Architectural Design V-IX: Circular Ticino (E.Mosayebi)

Abstract

With the term circular, we adopt two building principles: we design houses that only have to last one generation and not a hundred years, and we assume that the material is more durable than the construction. In this way, we design tailor-made houses that can be dismantled after thirty years and reassembled anew and differently elsewhere.

Objective

• Insights into circular forms of building • Knowledge about social, economic and ecological issues in Canton Ticino • Ability to judge urban planning issues • Design of new forms of housing • Constructive deepening • Models in different scales • Experimental photography

Content

How long does a house last? As a rule, 80-100 years. Often, however, this age is not reached because the structures of a house are too rigid to adapt to the future needs of its inhabitants. Thus, a house's useful life determines its lifespan, not vice versa. Once approved for demolition, valuable materials and intact components are demolished and disposed. The monolithic, glued or cemented constructions do not allow for deconstruction into individual parts. Common construction methods are wasteful, as valuable material cannot be transferred to other building sites. With the term circular, we adopt two building principles: we design houses that only have to last one generation and not a hundred years, and we assume that the material is more durable than the construction. In this way, we design tailor-made houses that can be dismantled after thirty years and reassembled anew and differently elsewhere. The design is part of our trilogy on Ticino, in which we devote ourselves to different temporalities of architecture. After the last autumn semester on the temporary in connection with climate change, this spring's topic is a house for generations and demographic forecasts. Ticino, as a border region with its ageing population, strong emigration, and seasonal population fluctuations, forms the material for our interventions. Together with experts, we will discuss the circular (building) economy, the use of local resources and the latest architectural examples of housing. Building sites are available in the urban areas of Lugano, Bellinzona, Biasca and Chiasso. At the beginning of the semester, the students create a portrait of their site. In parallel, they design demountable construction principles of the circular house from locally available materials and show what spatial and sensual potential circularity has for living. We start the semester with a one-day excursion and visit architectural works of Ticino's building culture. The students design their project based on the concrete location, the urban planning idea, the constructive solution for the supporting structure and façade, and the narratives for a new generation house. Large-scale models and constructive drawings are developed in collaboration with BUK. The semester will also occur in collaboration with Guillaume Habert's Chair of Sustainable Building and the artists Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs.

Resources