ARCH5110/6110H
Advanced Architectural Design Studio I & II - Design for Extreme Conditions
Target Students MArch1, MArch2
Course Term 1 & 2
Course Type Required
Venue Studio
Teacher(s) FERRETTO, Peter W. / LAM, Milly
We are surrounded by “extreme conditions” yet continue to design following conventional paradigms. Extreme conditions relate to various situations: 1) Climate (weather); 2) Social (affordability); 3) Natural Disasters (earthquakes); 4) Health (pandemics); 5) Energy (sustainable); 6) Technology (generative AI) and others. Architecture has always adapted to conditions, vernacular architecture, for example, directly learns from how we inhabit spaces. Can we learn from conditions?
GROUNDING DESIGN IN CONDITIONS
The “conditional” lens through which we ground the Studio, vis-à-vis the term “condition,” inherently carries a dual significance. As a noun, it denotes a context or situation, while as a verb, it signifies the act of effecting change.
Our position is rooted in the fundamental understanding that conditions play a pivotal role in shaping architectural discourse and practice. By observing and learning from how people inhabit their environment, we gain invaluable insights that inform our approach to design. Through these diverse conditions, we underscore the importance of understanding and responding to the unique situations that define architectural contexts, ultimately shaping our theoretical stance towards a more holistic and contextually sensitive approach to design.
LEARNING BY DOING
The vision of the studio is embedded in the ideal “learning by doing” where process and engagement subvert standard protocols. We avoid prejudging the situation and believe design must adapt to the given conditions. We are averse to style and our philosophy lies in responsibility. We believe in conditioned architecture rooted in the specific culture of the inhabitants, as opposed to an idea of sovereign architecture that omits people in the name of abstract prescriptions.
Seeing is related to “reading”, according to the Italian architect Giancarlo De Carlo, only through reading do you cultivate participation with the community, you register the rhythms and patterns of how people transform spaces into lived places. His practice is founded on the premise that architects must center their questions around “why”, vis-à-vis the reasons behind people’s actions, rather than focus on the “how”, the more technical aspects related to executing the project. Design should always be aware of the anonymous forces of society, the real protagonists of human conditions, and develop relationships that improve the quality of these spaces.
"When we see the world, we see ourselves, man’s story is revealed layer by layer” (De Carlo, La citta e il territorio, 2019). De Carlo was interested in spontaneous architecture and the idea of disorder. He maintained an urban hypothesis that regarded the modern city, as professed by L. Hilberseimer and other exponents of the modern movement as boring and lacking the qualities of excitement and participation so common to our historical cities. According to him, disorder cannot be designed, it is a condition that arises from the complexity of real life.
Architecture is founded in the present, in dialogue with its citizens. “Contact” is the essential ingredient to forming a relationship with the territory, first-person contact such as walking and taking public transport is the basis for establishing responsibility and therefore beginning the process of design. In this respect, De Carlo was unique in creating an organic way of designing rooted in the “process”, where the project is not judged by its final output but by its method of engagement and constant adjustment.
