Pametni urbanizem pu

“SMART URBANISM”

“SMART URBANISM” TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY

Edited by Alenka Fikfak Ljubljana 2014

University of Ljubljana

“SMART URBANISM”_PAMETNI URBANIZEM

“SMART URBANISM” TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY

TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY_UČITI TRAJNOST

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING and WORKSHOP_MEDNARODNI ZNANSTVENI POSVET in DELAVNICA za UČITELJE

Book of Proceedings

SCIENTIFIC MEETING ON THE TOPIC OF URBANISM, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, 19–21 June 2014

Book of Proceedings

University of Ljubljana Faculty of Architecture Zoisova 12 SI–1000 Ljubljana Editor: Alenka Fikfak Proofreading, translation: Mojca Vilfan (from Slovenian to English) Design: Mia Crnič, Urša Kalčič, Anja Jutraž Layout and prepress: Janez P. Grom, Nejc Černigoj, Špela Verovšek Printed by: Trajanus, d.o.o.

Print run: 200 copies Published by: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Cover design: Mia Crnič

Editor: Alenka Fikfak

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Ljubljana 2014

CIP - Kataložni zapis o publikaciji Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica, Ljubljana 37.091.3:711.4(082) SCIENTIFIC Meeting from the Field of Urbanism (2014 ; Ljubljana) Smart urbanism : teaching sustainability : book of proceedings / [Scientific Meeting from the Field of Urbanism, Ljubljana, 19th-21st June 2014] ; editor Alenka Fikfak. - Ljubljana : Faculty of Architecture, 2014 ISBN 978-961-6823-52-4 1. Gl. stv. nasl. 2. Fikfak, Alenka 274206720

2

3

Table of Contents Introduction

Alenka Fikfak and Ilka Čerpes: TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

9

Goran RADOVIĆ: BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES AS DETERMINATIONS OF URBAN MATRIX

169

Peter Gabrijelčič: Bipolarity of teaching and learning architecture and urbanism

11

Cristian SUAU, Carmelo ZAPPULLA: AIR ART©: Structural and Ludic Spatial Experimentation for Future Arid Environments

181

Lars Bylund: WHAT IS AND WHY SUSTAINABILITY? An Argumentation

15

Petra VERTELJ NARED: USER’S EXPERIENCES IN PUBLIC OPEN SPACE ARE REFLECTED IN THEIR VALUES ABOUT THE SPACE

195

Mark Michaeli: Exploring sustainability strategies for the metropolis and its hinterland – a task for research and education

19

Milena VUKMIROVIĆ, Eva VANIŠTA LAZAREVIĆ: DESIGN ON HUMAN SCALE _ SMART PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT

203

Vlatko KOROBAR, Jasmina SILJANOSKA: REVISITING APPROACHES TO TEACHING SUSTAINABLE URBANISM

215

Programme of the meeting Thursday, 19 JUNE 2014

25

Friday, 20 JUNE 2014

26

Saturday, 21 JUNE 2014

27

Proceedings

Minas BAKALCHEV: Learning Architecture: The Case of Skopje

31

Narvika BOVCON, Franc SOLINA: Teaching Strategies Connecting Curricula of the Art Academy and Computer and Information Science Faculty at the University of Ljubljana

41

Ilka ČERPES: FROM LJUBLJANA SUBURBS TO THE CITY OF LONDON AND BACK; AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM

51

Alenka FIKFAK, Janez P. GROM: LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM – EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN STUDENT’S WORKSHOPS – CASE STUDY ŽIRI

57

Tadej GLAŽAR, Lars BYLUND, Irena OSTOJIČ: INDICATORS AND URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE CITY DEVELOPMENT

67

Aleš GOLJA: SPACE AND RECREATION

77

Mojca GOLOBIČ: CREATIVITY AND ETHICS IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE STUDY PROGRAM

83

Andreja ISTENIČ STARČIČ, Maruška ŠUBIČ KOVAČ, Maja TERLEVIĆ: STUDENTS’ CONCEPTIONS, METHODS AND APPROACHES IN LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

91

Tihomir JUKIĆ, Lea PETROVIĆ KRAJNIK: URBAN PLANNING WORKSHOP FOR COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING; CASE STUDY ISLAND OF VIR

99

Anja JUTRAŽ, Tadeja ZUPANČIČ: COLLABORATIVE DESIGN STUDIO SLO – PR: SAME PROBLEM – DIFFERENT LOCATION

107

Saja KOSANOVIĆ, Branislav FOLIĆ: REVIEWING THE SUSTAINABILITY IN STUDENTS’ DESIGN WORK

117

Višnja KUKOČ: CITIES – LABORATORIES OF SMART URBANISM

127

Peter MAROLT: ENCOURAGEMENT OF FINE ARTS SENSITIVITY AND SENSE OF SPACE ON THE FIRST LEVEL OF UNIVERSITY STUDY OF URBAN PLANNING

133

Florian NEPRAVISHTA: International Workshop – Teaching for Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

147

Tomaž PIPAN: TEACHING FOR URBAN COMPLEXITY IN SMART CITIES

157

4

5

Introduction

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

|9

In 2014, the third scientific conference SMART URBANISM explores the theme Teaching for sustainable architecture and urbanism. The starting position has been previously well defined in the UNESCO programme TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE, which has been established for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development in 2002 and is a major contribution to the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002).“… The programme can be used as it is, or adapted to local, national or regional needs. It provides professional development for student teachers, teachers, curriculum developers, education policy makers, and authors of educational materials. The modules are divided into 4 themes: Curriculum rationale, Sustainable Development across the curriculum, Contemporary issues and Teaching & learning strategies.”

In the frame of improving architectural and urban studies, the fourth theme “TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES” is particularly important. We have decided to use some of the starting points from the UNESCO programme to kick off this year’s discussion on how to implement the general guidelines in urban and architectural education.

TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES Short summary from the UNESCO programme introduction (http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_gs/mod0a.html?panel=3#top): The set of modules TEACHING & LEARNING STRATEGIES develops professional skills for using teaching and learning strategies that can help students achieve the wide range of knowledge, skill and values objectives of Education for Sustainable Development. The UNESCO programme proposes eight important strategies: experiential learning, storytelling, values education, enquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom and community problem solving.

