03 TECHNOLOGY

03

TECHNOLOGY

The methodology for this section places an emphasis on how parameters of climate, construction, and material define the making of a piece of architecture, both in form and in detail. By making we are interested in how these parameters control and define both the broad decisions and the specific details behind implementation and expression of a construction system in a building.

The development of the details of the building will always manifest themselves in constructive layers that are inherent in all constructive systems - Bearing, Insulation, Protection + Finish. Furthermore, each of these layers must always relate to a specific condition between the environment and the building - Foundation, Wall, Roof. The complexity of these interactions makes the resolution of even a simple building a challenging task of coordination and synchronization between the demands of Function, Constructability & Aesthetics.

It will quickly become apparent that there are many more constructive possibilities than can be taught in a five-year curriculum, let alone a two-course sequence. What is more interesting and helpful for you is to learn a methodology for dealing with the variety of constructive situations students face. This method will present a way of designing and detailing simultaneously, which means the characteristics of the various construction types will reference a larger strategy of organization, an organization that operates at every scale of the building and the site. Building Construction I + II introduces students to building construction and materials, and their interrelationship with the environment, with the goal of introducing you to a more holistic conception of architecture. While initial architectural concepts may involve understanding construction and material in spatial or formal terms, the making of architecture is defined by parameters from the climate, the wsite, and the efficiency and logic of the systems used. Construction and material can reciprocally inform a design concept and enrich its ultimate potential. These courses are to be understood as parallel and integrated with the studio experience. Just as it is expected that issues of sustainability and construction manifest themselves within your studio projects, it is also expected that issues of form and space manifest themselves in the building construction course. Structure and material are not to be applied, either conceptually or literally, to architecture: they are inherent in every line you draw, just as they should be inherent in every work of architecture you create.

Environmental Systems I+II introduces students to the basic provisions of comfort, health, safety, and their role as the most basic objective in creating architecture. The course sequence will develop a basic understanding of how to achieve and maintain these provisions and how to integrate them into the architectural design process. Through a combination of theoretical seminars and practical design assignments the following main topics are addressed: Climate Responsive Design, Solar Orientation, Indoor Air Quality, Performance Assessment Tools, Carbon Neutral Design, Bioclimatic Design, Energy Efficiency, Performance of Envelope Systems, Moisture Transfer, Thermal Control, Active/Passive Heating and Cooling, Water and Waste, Plumbing and Acoustics.

Matthew Kennedy Professor Matthias Altwicker Fall 2020

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 1

Building Construction I introduces students to architecture from a technological point of view. An architecture of technology will become active through building construction systems based on materials. Through the curation of the courses, issues of efficiency, environmental footprint and a wide range of interrelationships with the environment will become a common means to approach architecture, with the goal of introducing students to a more holistic conception of architecture and sustainability.

Building Construction I will study material-based building construction systems based on wood and masonry. The architecture project’s organization, its structure and materiality are not to be applied to an abstract formal idea, but they are thought as inherent to the syntactical form of the development of the project. The logic of the various construction types will reference design strategies for architecture organizations and linguistic expressions.

FACULTY coordinator *

Robert Cody * Pablo Lorenzo-Eiroa * Matthew Ford Wojciech Oktaweic Neil Rosen

Hader Abdelnaby Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Fall 2020

Alexandru Breban Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Fall 2020

Brandon Boyle Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Fall 2020

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 2

Building Construction II will study material-based building construction systems based on steel, glass and concrete. Continuing with the construction sequence and its fundamental concepts and technical methodologies laid out in Building Construction I, students are asked to consider their projects through a material tectonic and a building construction system. By understanding first the logic of a specific material, its industry proportions and properties, its possibilities, characteristics and performance, students will start addressing the material based construction systems, its components, assembly, interrelationships and overall systemic logic and design possibilities.

These explorations include detailed digital models, revealing and aiming to explore the possibilities of the construction system, but also exploring the limits in the ranges, for instance applying conventional solutions first, but then systematizing its understanding more efficiently and in relation to the structure of the building, exploring alternative solutions to known conventions, exploring systematic variations of found architecture potential within the construction system.

FACULTY coordinator *

Neil Rosen * Matthew Ford Wojciech Oktaweic Manuel Garza

Joseph Dellacamera Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Spring 2021

Steven Diaz Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Fall 2020

Gabriela Fernandes Professor Wojciech Oktawiec Spring 2021

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 1

Through a combination of theoretical seminars and practical design assignments, Environmental Systems I introduces students to a variety of passive strategies for harnessing the natural resources of sun, wind in order to light, heat, cool, and ventilate their projects. Over a series of sequential exercises utilizing a range of tools from physical models and mathematical calculations to digital modeling, analysis, and climate data, the students develop and document a single, integrated, and climatologically responsive architectural design proposal.

Matthias Altwicker * Tobias Holler * John Bermudez Neil Rosen Andrew Thomas

FACULTY coordinator *

Jan Manez (left) | Eryn Cooper (right) Professor Matthias Altwicker Fall 2020

ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2

Building upon the integrated, passive design strategies explored during the first course in the series, Environmental Systems II focuses on those active architectural systems, HVAC, Power, Artificial Lighting, Plumbing, etc. that are used to complement or compensate for what the passive systems cannot accomplish. Through a series of assignments, the students learn the theory, components, and heuristics for sizing and laying out a variety of technical building systems. The exercises help them to understand their design projects in a new way, integrating both passive and active strategies symbiotically into one unified, integrated approach to design.

FACULTY coordinator *

Matthias Altwicker * Tobias Holler * John Bermudez Neil Rosen Andrew Thomas

Matthew Kennedy Professor Matthias Altwicker Fall 2020