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1. Design Concepts:

- Innovative architectural designs fostering adaptive urban symbiosis.

- Prototypical facades and small-scale architectural prototypes.

2. Methodological Documentation:

- Detailed documentation of the prototypical methodology employed in the design process.

- Testing new thoughts and design methods, showcasing the evolution of ideas.

3. Research-Led Components:

- Compilation of well-researched components informing the final architectural solutions.

- Exploration and incorporation of softness-inspired elements in the designs.

4. Harsh Climate Solutions:

- Architectural solutions specifically tailored for harsh climatic ecosystems.

- Strategies challenging conventional design boundaries to address extreme conditions.

5. Site Integration:

- Site-specific interventions aligned with National Geographic environment series narratives.

- Critical analysis of the plausibility and credibility of proposed solutions in harsh environments.

6. Visual Presentations:

- Renderings, visualizations, and diagrams illustrating the design concepts.

- Presentation materials showcasing the harmony between built and natural elements.

- large 3D-printed models (supported by the Department).

7. Critical Reflections:

- Students’ reflections on the challenges faced and lessons learned during the design process.

- Evaluation of the adaptability and resilience of proposed architectural solutions.

8. Documentation of Site Selection Process:

- Documentation showcasing the selection process based on National Geographic articles.

- Examination of how chosen narratives influenced the design approach.

These outputs collectively aim to contribute to the exploration of cutting-edge design strategies that redefine the role of architecture in extreme climates while fostering a symbiotic relationship between the built environment and nature.

A More than a Human Mantra: Hybrid Futures for a Vanishing Frontier

True wilderness is hard to come by. For thousands of years, human progress has coincided, not coincidentally, with the relentless transformation of our natural environment. We have and continue to cut, burn, cultivate, and exploit the Earth’s resources at an alarming rate in pursuit of survival, comfort, and advancement. This detrimental cycle has left important ecosystems unable to repair themselves and be forever altered. 

The notion of wilderness reaches beyond untouched natural landscapes; it envisages a place where there has been little to no human interference. However, as we continue searching for more commodities, new space for human dwellings, and survivable climates, coupled with the globally encompassing effects of climate change, we start to eradicate the occurrence of true wilderness. 

As we rely heavily on our natural landscape for survival, damaging them so irrevocably seems counterintuitive. Especially when the well-being of our planet and those we share it with are inextricably linked with ours. Effectively maintaining, re-cultivating, and expanding areas of true wilderness requires a fundamental shift in how we value and interact with our environment. Boding the question: How can we begin to understand, protect, and restore the delicate balance of life in these environments and re-introduce them into our urban realms through architectural edifices whilst designing for an entangled, human and non-human future? 

Through this lens, the studio will explore architecture as a sensory machine that evolves from the characteristics of the selected site.  We will investigate how to gather, respond to, and communicate ecological and sensory data through technological apparatus and architectural solutions. Within a conceptual framework, students will reflect on the current context of wilderness and imagine spaces for the present or future scenarios. Embracing experimental and novel approaches to architectural form finding, construction and inhabitation. Developed by experimenting with digital software to establish an alternative architectural design mode that combines high and low-tech techniques to inform sensitive and adaptive concepts to re-imagine and reestablish wilderness through architecture.

Students will work in groups to develop and apply building design strategies focusing on re-imagining and cultivating wilderness. The objective is to design an enclosed space by delving into an interspecies narrative that nurtures a dual agency of architectural and ecological programmes.  Students are asked to design small-scale research centres specifically designed to cater for a chosen inter-species interaction, by exploring the principles of temporality, seasonality and inter-species behaviour patterns. Special attention should be paid to how materiality, frequency of inhabitation, and the life span of architectural layers play a role in creating these structures. Embodied with a ‘small is beautiful’ ideology, there should be a craftship to create intricate, sensitive, environmentally adaptive and conscious architectural structures promoting ecosystem resilience. 

DRAWING NARRATIVES

Overview:

This architectural project seeks to explore and conceptualize innovative designs fostering adaptive urban symbiosis, aiming for a harmonious relationship between the built environment and the natural world ecosystems. The focus will be on challenging conventional boundaries and redefining the role of architecture in extreme conditions.

Methodology:

We will embrace a prototypical approach to architecture, testing novel ideas and design methods. The exploration will assemble well-considered, research-led components to inform architectures inspired by sensorial haptics, promoting a balance between resilience and adaptability.

Scope:

The semester will concentrate on developing facade systems and small prototypical architectures, aiming to push the boundaries of conventional design practices.

Site Selection:

Sites will be exploring the invisible and visible boundaries of wilderness. Looking to the qualities to define how the behaviours of nature and other beings can have a direct impact on how we design and interact with space. Therefore the sites can range from  urban realms or remote dwellings. 

Course examination according to § 7, statute section on "study-law regulations".

Deliverables:

To achieve an accomplished and comprehensive project at the end of the semester we encourage model making and documentation of your process throughout the 4 months. The deliverables for the final presentation and subsequent submission are as follows:

- Short 5 -8 minute presentation, of your concept, site, analysis, design process and final design

- A1 printed board/poster showcasing the design. This should read as a narrative that explains the project without the necessity of the accompanying presentation, therefore it should also include a short summary and annotated visual representation.

- A series of large scale Models

- A short animation

Please see studio brief.

Requirements:

We expect an affinity for digital design tools and specifically invite those students to express their interest. While focusing on concepts and design development, we ask students to embrace the opportunities presented to explore using advanced modelling and simulation software.

For information for application please see: https://www.uibk.ac.at/fakultaeten-servicestelle/standorte/technikerstrasse/studium.html/