Built x autonomy

Introduction

Course Description

The foundation studio aimed to set up a disciplinary impetus for the program with considerable emphasis on the method of design and making. The tectonic spatial form we see today is an expressive outcome of manipulating the geometrical logic, material,constructional, and structural ingenuities. The studio thus built the foundation of tectonics by ensuring students engage systematically in methods of investigation, derivation, and evaluation of form.

Four key considerations were accounted for while dealing with tectonics, namely:

1. Expression of detail as the articulation of structural forces 2. Expression of detail as the articulation of material and construction 3. Expression of the program as an articulation of detail 4. Expressive dimension of detail as expressed through prototypes, drawings, and models.

Coursework

The studio initiated familiarising students with the workshop, and building their ability to employ the various analogue and digital tools to produce specific building products. The developed skills were utilised through following exercises:

1. To make a mechanically controlled fenestration unit. The unit was aimed to be expandable, professionally deployable and technically innovative.

2. The second part dealt with the understanding of structural forces and their articulation in form. This is induced through active physical modelling by students using humble materials which mimic the properties of realworld construction materials. A spanning system was devised, tested and revised, to achieve an informed form.

3. The third and final part dealt with the consolidation of the above acquired skills, their resolution and their layering with a given design challenge. The skills were tested through three emerging typologies in a highrise, keeping in mind the future of resource crunch, land shortages and sustainability.