Alenka Fikfak and Ilka Čerpes

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Bipolarity of teaching and learning architecture and urbanism

Peter Gabrijelčič University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova cesta 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia peter.gabrijelcic@fa.uni-lj.si

The advent of computer tools and the internet has raised many questions regarding teaching in the education of architects and urban designers. Advanced computer tools relieved the students from having to command many technical and drawing skills. At the same time, they opened endless possibilities of creating in a virtual world.

They opened the door to imagination and new ideas that were previously beyond reach and also unimaginable with old tools. The advent of the internet is of great significance. It allows us to be both here and everywhere.

Not physically, of course, but with images, words and information. We no longer need mediators who operate from a position of power to give us information and messages. At any given moment, we can choose to watch, read or listen to anything we want. The teacher educated in the Renaissance tradition, who knew »everything – but nothing else« and who was the caretaker of knowledge, was replaced by a teacher who mostly promotes knowledge of a specific professional orientation. A teacher who is an experienced critical counterpart with a broad philosophical background and ethical principles. Who is the promoter of the idea of social responsibility of the profession.

I ask myself, »What is the significance of these new tools for the essence of the profession?« In the 1960s, Professor Edvard Ravnikar received from England a set of templates for drawing ellipses of different shapes. For some time after that, ellipses were everywhere – in competition entries and in design solutions. This turned into a trend, which affected both the learning process at the school and the design in practice. Each new tool undermines the classical notion of an architect at work; but if we take a peek inside acclaimed offices of architects around the world, we find everything – sketchbooks, models and computers on their tables. The school must provide all options, while the final choice is always personal – of the student. The choice is a matter of need and personal character. Far more important than learning how to use new tools is to introduce the students to different ways of thinking, which are the basis of the architect’s way of work.

Even today, many schools still use rigid teaching methods based on strict academic discipline, focusing on previously set goals. Such an approach is based on convergent thinking in which all thoughts are oriented toward deriving the single best solution or idea. In such environments, creative individuals are often considered as

| 11

disruptors of the established – convergent thinking. In their work, they use the divergent, lateral type of thinking, in which many possible solutions, answers and ideas are explored. Lateral thinking progresses in »curves«, thoughts arrive from »aside«, unexpectedly, and depend on random factors. Lateral thinking is characterised by a wide span of attention. A thinker does not know where his ideas come from nor does he question them.

Ideas come in a meditative state, characterised by relaxation of the mind and high personal freedom. Any kind of prohibition, order, control or self–control will immediately stop the process. A creative person excels in both types of thinking. First, lateral thinking is used, which gives rise to original thoughts, then vertical thinking follows – checking, confirming or rejecting. Only lateral thinking may lead to daydreaming, and only vertical thinking leads to dull repetitions of the same operations and sterility of thought. The problem is that lateral thinking is blocked by vertical thinking.

short–term memory. In group work, the group operates as a larger quantity of coordinated computers, where it is impossible to see who was the one that initiated an idea, or find the leader of the group; the work is guided by the common willpower. The work is completely informal, lateral, which frees and harnesses the creative power of the individual or the team in pursuit of the yet unspecified result. This is an interesting phenomenon whose impact on future types of education and work of architects and urban planners will have to be studied in the future.

One can only wonder if it was the lack of creative freedom that caused the current economic recession in Europe.

Instead of searching for new ideas that would make us competitive in world markets, we cling to old rational patterns, which are rooted in tradition, voluntary restraint, discipline and orientation toward known goals. The system of a rational, convergent approach is present everywhere, in secondary schools, universities and in research. For new ideas to surface, we need a creative environment, a liberated territory without constraints and concrete expectations. Provocation is another key tool of creative thinking. Educational processes, upbringing and experience have taught us that thoughts should be logically connected one with another. However, in provocation the thought that follows may be in complete contradiction with the previous one, and it may be wrong. We need to be bold and tackle the task at hand in the wrong way. When we take the right way, the results are expected and non–competitive.

12 |

Architects and urban planners must command and synchronize both ways of work and thinking. We are expected to be the carriers of new, fresh ideas and thought, but also to be able to realise the ideas in a technically and functionally appropriate way. As mentioned earlier, the types of thinking are, in principle, mutually exclusive and disturbance to one another. Therefore, the transition from one way of work to another one is difficult. In our professions, such transitions sometimes need to be made several times a day. To do that, you need to be prepared psychologically, which is something you can learn during the studies. This is the fundamental and universal task of schools of architecture and urbanism, and of the teachers who lead the students through the difficult maze of the cyclical thought process. Vertical thinking is consecutive thinking, lateral thinking skips from one thing to another. The mentioned bipolarity (dichotomy) between the vertical and lateral thinking remains a constant in the thinking and work of architects and urban planners, while work tools will continue to change and update.

In my own teaching practice, I see a major shift from individual work to group work of students. Even though the general knowledge of students is much worse than before, the results of group work are much better. How do we explain this occurrence? Indeed, it may be associated with the use of new advanced tools and the internet. In our work, we use three types of memory. Sensory memory is the direct, current memory, into which the sensory stimuli are written. It lasts for a split second. In the short time, sensory memory holds all sensory information perceived. Sensory memory is used, more than ever before, in computer work, in which instantaneous decisions need to be made continuously. The work is almost automatic and a few moments after the event, the memory of our reaction fades away (we draw lines from point to point using the principle of »do, look and correct«). The second type of memory, short–term memory, lasts up to 30 seconds. In it, a limited quantity of information is stored. A phone number you looked up is remembered for only several seconds. After the number is dialed, it is quickly forgotten. It is used when looking for information on the internet but after the information is used in our work, we quickly forget about it. We forget about the TV programme that we watched the day before. The third type of memory is long–term memory, which can permanently store larger quantities of information. We are able to remember a book that we read 20 years ago or an experience that we had. Long–term memory forms the subconscious and our »self«. It helps us form our points of view, value judgements and a more comprehensive, phenomenological world view. The students today lack the time to read books and have profound experiences of events. They live in virtual, binary worlds of new tools, which require an intensive use of the sensory and

| 13

Prof. Peter GABRIJELČIČ M.Sc. , UL, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, MA in Landscape and Urban Planning (UL, Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture ,Construction, and Geodesy, Department of Construction, Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Stndies, 1985). Research experience: landscape and urban planning, urban regeneration, models for revitalisation of degraded urban areas, analysis of trends of spatial development, ruralism and rural architecture, bridge construction. Giving lessons: Compulsory subject – tutor for Design Studio I, II, III, IV and V. Design Studio, in which students on practical examples test knowledge gained from theoretical and methodological subjects. The subject is organised as a tutored seminar, with students from various years working together. The graduate course is completed with a diploma thesis with specified content and volume. Graduates are granted the title university diploma of engineer of architecture. Since 1984 mentored more than 250 graduation works of students. Every year tutor of more than 100 students. Also tutor for numerous domestic and international workshops and Summer schools in each year. Compulsory subject: Rurism and rural architecture; Elements of Urban design. Elective subject: Landscape architecture and environment preservation.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

WHAT IS AND WHY SUSTAINABILITY? An Argumentation We have not inherited the Earth from our Ancestors.

