A Matter of Scale Graduation Studio

The quality of life in European cities is inseparable from their human scale.
Through methodic and imaginative analysis and design, you will develop a comprehensive architectural project for a European city, with particular attention to the contextual and disciplinary consequences of scaling buildings in relation to the people who conceive, build, and inhabit them.

In partnership with a local academic institution you will develop thorough analyses of (a) selected aspects of the local context and (b) buildings and architectural projects that contain operative knowledge for design and construction in that context.

Your analytical findings will determine the formulation of a design assignment, which you will develop into a comprehensive architectural project, with particular focus on the different ways in which creating and constructing buildings with a human scale can have a meaningful impact on urban quality.

The final project will be presented together with an evaluation of the instruments and methods used to achieve a human scale for your project, and its expected urban impact.

See Graduation Manual

Your analyses of context and disciplinary precedents will be reviewed in week 2.5.

Your use of analytical findings (LO1) as basis to formulate a design assignment (LO2), together with a first version of the architectural design (LO3) that develops that assignment, will be evaluated in the A1 summative (go/no-go) assessment in week 2.10.

A second version of your design will be evaluated in the formative (non-graded) A2 assessment, a progress review to be held on week 3.10.

The third and final version of your design will be evaluated in a formative (red/green light) A3 assessment, where grades will also be determined, and made official in the final summative (graded) A4 assessment, where the final version of your project will be communicated (LO4) to a public of experts and non-experts.

All reviews and assessments will be based on the aspects and criteria determined in the Graduation Manual, and on the EMMA feedback and assessment tool that is integral to that Manual.

Related to the research carried out by the chair of Methods of Analysis and Imagination, particular attention is given to the criteria “exploration” (trial and error) and “innovativeness” (imaginativeness), as defined in the tool’s glossary of terms, and in relation to the different aspects that are evaluated in your research and design.