-profit organization Bruit du frigo (Bruitdufrigo.com)

     

  • ARCH: treatment

    CONTENT / In many different ways, European cities have suffered a common fate: the compulsive increase in buildings, the financialization of the real estate market, the enslavement of urban space to cars. Despite the diversity of individual national events, these are the distinctive traits of the contemporary city that have left on the ground portions of the territory in disuse, incongruent urban fabrics, open wounds in historical structures.

     

    AIMS / Identify the role of project disciplines to remedy the casual use of territorial resources and the dissipation of the urban landscape that we have inherited from the last century.

    The city of Forlì will be the scene on which the project workshop will be applied with the aim of regenerating / redeveloping the undecided or degraded spaces of the historic city. Students from other European schools will be able to work remotely based on the descriptions prepared by the University of Bologna, or work on similar topics within the cities where their course is located.

     

    METHOD / Students and teachers from different cultural areas of the project disciplines will work together to contribute to the debate on the possibility of transforming urban space and its perception, proposing a different and integrative logic with respect to the social and economic urgencies imposed by the market rules.

    Imagining the shape of the public space by evading the impositions of current utilitarianism means projecting the imagination beyond the horizon of the short range.

     

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 8-hour class arranged with the students:

     

    Introduction / 17 Feb 2020. Presentation of the city of Forlì and the issues underlying the workshop.

     

    Development / 18-27 Feb 2020.

     

    Final Critic / 28 Feb 2020.

     

    EVALUATION / The workshop is a form of project action based on the exchange of quick proposals. The proposed solutions do not aim to obtain a definitive character but to open debates on the fate of cities in a conjectural and multiple form. By offering points of view distant from the logic and mechanisms that preside over the transformation of cities, they open up a panorama of alternative possibilities capable of conditioning consciences.

    The more different and unexpected positions emerge, the more we can consider the experience successful.

     

    Bibliography / Italo Calvino. Visibility, in Six memos for the next millennium. Cambridge, MA: Harward University Press, 1988, pp.81-99

     

    Bologna University (ITALY) /

    Antonio Esposito (antonio.esposito9@unibo.it)

    Giorgio Liverani (giorgio.liverani2@unibo.it)

    Martina D’Alessandro (martina.dalessandro2@unibo.it)

    Francesco Saverio Fera (saverio.fera@unibo.it)

    Annalisa Trentin (annalisa.trentin@unibo.it)

    Martina Focchi (martina.focchi@unibo.it)

    Paolo Emmanuel Gardelli (paolo.gardelli3@studio.unibo.it)

    Lorenzo Musto (mustolorenzo@gmail.com)

     

  • ARTS: maps of memory (places of remembrance)

    CONTENT / TO COME IN CONTACT with ourselves and with our to have become through lifetime (bonnländer 2019): Places of Remembrance – A practical experiment to reconstruct memories through developing a city map

    People who suffer from dementia, for example Alzheimer’s, suffer from memory loss. Events that occurred long ago, but which can be emotionally significant for us, often lie in childhood. But in what ways can we bring back to life emotionally significant memories for our present life or for the development of new designs for ourselves and for being recognized as a person instead of a patient? How can a world and an architecture for persons who suffer from dementia look like – so that their live can be a personal live? The philosopher, psychotherapist and art therapist Karl-Heinz Menzen says that exercises that support the reconstruction of places from childhood stimulate emotional memory. And that re-associating personal memory with time and space as a system of coordination is critically responsible for the capacity of memory. His practical ideas are based on neurologically-oriented theories of the structure of the brain, of rehabilitation. By connecting to neuronal networking intact brain areas, such as the areas of long-term memory reconstruction of memory performance thus the ability to remember is activated. He focuses on training through a methodical approach in the art therapeutic setting to promote the relationship to space and time and the own personality in its individual and historical aspects. According to Menzen, impulses for the reconstruction of memory, for example are places of childhood – “Our hometown”. With the support of an art therapist, the old people draw streets of the place from their own childhood like an architect on a large piece of paper assembled for everyone and then replicate the houses that were formerly inhabited (Menzen, 2008, p. 63 f).

