Situating Architecture

Well situated buildings are evidence of architectural knowledge and skills. They address the intricate complexities of the site and anticipate sustainable future developments.

In a series of thematic modules, you will analyse and imagine different (e.g. material, perceptual, cultural) layers of a given context through concrete design tasks, leading to the individual design of a complete and well-situated architectural project.

Through a series of workshops that use different methods to study contextual layers, and through intense design practice, you will train in the use of analytical and projective methods required to develop architectural designs. Your projects should be sensibly inscribed within a particular context, understood as an entanglement of natural and cultural variables.

The course will be integrated with the AR1A080 Building Engineering Studio.

The three design studios offered by the chair of Methods of Analysis and Imagination form future architects with the skills and knowledge required to: (a) inscribe architectural designs within concrete sites and situations (MSc1, Situating Architecture), (b) collaborate with others productively in the development of architectural designs (MSc2, Designing with Others), and (c) scale fully developed architectural designs meticulously and insightfully in relation to human proportions (MSc3/4, A Matter of Scale).

Well situated, co-created, human-scaled architectures result from the thorough and creative analysis and imagination of possible futures for particular architectural contexts. In the three courses analysis and imagination are fully integrated in practice through the proficient and explorative use of instruments and methods of the architectural discipline and other related professions.

Student work may be used for educational purposes, and students must self-notify the coordinator/ lecturer of the course if they do not wish to give permission to do so.