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Architectural Desing V - IX: The Understory (T. Emerson)
Last Updated: 2026-06-01 11:30:29
Abstract
This semester, we shall look again at building systems. Buildings from the 1970s, 80s and 90s are reaching the end of their first life-cycle and are most vulnerable to being replaced without the confidence and authority of age. Imagine buildings could speak. What might they say?
Objective
Our method will follow two parallel tracks; making and writing. Making will engage with the specific material reality of these architectures, the processes that form the aluminium from extracted bauxite to 26 ton aluminium bars that get rolled and extruded to create building components, while writing (and reading) will document and imagine the lives of those who make, use and maintain the architecture of everyday life. Architectural concepts will be replaced by narratives that stretch from the past into the future, that recognise contingency and the interconnectedness of our lives in the natural world. So we will start in the garden by restructuring the understory before turning to construction.
Content
This semester, we shall look again at building systems. Buildings from the 1970s, 80s and 90s are reaching the end of their first life-cycle and are most vulnerable to being replaced without the confidence and authority of age. Imagine buildings could speak. What might they say? In fact some believe they already do which is why we have invented haunted houses and heritage. But that distinguished status is largely reserved for ancient structures whose design, class, materials and craftmanship, patina and resilience naturally collects and communicates the story of our culture. Modern architecture of the post-war era struggles to be heard in comparison. Is that because industrial construction systems have silenced architecture to a series of abstract signs from nowhere and anywhere? Is it because the reflective surfaces of glass and metals reflect only images but leave no traces? Or is it simply because we are not literate in these architectures of our recent past? This semester, we shall look again at the lightweight aluminium assemblies that defined much of the architecture starting in the 1970s when aluminium production hugely increased for all areas of production from drink cans to aviation and of course façade systems. By looking at a series of buildings from that time in Zürich, and more specifically the aluminium assemblies that make up their façades. We shall examine how these architectures can be rethought for the next generation without erasing the traces of previous events to accommodate a changing society and climate. Starting from a single façade component, we shall design the next.
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC
- Frequency
- Semesterly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| exercise | Architectural Design V - IX: The Understory (T. Emerson) |
|
16 h weekly |