This design studio tackles design themes revolving around the social and environmental dimensions of climate crisis and controversies in resources’ exploitation, thus adopting the angle that characterizes the whole first term of MASt, titled "Project and society". • The design studio aims to address contemporary environmental, social and economic issues through a design action capable of both highlighting the tensions and making a synthesis between the problematization of the future of the planet and the objectives of environmental sustainability, cohesion, equity, quality of settlements and life. • The prospect is for the design studio to define a framework of transformative actions of projects and design practices in different dimensions, highlighting logics, power relations, governance and agency to respond to the challenges of the co-evolution of territories, from the large scale to that of the material modification of the built structures. • Comprehensive studies will combine with design focuses in the dimension of settlement and micro-aggregation of buildings and infrastructures, in the scenario of contemporary landscapes and territories. • Thematic modules unfold against a backdrop of themes such as the capacity for settlements and societies to respond to the global changes in progress, adaptive approaches to current changes in the urban and non-urban environments, the limits of anthropocentric thinking, and design responsibility to reduce gaps and heal injustices in the scenario of contemporary landscapes and territories. The "Architecture, society and territory" design studio contributes to the objectives of the MASt degree program by guiding students in reading critically the paradigms of sustainability, also with reference to different global contexts. It also deepens the ability of students to position themselves consciously with respect to the cultural processes of definition of ecological and environmental design, urban planning and other activities of transformation of the environment and the territory related to the design professions. Finally, it accompanies students in the trans-disciplinary understanding of the complex problems, of multiscale nature, faced by spatial design, urban planning and social sciences. Themes in the four design studios may range from the development of adaptive settlement models, with reference to climate change and global challenges, to nature based solutions, intended as ecosystem services or rewilding processes; from territory co-evolution, co-management, co-design for resilience to co-production in a post-Anthropocene perspective. The forms of innovation that will be considered, according to the trajectories of each design studio, include the debate around the commons and new forms of collective, in public spaces and beyond, between design and society.

The “Architecture, Society and Territory” design studio aims to disseminate knowledge to: - Increase the understanding of the phenomena characterizing the built environment, with reference to the theories and practices of architectural and urban design, the theories of environmental design, the histories of projects and the social dynamics related to them; - Deal with unknown contexts, examining the multidimensional and relational complexity of ecological paradigms, seen in context with their historical, cultural, urban and environmental location; - Deal with design activity in an integrated and multidisciplinary way, by systematizing methods and tools of analysis and evaluation, and by developing a critical way of communicating the project options with respect to environmental and political ecology, in both the city and the building dimension. By successfully attending the design studio, students acquire the skills to: - Approach the project with a knowledge base regarding theories and techniques of design, including environmental design; - Apply the previously acquired knowledge, methods and tools of numerical and physical modeling to support decision-making and design processes in a renovated frame of reflections on sustainability, resilience, and the new relational model between society and nature; - Develop design hypotheses that are consistent with the characteristics of the places, the global challenges and the escalating relationships that derive from them, and the most innovative professional practices; - Consciously interpret and respond, by means of design, to the complexity of an interdisciplinary approach to the transformation of the natural and built environment.

The “Architecture, Society and Territory” design studio requires students to have a previous knowledge of: the main issues that concern architecture and urban design; elements of architecture and city history functional to recognize layering and forms of settlements; decision-making structures, systems of powers and procedures instrumental to transformative interventions in the built environment. All topics are part of the three-year bachelor programme in architecture. Such skills and knowledge constitute the basis for the in-depth study provided for in the design studio.

