Start semester
40 549 Climate Form / Destination Varanger 2100
Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:
Climate Form / Destination Varanger 2100
Credits:
24
Course code:
40 549
Level of study:
Master
Teaching semester:
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester:
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction:
English
Year:
2022
Maximum number of students:
16
Person in charge
Tine Hegli
Required prerequisite knowledge
Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).
Course content
Summary:
The Climate Form studio aims to equip the student with a knowledge platform where architecture is examined within a context of environmental sustainability. The studio curriculum and associated assignments will revolve around strategies for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and actively seek to integrate the understanding of these in form-finding processes and critical evaluation. Through studies of local climate and building traditions at present, and parallel investigations on future scenarios - both in accordance with central UN sustainability goals (SDGs) and more conservative estimates (projections with less climate mitigation than what is anticipated in the Paris Agreement), the course activities seeks to inform and discuss adequate design response. The final result of the course is an architectural project presented with drawings, models and visuals accopagnied with in-depth analysis of the final design focusing on a climate mitigation strategy introduced in introductory sub-assigments.
Background:
Humankind has a distinct relationship with environment spanning millennia intrinsically forming human interaction with nature from provision to creation to destination. Architecture’s foundation as a human centric discipline is required to respond relatively to environments not only as a specific adaption, but also relatively to its own agency in influencing those environments on many scales.
Deep knowledge of effects upon climate and ecology as a result of the practice of construction and the procurement of materials that forms and reshapes our physical environment is overdue as a fundamental driver for design in the Anthropocene. Resultant change in the prerequisites for design have duly created a demand for distinct changes in formal expression, a revivification of the architectural language of climate-adaptive existence. Examined through three distinct proponents of change; climate adaption, climate mitigation and user behaviour.
The studio’s approach method is projective prototyping – examining typology, function, materiality and form as a result of contemporary understanding of climate change implications both regionally and globally. This accompanied by a narrative of projection that should inform design work and results, generating a coherent thread from conceptualization through iterative ideation to detail.
Task description:
The studio’s main assignment autumn 2022 is to design an accommodationfacility for the tourism industry now entering Finnmark and Varanger. This region seeks to attract new users and industries to dam up for ongoing depopulation, simultaneously the region experiences rapid changes in local climate and weather due to expedited climate change in the Arctic. This again demands urgent attention to the management of areas to foreseewhere to develop land and to which use. A tourism industry wanting to establish buildings and infrastructure close to the shoreline will have to build to withstand radically different conditions than what are observed on site today, requiring a long-term perspective in the planning and development of potential facilities. Setting the scene in 2100 will require students to create design concepts as adaptable to projected changes, while knowledge on mitigation strategies and post-carbon economies will initiate a new take on both user behaviour and needs, material palettes and consequently form.
Learning outcome
Categorized into Knowledge, Skills and Compenetences, the students should after the course be able to:
Knowledge
- Discuss climate impact indicators, relevant SDGs and associated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the building industry at large.
- Identify projected climate change consequences for a given region and site, communicate the findings in a site analysis through architectural drawings and models and respond to these findings in their form-finding process.
- Identify material sources and construction principals adequate for the design task taking both climate adaptation strategies and climate mitigation strategies into consideration.
- Demonstrate circular design principles in the final architectural project through presentation of environmeltal impacts (quantitative measures such as emissions) and architectural qualities (qualitative measures represented through drawings and models).
- Demonstrate design solutions for natural climatization (heating, cooling, ventilation and daylight).
Skills:
- Develop a climate analysis for a given region and site with the use of available data (GIS, Kartverket, NVE etc) and digital tools (Rhino and relevant plug-ins).
- Communicate findings from climate observations that can inform / inspire design development with the use of digital and analog media. Both external and internal climate included.
- Execute a simplified lifecycle assessment (LCA) for a material and / or construction principal.
- Produce a coherent set of architectural 2D drawings at given scale.
- Produce an architectural 3D models in Rhino.
- Produce physical models for investigation of space and material qualities
General competence:
- Analyze quantifiable parameters relevant for reaching relevant SDG goals (climate mitigation and climate adaption) as integral part in the architectural form-finding process.
- Develop an architectural project in an interdisciplinary context as a group exercise using different medias.
- Communicate environmental design strategies through architectural drawings and models.
Working and learning activities
Course structure:
The core teacher team running the course are practice oriented, represents architects and engineers and cover a broad approach to the topic of sustainable architecture. The course is structured as an extended collaboration between several competences within AHO and includes knowledge on Arctic landscapes (Institue of Urbanism and Landscpe) and cultural heritage. Further, the studio set-up is based on local involvement, both with the municipality and relevant industry partners as active partners. Most of the assignments given throughout the semester will requires student group work, changing from task to task. Still there is a possibility to work individualy if this is the preference of the student.
The teaching resources will conduct lectures, workshops and structure assignments within the following fields:
Climate change adaption / Climate and weather “forcasting” as tool to forsee future scenarios for a given site and enable a form-finding process responding to potential climate risks as well as revealing possible climate change benefits.
Climate change mitigation / Lifecyclemethodology used as tool for investigation of material properties, circular construction principlas and energy measures that can reduce climate footprint in accordance with the IPCC 1,5 degree goal.
User behaviour / Through workshops with a relevant tourist destination developer we will be mapping out possible concepts for their product “nature destinations”, discussing how the human footprint can be minimized through redefining preconceptions of required user comfort. This section of the studio teaching will include learnings on indoor climate and natural climatization.
The course will include:
- Introductory sub-assignments that generate a common knowledge base for the studio curriculum
- Tutoring in the studio
- Workshops
- Lectures by teachers and invited expertise
- Plenary reviews
- Field trip to Varanger and Vardø first week 35 (TBC)
- Study trip to Malmø and Copenhagen (AHO study trip week)
Final project delivables:
- The final project will be presented with a site and climate analysis (free use of media media for representation of findings), site plan and site section 1: 1000/1: 500, set of architectural 2D drawing 1: 200 describing the project in plans / sections / elevations. A selected part of the project will be presented with details 1: 10/1: 20 describing conceptual ideas and central construction principals.
- A physical model of the project (scale to be considered) will be part of the deliverables and used for visualization of space qualities (free use of media).
- The main semester assignment (final project) will be presented in plenum and evaluated together with an external critic.
- The evaluation of the main assignment includes a written report where a topic of choice (individual or groups) is investigated with the use of tools and methods introduced in the sub-assigments. Each student/student groups reports will be collected and later published as a common studio report.
| Mandatory coursework | Courseworks required | Presence required | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet | Not required | Requirements to pass: Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings. It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review. |
| Form of assessment | Grouping | Grading scale | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project assignment | - | Pass / fail | The main semester assignment (final project) is the basis for the final grade. -The main semester assignment will be presented in plenum and evaluated together with an external critic. -The evaluation of the main assignment includes a report where a topic of choice (individual or groups) is investigated with the use of tools and methods introduced in the sub-assignments. -For description of final project deliverables see Course information: "Working and learning activities". Important activities during the semester that will have influence on the final project: - Course responsible will hold an interview with each student at the start of the semester, mapping out themes of interest and personal learning ambitions. This will be followed up in an individual mid-term evaluation, as well as in a written form at the end of the semester. - The teacher team will arrange a mid-term evaluation in plenum. - Sub-assignments will be formed as design tasks specific to the three main topics (climate adaptation, climate mitigation and user behavior) and evaluated in plenum sessions where the students present their work for each other and the teacher team. |
| Workload activity | Comment |
|---|---|
| Excursion | Those who do not have the opportunity to participate in excursion will receive a task / a project that replaces this. |