ARCH5110/6110J

Advanced Architectural Design Studio I & II - Homework

Target Students MArch1, MArch2

Course Term 1 & 2

Course Type Required

Venue Studio

Teacher(s) MA, Maggie / KINGSLEY, Mark

With the pursuit of joy and beauty, our studio’s objectives are:

• critical exploration of ‘work’ and what it means for our lives,
• reflexive understanding of the space of work,
• to practice spatializing work-life ideas with form and beauty.

You will design an environment in Hong Kong for working and living. This should be on a building scale rather than an urban plan. You will be encouraged to explore and reveal contradictions of contemporary life, and deal with the messy reality of living. Rather than necessarily resolve the tensions, you must take a logical position: either / or / and / neither, etc. Your thesis may navigate avant-gardism...social consciousness.

WELLBEING / WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Through the studio we will challenge contemporary work trends. COVID-19 was a tipping point for the work-from-home movement, with well-being and workplace flexibility gaining great popularity. However, in advocating for better personal welfare the discourse around work-life balance tends to deemphasize or malign the "work" half of the equation. An excessive focus on wellness and leisure promotes a perception of work as something to endure rather than as a meaningful life pursuit. Beyond the idea of chores, or climbing the corporate ladder, how can work itself be a more fulfilling part of one's identity and purpose? What does it mean to work too much, or live too much? Where can this life take place? What would such a space look like?

OBJECT / METHOD / SOCIETY

Thesis designs may include an approach to architecture with interplay of three concepts:

• Object: Creation of physical building form; exploring the tangible, aesthetic, and environmental quality of architecture form, with consideration of culture, context, and materials to find a formal response to the project.
• Method: Understanding the process; designing creative research methods to engage and observe users and stakeholders. The learning from research leads to the design of the object.
• Society: Design the architectural spaces with consideration of the social relationships behind the project; reflecting on the consequences of the home-work spatial design to society in the long-term.

CURRENT CONTEXT / HOME? / CONCLUSION

In Hong Kong, the quantitative approach to building overlooks the fact that we are designing spaces for people to inhabit. Rituals, memories, belonging, attachment, and relationships are often absent from design considerations. Yet, they are surely inseparable. How do we design concrete forms to contain these abstract relationships? Although there are many discussions about ‘better’ living, the discussion on architectural typology innovation is critical. Questioning the fundamentals – of work and life – we will examine the practice of everyday life, the mundane, the magnificent, etc. as the inspiration and perspiration for architectural form making.