Introduction to design process and the use of multiple media within this process in architectural design. The structure of the design process will be based on a generous interpretation of the vitruvian discourse on venustas, utilitas, firmitas and the corresponding understanding of architecture form in terms of geometric, material and functional characteristics. In the studio we will investigate form, function and material as aesthetic, conceptual and spatial generators of architecture design and we will diagram this design process, through what we will term the design machine. The design machine can be diagrammed through four major components and/or modes:
1. Input [Receptor | Function | Utilitas]
2. Methodology and/or Technique [Language | Shape | Venustas]
3. Theory
4. Output [Effector | Material | Firmitas]
The first diagram emphasizes the main logical connections between components. The second stresses the relationships between the components. In both cases, the diagram is not representational, but functional and active; it is not a linear process but iterative and displaced through cross-operations and oscillations. This diagram requires objective and subjective thinking and intuition. It requires one to abstract as well as perceive. It moves between the micro and macro, the material and immaterial. In essence the design machine is a diagram of methods and techniques, of theories and concepts, of mutations, permutations and emergence through creative and generative design processes and productions.
The use of media in the design process is essential in that the choices of media, the experimentation of media, and what emerges through experimentation can generate and inform the design process in a multitude of ways. In addition to this introduction, use of media through certain methods and techniques will be explored. One must be strategic in the choice and use of media, for it has the capabilities of extending, informing, as well as restricting the design process.
The course follows a series of three cycles. The first cycle three exercises explore the individual components of the Vitruvian model. The second cycle is based on dual combinations of form, program and materiality. "New" notions of architectural space are to be generated through the description, evaluation and interpretation of precedent. Work is progressively multifold, multi-scalar, and driven by mechanisms of revision, recombination and representation.
The final exercise is a 5-1/2 week project for a site in Midtown. |
