Labs and Courses
A.Y. 2023/24CLASSES AND LABS ARE HELD ONLY IN PRESENCE
FIRST YEAR, FIRST SEMESTER
The course includes an integrated multidisciplinary teaching in: Architectural Design, Structural Design, and Construction Systems Design, focused on structural analysis. The specific educational purposes of a further discussion of the theoretical and operative basis behind structural design and dimensioning are integrated with the more general control of the design and composition, and of its constructive connotations, according to an educational plan aimed at providing, through the new Laboratories, an ever increasing organic consultation between the various aspects involved in the design process.
Teaching - and attending - a course on the History of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism in Florence implies a deep investigation into, and a specific interest in, the origins of Western culture, its theories and fortunes. Issues of intellectual freedom and artistic creativity, colonialism and cultural predominance, cross-fertilization and globalization are essential to define our modern ideas on architecture, cultural heritage, preservation and marketing strategies of historic sites, urban centres, and man-made landscapes. Addressing the role of style, technology and sustainability in contemporary design and urban planning is therefore approached within a wider historical context. The course focuses on the development of architectural languages and urban forms in Italy, emphasizing the role of major monuments and centres, outstanding architects, and issues of cross-relations in Western European culture. A multidisciplinary approach emphasizes different interpretations of architecture, and their development over the centuries from the birth of the discipline to our days. Special attention is dedicated to the role of Italian and Western models in 19th and 20th century design and urban planning. The course includes lectures, guided readings, on-site visits in Florence and other Italian centres.
The course uses mainly a methodological approach and its specific educational purpose, is to provide skills in the evaluation areas with particular focus on economic feasibility starting from the very early stage of the project. Evaluation is not a constraint, a burden or a waste of time and money. The main goal of the course is to integrate the evaluation in the design process that is always a complex process due to the required skills and interdisciplinarity, as well as the large number of the actors and objectives involved. According to a European vision the traditional roles of evaluation (legitimation, validation and control of choices) is to improve the quality of decision-making processes in architectural design. Class will have theoretical lectures, videos and practical works and a further discussion will integrate the comprehension of theoretical and operative elements. The students will analyze building construction costs with a more comprehensive and updated knowledge on project evaluation.
FIRST YEAR, SECOND SEMESTER
The restoration laboratory complements the training experiences by providing information on conceptual stages, working tools, regulatory data, and the significance of and methods for preparing all the phases involved in a modern-day restoration project. Following the theoretical teaching and its application in the field, through visits to restoration sites, individual students prepare a project that is as comprehensive as possible in terms of both the definition of each of its stages, from survey to proposal, and the progression from the general concept to the detailed development of certain parts, elements and construction systems.Specific attention is given to contemporary additions to historical buildings and sites. Educational goals are: to learn how to prepare a restoration project, from the survey to the potential restoration approaches, from structural consolidation to proposals for reusing disused complexes. To prepare for checking regulations and laws governing the technological upgrading of historic architecture in a manner compatible with the existing structures. To be aware of the complexity and uniqueness of restoration issues, particularly in relation to the delicate balance between old and new architecture, old and new materials, and the general issue of contemporary addition while understanding a place’s identity, and the requirements of conservation versus free expression.
The course on Urban sociology presents a sociological approach to architecture, planning and design. It aims to develop the sensitivity of architects towards the multifaceted relationship between their intentions and the interpretations of those intentions by the final users/inhabitants of what they design. The course has both a theoretical and a methodological approach. Students are first introduced to a set of concepts related to sociology and other social sciences and to a theoretical framework concerning the relationship between people, space and the city. The course presents a wide range of research tools to study what people do to and with architecture: interviews, direct observation, video and photography, shadowing, mental maps, etc. The course promotes the active involvement of students through class discussions, group work and fieldwork to practice empirical research methods.
SECOND YEAR, FIRST SEMESTER
The course includes an integrated multidisciplinary teaching in: Architectural Design II, Urban Design, and Urban Landscape Design.The workshop aims to provide students with a design methodology at different scales of urban, landscaping and architectural planning in the critical spaces of the contemporary city. To achieve this objective, the Laboratory experiments with theories and integrated methods of interpretation, planning and design of urban places in decline or severely degraded in order to redevelop and reinvent the quality of urban space, its system of relations and functions and the 'attractiveness' of the urban landscape. The Laboratory is structured in phases of experimentation and elaboration of design concepts in order to simulate the undertaking of a real professional project by the students.
SECOND YEAR, SECOND SEMESTER
The course includes an integrated multidisciplinary education (architectural design, environmental design, techniques for environmental control) focused on the relationship between natural and built environments. The general objective of the course is to provide students with the necessary tools for generating an environmental approach to architectural design. Tools and methods for environmental design of buildings; identifying problems that emphasize the conceptual strategies of form and space, the relationships of the site and the social, technological and environmental determinants. The workshop aims to provide expertise on the development of design, the choice of materials, energy assessments and the use of assessment tools.
OPTIONAL SUBJECT EXAMS - SEMINARS (each student needs 12CFU of Free Choice)
Italian Architecture of the XXth Century: Interiors
Other Free Courses can be picked from School of Architecture Other Courses in English at University of Florence
The 12 CFU free choice Exams
for information on Study Plan write to
PLEASE NOTE THAT Exam reservation (prenotazione esami) ends 5 days before the exam day, it is a mandatory requirement for be enrolled in the exam |
Syllabus Previous a.a.
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