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40 522 Future Work - Building for workplaces in a life-cycle perspective
Bachelor in architecture
The project task will be a medium-sized, multistory building for workplaces in an urban setting.
The course will explore future types and patterns of work, and their architectural implications. The studies will be carried out within a life-cycle perspective of design, construction and reuse of buildings, components and materials. Quantified aims for energy use and emissions will be discussed. The role of location (dependency of transport), resilience (robustness and adaptability to climatic and economical change), materials (health, emissions, durability) and energy (in production and use) will be analyzed. Existing methods, systems and frameworks for life-cycle analyses will be presented and discussed.
The studio encourages both qualitative and quantitative evaluations and investigations. 3D printing and computer-aided design are paired with sketches and manual models. An idealistic and innovative approach merges with a commercial scenario, on a real site in Oslo.
Pedagogy
The learning approach is project-based. The students develop architectural projects, with tasks given and advised by the staff. Lectures and workshops focusing on selected themes will contribute to knowledge and skills relevant for the project.
Knowledge:
- of designing a building for present and future workplaces
- of the prinicples of life-cycle thinking in the design, construction, use and reuse of buildings
- of the concepts of resilience and adaptability and their architectural implications
- of quantified aims for energy use and GHG emissions
- of methods and tools for life-cycle analyses
- of the role of transport, materials, building subsystems, and indoor climatization and daylight in the use of energy and emission of greenhouse gases.
- of designing for adaptability and reuse.
- of best-practice examples of design based on life-cycle thinking
- of architectural patterns /typologies shown to be successful for the specific task
- of reducing the ecological footprint of architecture
- of optimizing architectural design to a specific contextual and climatic situation
- of what tools are available to assist the design of sustainable and climate-adapted architecture
- of best-practice climatically informed and inspired architecture
- of how different structural systems and building materials, interact with relevant architectural strategies.
Skills:
- To be able to critically engage in a development of a building for workplaces in a life-cycle perspective.
- To use computer-aided design in the conceptual development and evaluation of the architecture of a complex, medium-sized building.
- To 3D print models as part of architectural exploration and documentation.
- To use 2D projection drawings as a tool for planning.
- To use refined techniques for communicative visual and written presentations.
General Competence:
- To plan and design a medium-sized, multistory building for workplaces.
- To develop a sustainable conceptual design based on a life-cycle perspective
- To understand the interrelation of architectural strategies and the design of the different subsystems in a medium-sized multistory building.
- To realize the sustainable design through form, materials and details
- To make and argue for decisions on sustainability and architectural quality
- To develop a position to the questions of sustainability and architectural quality.
The course will include (preliminary plan):
- Introductory tasks in groups that generate a common knowledge base for the studio
- Main task: Work in groups or individually on 1-3 given sites
- Tutoring in the studio
- Lectures and workshops by staff and invited architects and specialists
- Study trip to a European city
- Plenary reviews
| Form of assessment | Grouping | Grading scale | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe) | - | Pass / fail | The portfolio assessment consists of subtasks and a main project. There will be several subtasks w/presentations throughout the semester. The subtasks must be delivered and approved before the main project can be assessed. The main project can be done individually or in groups of two students. |
| Workload activity | Comment |
|---|---|
| Attendance | Participation and attendance in lectures, supervision at the desks in the studio, seminars and workshops is expected. |
| Excursion |