The lockdown experience in many cities and towns, as a response to the pandemic in early 2020, has shed new light on the complex relationships between individual and collective decisions, not least the limited impact that disruptive changes in our daily routine had on air and environmental quality in cities, consumption of non-renewable resources, inequalities in urban life. Despite seemingly similar restrictions, the conditions of crisis magnified differences. Institutional countermeasures, from the EU Green Deal to Next Generation EU, and the like, are playing the “last call” option to urge – among post-pandemic investments – more comprehensive approaches to the environmental crisis we live in and which will likely unfold all of its consequences in the future. How does all this reflect in architectural debates and practices? The extent to which the design of space, in all its dimensions, may provide alternative trajectories on such complex matters has been questioned in recent years. Jeremy Till (2020) extensively argued that architecture compliance to mainstream sustainability in “the climate emergency makes current notions and values of architecture at best fragile, at worst unviable and so redundant”, claiming for a disciplinary and professional radical shift, disjoined from the paradigms of growth and progress. More optimistic positions, such as those expressed by the New EU Bauhaus initiative, aim to establish new shared basis for reformulating approaches to spatial design. Experiences in Norway, Sweden and Germany show the many ways in which alliances between architects’ practices and construction industry may revolutionize an entire economic sector, even if critiques may identify in them just other ways for pre-existing powers to cope with current challenges. This design studio stimulates students to frame the multifaceted paradigms of sustainability into socio-technical constructions that influence architectural practices (and vice-versa), understanding how normative frameworks are formed and updated, elaborating on current reflections on city design and mapmaking, and personally contributing to the web of relations in which designers perform their profession in the Anthropocene. To this end, the objective of the design studio is a specific project-oriented work on the hinterland of large cities where guided or uncontrolled rewilding processes unveil the trans-scalar and trans-disciplinary complexity of ecological issues in urbanized territories. Students will be asked to address their design proposal engaging experimentally with: architectural and urban design approaches that overcome binary centre/periphery and urban/wild dynamics; urban planning redefinition of tools and practices according to current environmental crisis; the web of overlapping social and individual priorities entangled in ecology discourse. Particular attention will revolve around the ways notions of legacy define spatial design processes and reimagined linkages connect ordinary territories with global challenges. Pitches by practitioners and guest scholars enrich the programme with lectures and more interactive seminars.

This studio aims to work as an exchange environment, with a constant ‘peer review’ approach. This means that the whole activities will lean on the participation of students in critiques and lectures, their engagement in collective discussions, and curiosity towards theoretical issues unfolded in the whole Design Unit.

Students are expected to fully engage in the design studio, to attend lectures and collective conversations on theoretical issues and empirical cases of reference, to partake regularly in individual and collective critiques, reworking their project proposals accordingly and deepening their understanding of topics addressed during class time even beyond the organised activities. Design studio activities are based on teams of 3 students each, in which each teammate has individual responsibility and a sequence of tasks, framed by guided readings and spatial investigations. Tasks are based on the three disciplines contributing to the design studio, and final outputs will be coordinated among supervisors of the modules of Architecture and Urban Design, Urban Planning, and Sociology. The first part of the terms will focus on the development of new spatial vocabularies that intersect different bodies of literature and spatial explorations that transcend the designated site for design work (4 weeks). Then the assignment will seek more transformative approaches for the remaining 10 weeks, aiming to project-driven understanding of selected topics that each team will be conducing and that will be then discussed in the final examination. Special seminars, guest lectures and specific case presentations will be organized during the term, and additional materials will be shared in dedicated platforms for cooperative work organisation

Brenner N., “The Hinterland, Urbanized?,” AD / Architectural Design, July/August 2016: 118-127. Gandy M., Jasper S. (eds), The Botanical City, Jovis, 2020. Goodbun, Klein, Rumpfhuber & Till, The Design of Scarcity, Strelka Press, 2015. Han B.C., The Burnout Society, Stanford Briefs, 2015. Howe C. and Pandian A. Anthropocene unseen: A lexicon, 2020. LENHERER A., Grand Urban Rules, nai010, 2009. The Avery Review, Climates: Architecture and the Planetary Imaginary, Lars Müller Publishers, 2016. Rodríguez-Pose A., The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it), Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society, 11(1), 2018: 189–209. Waldhenim C., Landscape as Urbanism. Princeton University Press, 2016. Till J., Architecture after Architecture, 2020.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato grafico individuale; Elaborato progettuale individuale; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Individual graphic design project; Individual project; Group project;

