Archipelago

Through the analysis of selected case studies, we will learn how to detect and interpret atmospheric conditions in public spaces and how to distill design principles that leverage, mediate or amplify them.

Air as a creative design material is elusive when compared to physical elements. During the workshop we will ask ourselves: How can we represent air? Can we design with air? Can we create an airflow? What is air made of? What is it transporting? Can we smell, hear, feel air? Building on the expertise of the Institute for Architecture and Landscape, the workshop conveys new ways of thinking about air. Students encounter the sensory experience of a space where every breath leads closer to an ecological awareness.

Per comprendere la lezione delle ville di Costozza e dei loro ventidotti occorre iniziare da una riflessione su scala globale innescata dalla tardiva ma necessaria presa di coscienza del cambiamento climatico in atto. La crescita dei grandi centri urbani come Pechino o Mumbai è rapida e inesorabile e si prevede che continui almeno fino alla metà del secolo in corso. Per governare tale spinta serve una nuova prospettiva pla- netaria che getti uno sguardo d’insieme sull’equilibrio delle dinamiche ecologiche e sull ́influenza che le attività umane hanno su di esso. Siamo ufficialmente entrati nell’Antropocene, una nuova era geologica ma anche un termine provocatorio che suona come avvertimento e promemoria delle nostre responsabilità e del nostro impatto sui processi naturali.

Through the analysis of remarkable examples of neighbourhoods, we will learn about density and intensity, look at various architectural types, programs and infrastructures that form a successful urban cluster and will finally design a set of proposals for densification and improvement of the existing urban fabric of the Brazilian city of Palmas.

The Institute of Architecture and Landscape takes the opportunity to explore an extravagant alternative to mass production of food: one that is both healthy and guilt-free; one that allows the ingredients of our exotic taste to be grown locally in communities where such plants would not naturally grow. Automatically, such cultivation in the landscape demands an artificial infrastructure. The technological innovation and cultural precedents in designing the necessary microclimates is readily available, and there are ample opportunities to tap into the rich flows of energy used to sustain the needs of our contemporary society.