SYLLABUS

CONTENT:

It is hard not to stop proposing a course like this. Due to its success in the year 2013/14, we feel obliged to propose this third edition!

The special feature of this course is that we will focus on the research for THERAPEUTIC ARCHITECTURE.

We believe that architecture is part of specific stories, of affections and dreams, of interpersonal projects, and also it is the result of a negotiation and the unexpected. This course is built around a series of articles, "Stories of Houses" (http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com.es). We will deconstruct these single-family homes that are classified in the books of architecture as works of authorship, and give them value to their origins that belonged to cultural realities.

Since these homes were built during the 20th Century, the meaning of cultural concept that generated has changed in our contemporary society. This will allow us to rethink and update these architectures through transformations, extensions, demolitions, etc.

METHOD:
     1. Read STORIES OF HOUSES and selected 3 stories. These are examples of architecture built from the lives of their clients.

     2. Create a video presentation explaining the criteria of your choice.

     3. Organize groups of 3 students and study the culture that formed two of the selected houses. From there you have to create two collages by showing the cultural elements that generated each of the 2 houses.

     4. Observe the evolution of culture in the last 30 years and apply it to one of your houses. Understand the pass of the time, from the day when the house was conceived to today, and how the understanding of these cultural concepts has evolved over the last 20-30 years. Examples are: the concept of access, the period of mourning, the family structure, construction methods, ways of working, communication, nutrition, etc. Furthermore, the evolution of the history of the house has to integrate architectural responses to some neurodegenerative or metabolic disease suffered by any member of the family.

     5. Add a new End to the Story. This is based on specific facts that you will have to acquire during your research.

     6. Draw an action/activity, according to the requirements of this cultural evolution.

     7. Achieve an architecture that fits with the new action/activity.

This is a working method that completes the experience that began two years ago in Projects 4: it allows the students to go beyond a formalist approach and provides a confidence at the time they are asked to upgrade the selected example:

     http://re-readingstoriesofhouses.blogspot.com.es

     http://re-readingstoriesofhouses2.blogspot.com.es

The final exercise consists of creating a Manifesto. The students are asked to document the work process and to reflect on the results. The Manifesto will have the format of a book. The role model is VERB, a series of books by Actar (Barcelona): font, design (form of communication + the relationship between text, pictures, diagrams and drawings). This is the link to the website of the publisher:

http://www.actar.es/

The content of individual book should show the process of working during the period:

     0. The original story of the house and its drawings.

     1. Extract images from video productions.

     2. Reading of the stories and the criteria for selecting a particular one.

     3. Photomontages focused on the concepts of the chosen stories - concept of the 20th Century and its transformation into the 21st Century.

     4. The drawing of the action showing the cultural element that made the house of the 20th Century a house of the 21st Century. Each student must demonstrate the contribution to the proposal. Therefore, the individual and collective drawing must be included.

     5. The technical drawing - A SECTION OF A DETAIL - of the action in the space of the original house. At this point you can include details of your classmates in the case of considering important. Also, feel free to modify them to improve them.

     6. The most interesting conversations between team members, how the arguments are constructed and you reached a consensus how to move forward in the proposals. Finally, it includes an evaluation/reflection on teamwork/team effort.

     7. Bibliography.

     8. Manifesto: you need conclude a summary of your view of Re-reading Stories of Houses.

Note: English will be the teaching language.

AIMS:

To acquire knowledge of the following public interests:

- To detect new patterns of social organization by linking production with consumption, recognizing how different items are constructed from the raw material to the finished product.

- To gain confidence in the teamwork and to establish multidisciplinary relationships.

- Moreover, this exercise provides two focal points: This is a reflection and it responds to the need of editing the drawings. The students are asked to return to the original story and reflect critically what their proposal offers/adds to the original house. In this way the drawings can be redefined, if it is necessary, by taking into account comments from the CRITS.

- Additionally, the students to think as an editor who works for Actar. This means to follow the design of the editorial and to be critical when deciding which way and how the drawings/writings are selected in a book. The writing style must be academic.

EVALUATION:

It is continuous, with an evaluation of the project every two weeks, conducted by the teacher and fellow students:

- Qualities of analysis and deconstruction of a text.

- Identification of the concept of culture in a home.

- Ability to draw this concept through an action/event within the house.

- Ability to develop an idea through different techniques, scales and materials and to get different views on the project.

- Acquisition of techniques to work in an international team. Share drawings, googledocs, googlegroups, and videoconferencing.

TIMETABLE:

12th September to 19th December 2014. Classes: Fridays from 10:30 to 14:30.

BIBLIOGRAFY AND REFERENCES:

- Series STORIES OF HOUSES (http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com.es/)

- Ettore Sottsass. Video Interviews Alessi, 2008.

- Five Obstructions. Film by Lars von Tier and Jørgen Leth, 2003.

- Teddy house by Andres Jacque. http://andresjaque.net/wordpress/proyectos/teddy-house-coruxo/

- Cedric Price: The Fun Palace.

- Koolhaas Houselife. Beka Video I. & L. Lemoine.

jsm