We have it as a Loan from our Children and Grandchildren.

Prof. Lars Bylund Stockholm, 25 May 2014 BAHS, Holistic building

Today the word sustainability is used in all kinds of argumentations, descriptions, programming, requirements and specifications to add a kind of value and responsibility to a project in all types of activities and societies.

But what does it mean and do we understand what it means?

It is interpreted in a number of ways, in each trade a little differently; sustainability can be economical, social, ecological or even aesthetic.

For me it is very simple.

A sustainable society is a society which, at first hand, is able to manage the use of resources in a good and lasting way, so that all the members of the society will benefit from it.

This means not using or consuming, on behalf of future generations, harvests and needs and being careful not to destroy or ravage the future of our environment.

Those times when our ancestors – gatherers and hunters – thousands of years ago, could just move away to new areas, after they had looted their surrounding environment for food and other necessary energy resources are long over.

Today, as then, the survival is, in the first place, a matter of energy. Not only to feed man’s metabolic system but also to feed the much more sophisticated systems of buildings and settlements, which need energy for the supply and treatment of water and other resources to uphold the daily life of the inhabitants. Energy is used for absolutely every action and process done by or for man.

The difference between our ancestors and us is that we are using about four hundred (400) times more energy per capita. Now we are some 6 000 000 000 people, and soon, within a few decades, there will be 9 000 000 000 people. Until about seven thousand years ago, there were no more than 10 000 000. In the next few decades there will be about 30% more people on our Earth than there are today.

| 15

For the living and survival of those new billions of people we need to increase the production of food, building materials, get more energy for all kinds of activities, heating and cooling of buildings, treatment and transportation of water and waste. The energy use is mainly based on non–renewable energy sources like fossil fuels (CO2) and nuclear fuels. Although these energy sources are predicted to last for several generations more, they will not last forever, while we still do not know enough about the consequences of the increased use of them.

The first step to achieve a sustainable society is therefore to change the planning of some urban infrastructures, particularly the supply of energy. This means primarily to abandon the use of energy from non–renewable resources and start using renewable energy sources, passively or actively, like solar, geo, wind and hydro. Waste is another, but not yet effectively used source of energy, which is too often reduced to environmentally hazardous landfills or just burnt with uneconomic, but cheap technologies. Changes are needed, not only how the energy is produced but also how it is distributed and used. More and more buildings, groups of buildings and urban areas will become energy autonomous, producing the energy locally, independent of the electrical grid.

This change will affect political and economic systems in many countries and the autonomous solutions will be resisted for a while by the existing energy utilities, but the use and production of renewable energy will be mainly local. This will happen not only because of geographical reasons but also because energy grids will be too expensive to build or upgrade them to fulfil the expected services when the world population will have increased by 30%.

According to a recent report by the EU, about 15 trillion (15 000 000 000 000) of investments for the next 20 years are to bring the grid up to scratch. This enormous figure will increase the energy bill. This is another reason for energy autonomy, i.e. not depending on large international grids but establishing local ‘community’ grids.

16 |

The second step, which affects the question how we use the energy, involves a lot of changes of the infrastructure and our built environment. Today the making of buildings denies one’s contacts with the surrounding environment and its seasonal and daily climate changes, and to subdue them buildings are equipped with expensive heating, cooling and lighting equipment. The built environment uses somewhere between 40% and 50% of the global energy. One of the reasons for this state of the matter might be that the building planning process has been very traditional and hierarchical. At a very early stage the building form or concept was fixed and we find it quite natural that the climate of the building is achieved by adding heating, cooling and lighting equipment, which is not really integrated into the building architecture. The effect of this habit and thinking is that less effort is taken to design buildings that can respond to the environment in a smart way by virtue of form and use of materials.

Therefore, there must be a shift of architectural and building paradigms. A shift to an increased use of building materials with less embodied energy than in the materials commonly used today, promoting the use of recyclable materials as much as possible. More wood and glass and as little as possible of concrete and other materials with a high grade of embodied energy or ecological footprint. (Cement requires a huge amount of energy during the manufacturing process and transportation and releases huge amounts of CO2. Wood is the complete opposite to concrete, giving no emissions and is recyclable.) An innovative use of glass will increase the energy efficiency of buildings through a better use of daylight and solar gain. The thermal effects of the solar gain could be used for heating, cooling and ventilation.

energy consuming devices? Therefore there is also a need for a change or at least to add elements of sustainable thinking into the architectural education at the universities, regarding sustainable technologies and materials knowledge combined with an understanding of the basic physics and energy laws. More focus on ethical than aesthetical architecture. But not forgetting the aesthetics, of course.

Unfortunately the process of educational change will not be achieved over night and will probably not reach the present student generations.

The basic change of view is about the climate control of buildings. Ventilation and lighting are the main users of energy in buildings, with about 35–40% each. Schools and hospitals are using nearly 50% of the electricity for lighting alone, which could be, in fact, largely replaced by daylight. During the lifetime of a building, energy is the heaviest cost. But these matters are seldom given any notice or are seen as a minor matter in the architectural education.

For those who have an interest in making a sustainable society, I have put together a list of literature that might be helpful. There are many more books, of course, and I do not pretend that these books are the most outstanding, but they give a good introduction to the subject matter.

All titles are not in English but they are certainly to be found in English translations.

