ARCHITECTURE AND LANDSCAPE DESIGN STUDIO

The purpose of the Studio is to guide the student to to understand and practice the urban and architectural design. The course aims to provide students with an operational methodology to tackle the landscape design.. The aim of the course is that students acquire a project method capable of tackling different issues and topics. The landscape not so much and not only as a support on which to intervene but rather as a "place of relationships in which each part is not comprehensible if not in relation to a whole that is in turn integrated into a larger whole". These concepts will be developed trough lectures and design exercises. A final design essay will be the moment of synthesis and verification of the proposed Studio.
According to the Dublin Descriptors (DdD), passing the exam certifies the acquisition of the following results:

DdD 1 knowledge and understanding

• Knowledge and understanding of the theoretical and methodological fundamentals of landscape design for their use in the design process for the transformation of places.   

DdD 2 ability to apply knowledge and understanding

• Ability to apply knowledge and understanding to control the construction tools and compositional aspects of the project, its typological and functional characteristics, which regulate the qualitative relationships of landscape forms at various scales. Ability to control measurements and proportions in landscape design scales.

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).

Design workshop with hands-on classroom and field exercises.

Basic knowledge of architectural and urban design methodologies. Basic knowledge of technical drawing methodologies. Manual skills of constructing scale models. Theoretical and historical knowledge of contemporary architecture.

Attendance at classes is mandatory.

In the first month we will proceed to a basic preparation on the fundamentals of the landscape and architettura design through lessons and elementary exercises. In the following tuo months a final project will be elaborated which, starting from the hypotheses illustrated above, proposes a strategy, defines some scenarios, and the elements of a coherent conceptualization developing measured and technically controlled project actions. By strategy we mean the predisposition of some inter-related moves also belonging to different levels of reflection; by scenario we mean the formulation of hypotheses on future transformations and their possible consequences; by conceptualization we mean an effort of abstraction which, coming out from a logic of problem solving, evaluates the general implications of the issues addressed; project actions mean the representation on an appropriate scale of interventions that modify the physical state of the places. Strategy, scenarios, conceptualizations and actions are not to be understood as operations aligned within a deductive process: although it may be useful to question some possible scenarios before designing specific actions, the different operations maintain considerable independence, while evaluating the relationships established between the various operations and hypotheses; each of them requires to choose within different types of descriptions and surveys, within different forms of representation and the use of different scales: as a whole these operations constitute the urban and architectural design.

The Workshop is designed as a collective learning exercise in which knowledge is developed individually and in groups and then shared more broadly. Active participation and contribution to the development of the various stages of Study are strongly encouraged and will be positively evaluated.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of their preliminary analytical work (Translation), their participation and active participation in collective discussion, and the quality and depth of their design proposal at various stages (Assemblage, Construction). Assessment will focus on the acquisition of critical awareness. Final exams and midterm deliverables will consist of presentation and discussion of the materials required in the exercises. Grades will be individual and based on students' understanding of the issues addressed. Each exercise will be graded separately. The final assessment will be the result of the overall activity during the semester. 

Assessment of student learning outcomes and skills will follow the objectives of the Dublin indicators. In the midterm reviews and presentation, students' learning skills and ability to know and understand the content of lectures and readings will be assessed through the development of a written presentation. In the final review and presentation, the students' ability to apply knowledge and understanding, make judgments, and communication skills will be assessed through oral presentation and delivery of models, worksheets, personal sketchbooks, and the books that will collect all the exercises developed during the Lab activities. 

Ex.01

Actions: OCCUPYING SPACE Describe the principles behind the occupation of space and the distribution of the elements in the picture by drawing a plan or section.
Tools and materials: 1 A4 sheet of paper, pen.
Time: 30 minutes. 

Objectives: Observe Understand. On understanding the principles of space occupation. 

Ex.02

Actions : Draw, on an A4 sheet of paper the settlement and compositional logics of different types of landscape you see in the picture and describe them with a 100-word text 

Tools and materials : 1 A4 sheet of paper, pen.
Time : 20 minutes.
Objectives: Observe Understand. On understanding the different forms and subjects of landscapes.

Ex.03

Actions: 1. Take a photo sequence of parks or fringe landscapes in the city where you live or study (3 frames) representing different landscape forms and systems. 

2. Compose the photographs into an A4 page and print the file in .pdf Tools and Materials: 1 camera Time: 10 minutes for each photo Objectives: Observe Select. On observation skills. On understanding the principles of occupying space. On the refinement of photographic tools. 

Ex.04

Actions: 1.Choose three different types of landscape in GOOGLE Maps or BING and describe freehand on an A4 sheet of paper the characteristics of each landscape. 

2. Describe the features of each landscape through a title, five key words, and a 100-word te- sto in an A4 page to be printed as a pdf.