COMPLEX RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS
prof. arch.Enzo Calabrese
“.Wonderful fortune that of architects, granted by God: to build his house and to build for men, in his inspiration, their home, the temple of the family...”
Gio Ponti
METHOD OF CONDUCTING THE COURSE
The course is divided into two parts, one for study and experimentation, and another for project development. The first part of the course, lasting one week, takes place in September 2023 in the Whorkshop mode (hereinafter WHSP) and works on the development of the concept of what will be the theme of the actual Architectural Composition 2A course which will start in February 2024 and will be held on Tuesdays from 2pm to 8pm and Wednesdays from 9am to 12pm.
The spirit of the WHSP is the live work on the topic, and the lessons aimed at the topic itself always carried out in the laboratory
After the experiences on single-family residences, and on micro-architecture as installations, carried out in the first year, the objective of this second year is to become familiar with Complex Residential Systems, with their insertion into the urban context, certain of the fact that these cannot be artefacts as an end in themselves but rather parts of the City, and as such, capable of being representative of the desire for redemption and regeneration of the Urban Landscape and its qualities, beyond their economy of scale and construction .
The knowledge acquired in the first year, with architectural composition and other disciplines, should lead to the ability to invent the architectural project, to develop it as a story is told, with great expressive generosity but within certain, constructive rules and functional, as well as economic, with the aim of achieving that beauty of which the sensitivity in knowing how to recognize it has been lost, and therefore in the desire to know how to achieve it through a process of decoding from vision to reality.
Architecture has always had the greatness of this role. let's take it back.
The work of the WHSP is carried out mainly in the laboratory, and will produce, as already mentioned, the concept of the project which will then be addressed in the actual course, representing it through manual drawings and maquettes. The WHSP at the turn of the final week of the SUMMER SCHOOL, of which it shared the integrative cultural events.
At the end of the WHSP, an exhibition of the works is set up, in which each individual student has the opportunity to present their project, and therefore to be evaluated both on their practical work and on their ability to express design awareness through the clarity of the exhibition synthesis.
Study area
Laboratory 2A examines a series of areas identified along the so-called "Green Corridor", i.e. the line of the old railway route that from Montesilvano crosses Pescara to reach Francavilla.
This route, apparently only residual within the urban fabric, actually enters as a main player within the present and future infrastructural strategies of the City, conquering multiple roles along its path. A sort of Linear City within the City, at the edges of which the most disparate urban events unfold and gravitate.
From being a fast transport line, to a linear green park, crossing from time to time places that thanks to its passage acquire a meaning that they didn't have before.
The project that the students will face will have to take all of this into account, triggering a design principle and an attitude that we could define as Relational Architecture.
The Residential System conceived will be divided into solutions aimed at addressing and developing these themes through the architectural project, thus opening the horizon of the final result to completely new scenarios compared to what has been practiced so far by urban architecture, when this is limited to to the mere design of a product as an end in itself.
In conclusion, I would like to express some reflections that I have kept to myself in past years, and which today I feel mature, enriched by a series of experiences that have given meaning to these thoughts of mine.
I would like to understand what it means for all of us today, having a global culture and at the same time not forgetting that we have a culture that comes from the traditions and beauty of a unique country: Italian architect, from an Italian school, who teaches Italian students and not, with all the limits that this entails but also with our recognized inventive abilities to overcome them. With this I don't think I won't look around, in fact, it will be the opposite! We are a people of travellers, dreamers, and migrants. The point is: what gave us the uniqueness that identifies us and why lose it completely instead of evolving it?
“. Where there is architecture there is Italy. Being Italian conservatives in architecture means preserving the ancient Italian energy of continuously transforming itself.
. Italy was made half by God and half by Architects.
You love architecture because you are Italian, or because you are in Italy; it is not a vocation of Italians alone, but it is a vocation of Italians.
. It is not concrete, it is not wood, it is not stone, it is not steel, it is not glass that is the most resistant element. The strongest material in construction is art.”
Gio Ponti
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
At the end of the Course the Student should have acquired greater familiarity with basic design, to control its evolution into a system, from the house to the building as a system and sum of houses. He should have more stimulated his sensitivity towards the knowledge of space, its form, and the control of its complexity.
He should have understood, according to a logical path from the first to the second year, the importance of the construction technique, structure and systems in the development of a project. In the end he will increasingly know how to transform the concrete needs of the contemporary reality of architectural design into design inventions.
PREREQUISITES
It is mandatory to have successfully completed the Architectural Composition Course 1, as well as the second year integrated workshop carried out in the first semester.
TEACHING METHODS
The course will be carried out through lectures, planning activities, review of the progress and quality of the projects themselves.
The lessons will be held by the course teachers and any external guests. These will be integrated with the screening of films, short films and documentaries, with the aim of offering food for thought from other disciplines.
At the end of the second semester, the course will conclude in a series of full immersion micro-workshops, during which students or groups of students will summarize the final part of their work by producing the exam papers directly in the laboratory. Thus obtaining the dual result of having mature experience and not having excessive teaching overloads.
A space will be set up by the students of the course with the graphic and volumetric (model) works and presented in the exhibition.
• STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD FROM THE COURSE BLOG THE MATERIALS WE DEMAND NECESSARY: FLOOR PLANS, PHOTOS, DIMENSIONAL INFORMATION ETC..
EXAM PAPERWORKS
There will be three graphic exam tables in A1 format, one maquette
in the scale that will be indicated, a video presentation of the concept (slides to be projected)
The representation scale will be:
- out of scale > distribution flow schemes, accessibility schemes, structural schemes;
- 1:100 > for the overall drawings of the architectural volume(s):
contextualized ground floor plan;
plants of the other levels;
elevations;
at least one transverse and one longitudinal section;
- 1:50 > for excerpts of plans, sections and elevations;
- 1:20 > details considered significant
The tables must contain and appropriately describe the idea and its own
translation in project.
The physical (plastic) model will be mandatory and cannot be replaced with the virtual one.
The tables must also contain a summary of the salient moments
of the laboratory experience.
Any teaching support activities
The laboratory has a blog that provides information on:
- cultural events, art and architecture exhibitions;
- screening of thematic films and documentaries;
- particularly interesting architectural websites;
- magazines and publications relating to the course theme;
- the references cited during the lessons;
ATTENDANCE: Mandatory attendance
prof.arch. Enzo Calabrese