– Der energethische Imperativ, Hermann Scheer – Energy Manual, Edition Detail – Wohltemperierte Architektur, Philipp Oswalt, Verlag C. F. Müller – The Technology of Ecological Building, Klaus Daniels, Birkhäuser – Low Tech, Light Tech, High Tech. Klaus Daniels, Birkhäuser – Architecture in a Climate of Change, Peter F. Smith, Elsevier – Green Design, Ken Yeang, Black Dog Publishing – The Environments of Architecture, Randall Thomas, Taylor & Francis – Towards Sustainable Architecture, Brian Edwards, European Directive & Building Design – Sustainable Construction, Charles J. Kibert, Wiley – Design with Climate, Victor Olgyay, van Nostrands Reinhold, NY – Energy Conscious Design, Batford for the Commission of the European Communities

According to the WHO, more daylight in buildings gives healthier buildings. Natural but controlled ventilation instead of HVAC. A change not only of designs of the building envelope and form, but also a change of the use of building materials.

This thinking must be implemented from the very first drawn line, not by adding devices like heat pumps or green roofs when the design process is nearly finished.

To be able to execute the designs of sustainable buildings and society to their full extent, there must also be a basic understanding of the problems to overcome. How to benefit from and take advantage of the natural phenomena in the surrounding environment instead of fighting the influences of nature with expensive and

Prof. Lars Bylund, at Bergen School of Architecture in Norway explores implementation of energy efficient building design and urban design. Prof. Bylund was involved in research and design of neighborhood Sjöstad Hammarby in Stockholm, which became a model example of sustainable low-carbon urban area. Currently he has been working on DigiEcoCity project in China, supported by the Finnish government and aimed to develop optimal urbanization through Nordic eco-knowledge and experience. DigiEcoCity is project for two cities, each for about 100.000 residents and developed to be zero carbon and energy self-sufficient.

| 17

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Exploring sustainability strategies for the metropolis and its hinterland – a task for research and education Mark Michaeli ETH SIA, Chair for Sustainable Urbanism, Technische Universität München

Challenge: A fundamental transformation of forms of urbanisation has been observed in recent years. In widely diverse areas, an urban landscape has emerged revealing forms decisively different from any seen before.

Today’s complex polycentric urbanized regions functionally and spatially stretch from metropolitan suburbia and their infrastructures far into rural areas. The peripheral elements of these functional systems are of particular interest. While cities worldwide are trying to respond to global and local challenges, their surrounding regions are increasingly under threat. Specifically, urban peripheries are badly equipped to adapt to the demands of fast changing times and modernisation, as they lack the city’s capacity to absorb new solutions in technology, services and societal changes. This hampers substantially the application of sustainability and resilience strategies. It seems essential today to reintegrate urban and rural local economies more efficiently and reconstruct regional expertise necessary for rebuilding efficient, resilient and more sustainable cities and regions. The transformation processes arising from this situation can be seen as an opportunity to upgrade long neglected or low–value urban structures and move towards a quality development of the urban and the surrounding landscapes. Particularly in demand are urban and landscape reconstruction strategies and designs that enable a new balance between the physical space and active participants to be involved in the transformational process and develop ideas for urban reconstruction from the resources available. Such strategies building on specific local talents and opportunities are considered “sustainable” or “resilient”, since they initiate a socio–economic process that is able to sustain itself.

Approach: The Chair of Sustainable Urbanism at TU München views sustainable spatial and urban development as a product of the particular effects arising from the on–going interaction between the environment and society.

Entire contemporary urban systems stretching from metropolitan hubs to the rural periphery can be regarded as an arena in which catalytic and induced dynamics mutually complement and drive spatial development. Certain spatial forms and elements appear beneficial to the urban processes of interaction, while others seem to hinder productive exchange.

The challenge for urban design and planning disciplines is to activate specific potentials arising from the

| 19

interaction between the built environment and social dynamics. Strategies and measures are essential for promoting urban qualities at both levels of building design and urban policy, planning and governance. The Chair of Sustainable Urbanism promotes a spatial development that is committed to the common good and the principle of sustainability. The accessible means and untapped strategic potentials for the transformation and qualification processes of the given urban situation are considered urban resources. The complex interweaving of spatial context and socioeconomic condition has hardly been detected or operationalized so far by spatial planners and designers. However, these conditions embody the motor of a development that, in the sense of a sustainable development, advances current urban conditions. Thus, Sustainable Urbanism as a concept for the transformation of our living environments needs to be differentiated as urban systems stretch from prosperous metropolitan hubs to the rural periphery, both facing very specific challenges.

Tailored to specific context conditions, identified solutions range from the application of sustainable technology in architectural transformation, to urban regeneration processes engaging themselves strongly with the socio– economical and the sociocultural dimension of sustainability by promoting new governance models, design and management procedures of projects or even the promotion of new types of infrastructure and services reflecting contemporary lifestyles, societal expectations, ambition and awareness.

20 |

Within lecture series, design studios and workshops, integrated into a variety of Master and Bachelor Programmes and in coordination with the Urban and Landscape Transformation research cluster (ULTRA) at TU München the Chair of Sustainable Urbanism aims at the exploration of unknown phenomena of spatial change and the design and projection of concepts for future spatial development. Currently the following research and education foci are in progress: – Urban Regional Integration of Large–Scale Infrastructure – Re-suburbanization: A challenge for the polycentric metropolis – Conversion and Cultivation Strategies – Redevelopment of Rural Areas and Peripheral Spaces by Regional Sustainability and Resilience Strategies: a.

Innovative governance, b. new spaces for living All projects integrated in research and educational programmes of the institute are real cases in which students of architecture and urbanism together with experts and local stakeholders develop feasible concepts for the future transformation. Being quite challenging from the didactical perspective, this type of case–based learning alliances however allows for integration of academia and practise and offers the chance for students and researchers to design, apply and test model cases in living laboratories.

All results will be discussed with the public in exhibitions and conferences held on site to foster a local debate on goals and strategies of urban transformation and even initiate and implement prototypical projects and laboratories, supported from the public sector, industry and citizens. In this process, results of the TUM research and education programmes might support decision–making by providing scientific expertise, reference case studies and presenting innovative ideas for approaching and making happen sustainable urban transformation processes.

Prof. Mark Michaeli dipl. arch., Graduated as an architect from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.

From 2001 to 2010, he worked as researcher and lecturer of urban design at the ETH Zurich, conducting and leading numerous international research projects on the development of metropolitan urban regions and cultural landscapes. He published on topology of urban structures, utopist urban concepts, shrinkage of cities, urban metropolitan regions and sustainable urban design strategies for urban and rural regions.

