Projet d'architecture 5.23 : Umbau

Course content

The design studio Umbau looks at how existing buildings can be integrated into the economic transitions of a territory, while also responding to current social and environmental challenges. From the viewpoint of sustainability across different scales, the reuse of existing buildings as an alternative to new construction is key, in addition to the careful choice of resources and the recycling of materials. The studio approaches the architectural project as a strategic way of rewriting a part of the territory, understood as a palimpsest and urban memory that has been shaped by layers of interventions from different times and different ways of thinking. What already exists is taken as the starting point of an unfinished past. By studying references, carefully observing existing structures in detail, and working on building fragments, the studio encourages students to formulate architectural intentions as well on aspects such as materiality and energy. We seek to explore how materiality, composition, construction, space, and culture are closely interwoven.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

General objectives:

To approach the architectural project through two different time frames: its history and the imagination of a new life for a building, or the dialogue between old and new.
To situate the project within its urban context and articulate the differences in status between public, semi-public, and private space.
To make a project more concrete and precise in terms of materiality, atmosphere, and detail — to “build the project.”
To be able to work in a group.

Specific objectives for BA3:

Students are confronted with the concrete architectural dimensions of project development (intentions in terms of materiality, technological control) and must understand their relationship with other aspects of architectural synthesis: form, space, culture, meaning, context, use, etc.

Students should be able to develop a project strategy (parti), and from it, propose coherent structural choices and envelope design, aligned with one another and with the overall project strategy.
The required level of precision, which must be mastered, is 1:50 scale for the general graphic description of the intentions regarding materiality and the control of the built object.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

To master, both in reading and in drawing, the graphic conventions used to represent an architectural project.

Required and corequired courses

Teaching methods and learning activities

The project is carried out in groups, which may be divided into pairs, and presented in the studio. Teaching is collective, while depending on steady progress from one session to the next.
A detailed schedule of session content and deadlines is provided at the beginning of each of the two semesters of the academic year.

Learning activities are organized by semester: at the end of the first semester, the group presents a sketch design; at the end of the second semester, the complete project.

Particular attention is given, towards the end of each exercise, to the organization and graphic presentation of the final documents.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Bibliographie
Allen, Stan. ‘Trace elements’. In Davidson, Cynthia (ed.), Tracing Eisenman: Peter Eisenman complete works. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006.
Bailey, Geoff. ‘Time perspectives, palimpsests and the archaeology of time’. Journal of Anthropological archaeology, vol. 26, pp. 198-223, 2006.
Casares, Toni, Prats, Eva; Flores, Ricardo, Sala Beckett, International Drama Center : Flores & Prats : rehabilitation of the former cooperative Pau i Justícia, Poblenou, Barcelona, Mexico: Arquine, 2020.
Corboz, André. ‘Le territoire comme palimpseste’. Diogène, 1983, 121: 14.
De Vylder, J., Vinck, I., & Taillieu, J. Architecten de vylder vinck taillieu (Archives. Journal for Architecture. Vol 3). Coruña : C2C Proyectos editoriales de arquitectura. 2018.
Genette, Gérard. Palimpsestes: La littérature au second degré, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1982.
Marot, Sébastien. L’art de la mémoire, le territoire et l’architecture. Paris: Ed. de la Villette, 2010.
Marot, Sebastien, Palimpsestuous Ithaca: A relative Manifesto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NhGG1z4fDw
Plevoets, Bie, van Cleempoel, Koenraad, Adaptive reuse of the built heritage: concepts and cases of an emerging discipline. London: Routledge, 2019.
Rotor, Ghyoot, Michaël and Lionel Devlieger (Ed.) Déconstruction et réemploi. Comment faire circuler les éléments de construction. Presses polytiechniques et universitaires romandes, 2018.
Secchi, Bernardo, The art of hope https://portal.klewel.com/watch/webcast/journee-etude-bernardo-secchi-2017/talk/kvQ5adtWMxndkhiPadSnnB/

Other information

Contacts

Gil Honoré
Gil.Honore@ulb.be

Hubert Lionnez
Hubert.Lionnez@ulb.be

Vincent Pierret
Vincent.Pierret@ulb.be

Wouter Van Acker
wouter.van.acker@ulb.be

Campus

Outside campus ULB

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

Project
Oral presentation
Group work

Project

Oral presentation

Group work

Two modes of evaluation are planned:

Continuous formative assessment of the student’s work (with interim submissions, on agreed dates, of research progress as well as group and individual projects) and of their active and committed participation during studio sessions. These formative assessments will be communicated to the student throughout the year at key stages, with a synthesis provided at the end of the first semester.
Final assessments at the end of each semester.

An evaluation grid is used, based on the following criteria:

Mastering the relationship between body and space through spatial dimensioning
Mastering the elements of architectural composition
Understanding and integrating the notion of use within the project
Understanding the logic of different scales that shape architectural synthesis (with clear representation at each scale)
Developing a coherent position on materiality and construction logics / mastering the specific skills required at BA3 level
Mastering oral communication of the project through the construction of a narrative (vocabulary, references, rhetoric, etc.)
Mastering representation tools as means of communicating the project and as tools for project exploration (sketches, etc.)

NB: Active participation in the course is essential for the proper development of skills. This participation requires the weekly production of complete, high-quality sets of graphic documents.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Construction of the grade (including the weighting of partial grades)

The weighting of the grade for the course unit (UE) is based on certificative evaluations, according to the following distribution:

Certificative evaluation of Q1: 40%, divided as follows:
- Studio grade: 20%
- December jury grade: 20%
Certificative evaluation of Q2: 60%, divided as follows:
- Studio grade: 20%
- Final jury grade: 40%

The grade for the Project UE will be the weighted arithmetic average of these certificative grades.

The annual grade also incorporates the grade obtained during the SIP. The SIP is a Pedagogical Innovation Week, not supervised by the studio. It takes place in the second semester, during the week allocated to it in the faculty calendar. Participation in one of its workshops is mandatory. It is not directly valued in terms of points in the Project UE grade, except in the following cases:

The student shows proactivity during the SIP, as identified by the SIP supervisors. In this case, the Project UE grade is increased by 0.5 points out of 20.
The student shows a clear lack of participation, as identified by the SIP supervisors. In this case, the Project UE grade is decreased by 0.5 points out of 20.
The student is absent from the SIP. In this case, the Project UE grade is decreased by 1 point out of 20.

Note: The juries may be composed of members internal and/or external to the faculty or the university, invited for their expertise relevant to the studio’s issues.

Language(s) of evaluation

french
(if applicable english )