Master of Science in Architecture
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Institute of Architecture and Planning
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Review
What a fantastic semester this has been! In my almost ten years here at the Institute of Architecture and Planning I have seldom experienced such an amazing atmosphere. This positive spirit was also highly lauded by the examiners of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), who visited us during the busy final reviews in January. They said that our community spirit is «unique, unbelievably good, extraordinary, better than we have seen anywhere». And given that they have examined already more than 40 schools across the globe this means a lot. And besides that, they also confirmed that we are in an excellent position to fulfil all the criteria to be awarded RIBA validation. So a big «congratulations» and an even bigger «thank you!» to all of you for making this possible: faculty, staff and students! The work produced in the Winter Semester 2017-18 was – as always – of highest quality and spanning all scales, working in remote rural environments (Studio Brandl / Mackowitz) to an almost infinite urban setting (Studio Schwarz / Alba) to developing new forms of collective living (Studio Staub / Böckle). This shows the breadth of choice on offer in the Master’s degree programme in Architecture, reflecting also the complex tasks that lie ahead for you as future architects and planners. PETER STAUB Head of Institute and Academic Director of the Master’s degree Programme
Photo front page NILS VOLLMAR
Studio Anne Brandl Tutor: Martin Mackowitz
Design Studio
From mountain top to parking lot
The Prealps, the region of Lake Constance, the Rhine valley and the adjoining valleys are changing. In particular, the lower regions of Vorarlberg have undergone major changes in recent decades and are gradually becoming a large suburban carpet. In contrast, the deep valleys of Vorarlberg, like the Grosses Walsertal valley, have been able to maintain their unique cultural landscape qualities. It is clear that any further spread of settlement into the adjoining valleys could destroy these cultural landscapes. Therefore, it is important for the individual villages and valleys to maintain their identity and to strengthen their position against the broad mass of settlements by developing strong «urban» visions.
In this studio we will focus on the Grosses Walsertal as a case study of an urban landscape. In cooperation with local stakeholders we will think creatively about possible spatial scenarios and urban qualities for the valley. What are the spatial, cultural, sensual, architectural, urban, and rural qualities of the Grosses Walsertal? How can we make these qualities perceptible? Through which urban strategies could the position of the Großes Walsertal be strengthened with regard to the city of Vorarlberg and the region of Lake Constance? What large and small scale interventions could be developed to expand and preserve this unique «urban» landscape? The studio is a cooperative project
Design Studio Drawing TATJANA PROBST
with regional and local stakeholders. Together we will not only create urban visions for the valley and zoom into speciďŹ c urban designs and architectural situations. We will also work on an exhibition, an analogue and a virtual reality model, a booklet and a presentation as well. With these different forms of communication we hope to make the students results transparent to the public.
Design Studio
Visualisation TATJANA PROBST
Tatjana Probst – Reclaim the streets Landscape protection through concentration The natural environment and the unique landscape are the Great Walser Valley’s biggest capital. With the introduction of the label Biosphere Park, a first step towards preserving this landscape was taken. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of the valley depend on their private cars, which in my opinion doesn’t fit together with living in a Biosphere Park. Additionally, the need for taking care of the landscape is not only a matter of the label (marketing), but also of the inhabitants. My approach to respond to these two main issues consists in introducing a new transportation system for the valley.
Instead of everybody getting in a car at his home, people will come together at the mobility hubs, where they change from cycling or walking to the public transport. Furthermore, since there will be no more private cars, the streets are given back to the people. Pedestrians and cyclists will take over the space where there are almost no sidewalks now. The better connectivity as well as the new qualities of the public space make the villages more attractive and thus will cause a population growth. Within a 10min walking distance from the main mobility hubs in the village centres lie the core areas of the villages (red line) where the major development will happen. Densification towards the centre instead of uncontrolled sprawl will support both, landscape protection and strengthening of neighbourhoods through vicinity. Within the core areas of the villages – Blons taken as an example – building plots define the specific areas for further development and their regulations. Besides, those building plots are defined by connections of the public
Design Studio Drawing TATJANA PROBST
spaces and green areas. While all the horizontal streets are shared spaces between pedestrians and cyclists, the vertical footpath connections are reserved for pedestrians. Those shortcuts ensure a good walkability inside the building structure. The heart of the village, which is now cut through by the main road, will become a lively village square and the centre of public life. With the elimination of cars, the public space becomes a social space.