He has contributed to international research programmes such as Netzstadt (2000–2003, ETH Zurich) , Zwischenstadt (2001–2005, Gottlieb Daimler–And–Karl Benz – Foundation), Urban Switzerland 2050 and Climate Change (2005–2006, scnat Swiss Academy for Natural Sciences), Open City (2008–2010, IABR International Architecture Biennal of Rotterdam), Urban Age (2009, 2010 London School of Ecenomics and Alfred Herrhausen Foundation) and worked in the conception of European research initiatives like KIC Climate Change (since 2009). From 2009 to 2011, he acted as scientific coordinator of the SEC/ETH Future Cities Laboratory.

Since October 2010, Mark Michaeli holds the Chair for Sustainable Urbanism at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Since 2009, he regularly holds visiting lectures on urban design and strategic planning at the University of St.Gallen (Hanniel Seminars). Additionally, he continuously serves as an expert on advisory boards and juries.

| 21

P r og r a mm e Overview

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

PROGRAMME OF THE MEETING THURSDAY, 19 JUNE 2014 8:30–9:00 a.m.

Registration

9:00–9:30 a.m.

Welcome speeches and Introduction Prof. Peter GABRIJELČIČ, MSc, dean UL FA Assist. Prof. Alenka FIKFAK, PhD, UL FA Chair of Urbanism

and guests 9:30–11:00 a.m.

Session 1_TEACHING AND SUSTAINABILITY Session chair: Assoc. Prof. Tadeja ZUPANČIČ, PhD Prof. Peter GABRIJELČIČ, MSc: Bipolarity of Teaching and Learning Architecture and Urbanism Prof. Lars BYLUND: What is and Why Sustainability? An Argumentation Prof. Minas BAKALČEV, PhD, Prof. Mitko HADZI PULJA, PhD: Learning Architecture: the Case of Skopje Prof. Dušan VUKSANOVIĆ, PhD: Considerations on Teaching the Bioclimatic Architecture 11:00–11:30 a.m.

Coffee break

11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Session 2_URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN STRATEGIES Session chair: Prof. Eva VANIŠTA LAZAREVIĆ, PhD Prof. Janez KOŽELJ: Ljubljana toward a Sustainable City?

Milena VUKMIROVIĆ, Prof. Eva VANIŠTA LAZAREVIĆ, PhD: Design on Human Scale _ Smart Pedestrian Environment Assoc. Prof. Tadej GLAŽAR, MSc, Prof. Lars BYLUND, Irena OSTOJIČ: Indicators and Urban Design Strategies for Sustainable City Development Prof. Vlatko P. KOROBAR, PhD, Prof. Jasmina Siljanoska, PhD: Revisiting Approaches to Teaching Sustainable Urbanism Tomaž PIPAN, MA: Teaching for Urban Complexity in Smart Cities Boštjan COTIČ: Transnational Projects EU: Innovative Approaches in Spatial Planning – Case of Projects STATUS and MER 1:30–3:00 p.m.

Lunch break

3:00–6:00 p.m.

Session 3_VALUES IN EDUCATION Session chair: Prof. Goran RADOVIĆ, PhD, Assist. Prof. Saja KOSANOVIĆ, PhD Prof. Goran RADOVIĆ, PhD: Buildings and Facilities as Determinations of Urban Matrix Assist. Prof. Saja KOSANOVIĆ, PhD, Branislav FOLIĆ, MArch: Reviewing the Sustainability in Students’ Design Work Assoc. Prof. Mojca GOLOBIČ, PhD: Creativity and Ethics in Landscape Architecture Study Program Assist. Prof. Alma ZAVODNIK LAMOVŠEK, PhD, Senior Lecturer Mojca FOŠKI, MSc, Assist. Gašper MRAK: Collaboration with Local Communities as a Tool for More Problem Solving Orientation Learning Assoc. Prof. Florian NEPRAVISHTA, PhD: International Workshop – Teaching for Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Maja SIMONETI, MSc, Tadej ŽAUCER: Spatial Education – from Strategy to Spatial Literacy Senior Lecturer Aleš GOLJA, MSc: Space and Recreation Petra VERTELJ NARED, PhD: User’s Experiences In Public Open Space are Reflected in their Values About the Space 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Discussion

| 25

SATURDAY, 21 JUNE 2014

FRIDAY, 20 JUNE 2014 8:30–9:00 a.m.

9:00–9.15 a.m.

Registration Introduction to Day 2

9:15–11:00 a.m.

Session 4_EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Session chair: Senior Lecturer Cristian SUAU, PhD Senior Lecturer Cristian SUAU, PhD, Prof. Carmelo ZAPPULLA, PhD: AIR ART©: Structural and Ludic Spatial

Experimentation for Future Arid Environments Birgit KLAUCK: Service Learning at the Technische Universität Berlin: An Opportunity that Promotes the Development of Professional Skills Assoc. Prof. Andreja ISTENIČ STARČIČ, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Maruška ŠUBIČ KOVAČ, PhD, Maja TERLEVIĆ:

Students’ Conceptions, Methods and Approaches in Learning for Sustainable Development Assoc. Prof. Maruša ZOREC: First Steps / Architectural Design 1 Assist. Prof. Mitja ZORC: Exercises in Materiality Assist. Prof. Špela HUDNIK, PhD: Complex thinking 11:00–11:30 a.m.

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Conclusions

9:30 a.m.– 2:00 p.m. Prof. Peter Gabrijelčič, MSc, Janez P. Grom

Discussion – Spaces in Ljubljana that Teach us the Most (WALKING TOUR) 9:30 a.m.– 2:00 p.m. Birgit Klauck

Discussion about Future Cities – Workshop in Ljubljana (PARALLEL CLOSED SESSION) 3:00 p.m.

Closing of the meeting

Coffee break

11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Session 5_ENQUIRY LEARNING Session chair: Enrico ANGUILLARI, PhD Prof. Mark MICHAELI: Exploring Sustainability Strategies for the Metropolis and its Hinterland – a Task for

Research and Education Assist. Prof. Tomaž NOVLJAN, PhD: A New Tool in Urbanism?