... 1. Students will not be in the condition of positively completing the Design Studio without regular attendance to lectures and seminars, complemented with their active participation to tutorials, individual exercises and teamwork. Lessons and assessments are designed to guarantee that all students, whether attending classes in presence or via virtual classes, can actively participate. 2. Students’ progresses will be continuously monitored: schemes, reports, drawings, maquettes, etc. will be discussed and corrected individually and/or in public during classes by the studio supervisors; external critics will attend a midterm review of the works. Students’ capacity to explain and defend their ideas and proposals, based on theoretical insight and empirical references, matters to the overall evaluation. The final grade will assess the student’s ability to develop a complex design proposal making synthesis of the different disciplinary contributions. Intermediate deliverables (written texts, presentations, and the likes) will contribute to the final grade. 3. The final evaluation of the Studio is one mark, to which all the three disciplines (Architectural and Urban Design, Urban Planning and Sociology) contribute proportionally. The evaluation of each student combines: - individual exercises carried out mainly in the first 4 weeks; - results of the individual work and teamwork completed in the remaining 10 weeks; - oral discussion (during the final exam) to assess the competence of each student in bridging the issues addressed in the Studio. In case a student is not adequately prepared, the supervisors may address supplementary questions regarding the contents of one or more of the disciplines’ coursework during the oral discussion. Insufficient performances in just one of the three disciplines preclude the possibility to pass the entire exam.

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.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato grafico individuale; Elaborato progettuale individuale; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

1. Students will not be in the condition of positively completing the Design Studio without regular attendance to lectures and seminars, complemented with their active participation to tutorials, individual exercises and teamwork. Lessons and assessments are designed to guarantee that all students, whether attending classes in presence or via virtual classes, can actively participate. 2. Students’ progresses will be continuously monitored: schemes, reports, drawings, maquettes, etc. will be discussed and corrected individually and/or in public during classes by the studio supervisors; external critics will attend a midterm review of the works. Students’ capacity to explain and defend their ideas and proposals, based on theoretical insight and empirical references, matters to the overall evaluation. The final grade will assess the student’s ability to develop a complex design proposal making synthesis of the different disciplinary contributions. Intermediate deliverables (written texts, presentations, and the likes) will contribute to the final grade. 3. The final evaluation of the Studio is one mark, to which all the three disciplines (Architectural and Urban Design, Urban Planning and Sociology) contribute proportionally. The evaluation of each student combines: - individual exercises carried out mainly in the first 4 weeks; - results of the individual work and teamwork completed in the remaining 10 weeks; - oral discussion (during the final exam) to assess the competence of each student in bridging the issues addressed in the Studio. In case a student is not adequately prepared, the supervisors may address supplementary questions regarding the contents of one or more of the disciplines’ coursework during the oral discussion. Insufficient performances in just one of the three disciplines preclude the possibility to pass the entire exam.

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato grafico individuale; Elaborato progettuale individuale; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

1. Students will not be in the condition of positively completing the Design Studio without regular attendance to lectures and seminars, complemented with their active participation to tutorials, individual exercises and teamwork. Lessons and assessments are designed to guarantee that all students, whether attending classes in presence or via virtual classes, can actively participate. 2. Students’ progresses will be continuously monitored: schemes, reports, drawings, maquettes, etc. will be discussed and corrected individually and/or in public during classes by the studio supervisors; external critics will attend a midterm review of the works. Students’ capacity to explain and defend their ideas and proposals, based on theoretical insight and empirical references, matters to the overall evaluation. The final grade will assess the student’s ability to develop a complex design proposal making synthesis of the different disciplinary contributions. Intermediate deliverables (written texts, presentations, and the likes) will contribute to the final grade. 3. The final evaluation of the Studio is one mark, to which all the three disciplines (Architectural and Urban Design, Urban Planning and Sociology) contribute proportionally. The evaluation of each student combines: - individual exercises carried out mainly in the first 4 weeks; - results of the individual work and teamwork completed in the remaining 10 weeks; - oral discussion (during the final exam) to assess the competence of each student in bridging the issues addressed in the Studio. In case a student is not adequately prepared, the supervisors may address supplementary questions regarding the contents of one or more of the disciplines’ coursework during the oral discussion. Insufficient performances in just one of the three disciplines preclude the possibility to pass the entire exam.