Architectural Design V-IX: Architectural Design V-IX: Voluptas S2E3 - Pathfinder (Charbonnet/Heiz)

Abstract

"Italian may be "such children" but their tar-babies are not physical pain or coldness; they want an absence of history, they want to start fresh. When they designed those big palaces in Rome they must have known all along about hope and death, but they were so graceful they made it look easy."—Babitz, Eve. Slow Days, Fast Company. Rain. 1977.

Objective

METHODOLOGY 1. Conduct a survey based on the objective observation of Rome; Driven by the choice of an Agent, map out a singular path within the city; Consider the subjectivity of experience and extrapolate multiple storylines. 2. Develop a project addressing a specific problematic: formulate a critical comment onto a contemporary condition; Intensify the experience to reveal further potentials. 3. Elaborate an argumentative discourse, supported by a curated selection of multidisciplinary sources. INCENTIVES Drafting & Mounting Conceptual & Critical Thinking Argumentation & Rhetoric Narration & Storytelling Scenography & Atmosphere Expression & Composition SKILLS Researching Contemporary Concepts & Curating multidisciplinary Sources; Articulating a discursive Argument; Mastering Visual Literacy & Storytelling, Image Mounting & Composing, Architectural Drafting & Projecting.

Content

PATHFINDER 3 is dedicated to the timeless city of Rome: its intricate history, morphology, mythology… all canonical spatial perimeters as suggested by Lefebvre: political, sociological, anthropological, economical, temporal.* Our interest will focus both on the banal and the sublime, on habits, routines, and calendar rites as well as on individual and social rhythms setting the pace for society. As the ordinary interweaves thousands of beats, repetitive tunes and syncopated breaks, there can be no territoriality without its temporalities, may it be that of urbanisation, of experience, or of dreams. The critical consideration of these paragons, further endowed with the lure of fiction, shall initiate alternate (hi)stories and cityscapes. The design studio will be carried out in collaboration with the Faculty of Game Design of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Together we will draft, mount, design, discuss, play… confront our perspectives onto contemporaneity and ultimately imagine audacious yet playful architectural and territorial fictions. A series of lectures by experts from a variety of fields will enrich our investigations. *see: Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space (1974) —. Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life (1992)

Resources