Assist. Prof. Matej BLENKUŠ, PhD: 4 Settlements – Questions of Habitation Clamped by Social and Ecological Distress Assist. Prof. Anja PLANIŠČEK, MSc: POP-UP HOME – Housing for Young People - joint project of the Faculty of

Architecture, University of Ljubljana 26 |

1:30–3:00 p.m.

Lunch break

3:00–6:00 p.m.

Session 6_LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Session chair: Assist. Prof. Ilka ČERPES, PhD Assist. Prof. Ilka ČERPES, PhD: From the Ljubljana Suburbs to the City of London and Back; An Alternative Approach to Teaching Architecture and Urbanism Assist. Prof. Alenka FIKFAK, PhD, Tina Vilfan, Janez Žakelj, MSc: Learning Outside the Classroom_ Experiential learning in Student’s Workshops – Case study Žiri Prof. Tihomir JUKIĆ, PhD, Lea PETROVIĆ KRAJNIK, PhD: Urban Planning Workshop for Community Problem Solving; Case Study Island of Vir Assist. Anja JUTRAŽ, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Tadeja ZUPANČIČ, PhD: Collaborative Design Studio SLO-PR: Same Problem – Different Location Assist. Prof. Milica MILOJEVIĆ, PhD, Prof. Vladan DJOKIĆ, PhD: Mentoring Tactics: Small tasks as the Instrument of Comprehension of Individual Research Sensibility Assist. Prof. Narvika BOVCON, PhD, Prof. Franc SOLINA, PhD: Teaching Strategies Connecting Curricula of the Art Academy and Computer and Information Science Faculty at the University of Ljubljana Assist. Prof. Peter MAROLT: Encouragement of Fine Arts Sensitivity and Sense of Space on the First Level of University Study of Urban Planning Višnja KUKOČ, PhD: Cities – Laboratories of Smart Urbanism 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Discussion

| 27

P roc e e ding s

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Learning Architecture: The Case of Skopje

Minas Bakalchev, Mitko Hadzi Pulja Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Faculty of Architecture Bulevar Partizanski odredi 24, 1000 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia minasbakalcev@gmail.com

ABSTRACT This text deals with learning architecture through the relationship between the school of architecture and the city, in a period when they both undergo changes. The dramatic change of the city calls forth re窶田onsideration of the modes of conceiving, acting and studying the city architecture. However, if we cannot presently establish a general superior model in respect to the city, we can still map a future paradigm concerning the relationship between the school of architecture and the city through a number of particular projects on exploration of the city.

In a number of projects and exercises elaborated for Skopje (taken as an example) by the students of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, we can show the panorama of different approaches to exploration of the architecture. From interventions in school courtyards to hypothetical formulations of the inner edges of the city, the city becomes an exciting world that colonizes the modes of learning architecture and makes the study a complex unpredictable and challenging associative sequences.

Key窶展ords: Learning architecture, school, city, tactic, collective form.

1 INTRODUCTION For the last decades, the deep changes of the cities have undoubtedly given rise to changes in their exploration.

The city as a subject that can systematically be studied and planned has become a dynamic and unpredictable context of our global urban reality. To that effect, the essential attitude of the school of architecture and its context have become the subject of re窶田onsideration and re窶田onceiving. The Skopje case understood as a laboratory for exploration of the city through a number of exercises and exhibitions elaborated by the students of the Faculty of Architecture in Skopje will enable us getting an insight into the modes of study of the city as well as the relationship between the school of architecture and the city.

What is the relationship between the city and the school of architecture? Are the city and the school of architecture analogue systems? The city is a complex, heterarchical system, while the school is a directed hierarchical system.

In the city, different elements overlap simultaneously, while in the school, they are subsequently developed.

However, it is often said that a lot can be learned on the street and that the street is the best teacher. Is this expression only a metaphor or a concrete practical experience? Can the city be nevertheless a model for the school?

| 31

2 SCHOOL / CITY At the “Reclaiming the City” exhibition held within Architecture and the City in Southeast Europe, Thessaloniki in 2012, we wanted to overlap these two systems (Korobar, Bakalchev, Hadji Pulija, 2012). We wanted that the school be seen as a rational constructive learner, a truss that produces and is colonized by specific unpredictable places. The school is a kind of a phantom structure, as a rational invasion of its irrational unconsciousness resulting in a multitude of images and ambient conditions. In a typical educative format – B– format, we recognize atypical, specific, unique artifacts, exciting monuments – products of the school. It is exactly this merge of the rational and the imaginary, the hierarchy and the heterarchy, the predictable and the unpredictable, the planned and the spontaneous that represents the future school profile. The exhibition is composed of a field of 47 pedestals in B–2 formats (50х70х20cm). Exhibited on the pedestals are the projects of different studios, semesters and years (Fig. 1). The area of each pedestal is a separate world by itself, bearing the specific forms and contexts of the exhibited projects. Put together, they form a complex field of interaction of an imaginary school as a city. As if all the walls of the school have disappeared and all the classrooms and workshops work simultaneously separately and together. In this way, the school configuration was seen as a city in B–format.

Figure 2: Skopje, a city of fragments: Central city area within the frames of 2km x 2km, integral view and exploded view showing different urban fragments (morphological units)

In the project entitled “City of Possible Worlds” realized in 2006, (10th International Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia), the incoherent base of the city was an opportunity for development of different scenarios for renovation of the city (Bakalchev and Hadji Pulija,2006). The model of the fragmented city (Skopje 2 х 2км) was the subject of our investigation. In its background, on 13 blackboards divided into four horizontal zones, there were developed four possible city scenarios inspired by its different pieces. By use of a chalk, each project is recorded on the blackboards by words, schemes and diagrams whereat a simultaneous didactic mechanism for the different city stories is formed (Fig. 3).

32 |

Figure 1: B–2 city, school as a city of exciting monuments, from the exhibition “Reclaiming the City”, 2012

3 THE CASE OF SKOPJE However, if this exhibition was a metaphor of the analogy of the city and the school and produced a theoretical model of a school as a city, the attitude toward the real city caused a number of new unpredictable situations. The Skopje case provided new moments in the school – city dialogue. Skopje has been the subject of investigation by the Faculty of Architecture in Skopje for many years. It is exactly its still unconsolidated state under a dominant urban paradigm that has opened different possibilities for exploration and interpretation of the city.

