81931 - Analysis of the Built Environment

Learning outcomes

The module provides a study of the dynamics of urban development as a tool for the definition of repeatable architectural models on the territory, on the infrastructure network of digital systems necessary for the knowledge and valorisation of architectural, cultural and artistic heritage. At the end of the course the student knows: to understand the dynamics of urban development; to develop competences for the understanding of repeatable architectural models on the territory; to define useful systems and services for the knowledge of the city and necessary for its use.

Course contents

the SYSTEMS DESIGN LABORATORY B C.I. is an integrated course consisting of the teaching modules Services and products for the community and the citizen (6 CFU) and Analysis of the built environment (4 CFU). The laboratory is aimed at learning preparatory knowledge for the master's thesis path and sees the contribution of the architectural and urban composition sector combined with the service design sector.

Today the city and the territories find themselves increasingly having to deal with a network of infrastructures of physical and digital systems necessary for carrying out the various functions of contemporary life.

The teaching aims to convey a possible methodological approach to reading the built space at the urban scale through the development of mapping and reading exercises of urban phenomena, intended as tools for restitution of the interpretation and visualization of the collected data.

The object of the observation, of the reflections, of the analytical and interpretative activities, is the relationship between the elements that characterize the built environment of the city and the services that describe the spaces in a systematic and transversal way (the infrastructure and the mobility centers, the neighborhood spaces, sports facilities, cultural containers, libraries, the water network, the University and dedicated services, production centers, health houses, play areas, weekly markets, green areas and agricultural land, etc.).

Understand the dynamics of urban development and the role of open spaces (arcades, squares, open spaces, nodal points of exchange, etc.) and built (buildings and architectural elements) to transfer this knowledge in the project to enhance the experience of using a service and the enabling of new relationships, describes a possible way of implementing the practices of reading and critical interpretation of the existing.

Cities are becoming more and more digitized organisms and for this reason a fusion is necessary between the disciplines that have as their objective the knowledge and development of the city with a particular emphasis on public space and the disciplines that deal with innovation and development of hypermedia products. . The combination of design and composition will have as an added value the development of prototype projects, characterized by strong innovation both as regards the structure and as regards the technology, which will be able to be coherently inserted both in historical contexts and in areas of new expansion. .

Readings/Bibliography

A specific bibliography will be provided during the course.

Teaching methods

The course will be developed through lectures and practical activities aimed at analyzing the built environment in relation to a specific area of investigation. Practical exercises will be complemented by theoretical contribution to supporting design activity.

Assessment methods

Seminars for showing and discussing the result of the practical activities, during the period and at the final exam.

The final exam of the two courses - Services and products for the community and the citizen (6 CFU) and Analysis of the built environment (4 CFU) - and the evaluation of the community supported in a structured manner and will take into account the results obtained in both forms.

The final exam will combine the evaluation of the design exercises developed within the individual teaching modules and a discussion on the contents of the activities carried out during the course.

Teaching tools

Frontal lessons with slide projection, audio and / or video reproductions; practical exercises directly related to the themes of analysis, reading and representation of urban phenomena

Office hours

See the website of Antonio Esposito

See the website of Serena Orlandi