A self-sufficient habitat of the future - a design workshop

Course pre-requisite(s):

completion of a design course in the field of architectural and/or urban design of housing estates, single and multifamily housing architecture, or designing multifunctional facilities (both BA or MA courses)

 

Course Overview

The aim of the course will be to design a self-sufficient, ecological habitat of the future – a housing estate (single, multi-family or mixed) focused on solutions that minimize energy consumption, etc.

The course will be divided into two design parts in the form of workshops adapted to the variable scale of design - urban (week 1) and architectural (week 2). Each of these parts will be preceded by short introductory lectures supported by a multimedia presentation.

The student's task will be to develop an urban and architectural concept of a self-sufficient housing complex located on a given plot located in A Coruña. Students will work in groups (the number and size of groups will depend on the number of people who sign up for the course). Each of the project weeks will end with the presentation of the results of the project work.

The final design concept will consist of:

WEEK 1:

  • Orientation showing the wider urban context of the plot;
  • Urban analyses present wider context and connections of the plot with urban context, natural environment, communication, morphological structure, historical connections etc., scaleless;
  • Site plan in a 1:500 to 1:1000 scale, indicating entrances to the buildings and all the site equipment;
  • A wide range of sketches, drawings, and schemes, as well as working models and mock-ups presenting the designed solutions;
  • Schemes and post-design analyses presenting models and solutions for self-sufficiency in an urban scale, ex. solutions for urban farming, energy efficiency, water-saving, rain-water collection, nature-neural solutions etc.
  • 3-D models - physical or virtual, photos or visualizations of the design concept;

WEEK 2:

  • Site plan in a 1:500 of a chosen building/buildings, indicating entrances to the building and all the site equipment;
  • Architectural drawings - plans with ground plan, repetitive floor plans, sections, general views, facades, scale 1:100;
  • A wide range of sketches, drawings and schemes, as well was working models and mock-ups presenting the designed solutions in an architectural scale;
  • Schemes and post-design analyses presenting models and solutions for self-sufficiency in architectural scale, ex. solutions for urban farming, energy-efficiency, water-saving, rain-water collection, nature-neural solutions etc. for the building and an appartment;
  • 3-D models - phisical or virtual, photos, visualisations or sketches of the design concept;

 

Course schedule:

W E E K    1

DAY 1

Presentations (approx. 1h):

  • „Opole University of Technology and Faculty of Building Engineering and Architecture”
  • „Introduction to the issue of designing self-sufficient housing”
  • „Introduction to urban issues of self-sufficient housing architecture”

Workshops (approx. 3h):

  • Urban analyses of the plot and the surrounding context;
  • Orientation of the plot and its morphological analysis.

DAY 2

Presentation (approx. 1h):

  • „Urban issues of self-sufficient housing architecture – examples of realizations”

Workshops – urban part (approx. 3h):

  • Finishing urban analyses of the plot and the surrounding context;
  • First urban concepts for the structure and urban solutions for self-sufficiency;
  • Working on mock-ups and working models;

DAY 3

Workshops – urban part (4h):

  • Development of urban concepts, functional and formal solutions;
  • Schemes and sketches for self-sufficiency.

DAY 4

Workshops – urban part (4h):

  • Further development of the urban concept, detailed solutions for transport, greenery, water collection etc.;
  • Preparing the graphical presentations of projects, visualizations, schemes, plans, sections, etc.

DAY 5

Workshops – urban part (4h):

  • preparation of materials for presentations (2h),
  • presentation of workshop works, discussion, and evaluation (2h)

 

W E E K    2

DAY 1

Presentations (approx. 1h):

  • „Architectural solutions in the design of self-sufficient residential space”
  • „Examples of realizations”

Workshops – architectural part (approx. 3h):

  • first architectural concepts.

DAY 2

Presentation (approx. 1h):

  • „Examples of realizations of self-sufficient residential architecture”

Workshops – architectural part (approx. 3h):

  • development of architectural concepts, and functional and formal solutions.

DAY 3

Workshops – architectural part (4h):

  • further development of the architectural concepts, material,s and technological solutions.

DAY 4

Workshops – architectural part (4h):

  • preparing the graphical presentations of projects, visualisations, drawings, etc.

DAY 5

Workshops – architectural part (4h):

  • preparation of materials for the presentation (1h),
  • presentation of final workshop works (2h),
  • work evaluation and workshop summary (1h)

 

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will:

  • gain knowledge in the field of designing self-sufficient residential architecture in an urban environment;
  • will be able to define the advantages and disadvantages of the area in terms of locating self-sufficient housing in terms of nutrition, energy, waste management, and to a limited extent dependent on external water supplies;
  • will be able to develop a conceptual design of such a housing estate, selecting the types of spatial solutions used in this case appropriately learned in the course;
  • will be able to correctly design a functional solution for a living space that implements the assumptions of energy efficiency, nutritional independence, and reduction of environmental impact while maintaining the characteristic environmental parameters of urban space.
  •  

Course Content

The following issues will be addressed in the course:

  • Contemporary residential architecture in the city - challenges, problems and development opportunities of modern forms of housing.
  • Urban self-sufficiency in the context of housing:
    • urban agriculture - typology, spatial forms, requirements
    • the use of renewable energy sources in the city;
    • obtaining water in the city;
    • management of urban household waste.
  • Architectural solutions and building self-sufficiency:
    • energy-saving solutions,
    • productive greenery,
    • principles of space design using local climatic conditions.

 

Instructional Method

During the course, the following instructional methods will be used:

  • Lectures with computer-aided presentations;
  • Group design workshops (group projects) - detailed instructional approaches: brainstorming, mental mapping, building mock-up models in urban and architectural scales, hand and computer drawing, 3D modeling;
  • Discussion/seminar debate.

 

Required Course Materials

Literature:

  • Urban Land Institute (2016), Cultivating Development: Trends and Opportunities at the Intersection of Food and Real Estate, Urban Land Institute, Washington.
  • Philips A. (2013), Designing Urban Agriculture. A complete guide to the planning, design, construction, Maintenance and Management of Edible Landscapes, John Wiley & Sons Inc., Hoboken.
  • Giseke U. (red.) (2015), Urban Agriculture for Growing City Regions. Connecting Urban – Rural Spheres in Casablanca, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York.
  • Kleszcz J. (2017), A Transgressive Approach Towards Agritectural Space - The Idea of Agricultural-Urban Use Settlements, Urban Development Issues, Vol. 54, s.15-26.
  • Wines, J. (2000), Green Architecture, Taschen

Materials:

  • a room with a computer projector;
  • access to color printer or plotter;
  • drawing materials: tracing papers, drawing papers, pencils, markers, ink pens, colored pencils etc.;
  • materials for mock-ups and working models: cardboard, glue, rulers, cutting knives, foams, etc.;
  • an urban map on a scale of 1:500 suitable for Spanish building permissions presenting the study area selected by the lecturers.

 

Assessment

During the workshops, the following methods of assessing student work will be used:

  • consultations in groups - assessment of current work progress, every day during the whole two weeks of work;
  • review at the end of 1 week - summary and showing pros/cons, determining the direction of further work;

review at the end of week 2 - a comprehensive summary of the work, identification of strengths and weaknesses, and assessment.