Its present state is the result of a number successive and controversial waves of modernization in the course of the twentieth century that produced the incoherent, fragmentary basis of the city. What do we see in the city today? The view of the downtown Skopje area (2km x 2km) shows heterogeneity and diversity of its texture.

On the satellite images of the surface of the city, we can feel the difference almost tactile. What is behind this inhomogeneous picture? That exactly was the reason for researching the city morphology through a series of analytical drawings and site specific projects. So within the frames of one scene, we decomposed an array of thematic layers (Fig. 2).

Figure 3: Skopje, City of Possible Worlds: Model of city of fragments in front of the blackboards, from the exhibition Republic Macedonia at Venice Biennale 2004–2012

| 33

4 SCHOOL YARD The learning of the architecture through the city started with the study of the own courtyard of the Faculty of Architecture. In the same way as the cooking starts from one’s own garden and own products from the garden, the courtyard of the Faculty of Architecture gave us a challenging basis for the exploration of the elementary relationships in architecture. Within the frames of Studio 1 and Studio 2, from the first year of study, was the exercise: the wall and the six trees in the faculty courtyard (Fig. 4). In fact, this was only one phase of the subsequent learning process consisting of the cycle: mould, figure, wall.

Mould: sculpturing of the architectonic space;

Figure: the positive of the sculptured area seen as an independent structure;

Wall: unfolding from the figure/formwork volume and again folding into new spatial configuration.

realistic pluralistic image of the city: realistic pluralistic image of the city: 1. These suppressed places are parts of the history, the biography of the city; 2. These places have a unique physical structure at urban and architectural level. They are proportioned to suit Man and are characterized by individuality and unity of streets, houses and courtyards; 3. In these places, there dominates a single family housing that has systematically been banned from our cities although it has been the basis of the city life. We believe that such housing is possible to be present nowadays, particularly in certain fragments of the city.

We referred to approaches and methods of transformation as tactics unlike strategies that included complete systemic and superior approaches to the city. Tactics represent approaches arising from a local situation. However, they are not always limited to particular user tactics of the inhabitants but are extended over the considered area as a whole.

As to the model of transformations, we referred to the idea of collective form given by Fumihiko Maki (1964).

According to him, a collective form is not a collection of unrelated, separate buildings, but buildings that have reasons to be together (the collective form consists of structures that are together for some reason). Most of the post–earthquake resurgence of Skopje was led by the idea of the collective form, the megaform as the basis for the reconstruction of the city through the project of Kenzo Tange and the other proposals for the reconstruction of the central Skopje area given by Van den Broek and Bakema or Edvard Ravnikar (UNDP, 1970). However, our attitude toward this idea was such that we wanted to release it from the necessary historic reference and engagement and to use it as a mechanism that has a potential to give extraordinary results in the local contexts at different levels and intensities of transformation. Starting from the idea of collective form, through a series of hypothetical scenarios we developed various tactics for the transformation of the residential textures of marginal housing pockets.

34 |

Figure 4: Studio 2 exercise: The Configuration of the wall with the six trees

| 35

In the last phase, the wall arises from the scope of the figure and is reconfigured in respect to the six trees in the courtyard. A series of drawings and models provide the possible dialogue between the artificial and natural properties of the place. This project resulted in a unique installation of the three phases that simultaneously showed the process of learning through the dialectics of hylomorphism – the architecture caught between the mould and the material at the exhibition Learning Architecture held in 2010, at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia (Bakalchev and Hadji Pulija, 2006).

5 DISAPPERING CITY For a number of years, within the frames of the theme of residential/urban transformations, tactics of transformation of residential texture, we have been focused on those parts/fragments of the city that are anticipated or were anticipated to disappear in the different models of modernization of the city. A type of places that are between the planned and the actual city, between the exclusive city and the actual inclusive city, those that should disappear. A city between and in the meantime, i.e., between the construction territories and in the meantime, i.e., until planned construction of the city is established and due.

Partly, these are fragments of the former traditional base of the city, but without conserved external traditional appearance, with multiply changed and assembled expression and also places representing post–traditional informal situations. In all of these, there have been preserved the spatial and living patterns of the city that has been developing in these areas for centuries.

The city that disappears is represented by a number of places as are Madzir Maalo neighborhood, Novo Maalo neighborhood, from the central city area and also Momin Potok on the outskirts of the city, or Keramidnitsa in the cracks of the industrial zone. Although these have names, they are unrecognized regarding their main physical properties. In that sense, the modernization of the city and the modern paradigm still provide the model of seeing the existing situation. What was important for us was the creation of not only the verbal but also the

Figure 5: Kenzo Tange, City Gate mega structure: Model of the Skopje central city area, east–west axis (1965)

What if we select individual places that we will timely densify, while other areas remain with the successive logic of development? Can Madzir Maalo neighborhood be experienced as a kind of San Gimignano, a composition of co–existing low and high structures?

What if we upgrade the streets in Novo Maalo neighborhood and from the permanent emptiness we obtain an urban artifact with permanent fullness that enters in further relationship with the existing houses and courtyards? In that way, one obtains a neighborhood megaform arising from the inversion of fullness and emptiness in the structure of the Novo Maalo neighborhood (Fig. 6).

What if we establish linear platforms, scaffolds for additional residential area on the edges of the existing residential pockets? In that way, the neighborhood will preserve its existing proportions and the new needs will be developed in the vertical neighborhood along the edges.

Through these and a series of other hypothetical questions, we not only wanted to give a concrete answer to the specific situations but also derive prototypes for the analogue situations in our cities. In that way, although a series of diffuse examples was considered, we conceived these as analogous and paradigmatic situations through which the city can be explored and practiced.

Figure 6: Tactic of upgrading the streets, Kristian Mitevski, master project 2013

What if we select certain lots by consent of inhabitants, connect them according to certain criteria and extrude them to obtain a new additional residential area? In that case, there will appear a new rhizomatic megaform in the neighborhood as a product of sequential linking, arising from the existing texture of the neighborhood in intensive relationship with the existing houses and courtyards (Fig. 7).

