The Final Design Studio “Design within the limits of scarcity” will explore the concept of scarcity and its relationship with creativity and design. Questions of availability of (not only financial) resources and their distribution have shifted towards the centre of current debates. Today managing scarcity (of resources, i.e. space, raw materials, energy, income, knowledge, accessibility, environmental control, etc.) is extremely common, especially, but not exclusively, in the Global South. This condition is extremely interesting because it pushes the designer's ability to respond to a variety of needs and constraints, optimizing the use of available resources to actually get appropriate solutions. The relationship between scarcity, creativity, and design, as presented in the Design Studio, reveals new modes of working that elevate (resource) constraints from limitations to design opportunities. This Final Design Studio benefits from the contribution of three disciplines: Architectural Design, Architectural Technology and Environmental Control Systems. While the specific theoretical topics and methodological approach will be defined by each discipline, the general framework of the Design Studio activities is characterised by the following steps: a) Selection of design theme and location; b) Building scale and detailing – The design experience will be carried out starting from a preliminary design scheme through all the design development phases up to architectural and technological details, excluding structural calculation; c) Energy design, focusing on sustainability through the exploitation of bioclimatic technics and of local and renewable energy resources.

The expected learning outcomes concern: - To strengthen the fundamentals, theories and techniques of architectural and urban design and related disciplines, in the specific challenge of working with less (resources, space and time); - To adopt sustainability as an approach to the design process and the project, starting from the context understanding and assessment (environmental, social, economic) to the selection of appropriate building typologies, technologies and materials; - To use scarcity as a catalyst for design; - To become more skilled in sustainable design (low tech/low cost/high performance) and potentially in the self-help building techniques; - To learn how to deal with complex and multiple issues through an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. The Environmental Control Systems pursues these learning objectives: • to develop an intuitive, though rigorous, comprehension of applied physical concepts, necessary to handle complexity and to develop critical thinking on energy sustainability; • to briefly review the available technologies for climate control in buildings, basing on their operative functions; • to learn simplified mathematical tools for the preliminary needs assessment and the sizing of systems; • to develop the skill to use a dynamic thermal simulation software for design optimization; • to carry on one of the two following projects: A bioclimatic control design and comfort analysis or B energy system design, exploiting local and renewable energy sources

The basics of each teaching course are required and given for acquired, such as the codes, methods and tools for the project representation. During the Environmental Control Systems course some basics will be reviewed. Nonetheless, the knowledge of math, physics of bachelor level, the building physics taught during the 1st year Studio and the use of software Autocad and Excel are considered as prerequisites to fulfil the objectives.

The research topics and the design case-study project will refer to one of the following issues: 1. Urbanization-Infrastructure; community services; housing; 2. Low tech/ high performance buildings; 3. Assisted/self-help construction; 4. Design for/in emergencies (temporary/transitional/permanent) 5. Sustainability and bioclimatic design. In particular, as far as concerns the Environmental Control Systems discipline: Module 1 – 2 lessons. From theory to practice: recall of theoretical concepts and their application in a design perspective, using examples taken from professional cases. Module 2 – 4 lessons. Overview of the available tools. System/plants typology. Bioclimatic control. Comfort analysis. Renewable energy sources. Local sources exploitation. Module 3 – till the end. Design exercise. Two groups: A bioclimatic control design and comfort analysis; B energy system design, exploiting local and renewable energy sources.

Teaching is delivered by oral presentations, brief collective exercises, project tutoring. Meetings with professionals and external experts, as well as visits to built works, complement the studio activity. The program may incorporate some hands-on experience, during which the students will build scale model(s) to explore constructional issues. Students will be working mainly in groups of (maximum) three units and are expected to develop their projects out of the lesson scheduling, team working. The design experience will incorporate different scales. Students will be asked to submit the products of their work at given stages, as specified in the studio schedule.

Lynne Elizabeth; Cassandra Adams (editors), Alternative Construction. Contemporary Natural Building Methods, Hoboken : John Wiley and Sons, 2005. Yona Friedman, Jon Goodbun (Guest Editor), Jeremy Till (Guest Editor), Deljana Iossifova (Guest Editor), Scarcity: Architecture in an Age of Depleting Resources, John Wiley and Sons,, 2012. Kent A. Harries; Bhavna Sharma, Nonconventional and Vernacular Construction Materials, Sawston : Woodhead Publishing, 2016. Cindy Harris; Pat Borer, The Whole House Book. Ecological Building Design and Materials, Machynlleth : Centre for Alternative Technology, 2005. Barrett Hazeltine; Lars Wanhammar; Christopher Bull, Appropriate Technology: Tools, Choices, and Implications, New York : Academic Press, 1999. Paul Gut, Dieter Ackerknecht, Climate responsive buildings, SKAT, 1993 Andres Lepik, Small Scale, Big Change: New
Architectures of Social Engagement, MoMa, 2010 Edward Mazria, The passive solar energy book. A complete guide to passive solar home, greenhouse, and building design, Emmaus, Pa. : Rodale Press, 1979. Gernot Minke, Building with Earth. Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture, Basel : Birkhäuser, 2006. Paul Oliver (editor), Encyclopaedia of vernacular architecture of the world, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997. Paul Oliver, Built to Meet Needs. Cultural Issues in Vernacular Architecture, Oxford: Architectural Press, 2006. Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World. Human Ecology and Social Change, Frogmore : Paladin, 1974. Victor Papanek, The Green Imperative. Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture, London : Thames & Hudson, 1995 Michael Reynolds, Earthship: How to Build Your Own, Taos : Solar Survival Press, 1990. Johan van Lengen, The barefoot architect. A Handbook for Green Building, Shelter, 2007. Cynthia E. Smith, Design for the Other 90%, New York : Smithsonian, 2007. Carole Ryan, Traditional Construction for a Sustainable Future, Abingdon : Spon Press, 2011. Further literature references, publications and software tools will be provided during the course, and will be made available through the web.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato scritto prodotto in gruppo;

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group essay;

... Final exams as well as intermediate deliveries will consist in the presentation and discussion of the requested materials. Two parts compose the Design Studio evaluation: first, the results of in itinere evaluations and the final exam. For what concerns in itinere evaluations, three specific steps are scheduled, in which students will deliver their presentations individually and/or group based with individual responsibilities. The evaluation for the intermediate deliveries (40%) will be taken into account in the final evaluation (60%). The final delivery by each student’s team will include a complete series of drawings related to the developed design solution at various scales and detail levels. During the final interview, some questions - related to lectures delivered, literature references, exercises - will be addressed. Marks will be individual and based on the students’ understanding of the issues involved, and their contribution to the development of the project. Assessment criteria will include the capacity of comply with scheduled deliveries and to finalize the project by the end of the semester.

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.