04002 - Architectural Composition II (B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module, the student is able to address the architectural design with particular attention to the issues of the public building and its relationship with the size of the contemporary city.

Course contents

The course addresses the theme of the design of collective building as an element of sustainable development and structure of urban culture. The theme is precisely the design of a museum building considered within the theory of the city made of recognizable parts. In particular, the Laboratory will address the design of a Museum of African Art. We need to think of the city and its collective buildings, both in relation to the shape of the historical city and suburban expansions and in relation to the new cultural flows originating from the large and complex contemporary geopolitical conditions. This means rethinking the role of the collective building project, not only as the ultimate object of transformation of reality but, above all, as a representation of meanings able to regenerate the role of urban phenomena now polarized on the contradiction between cultural homologation processes and claims of identity. Therefore, the design theme considers the role of collective buildings as the primary elements of urban form capable of revitalizing the culture of alterity - mainly of art - reflecting in architecture the contradictions of civil life. It is therefore evident that the architecture of collective building is indissolubly tied to the civil and cultural life of an era and its development. Collective building was born as a modern city equipment and developed since the nineteenth century, especially by pursuing the concept of "utility" in relation to technological progress and economic transformations. However, if we consider the meaning of a collective building, we can see that it can change from one age to another, but its urban meaning and form are subtracted - to a certain extent - to the action of time and technique and tend to form a dialectical image of the real in relation to the urban structure and its history. The study of this dialectical image constitutes the founding and conceptual center of the design theme.

Readings/Bibliography

A. Rossi, L'architettura della città, Clup, Milano 1978.

O. M. Ungers, La città dialettica, Skira, Milano 1997.

I. Clemente, Infanzia della forma. Opere e progetti di Aldo Rossi, Adda Editore, Bari 2008.

I. Clemente, Lucus. Intorno al significato nell’architettura di Gianugo Polesello, Aion, Firenze 2016.

I. Clemente, Hejduk impossibile in John Hejduk, Aion, Firenze 2015.

A. Rossi, Architettura per i musei, in Teorie della progettazione architettonica, Dedalo, Bari 1985.

J. Hejduk, Soundings. A work by John Hejduk, Rizzoli International publications, New York 1993.

J. Hejduk: Mask of Medusa - Works 1947-1983, Rizzoli International publications, New York 1989.

F. Dal Co, T. Muirhead, I musei di James Stirling, Michael Wilford & associates, Electa, Milano 1990.

L. Frobenius, Storia della civiltà africana, Adelphi, Milano 2013.

Other bibliographical information will be provided during lessons.

Teaching methods

The purpose of the Laboratory is to acquire the knowledge of architectural composition method for the student. This knowledge is based on the dialectical relationship between theory, history and practice of architecture. Also included, in this dialectical relationship, are the concepts of conceptual, representative, expressive and technical-constructive aspects necessary for the development of an architectural design. In this sense, the theoretical-historical analysis of urban and architectural form is the first step of designing. Initially the study of the typological form of architecture is associated. The historical-typological objective represents the rational logical moment of the design invention, at the same time its is founding meanings of architectural form. The study of theoretical-compositional and the development of the design practice will be based on the design of urban and architectural drawings and models of study. The Laboratory will be divided into two separate phases in the first and second semesters. The first phase will be dedicated to the study of the design area and the analysis of an existing museum project, considered in its conceptual, typological, figurative and expressive aspects. The second phase will be dedicated entirely to the design of a museum building on architectural scale. The design practice will be complemented by a cycle of theoretical lessons dedicated to the introduction of the design theme, the aspects of the urban design and the typological definition of collective buildings. The lessons will be accompanied by periodic reviews of the project work, interrupted by collective seminars on the progress of the works. Participation in seminars is mandatory and consists in examining and handing in the drawings of the project.

Assessment methods

The final exam will consist in evaluating project design and discussion about the theoretical issues dealt with during the course.
In particular, the following will be evaluated: 1) the quality of the design drawings; 2) the architectural model of the project; 3) a written assignment of the project; 4) the appropriateness of the language used to illustrate the project and the theoretical issues dealt with during the course.
The final exam will be preceded by a seminar to verify the positive completion of the Laboratory's design experience.

Teaching tools

The main teaching support consists of specific bibliographies on the theme of design. In this case, the bibliographies will be oriented in relation to the design of the museum building. Therefore, such bibliographies are aimed to acquire the cultural, philosophical and figurative meaning of the idea of Museum. The use of audiovisual materials and we will make some thematic-cultural seminars, with the presence of external experts, above all to deepen the themes of the Laboratory. 

 

Office hours

See the website of Ildebrando Clemente