Architectural Design V-IX: Courage - Unbuilding (A.Fonteyne)

Abstract

This semester delves into the imperative of perpetual growth, initiating with deconstruction and elimination, while also delving into speculative futures through AI and immersive experiences in Belgium. These endeavours aim to inform architectural proposals for a designated set of ETH buildings located in the heart of the city.

Objective

Method At the chair, we are interested in creating an environment where everyone works on their own projects, but at the same time the whole group engages in a larger discussion on the main topic. This requires everyone to be able to - develop skills to debate and learn how to contribute to the quality of the work of peers - develop skills on how to document, draw, build, represent and communicate findings to different audiences Collaboration ETH Real Estate To benefit from working in a context of realistic urgencies, students will - gather in-depth knowledge on ETH real estate politics through engaging with the research of the past semester - present and discuss their project with the external partners - take a position on architecture as a representation of a federal institution and reflect on its role in the city - develop a position that looks beyond the here and now, reflecting on how to design for the next generations and the non-human entities without a voice Re- Use Working with existing buildings, requires to look beyond what one thinks one knows already. We will develop an approach of attentiveness to - identify material as well as immaterial strengths, weaknesses and potentialities of existing buildings and neighbourhoods through inhabitation and close observation - explore how to document and represent existing and changing spatial conditions when reusing a building through different media, including AI, modelmaking, fiction - formulate and reformulate key design questions - gain confidence in the design process with an ability to be critical and conscious, bringing all the aspects of the semester together in a personal and critical discourse

Content

Often treated as failure or loss, subtraction when accepted as part of an exchange can be growth. Keller Easterling, Subtraction, 2014 Courage We feel that courage is exactly what we need. Defined as the strength of mind to carry on in spite of danger or difficulty and etymologically linked to the heart (coeur) as a source of feelings and confidence, this posture will offer us the opportunity to act as critical human beings, while bringing the knowledge of the architect to the table. ETH After setting up the ETH Competence Center for Spatial Politics ETH-SP last semester, our collaboration with ETH Real Estate will continue. The current challenges and urgencies are multiple: student numbers are growing, but budgets are not; buildings need to be transformed for new ways of teaching, research and knowledge transfer, while the relationship between work, study and home is being redefined constantly. We have selected 6 ETH buildings that are high on the list of necessary change. Located in the centre of Zurich, we will spend time in and around these buildings and their users, to engage with their historical, architectural and current conditions. We will reflect on their relationship with the city and the citizens and focus on designing public interiors and exteriors, while creating incentives for a much-needed institutional change. Unbuilding Let's be clear. As architects, as clients, as urban thinkers, we quickly believe that we can solve many challenges by building more. We love designing, we love building and we love seeing our own designs realised. However, the main questions that keep coming back at the ETH Competence Center for Spatial Politics are whether the growth scenario really is the optimal scenario for ETH and if adding is always necessary, offering the best answer? This semester, we will work with you to find the courage to start removing. We will remove clutter, we will remove additions that don't work, we will remove layers that get in the way of interaction and exchange. We will cut and might split. Sometimes gently like a surgeon, sometimes brusquely and directly without too much caution. And by doing this, we will add. We will add spatial possibilities, architectural quality and even space. We will add surprise and comfort. All at the same time. To grow, we will de-grow. To build, we will unbuild. Futures Together with Digital Building Technologies, the Chair of Benjamin Dillenburger, we will critically explore the role of AI to speculate on affective futures beyond our imagination, by exploring a constant interaction between visual essays and written fictions. When Form Follows Fiction An integrated seminarweek to Belgium will allow us to experience architectural references in person. We will spend plenty of time in institutional buildings that were the result of re-use and transformation. Through fieldwork, we will develop a lexicon of architectural elements to enrich our own proposals for the institution we wish to contribute to: ETH Zurich.

Resources