October 20 - 27
During Seminar Week, students will travel to PORT OF SPAIN as an integral part of the EMERGING &#x26; SUSTAINABLE CITIES design studio. This trip will be an opportunity to advance research and understand the city and the site; it will be an opportunity to expand analysis, challenge conventional understandings, and test conceptual prototypes. This week will not only serve as a vital step in the conceptual development of the project theses, but also as a critical study of the architecture, urbanism, culture, social exchange, and mobility in Port of Spain.

Trinidad & Tobago, Port of Spain

Teaching

Start 26.02.2015
‘Livability’ has become an inescapable buzzword in contemporary planning and politics, as cities scramble to attract new business and investment. But what actually contributes to quality of life in an urban environment? How can cultural and social spaces like cafes, bars, restaurants, and performance venues play a catalytic role when it comes to livability? Presented in collaboration with the Zurich-based property developers We Are Content (WAC), this elective course will focus on understanding how architects and developers can partner in creating distinct spaces that activate and anchor the social life of a neighborhood, while also promoting a vibrant local economy. Students will help develop an innovative new methodology to measure and improve the impact of these projects, with special reference to WAC’s redevelopment and reprogramming of the Volkshaus Basel as an in-depth case study.
Beginning with a consideration of how conventional livability metrics might change if we zoom from the city scale to the level of a neighborhood or cluster of blocks, the course will then explore the ‘special’ role of cultural and social spaces and the different interests – investors, patrons, community, architects, local authorities – they embody. Building on this interdisciplinary discussion, which will touch on ideas from economics, sociology, psychology, and public policy, a series of practical case studies focused on existing sites in Zurich will be used to develop a new methodology that could guide architects and developers in the design and execution of future projects. The course aims to provide both creative and analytical tools, and will draw extensively on the real world experience gained by WAC in projects like the Volkshaus Basel, Helvti Diner, and Hotel Restaurant Helvetica.

Play, Negotiate and Act!

Action! On the Real City

Start 29.09.2011
This elective course will focus on the real city, Zürich. The existing built urban environment is to be accepted ‘as found’ (Smithson, p., a.). Students will be taught a new form of urban literacy by learning to read the city. They will be required to map existing zones of tension, conflict, social cohesion, in which everyday life unfolds re-codifying specific spots on the city. Mapping those fields in the city will built up a data basis for Zurich, based on which, students will organize urban hikes and presentations on the field. With this agenda, the course intends to support creative action in urban life and instigate a new curiosity for the role of architects and potential for architectural thinking in the urban environment. The process and products of the course will be documented in a collective guide for Zurich, compiled and shared with the public.

Mapping, Urban Hiking, and Public Intervention

Mapping! The Real City

October 21 - 29
During Seminar Week, students will travel to BANGKOK as an integral part of the Transformative Urbanism design studio. This trip will be an opportunity to advance research and understand the city and the site; it will be an opportunity to expand analysis, challenge conventional understandings, and test architectural and conceptual prototypes. This week will not only serve as a vital step in the conceptual development of the project theses, but also as a critical study of the architecture, urbanism, culture and social exchange in Bangkok.
Seminar Week will be conducted in collaboration with the International Program in Design and Architecture (INDA) in the Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Architecture. Participants will join with students and faculty of the university to conduct a design workshop; activities will include explorations of Bangkok, site visits, roundtable discussions, and meetings with prominent community leaders.

Kostenrahmen	F
Location	Bangkok, Thailand
Team	Prof. Alfredo Brillembourg & Prof. Hubert Klumpner, Michael Contento, Lindsey Sherman, Marielly Casanova

Bangkok, Thailand