Architectural Design IV: Shelter: Real Architecture (E.Christ/Ch.Gantenbein)

Abstract

During this semester we will confront our interpretation of Ideal Architecture with the complexity of planning and designing for the contemporary society. Working with existing buildings and structures in the context of Swiss agglomeration, we will re-discover their latent potential and transforming it through critical and future-oriented design.

Objective

The goal of the semester is the independent development of an architectural project that deals with the existing context and contemporary issues. The design comprises all levels of scale, from urban context to constructive details, but also the entire design process - from reading a specific building to formulating one’s own attitude and position, from the construction of an argument (linguistically as well as architecturally) to its precise expression through the appropriate means of representation. - Analysis of a suburban context through site visits and various media (collage, photography, drawing). - Use of different design techniques of representation (collage, model, drawing). - Dealing with basic architectural principles and their creative implementation in a project, while addressing aspects related to energetic efficiency, climate adaptation and material sustainability. - Developing a complex architectural project from the urban setting to the construction, especially dealing with the existing in a challenging and innovative way, exploring practices related to conversion, reuse, retrofitting.

Content

While the first semester focused on dealing with historical references and cultivating a formal understanding of the design practice, in the second semester we will confront our interpretation of Ideal Architecture with the complexity of planning and designing for the contemporary society. In the context of Swiss suburbia, concretely in the space between the agglomeration of Liestal and Kaiseraugst, we will collectively reinterpret the idea of shelter through critical and future-oriented processes of transformation. The fragile condition of suburban settlements, stuck between obsolete typologies, the lack of services and the growing speculation of the housing market, represents the canvas to question the role and the nature of public spaces. How can these newly transformed Shelters contribute to foster a deeper understanding of collective practices? What should a station, a hotel lobby, a church, or a market do in order to become relevant places of encounter? Experimenting with different architectural languages, we will design community spaces of different types and sizes, which together will constitute a network of communal facilities of paramount importance in the design of a sustainable city. If in Rome the ideal-typical design method was in the foreground, the second semester is primarily focused on the reinterpretation of what is found on site: conversion, reuse, deconstruction and retrofitting are the corresponding strategies. Presentations from experts in the form of symposium will enrich our understanding of the agglomeration, while visits to projects will provide diverse approaches to preservation and alteration practices within the existing built environment. A careful reflection on the use of building materials and the implementation of energy efficient solutions will complement the design on a practical level. Using historical references and a typological analysis as a starting point in the first semester, the introduction of context and construction constraints in the second semester will complete and deepen our design experience, drawing a path from ideal to real architecture.

Resources