04002 - Architectural Composition II (B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student is able to deal with the project of architecture, with particular reference to the issues of the public building and its relationship with the contemporary city.

Course contents

The contents of the research project fit into the more general context of the study of the city and territory, considering the collective buildings as artifacts participating in the culture of a place and reflecting better than others, the character and contradictions of civil life.

The study of the European city shows numerous examples where the establishment or upgrading of new urban fabric is the result of changes that took place in time where the collective buildings, depending on their "positional value", has assumed the role of "catalyst" for the development of the city.

 

The relation between public building and urban form represents the core of the project, the framework within theories come into experimentation of new design processes.

The Laboratory identifies the project as a specific and privileged analysis tool about architecture and city issues.

The project issue is rethinking an area in the urban context, with particular attention about the relations between natural and built lanscape.

The deepening at architectural scale will be devoted to collective buildings in order to define a part of city with different but connected functions.

 

The architectural definition of the buildings is not contained in their correspondence to the uses, but it reflects the evolution of the ways of life and relationships with the character of the site.

For this reason particular emphasis will be paid to the analysis of the site, laying the groundwork to set up guidelines of the architectural project and define a coherent program.

 

Aims:

 - To come to an analytical interpretation of the characters of the site through the categories of the design process with graphic and photographic tools.

 - To set up a reasoned relation with pre-existing urban core, the residential fabric (private area) and collective buildings (public space).

 - To consider the project of collective buildings as an opportunity to rethink in critical terms the relationship between type and architectural invention.

 - To interpret the collective buildings as a part of the contemporary city, space devoted to research and collectivity, issue connected to “the times” within it is located.

Readings/Bibliography

- Aldo Rossi, Scritti scelti sull'architettura e la città, Clup, Milano 1975

- Oswald Mathias Ungers, La città dialettica, Skira, Milano 1997.

- Rafael Moneo, La solitudine degli edifici ed altri scritti, 2 voll., Allemandi, Torino 1999.

Specific bibliographies will be provided during the course.

 

Teaching methods

The Laboratory will be composed of two phases, one for semester

The first one will be devoted to the development of an urban project, the second one to the depth of the project of a collective building at the architectural scale.

 

The development of the project will be supported by analysis of the city and the landscape and by a series of lectures devoted to deepening knowledge of the study area, and to the theoretical aspects related to the issues of urban design and of the typological definition of collective buildings.

Assessment methods

The examination will focus on the evaluation of project papers and discussion around the theoretical issues discussed in the course.

Teaching tools

The thematic bibliographies, provided during the course, will be the main reference for the acquisition of information, necessary for the development and analysis of the project.

It involves the use of audio and visual equipment, programming of thematic seminars, organization of visits to the project site.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Mucelli