Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).
Basic command of a 3D modeling program, preferably Rhino 3D
The aim of this course is to explore the relation between design, materials, and making.
Driven by the profusion of building materials and components, by the requirements to comply with building regulation authorities, by the threat of legal action, and by the shortage of time, architects often resort to applying standard construction details to their design concepts, regardless of whether or not these ‘copy & paste’ details fit or enhance their design ideas.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with using the plethora of construction information readily available to architects. But all too often ready-made details are used with only partial understanding of the reasons why they were put together in a particular way and the contexts in which their application is appropriate.
This course starts from the premise that in order to fully understand how to design building details it is necessary to have a direct sensory experience of the materials being used. Juhani Pallasmaa makes a similar point in his book The Eyes of the Skin (p.10)
“I had become increasingly concerned about the bias towards vision, and the suppression of other senses in the way architecture was conceived, taught and critiqued, and about the consequent disappearance of sensory and sensual qualities from the arts and architecture.”
When Louis Kahn asked “What does a brick want to be?”, he was rhetorically calling attention to the relation between material properties and design,
"You say to a brick, 'What do you want, brick?' And brick says to you, 'I like an arch.' And you say to brick, 'Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.' And then you say: 'What do you think of that, brick?' Brick says: 'I like an arch.'"
On completion of this course you will:
The course will consist of a study of a material (timber) and its use in one building. We will choose buildings in which the use of timber reveals an understanding of the nature of that material and the full utilisation of its characteristics as a complement of the design concept.
We will choose one detail from the building which is exemplary, in that it meets its functional requirements and contributes to the design concept of the building.
We will then build that detail, at scale 1:1, if practically possible. To aid in the making of the detail you will design and construct a jig. We use the word ‘jig’ as both ‘An indirect, usually cunning means of gaining an end’ and ‘a device that holds a piece of work and guides the tool operating on it’. The jig will ensure the precise construction of the joint using only those hand tools commonly available in a building site.
Obligatorisk arbeidskrav | Påkrevde arbeidskrav | Oppmøte påkrevd | Kommentar |
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Oppmøte til undervisning | Påkrevd | The requirement for the course will be to attend lectures, workshop sessions, and seminars (at least 80% overall attendance required). |
Vurderingsform | Gruppering | Karakterskala | Kommentar |
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Vurderingsmappe | Individuell | Bestått / ikke bestått | The requirement for the course will be to attend lectures, workshop sessions, and seminars (at least 80% overall attendance required), participate in course discussions, hand-in a short report on the chosen building and detail, the built jig, and build the detail at 1:1 using the jig. |