In the Thematic Studio - with a disciplinary characterization with respect to Architectural Design, Environmental Technology Design, Conservation, Interior Architecture or Urban Planning - the student experiments in-depth study of topics related to innovative and advanced research issues in the specific disciplinary area of reference.

According to the Dublin Descriptors (DdD), passing the exam certifies the acquisition of the following results:

DdD 1 knowledge and understanding

- knowledge of advanced tools for the project.

DdD 2 ability to apply knowledge and understanding

- advanced ability to transfer theoretical and technical disciplinary knowledge in project development.

DdD 3 (autonomy of judgment), 4 (communication skills) and 5 (learning ability)

- ability to operate and communicate independently the design choices made (DdD 3, 4 and 5).

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN THEMATIC STUDIO

STRATA

“Ecology” as a framework from which we design is an essential component of contemporary landscape architecture. Our definition of it is not confined to “natural” or “environmental” contexts; rather it refers to the complexity of agents acting in any environment and their unique interactions. These agents are biotic and abiotic, urban and natural, human and non-human and they produce incremental changes on the broader system over time. For centuries western culture considered nature to be outside of – and therefore separate from – the city. Nature was sacred, foreboding, pristine, pure, wild – something that lived independent from and was threatened by the influence of humanity. The city, on the other hand, was the realm of man and technology; it was a canker creeping out into primeval nature. Today we can no longer make this distinction; as urban areas expand and population growth strains our remaining resources we are forced to acknowledge humans and their constructions as an active participant in the natural environment.

The option design studio STRATA asks students to examine ecological flows and processes across the strata of a rock quarry and to propose a landscape architectural intervention for the site. We rely on the raw materials of stone, gravel, sand and clay for the construction of our cities, buildings and infrastructure. While the supply chain is becoming evermore global, the impacts remain local. Cities today are often supported by material and waste infrastructures that are removed from our daily lives. As a result, we often fail to consider the social and ecological consequences of these infrastructures. The process of blasting, crushing, sawing, splitting and transporting the raw material leads to environmental degradation including air and noise pollution, fragmentation of ecological corridors, habitat destruction. This studio unearths these out of sight processes and asks the students to propose how these sites of extraction might be re-conceived with new program and ecologies.

Working in teams of two to four, students will select a site upon which to focus their design project. The first design exercise of the studio is to understand the  complexities of the extractive site and to develop landscape strategies that will structure a new dynamic system in, on and over the ground. In the McHargian tradition teams will begin by separating layers of geology, hydrology, plant communities, topography, solar exposure, urban development, cultural meaning, infrastructure, pollution and contamination and overlapping them to reveal a new site reading. The mapping itself becomes the first critical exercise in the design process. As James Corner puts it in the seminal essay The Agency of Mapping: As a creative practice, mapping precipitates its most productive effects through a finding that is also a founding; its agency lies in neither reproduction nor imposition but rather in uncovering realities previously unseen or unimagined, even across seemingly exhausted grounds.

More than a simple cut-and-paste of data already available, each layer is drawn to represent a particular intention of the designer. The maps are closely edited for content and clarity; too much information does not allow for a clear reading of the design strategy, while too little information renders the map useless. As a complement to the mapping process, the site will be analysed by a time-based representation of the processes and flows. Together these analytical methods not only provide and understanding of the existing conditions and patterns, but allow for projective simulations of future scenarios on the site. The second half of the studio will build on the work of the first half by developing a landscape architectural intervention on your site.

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Method of Assessment

Student’s evaluation is based on the following requirements:

• Design of the building and its associated site, addressing the course objectives, program and comprehensive design studio criteria;
• Timely completion of the work for the required benchmarks;
• Final presentation through drawings of the highest quality at the prescribed scales;
• Final presentation models at prescribed scales;
• A final text as a lucid narrative;
• Full documentation of the research and analysis, progress, and completed project;

Digital tutorials

Digital instructors will provide an intense training in digital design tools that is tailored to the requirements of the studio. Digital classes are typically held once a week and they are mandatory.

Attendance

School-wide policy requires students to attend a minimum 70% of classes; the studio fully enforces this policy and will make no exceptions. Students who miss over 30% of classes will be forced to withdraw from the course.