Foundation Studio II

Abstract

The task in the 1st part consists in the redefining of the meaning and use of the landscape on a neuralgic point within the urban topography of Switzerland: The configuration Biel-Bern-Thun.By looking at Zürich through the lens of water, climate, soil, and plants the second half of the studio develops a language for translating the landscape and discovering new opportunities for design.

Objective

The first part of the course introduces landscape architecture design on a territorial scale. The students develop a project based on the perception of place, knowledge of landscape-architectonic typologies and conception of public space. We understand the design explicitly as a process that needs to be carefully documented. The aim of the second part of the course is for students to develop a design proposal in Zürich that uncovers new potentials for the city through an analysis of the dynamics of water. Using drawing-based investigations, each project will identify a transformative potential in a living system and make a design proposal that augments that potential.

Content

The task in the first part of the semester consists in the redefining of the meaning and use of the landscape within the urban configuration of Biel-Bern-Thun. At this junction of urbanized Switzerland, the three primary landscape types (Jura, Mittelland, Alps) come together. Their transformation is characterized by centralization and the expansion of urban sprawl (city network Bern), developments along the transit axes (Genève-St. Gallen / Bern-Thun), the partial withdrawal of use (Alpine fallow land) and simultaneous intensification of agriculture (Valleys and Mittelland). In a first step, we examine the large-scale relations. On a field trip we supplement the analytical view with a personal view of the place. From this the students develop an individual program as a basis for their design. With this approach we understand design not as an end product, but as a process, which is about making the individual steps visible and recording them. In the second part of the semester, students will analyze the topography, drainage, soil, climate in the urban condition and territory of Zürich. They will produce maps of the city and its watershed, and this investigation will generate a more specific zone of intervention that will be analyzed in greater depth. By the end of the studio the students will produce a series of drawings that describe their design proposals.

Resources