    Keywords: Interdisciplinary aspects of architecture – Fine Arts, Art Therapy, Memory of Emotions, Dementia, Alzheimer

    AIMS / The aim is to come in contact with our memories and to build a map and to tell about the experience after. The students investigate whether and which memories are brought to life with this method. They observe whether details become more and more detailed, whether there are special smells and colors, surface textures, haptic or acoustic memories. Whether long-forgotten people appear with whom they are perhaps connected by a special event or who have played an important role in their lives. As we sketch and model in ever greater detail, we investigate whether narratives emerge during this process and whether we want to share them with others.

    SUMMARY OUTCOMES To bring together – synchronize – space and time in this specific method support remembering and the ability of being in contact with the own emotions, related to the awoked sensual aspects, that are experienced while creative working – f.e. – hammering – noise, vibration, rhythm – reminding of sounds and sensations of the past, relating to the actual moment.

    Drawing and building the (emotional) objects of remembering in context of space awoke inner pictures and stimulates associated atmospheric memories and so it creates narratives: f.e. from the wallpaper with pattern of roses to the memory of elegant parties, music and athmosphere of the parents house.
    To tell and show after reconstructing promotes the communication into the social group. To listen to the stories and see the visual representations of biografic memories transport them into an actualized space and moment. Both – social space and the concrete perceptive space of the moment relate to past and present of an individuum and of a society.

    This method transferred to a working situation with a person suffering from dementia it enables both – the individuums of the group of clients, and the accompanying artist to make the whole personality recognizable in the relation. Emotions, experiences aspects of identity, qualities of the person / character – of past and present become awoke in the actual relation Architects can reflect on their professional practice in a playful way, getting impulses by both personal and cultural – historical aspects of experienced places and spaces – connected to their own experienced past or to the cultural and historically – different – memories of collegues. (Connert und Bonnländer, 2019).

    METHOD / First we draw and reconstruct a map of the places of our childhood: the streets and places around, the buildings and the environment. We will reconstruct the house of our parents or the people we grew up with, for example with clay. We all work on our own map or city map at the same time. This way we can hear the sounds of the other participants. Afterwards we want to show and to reflect and exchange our experiences and observations.

    Working Instruction: Draw a memory of a residency place in childhood, for example also the pathways to school and so on… – in a map perspective, after having the plan, add memory specific details like situations, experiences, by drawing, painting, or in any other way for example threedimensional with clay or with tape Materials you need: A big paper for the city map, drawing materials – pencils, water colors or other colors, Scissors, brushes or crayons to paint. Materials to build houses on the map, for example clay, cardboard, strong paper, glue, adhesive tapes. Please send the foto of your object in JPEG 200 ppi during the first day workshop to us.

     

    1st day: Introduction, Group work, show the city-map in JPEG 200 ppi.

    2nd day: to show and tell.

     

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students: Introduction, Development and to show part 1 / 16 Feb 2021.

     

    EVALUATION /

    Part 2 Final Crit / 23 Feb 2021.

    1. To sensitize oneself to oneself and others by exploring the importance of memories of childhood places.
    2. Did I succeed in bringing back to life memories of my childhood by reconstructing streets and houses in a map of the place of my childhood?
    3. How does my memory of the place of my childhood change after I have worked out a map of it? What do I generate? What emerges, what changes – memories of events, colors, sounds, objects, characteristics of materials or surfaces, ideas of space?
    4. Are there emotions involved? Which one?
    5. What is the meaning of the fact that I created my city map by my own hand, without digital tools? Please observe your sensuality in your hands, your sense of space…
    6. Students can show and explain their city map to others and exchange experiences with others.
    7. They can reflect on a meta-level and describe how two-dimensional and three- dimensional processes work in combination with biography.
    8. Students deal with related sciences and interdisciplinary aspects.
    9. Explore possibilities of how to support people suffering from forgetting in the field of space and time through sensitive spatial development.

    Bibliography /

    Menzen, K.-H. (2008). Art therapy with people confused by age (2nd ed.), 53-70. Munich: Ernst Reinhardt Connert, S. (2019). Ein Leben mit Demenz im hohen Lebensalter. Beispiele aus der Kunsttherapie.

