03718 - Architectural Composition I (B)

Course contents

This semester, the studio introduces a "distanced design" methodology by situating the project site outside the local reality of Cesena and Bologna. By working in Lisbon, Portugal, students engage with an unfamiliar geography, culture, and climate framework, allowing them to practice site relations without the subjective bias of daily experience. This process begins with a rational analytical approach based on data, which is subsequently confronted with the emotional insights of an insitu visit. Through this lens, students will explore how sensitive architectural interventions can address complex urban problems beyond their immediate functional program, ultimately enhancing the broader city environment.

Readings/Bibliography

• Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated by Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach, and Robert Tavernor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988.
• Barragán, Luis. Textos completos, 1924-1985. Barcelona: Puente Editores, 2025.
• Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities. Translated by William Weaver. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.
• Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Italian Journey (1786–1788). Translated by W. H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer. London: Penguin Classics, 1970.
• Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1994. (Orig. pub. 1978.)
• Stravinsky, Igor. Poetics of Music in the Form of Six Lessons. Translated by Arthur Knodel and Ingolf Dahl. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1947.
• Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1977.
• Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006.
• Zumthor, Peter. Thinking Architecture. 3rd ed. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2010.

Teaching methods

Similar to a normal project activity in a professional context, the course progresses through site and programmatic analysis, contextual modeling, and a site visit to Lisbon to develop a cohesive architectural proposal. Working in groups of three, students move from conceptual intentions to technical synthesis through models and drawings.

Assessment methods

Assessment is conducted continuously throughout the semester, based on attendance, active involvement in group tasks, and the development of the architectural project. This process includes the regular fulfillment of weekly objectives alongside performance in formal mid-term and final presentations. The evaluation considers the conceptual and functional merits of the architectural proposal, the quality of its graphic communication, and the student’s evolution from the initial phase to the final submission.

Teaching tools

A rational analytical approach is followed by emotional insights gained from a direct site visit to Lisbon, ensuring projects are grounded in both data and human experience. Projects will be refined through a dual layer of critique: studio-wide discussions that foster collective architectural discourse and individual desk tutorials that provide targeted, group-specific guidance.

Office hours

See the website of Miguel Enes Marcelino