The BT Studio B joins the following subjects: Architectural Technologies (Luca Maria Francesco Fabris), Construction Techniques (Anna Magri), and Building Physics (Sergio Zabot).

The BT Studio B, held in English language, is carried out in parallel to a Studio Project course held by prof. Yasushi Kasajima, prof. Susumu Uno and PhD Arch. Nina Funahashi at the Department of Architecture of Daido University (Nagoya, Japan). Since 2007, the two Studio Project classes have been contributing in an Italian-Japanese didactic project titled “C.Scape” (where “C” means Community, Constructions and Communication).

C.SCAPE 16 –

Building a Creative Class Condominium in Nagoya’s Historical Centre

Foreword

This year the C.Scape studio project faces the topic of architectural and environmental design in the historical, architectural, multi-layered urban fabric of Nagoya (Aichi Prefecture, Japan), introducing a reflection on value, importance, problems, and challenges in adding new architecture in a very complex and stunning historical landscape, that will be the background for a contemporary architectural project able to merge green utopias with actually green-architecture prototypes, creating a new kind of condominium with annexes dedicated to newer Nagoya’s Creative Class people and their style-life.

PROGRAM

Nagoya is a city of 2.3 million of inhabitants, located between Edo and Kyoto. In Edo period, Nagoya was the most important town and base of the Owari Tokugawa family that lived for more than 250 years in the Nagoya’s Castle.

The area around Nagoya Castle is arranged like blocks with grid of streets and avenues and it was used as residence for townspeople and samurai warriors. Normally, at that times towns used to be designed with complicated street networks to prevent enemies from the city, but the street network around Nagoya adopted a well-ordered street system and this features still in Nagoya city today.

In 1610 the Horikawa canal which was excavated according with the construction of Nagoya Castle and it highly contributed to the development of the town. At the same time was founded the district of Shikemichi along the Horikawa canal, and its traditional style is still visible now after centuries.

The town around the Castle was mostly destroyed during World War II, but the well-ordered street system has been newly adopted and the treat of 'blocks with grid of streets and avenues' is still there nowadays.

In this project, students will go to pick up the part of the town around Nagoya Castle and design a Condominium with Annex-Space for the emerging Creative Class.

This design project has many complicated backgrounds and strains such as a samurai residence, merchant houses, townspeople and so on. Students are called to face the challenge to design complicated facilities taking count of history and existing surroundings. The usage of the new built structure is a condominium completed with an Annex-Room, situated on the site or beside. An 'Annex-Room' is a space attached or in strict relation with the condominium, studied so that residents, citizens living around there and visitors can communicate each other. Students can decide the functions to be activated in the Annex-Room freely.

In the XXI century society, 'Creative Class' represents those how can remodel the post-industrial communities adding new values (R. Florida, 2002) through globalization and development of IT, as currently happens in Tokyo, that is one of the most creative cities in the world. Students have to imagine and realize a project that could invite to Nagoya members of the Creative Class, to bring in Aichi prefecture new prosperity, as happened in Tokyo.

BT Studio B students are requested, according to a common brief, to study and develop proposals in a way in which environment and sustainable features have to be properly considered.

In the within of Architectural Technologies subject students are called to respond to the relationships between green-built and light-massive as characterizing elements of the technological constructive nodes and their architectonical design, with attention to some sustainable features as solar gain, air circulation, cycle and recycle of the water, climate change, recovery and energetic saving and use of high innovative value building materials. The students will be guided in the planning of built structures, throughout the application of documents and relative drawings from the concept to the preliminary, definitive and executive design.

The aim of the Building Physics section, subdivided into three sections, is to analyse the aspects of energy, environmental and economic sustainability within a multidisciplinary project. The first section is general, and deals with climate analysis, indoor air quality and thermal comfort. The second part is about the building envelope, and so subjects like building energy balance, building envelope thermo-physical properties, and daylight will be approached. In the third, and last, regards building plants: lighting systems, HVAC system and renewable energy plants.

In the within of Construction Techniques subject, it will be requested to design the structural scheme and elements. In particular, these minimal documents: structural drawings of storey-slabs, vertical elements list, a structural design report, and structural joints detailed drawings. The aim is providing students with the basic structural knowledge to design reinforced concrete, steel or timber structures, adopting the current standard codes.

BT Studio B focuses in merging the knowledge of these three subjects in a unique project where the ‘aesthetical and design matters’ are developed together and in relation with the technical, energetic and structural features. In fact, the proposed building should properly satisfy the expected requirements and performances. In few words: even if buildings are complex, they are a whole, and we have to obtain the desired and required performances operating through knowledge and design.

Milanese and Japanese students will work on the same topic in a virtual workshop and will have the opportunity to interact on-line between them and with the teaching staff thanks to the BEEP multimedia platform (beep.metid.polimi.it) released by Centro METID of the Politecnico di Milano. Didactic materials will be available via the web and the students will have to publish constantly their work progresses to make them visible to the others (teachers and students).

Students are invited to guarantee the maximum of interaction during all the in-room compulsory activities of the Studio (lectures, discussions and tutored design and research activities).

More literature will be suggested during the lectures

In accordance with the 5 Dublin descriptors:

1 - Knowledge and understanding: The BT Studio B students will be guided in bettering their knowledge and understanding of the subjects involved in the course by the teachers and their collaborators who will help students to focus on the programme brief;

2 - Applying knowledge and understanding: The BT Studio B students will design and develop their own buildings through three steps: a first phase (preliminary design), then a second phase (definitive design), and a last third phase (detailed and executive design);

3 - Making judgements: The BT Studio B students will be encouraged in checking their own Studio Project results and develop their own judgment capacities through analysis and workshop reports;

4 - Communication skills: To pass the first two steps BT Studio B students, divided in groups of max. 3 individuals, will prepare 2 oral presentations on their design work progresses in relation to the Studio brief, to be discussed and evaluated in a public discussions (mid-term presentations);

5 - Learning skills: BT Studio B students will demonstrate their completed skills at the final exam, when there will be a public oral discussion with teachers and tutoring staff about the Studio Project results (Assessment of final test delivered as tables and written reports) obtained during the supported and autonomous learning activities.