The atelier aims to introduce the student to parametric design as a process of conception and
composition, through the explanation of the process of conception closely and indissolubly linked to
the process of representation. The design process will therefore be linked to the investigation of the
methods and most frequently used drawing tools for the prefiguration of architectural design. The
potential of digital drawing assisted by visual programming s
ystems (VPL) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) processes will be presented to the students.
The 3D modeling supported by VPL allows the management of the morphological/functional
complexity in the composition phase; the BIM approach allows to foresee and solve the construction
issues of the building in relation to the adopted level of representation detail.
The atelier thus understood allows the student / designer to acquire new methodologies for the
control of complexity, understood not only in the purely formal aspects (organic surfaces with
variable curvature) but also as an integration of the different systems (spatial, structural, cladding,
etc. ..) that make the architectural object and allow the development of the project.
The second design Atelier has the task to proceed with the training of the student in the confrontation with complex processes of transformation by widening the spectrum of competences from the building sphere, dealt with in the first Didactic Period, to the properly urban dimension.
The second Atelier introduces into the design process areas of reflection and analysis, problems, as well as cognitive and implementation tools that primarily concern the sphere of the city and the territory. It considers aspects not simply related to the physical transformation of spaces but also issues relating to the enhancement of the cultural system and the triggering of economic processes, with a view to the overall sustainability of urban and territorial transformations.
Within the Atelier the student is brought to deal with complex transformation processes, characterized by the presence of multiple and divergent instances, where he/she will develop skills and competences aimed at understanding, analyzing, evaluating and adequately representing the fundamental aspects that characterize urban transformation and regeneration processes. The student will examine in detail their impacts and effects on the territory and construct synthesis evaluation frameworks to support the design process.
Given the complexity of the problem addressed, the second Atelier combines two fundamental skills in the transformation of the city:
- architectural and urban composition;
- the economic evaluation of projects (Real Estate Evaluation).
The aim of the Atelier is to introduce the theme of the economic dimension of transformations right from the initial stages of the project and not simply as an ex-post evaluation of the hypotheses formulated, and thus to make it an active tool for constructing project scenarios.
Through an in-depth investigation of the relationships linking the morphology of urban space, the values and the demand of the community/actors in the transformations and the related economic effects, the Atelier aims to lead students towards a profound understanding of the reasons for the formation and subsequent crisis of even large portions of the urban fabric, in the broader context of the urban dimension and metropolitan structures.
The professional figure that the Atelier wants to contribute forming is that of an urban designer capable of managing different types of instances (technical, economic, political and social) contributing to the transformation of the city.
Through the Atelier experience, students will acquire not only general design skills, but also specific knowledge and skills in economic evaluation of projects, which are compulsorily required for the Master's degree and can be obtained alternatively by attending the first-year "Economic evaluation of projects" theoretical course.
[Architectural and urban design]
● Ability to deconstruct (read) reference projects/architectures.
● Ability to construct new architectures on a building scale, explaining their conception
processes and reference models.
● Ability to construct the parameters of the project programme, explaining their weights and
hierarchies.
● Ability to communicate the design idea through appropriate representation languages.
[Drawing]
● Ability to deconstruct the mental models of the project by explaining the logical algorithms;
● Ability to construct compositional algorithms in Visual Programming Language for the
definition of responsive digital models;
● Ability to construct and manipulate parametric architectural objects;
● Understanding of the concept of efficiency, responsiveness and scalability of parametric
models;
● Data flow management capabilities for interoperability between conceptual geometric
models (VPL) and parametric architectural models (BIM).
During the second Atelier, students will learn how to deal with implementation contexts in which the functional program is almost never explicit a priori but on the contrary, the definition of the functional program is an integral part of the design process itself.
The urban project will therefore be seen as the in-progress outcome of the convergence and non-linear superimposition on the territory in a given historical moment of:
1) the anthropological foundation of the urban settlement, read through the criteria of urban morphology (in its Italian tradition of studies)
2) formal (and unformal) acts of decision-makers, able to determine specific policies and strategic choices;
3) ecological and socio-economic conditions, understood as a wide-ranging assessment (financial and economic) and a quantification of the economic, social and environmental impacts in the transformation project.
Knowledge and skills will be conveyed through:
- Mono and interdisciplinary lectures aimed at understanding complex urban problems;
- A case study based on a project exercise that will be the main ground for comparison on which the skills and competences gradually acquired by the student will be understood, applied, analyzed and assessed.
The case study of the second Atelier is chosen according to the general training objectives of the course, based on the numerous local and global challenges relating to the contemporary city.
It may concern contexts, in which the comparison with the major processes of global urbanization and with the tensions and conflicts they produce at the level of individual local communities will be relevant and deeply considered.
Through the project exercise the student will develop the ability to analyze the context of a major urban transformation, drawing on a wide and multiform repertoire of sources (cartographies and data) and consequently the ability to observe the urban form with a view already oriented towards its transformation.