Studio Dietrich Schwarz Tutor: Rodrigo Alba
Mexico City Habitat for an open society
Design Studio
Photo Flickr iivangm MEXICO CITY
Studio Schwarz worked in the historic center of Mexico City. It is a place with plenty of history and culture, which is currently under transformation to revitalize it. This raises the question on how to adapt the existing, preserve the identity, and re-densify the area to meet the future needs without compromising the social sustainability of the place. We questioned our role as architects in this topic of gentriďŹ cation and search for answers on different models of inclusive communities. Within
Design Studio
Drawing MILENA FISCHER
Model MILENA FISCHER
Design Studio
Model MILENA FISCHER
the institute’s topic of transparency, we therefore focused in transparent and open social structures, in oppositions to the private and enclosed communities, which are normally developed in Mexico. The result was a variety of projects that attacked different problematics from big metropolises: densiďŹ cation, collective living, life cycle, food and goods production, waste management, and self-construction among others. Milena Fischer – Comuniciudad The chosen block lies within the boundaries of the historic center in a dense, diverse and lively neighborhood. It is one of many blocks that were severly damaged by the earthquake in 1985 that caused many buildings to collapse and left visible traces until today. The chosen block is characterized by its fragmentation caused by the several
Design Studio
Visualisation MILENA FISCHER
building gaps, generating a spatial and social disconnection within the block. A big part of the existing building stock on the site have the typology of vecindades, a very common traditional form of communal housing in Mexico City that distinguishes itself by its community sense and lively atmosphere. The concept of the project is to ďŹ ll the gaps left by the earthquakes in order to reunite the fragmented block spatially and socially, appearing as one coherent block with carved out free spaces. The goal is to learn from the vecindad typology in terms of their spatial and social qualities, to improve their downsides and to provide an added value for the inhabitants of the whole block with the new intervention. A collective way of organizing daily life provides social interactions and security for everyone and allows the integration of different groups of people into the community.
Studio Peter Staub Tutor: Bianca Böckle
Design Studio
Collective Transparency
Transparency is a complex term that can be understood literally or phenomenally (Rowe and Slutzky 1964). During the Winter Semester 2017-18 Studio Staub / Böckle explored this dichotomy through designing an urban community by starting from a fundamental element of architecture: the window (Koolhaas 2014). The students investigated how architecture and its specific components and programmes can encourage societal interaction, resulting in students’ individual design proposals for buildings that, as a coherent and negotiated ensemble, provide inspiration for the emerging
discourse on alternative formats of collective living. Visits to successful cooperatives and neighbourhoods as well as meetings with their designers provided essential input. The studio required students to develop fictional scenarios based on scientific findings, to constantly re-evaluate and re-negotiate their designs within the studio community, and to challenge themselves regarding the modes of mediation/communication of their projects. The studio took particular inspiration from artists and photographers such as Dan Graham, Thomas Demand or Gregory Crewdson.
Design Studio
Models NATALIA PODEJKO
Natalia Podejko – Commonplace The project is founded on the idea of a mutual inuence between people and their building, to make inhabitants more open and happy, and the building more personalized and functional.
Design Des D De e iig ign gn g nS St Studio tu udi diio d
Drawing NATALIA PODEJKO
The project tackles three challenges in society: The aging population; the reduction of energy consumption per square meter, while increasing the amount of the square meters per person and the challenge quoted by Zygmunt Bauman «In the end of independence there is emptiness of life. Independence should be replaced with very pleasurable interdependency». Firstly, the apartments, easily turned into shared nurseries and available by inclusive stars, are convenient for very young as well as elderly habitants. The hand drawings called “The notion of time” are a design tool able to reflect on month, years and decades of domestic life. They show, how apartments can age with their owners and reflect on changing needs. Secondly, to design smaller apartments with the same quality, the house association and the unit need to host some of the secondary functions. On the ground floor is the laundry room, because it is something universal. It is a ritual cross the generations, cultures and genders, which has been relevant for thousands of years. Thirdly, the building hosts different kinds of common spaces to subconsciously encourage a person to engage with the community. The Facade represents that – shows the group of individuals living in the same building, which is a definition of community.
Design Studio
Model STEFAN AMANN
Stefan Amann – A cyclists venue The project houses as public functions a bike repairing shop in the ground floor, and a hostel as well as a restaurant in the first three stories. The rest of the building belong to collective housing. A vertical cut through the building generates a connection through all stories and leads natural light into the building. The concept of housing lays on four different flat types with a different degree of transparency – from sharing bathroom, kitchen and common areas to fully private apartments.