    Forum für Kunsttherapien – Die Fachzeitschrift des GPK, 47(1), 8-11. https://www.theatertherapie.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Forum_-Heft_2_Lebensalter_Mai_2019.pdf

     

    Academy of Fine Arts Munich (GER) /

    Senta Connert (connert@adbk.mhn.de)
    Katja Bonnländer (bonnlaender@adbk.mhn.de )

     

  • ARCH+ARTS: the space for learning as a landscape of life

    CONTENT / Many changes have been in the architecture profession since Journey to the East was written: A diary of Le Corbusier’s trip in 1911. This book is a collection of visual notations, or impressions perceived by Le Corbusier as a visitor to a number of cities in Southeast Europe. Later, the acquired disciplinary knowledge acted as an inspiration for his architecture.

    This year we have organized a 2-week workshop travelling to the unknown: to places that have awakened in each of us a need to learn from the local, its technology, culture and society; consolidating links of specialisation. It is also an experience to empathize Architecture as a Comparative Study, learning as a trip, a journey as an experience.

    We will discuss and go with our proposals and designs in our desired trips, redefining the limits of architecture by working with the unknown as a way to build up a research.

     

    AIMS / To identify a place as a desire. To work with the imagination as a real context. To describe a place with your experience. To find opportunities in your desires to start with a project. To introduce oneself to the class. To get to know the rest of the future members of your working group. To learn how to contribute to group work.

     

    METHOD / The student’s life and interests as building material. To introduce our personal skills and portfolio into a place. Trip to a new destiny you desire to know.

     

    1st day: Introduce yourself presenting a 3min video with the values of your experiences in the desired destiny.

     

    2nd day: Group work according to your common interests. Connect your destinies into a sequence.

     

    3rd day: Final crit. Design your Zoom setting. Mock-up scale 1:1.

     

    SCHEDULE / 2-Week Workshop. Weekly 4-hour class arranged with the students:

     

    Introduction / 03-05 Feb 2020.

    Development / 08-11 Feb 2020.

    Final Crit / 12 Feb 2020.

     

    EVALUATION / Develop the answers to 3 questions from these 12:

     

    1. The WORKSHOP proposes that students begin to build a complete thought to tackle projects, to process, organize, view and display information so that “data collection” became proactive rather than an analytical tool. Have I been able to go beyond analysis procedure and convert the project into a proposition display?

     

    1. The students have to learn to criticize their work and to draw conclusions. They have to process systems and models of architectural production, reformulating nonobvious descriptions, focusing their gaze on the invisible structures, not having preconceived ideas, producing unexpected findings, and non-discursive reasoning. Have I used my own ways of expression reformulating descriptions and avoiding the obvious and the use of direct images of the project culture?

     

    1. The student begins to explore architectural expression systems to formalize their projective ideas. How many ways of expression have I used at work and what is the value expressed by each of them?

     

    1. We have to learn to talk and discuss about architectural sustainability criteria, adding the concept of ecological niche project (mental territory, social, material, technical, medium-environmental, etc). Have I addressed the theme of THE WORKSHOP responding to the proposal on the sustainability?

     

    1. We are going to know how to work in-group to discover the roles in production systems. How much information data made in-group have I used to express my project?

     

    1. The students must participate and contribute with their ideas to the class as an essential part of knowledge. What is the intensity used to express my ideas through the architectural expression ways?

     

    1. The students must learn to establish a personal lexicon to express his architectural ideas. Have you expressed your ideas through a personal lexicon, or have you imitated expression systems used by other designers seen in the media (magazines or Internet)?

     

    1. You need positively assess risk and innovation as a necessary condition of design. Innovation defined as the use of allied disciplines to develop intellectual and technical tools to create new realities, within their own reality, exceeding the established models. Do I use allied disciplines for innovative production?

     

    1. The students must enter, step by step, work details the project culture, you must learn to interpret and criticize from their own proposal. How many data have you appropriated from the culture to express my project?

     

    1. You should produce an open system work, with more questions than answers. How many questions have you made throughout the design process and how many have you tried to answer?

     

    1. Skills: Interest in the contribution, regardless of the attitude from which it was generated. What is the interest of my contribution?

     

    1. Attitudes: how to tackle the problem independent of the outcome. Have I solved with intellectual and material effort to present the proposal?

     

    Bibliography / Le Corbusier. Journey to the East. Cambridge,MA: MIT Press, 1987.

     

    Alicante University (SPAIN) /

    Joaquín Alvado Bañón (joaquin.alvado@ua.es)

    Javier Sánchez Merina (jsm@ua.es)

    UOU_ws1 ALC