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Design at the scale of urban space is a critical issue in the shaping of the physical space of the city and particularly in the shaping of its public spaces. The city is the common field of organization of society and therefore its design plays a crucial role in its structure.

Urban design has been an important axis of architectural studies , since the establishment of the Department in 1999 and is served by many courses in its program. In recent years, the issues of the implementation of environmentally friendly design (sustainable urban design, green urban design) in urban space have been a frontline issue in academia.

The Laboratory was founded in 2023 aiming at  both producing primary knowledge through research and collaborations with other academic institutions and providing services primarily to institutions that supervise and design the public space of the city, such as local authorities and central government agencies.

The Laboratory develops and applies analysis and planning methodologies in various categories in national and international fields. Indicatively :

  1. At the scale of the urban space, the building block, the neighborhood, and the wider urban areas
  2. At the peri-urban scale
  3. In rural settlements, large-scale tourist facilities, networks of settlements
  4. In informal, arbitrary, temporary settlements 
  5. In the public spaces of towns and settlements (streets, squares, green areas, coastal fronts, etc.),
  6. Urban and peri-urban infrastructure and its relation to urban planning
  7. On the analysis of theoretical approaches to urban planning in the 20th and 21st centuries and the understanding of the impact on the built space of the city

FOUNDING FACULTY MEMBERS

Vasso Trova, Professor, Dept. Professor of Architecture UTH

Fabiano Micocci,  assist. Professor, Department of Architecture, UTH

 

Aim of the Centre is the conduction of basic research towards the production of theoretical discourse on architecture, the city and the environment through contemporary theory and practice. Research work varies from funded projects to co-operations with researchers and institutions in Greece and abroad.

For more info please visit https://rchtcdtam.webnode.gr

 

The Lab of Environmental Communication and Audiovisual Documentation (LECAD) was founded in 1999 at the Department of Planning and Regional Development (DPRD), University of Thessaly. In 2004 it was transferred at the Department of Architecture.

The aim of LECAD is the utilization of traditional as well as hi-tech and digital multimodal means of representation and communication in research, teaching and media production ranging from artifacts up to the urban scale. The Lab is part of an expanding network together with research units as well as NGO both in Greece and abroad.

Objectives

  • Design and structure of multimodal databases on architecture, city and the environment.
  • Educational teaching material utilizing the full range of representational methods and techniques (AudioVisual, interactive multimedia, HCI, virtual and augmented reality, smart systems).
  • Audio recordings and production (CDAudio, DAT, SACD, etc).

Research Activity

The main research focus for the first decade of the lab’s operation was the establishment of an elaborate archive of audiovisual urban life documentaries as communicated through satellite news channels and the press. This collection was the basis for two art installations/exhibitions by P.Lazaridis as well as the production of two edited volumes.

The lab has also completed in co-operation with various institutions and consortia a series of research projects. During 2008, LECAD established a very important collaboration with the Municipal Centre for Historical Research and Documentation of Volos (DIKI) aiming at developing material related to Volos city history as well as multimodal immersive and interactive applications for the Museum of the city of Volos.

The audio studio has completed a series of recordings as standalone productions and contract based work in recording and/or sound editing. Since 2009, LECAD expanded into buildings’ sound design and city soundscapes with the co-operation of Dr. Nicola Remy, teaching staff at the Dept of Architecture and member of CRESSON, France

The vision studio of LECAD is also involved in a multipurpose 3D digital city model of the historic city centre of Volos as a backbone for the development of various augmented reality and ubiquitous computing applications.

Structure and Equipment

LECAD is organized in two discrete units physically positioned in adjacent buildings within the Engineering School Campus. The vision unit is hosted in the first floor of the Dept of Architecture building occupying approx. 50sqm in a series of well-defined and organized rooms. The audio unit occupies a dedicated, custom made space of 200sqm at the basement of the DPRD.

The vision unit offers:

  1. High end PC and SGI workstations, A2 size digitizers, various format printers (up to 2meter wide), professional (broadcast quality, DVCPro, Beta) and semiprofessional (DVCam) equipment both for studio and outdoors field work.
  2. AVID professional montage system, dedicated control room with AV mixing capabilities.
  3. Virtual Reality equipment for full immersion with Head Mounted Displays, 3DOF trackers, 6DOF space mice, DataGlove (DT12) and the matching software for interactive productions.

Audio unit features a professional recording studio of 120msq and a secondary studio. The setup includes:

  1. Recording (45sqm) mainly for live recording of small number bands. Includes an A-sizeSteinway studio piano, ddrums, series of microphones(Neumann, Schoeps, AKG), MIDIsystem (Kurtzweil Roland), lamp and transistor amplifiers, hardware filters, etc.
  2. Main controlroom, a 32 channeldigital ProTools consolev5.0 on Machintosh featuring ProControl AD controls and supporting production of both stereo and 5.1 surround

For further information visit lecad.arch.uth.gr.