Architectural Design V-IX: To Adapt (M. Conen)

Abstract

We will start with the conversion of furniture in our studio: six chairs. In the first weeks, we will work on adapting these chairs to new requirements and opening up possibilities through the use of other materials. We see this as your first contact with the topic of living and adapting. Subsequently, we will deal with a specific type of Zurich housing: the urban villa.

Objective

- Learning from and observing the existing - Building upon what is there - Relationship between garden and home - Re-use and re-think - Subtle and sensitive responses

Content

To adapt means to change something that already exists. Not to make something new from scratch, but to create a new starting point by adapting what is there. This can be done slowly — perhaps cautiously — while anticipating what might come, but also intuitively and quickly. Recognising the potential and seeing its possibilities is essential in order to reuse and rethink the existing. And this, in turn, is vital when fostering a sustainable relationship with our environment. Adapting, rebuilding, extending, modifying, altering, transforming - what should one adapt to? Is it adapting to new standards, requirements or functions? What are the new conditions and parameters we want to align ourselves with? Ultimately, it is about finding a creative way of dealing with things that exist and which we change to respond to new conditions and ideas. Adapting often involves challenging existing conventions and ideas. We will start with the conversion of furniture in our studio: six chairs. In the first weeks, we will work on adapting these chairs to new requirements and opening up possibilities through the use of other materials. We see this as your first contact with the topic of living and adapting. Subsequently, we will deal with a specific type of Zurich housing: the urban villa. How can these existing residential buildings be adapted or extended so that they meet the current and future requirements for living? Flanked by gardens, these smaller residential units located on the right bank of the Limmat (Höngg, Wipkingen, Unterstrass, Hottingen) produce a great quality of life, yet are currently being replaced by new buildings. How could these buildings be adapted to current social, ecological and structural questions without having to be demolished and rebuilt? The challenge this semester is to discover their existing qualities, reveal their history and continue their story. A precondition for adaptation is to understand and be able to read the existing object, its construction, its context. Observation and analysis are vital to adaptation. Through photography and drawings, we will approach and document our adapted objects. We will work with drawings, models and model photographs to represent the ideas in the projects, be they architectural, ecological or structural. Furthermore, we will use synthesis drawings to summarise the different ideas of the projects and tell their story. The work will take place in groups of two.

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