9206A03: On the Bri(n)ck: Architecture of the Envelope
Department of Architecture
Seminar
4 credits
limited enrollment
Thursday 9:30 - 12:30
510 Gund Hall
Instructor(s)
Ingeborg Rocker
Course Description
The seminar-workshop traces the historical development of a debate concerning the architectural envelope beginning at the end of the 19th century. It was then when new materials and technologies became available and began to in-form architecture and discussions led in its behalf. Architects began to question the role mass-production should play in architecture, as much as they questioned the influence of new notation- and construction-techniques on the architects' work.
Today these and similar questions gain a new relevance as the digital medium literally in-forms the conceptualization and production of architecture.
A directed reading sequence of primary texts will encircle a spectrum of possible answers. Assigned group presentations will focus on the critical analysis of case studies through drawing and writing. Hands-on workshops on digital fabrication will supplement the analytic inquiry with the aim to produce speculative envelope-models using the school's CAD/CAM facilities.
Emphasizing equally reading, writing, graphic analysis and numerically controlled fabrication, the seminar-workshop suggests a method of research that bridges between architectures' practices.
Topics to be Covered
Technical and discursive Development of Architectural Envelopes
Mass-production - Mass-customization
Mechanization - Digitization
Abstraction - Expressionism
Course Objectives and Outcomes
Critical reading and assessment of historic material as a reference for contemporary discussions
Examination and presentation of selected case studies through analytic drawing(group work)
Digital Modulation of architectural Envelopes
Speculative material modulation of architectural Envelopes using CAD/CAM facilities
Construction of a 1:1 installation. (group work)
The seminar's production will be part of a book to be published in spring/summer 2010.
Readings
Required textbooks will be in the library, in addition a course reader will be available at the beginning of the course.
Enrollment
Limited