The ability to apply specific knowledge and skills in a coherent way with respect to the design process is defined through the acquisition of the following competences:
- mastering techniques, methodologies and professional knowledge specific to the work of the architect and urban designers;
- autonomously managing a complex urban project in a given time;
- building the collaboration and the exchange with the other subjects involved in design and transformation of cities.
Therefore, as in real implementation contexts, the student designer will be called upon to interact with various figures involved in professional practice and produce a project that will reproduce real negotiation practices, albeit in a necessarily simplified way.
The Atelier project experience is a simulation of real professional project operations. This path will be marked by intermediate milestones aimed at training students to respect frequent and progressive deadlines.
Moreover, it may be characterized by final assessments in the presence of external experts, who will have the task of building the necessary link between the didactic simulation and the external world of the profession.
At the end of the Atelier, the students will be able to:
- apply specific knowledge placeable within the two disciplinary areas involved;
- manage the integration of this knowledge within a holistic conception of the transformation project, understood as a vision of synthesis, within a given time frame;
- analyze and question the transformation context by crossing the specific visions of the different disciplinary perspectives and actors involved in the transformation process;
- understand and create descriptions of the territorial context that are not neutral, but bear unexplored, recognizable and arguable interpretations and critical positions.
A fundamental element of the assessment during the examination will be the student's ability to complete the planned work within a given timeframe such as the deadline assigned by the end of the semester.
This aspect constitutes a specific skill in the job of architectural and urban designers, which will be tested during the final examination. This will take place in the first week of the session, immediately following the completion of the project unit.
To follow the course you need the knowledge acquired along the educational path of the three-year
degree on the general principles of: Architectural Composition; Fundamentals and Applications of
Descriptive Geometry, Representation and Digital Modeling of Architecture, Mathematics.
The critical and design skills and the basic notions and tools in Economic Evaluation of Projects are considered as already acquired in the disciplinary courses and in the project Ateliers of the three-year degree in "Architectural Sciences", or in equivalent bachelor levels. The basic knowledge acquired during the Atelier of the first Didactic Period is also necessary in terms of: ability to analyze a complex decision-making problem of a territorial type; ability to independently manage and elaborate a complex architectural project.
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The students will be asked to design a housing complex in the "Scalo Vanchiglia" district of Torino: an area characterized by a disomogeneous urban fabric featuring a mix of residential, industrial, productive and tertiary activities, by several empty plots, and by the proximity of the Monumental Cemetery. Scalo Vanchiglia is one of the potential areas of development of the city, with a specific section of the PRG approved for it. Also, in 2010, an international ideas competition was launched to explore solutions for the transformation of the Scalo, where the "Linea 2" metro line (so far unrealized) is meant to pass. The design of the housing complex will be based on a thorough study of a series of examples of residential buildings from the 20th and 21st century. Each group of students will be asked to analyse one urban architecture, extrapolating and redrawing in 3D its two main elements: the housing units (private spaces) and the system of distribution (common spaces). The final project will be based on the recombination of the redrawn housing units, and on the design - by means of parametric and generative software - of a new system of distribution for them.
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Architectural and Urban Design: the first month of the semester will be dedicated to the study of a series of examples of housing complexes from the 20th and 21st century. The second and third months will be dedicated to the development of an original project based on the data produced and the knowledge obtained during the first month. One or two field trips are going to be planned during the first half of the semester, and some lectures are planned as well.
Architectural Drawing: In the first part, we will improve your workflow with Grasshopper3D and Revit to give you an overall understanding of parametric-generative thinking. We will explore Grasshopper and its relationship to Rhinoceros as well as their data structure and general concepts such as data types, data matching and lists. In the second and third months, we will include practical exercises to learn the algorithmic method and software practice.
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Book text references will be addressed during the course.
Modalità di esame: Elaborato progettuale individuale; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;
Exam: Individual project; Group project;
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Architectural and Urban Design: the final evaluation, which is worth 50% of the overall grade, will be given as the sum of two partial evaluations given to the students during the month - one after the first month and one after the second month - plus the third evaluation given during the day of the final exam.
Architectural Drawing: the assessment for this module will be the sum of two midterm tests about Revit and Grasshopper, respectively, the two softwares planned for the course. The grade obtained will average with the Architectural and Urban Design module to obtain the final grade
Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.
Exam: Individual project; Group project;
Architectural and Urban Design: the final evaluation, which is worth 50% of the overall grade, will be given as the sum of two partial evaluations given to the students during the month - one after the first month and one after the second month - plus the third evaluation given during the day of the final exam.
Architectural Drawing: the assessment for this module will be the sum of two midterm tests about Revit and Grasshopper, respectively, the two softwares planned for the course. The grade obtained will average with the Architectural and Urban Design module to obtain the final grade
In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.