The studio manifests a shift of interest from the ‘ideal project’ into the understanding of architecture as a spatial and material practice, the consciousness of its social role and the economic conditions related to its production. We focus on minimum acts of architecture, structures and interventions in the belief that the will to act can bring about a great change.
The new awareness of small scale architecture expresses its social relativity as a response to the present precarious social, economic, and environmental conditions. The design process activates significantly different methodological tools. It pursues a reverse engineering, the reuse and modification of existing structures, participation, crowdsourcing, recycling.
- Social Research Methods - Participant Observation and Fieldwork
- Form generation exercises combining physical and digital media
- Investigations with molding techniques leading to the design and construction of material systems applicable in small scale architecture and urban furniture.
- Construction of full scale prototype
Artisan creativity and the practical knowledge of craftsmen as sources of social relativity are central to the course's research agenda. We will engage in craft workshops, as well as observe and analyze existing ones operating in the local community of Volos. The structure of the course includes a sequence of independent collective workshops that set up a framework for the articulation of a personal statement within a collective project.
1_ Digital handicraft
Combining three-dimensional scanning, digital modelling (rhino-grasshopper) laser cutting methods, and polyester castings blended with natural materials we produce a miniature of a landscape that fits into the palm of our hand.
2 _Shelter Atlas
We investigate and analyze examples of emergency shelters, alleviating populations from natural or social disasters. We review their design by comparing them with archetypical and state of the art dwellings designed according to the minimum anthropometric dimensions.
3_Craftspeople’s NetworkTwo-week workshop in collaboration with students from the Design for the Living World class HFBK, University of Fine Arts of Hamburg lead by Prof. Marjetica Potrč and Laura Bernhardt.
relational objects, craft workshops, spatial practice