COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2020-2021

Simplicity in plan, epiphany in space…
Stairwell at the Archeological Museum of Álava, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
Architect: Francisco Mangado

Between dream and reality, an aesthetic experience of daily life…
The ambition of the design studio will focus on a series of open-ended questions surrounding the “design of space” and “the setting in space of ideas” within the discipline of architecture. As both individuals and as a collective group, we will explore how ideas, concepts, and themes can help conceive architectural spaces and places. Most importantly we will focus on how to give them physicality, which has been one of the most important ways to legitimize our role as leaders within the built environment.

During this year, we will study the discipline of architecture as a process that involves an acute sense of creativity both at the intuitive and rational levels of design. Hence, the education of an architect will be framed as part of a larger series of questions surrounding concepts pertaining to the body of history and theory, abstract and real context, structure and construction, art and urbanism from which key design strategies can be extracted, understood and redirected toward the creation of your own work.

Your second-year design experience constitutes the basis for introducing the fundamentals of architecture, a journey that will balance tradition and innovation, theory and pragmatics, design and construction. A number of suggested design projects and punctual charrettes will test your creative energy.

Fall 2020:

1. How do you see and express yourself? the design of an ex-libris (brand)
2. How do you see and understand? case study analysis project (precedence)
3. How to you see and interpret? the free-section project (space), and
4. How do you see and design? the wall house project (design)

Spring 2021:

5. How do you see the past and present? an urban loft renovation (urban design);
6. How do you see and build? a contemporary café/restaurant (campus design)

The broader intention of this lab is not only to fulfill a series of curricular requirements but most importantly to pursue an architecture in search of poetry and spatial delight. Second year visual archives are to be found under https://atelierdehahn.com/current-academic-year-2019-2020/

By the end of the academic year, students will have acquired the following:

1. Awareness of the potential of an architecture in search of poetry, differentiating building from architecture;
2. Understanding what constitutes an idea, a concept, a partie, and a design strategy;
3. Ability to distinguish between what appears to be real and its representation, what is essential and what is exceptional;
4. Ability to attribute to a project a clear set of theoretical premises and defined strategies;
5. Understanding the filiation of the five basics 20^th century spatial configurations of architecture,
6. And an appreciation that research leads to the coherence and authenticity of any design project –YOUR project in particular.

I invite students interested in this pedagogy to read select blogs of your interest. Many of them were created in response to last year’s students’ cohort and feature fundamental design themes, often accompanied by work conducted directly in the studio context from my students: https://atelierdehahn.com/blog/

ARCH 2015_F2020
Course Syllabus 1
Course Syllabus2
Schedule

Charette 1: Ex-Libris
Student artifacts

Project 1: Case Study Houses
Student artifacts

Project 2: Section
Student artifacts and blog: Architectural Education: Questions of section. Part 2

Project 3: Wall House
Student artifacts

ARCH1016_S2020
Course Syllabus 1
Course Syllabus 2

Project 1: Loft renovation
Student artifacts

Writing interlude
Student artifacts

Charette 1 IKEA Kitchen
Student artifacts

Charette 2 Cabinetwork
Student artifacts

Charette 3 Furniture
Student artifacts

Charette 4 Artwork
Student artifacts

Project 2: Campus cafe
Student artifacts