6 CONCLUSION Through several episodes from the study of architecture, we have tried to establish again the relationship between the school of architecture and the city. From the city as the subject of study to the city as a theoretical model of the school. It is evident that the city and the school of architecture have an ambivalent relationship – the contemporary city is a syntagmatic model while the school is a paradigmatic model. But it is exactly through their putting one against the other and overlapping that it is possible that were turn their contradictory and opposing positions into intensive complexity of mutual dialogue as a systematic search for a new way of doing things (Papanek, 1997). The city provides heterarchy, the school provides hierarchy, the city gives complexity, the school provides orderliness, the city provides simultaneity, the school provides sequence. The overlapping of these two systems challenge the rational constructive learner of the school and make him active in the colonization of the unpredictable reality of the city (Dalí, 1936). In the same way as that of the paranoiac–critical method of spontaneous and irrational knowledge based on systematic interpretation of delirious phenomena promoted by the surrealism in the 1930–ties, the school presently faces the phenomenon of different visions and appearances of the city (Fig. 9). Undoubtedly, if the two systems are of different nature, different determinations, their productivity shall arise from their mutual dialogue. It seems that the school and the city are not only facing the challenge of co–existence but also close, erotic dialogue of the new act of collision.

36 |

| 37

Figure 7: Tactic of sequential linking, Aurora Saidi, master project 2013

What if we cut a heterogeneous area of an industrial zone with an installation, a communication infrastructure or perhaps a housing platform? In that way, the incision will cause transverse connection of the heterogeneous fragments of the formerly existing longitudinal city (Fig. 8).

Figure 8: Incision, tactic of assembling the urban fragments, Aleksandar Prtanovski, master project 2013

Figure 9: Salvador Dali, diagram of the paranoiac–critical method, 1930s

References Bakalchev, M and Hadji Pulija, M (ed.) 2006, City of Possible Worlds, Museum of the City of Skopje.

Bakalchev, M and Hadji Pulija, M (ed.) 2010, Learning Architecture, Museum of the City of Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Architecture – Skopje.

Dali, S 1936, The Conquest of the Irrational [Online]. Available: http://feastofhateandfear.com/archives/salvador_2.html [Accessed August 2013].

Korobar, VP, Bakalchev, M and Hadji Pulija, M (ed.) 2012, Reclaming the City, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Architecture – Skopje.

Maki, F(1964) Investigations in Collective Form, Washington Univertsity, School of Architecture, [Online]. Available at: http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/photos/maki/maki–part1.pdf [Accessed August 2013] Papanek, V 1997, Design for the Real World, Thames and Hudson, Ltd. London.

United Nation Development Program 1970, Skopje Resurgent :The Story of a United Nations Special Fund Town Planning Project, United Nations, New York.

38 |

| 39

Prof. Minas Bakalchev, PhD, is an architect and professor at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, Dip. Ing. Arch. from Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, MS from Faculty of Architecture, University in Beograd, Dr. on technical science University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje. He was co–curator of Macedonian national pavilion on Venice Biennale 2006, and got mention for the project city of possible worlds, With Mitko Hadzi Pulja under the acronym MBMHP work together on architectural projects, workshops, exhibitions. For their works they got many city and national awards. Believes that architecture can change the world in a way the world change us.

Prof. Mitko Hadzi Pulja, PhD, is an architect and professor at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, Dipl. Ing. Arch. from Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, MS from Faculty of Architecture, University in Beograd, Dr. on technical science University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje. He was co–curator of Macedonian national pavilion on Venice Biennale 2006, and got mention for the project city of possible worlds . With Minas Bakalchev under the acronym MBMHP work together on architectural projects, workshops, exhibitions. For their works they got many city and national awards. Believes that architecture can change the world in a way the world change us.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Teaching Strategies Connecting Curricula of the Art Academy and Computer and Information Science Faculty at the University of Ljubljana Narvika Bovcon, Franc Solina University of Ljubljana Tržaška cesta 25, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenija narvika.bovcon@fri.uni–lj.si, franc.solina@fri.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT The paper presents an innovative collaboration between a computer science faculty and an art academy. The goal of this collaboration was to introduce the different skills from the two domains involved to students of art and students of computer engineering. The teaching is based on project– oriented collaboration between students from both fields. To make the students of technical disciplines more familiar with the visual art and graphic design techniques is essential considering today’s state of media technologies, on the other hand, the students studying visual language gain insight into the programming and technology development practices.

Key–Words: Art and science, interdisciplinarity, project based teaching, ArtNetLab. 1 INTRODUCTION The skills needed to master the new media communication are diverse and difficult to achieve by a single person, therefore the multimedia production regularly requires interdisciplinary teams that provide all the necessary skills. The different domains that step into a dialogue are however very different and can lead to misunderstandings. E.g. the fine–arts methods used in painting, sculpture, conceptual arts and in other forms of art are substantially different from the methods used in computer engineering and in informatics. The collaboration presented in this paper proposes to build interdisciplinary teams between art academy students and the students of informatics studying at computer science faculty.

Therefore already at an early stage the future professionals become acquainted with the work methods of their peers from other fields. As a result the interdisciplinary collaborations become a natural work environment.

| 41

42 |

2 THE EVOLVING COLLABORATION BETWEEN COMPUTER ENGINEERS AND ARTISTS In 2000 Prof. Srečo Dragan from the Academy of Fine Art and Design and Prof Franc Solina from the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of the University of Ljubljana established a teaching collaboration by inviting their respective students to work on a new media art project together. The result was the ArtNetLab project [1]. It was—and for the most part still is—a five part web project created by five interdisciplinary groups consisting of, on the one hand, an artist who has finished the art academy undergraduate programme in painting, sculpture, or graphic/industrial design studying a pre–Bologna MA in video and new media, and, on the other hand, one or two undergraduate students of the informatics (the course Communication Methods).

The ArtNetLab website was the starting point of a continuing teaching collaboration between Ljubljana Art Academy and the Computer and Information Science Faculty, which through the years has grown into many different collaborative platforms. Bovcon and Vaupotič (2004) record the echoes of ArtNetLab till 2003, when the International Festival of Computer Arts taking place in Maribor, Ljubljana and other venues [2] was the main space for the presentation of the outcomes of the interdisciplinary project groups. The initial asymmetrical collaboration between graduate artists and undergraduate coders has proven a benefit to both parties: the artists sometimes used their undergraduate works to integrate them into the new communication technologies, whereas the informatics students were exposed to the methodology of art and visual design practice. The quest for common ground, a new whole integrating graphic print or painting cycles or videos produced a necessary co–authorship of the project, and ad hoc new media communication model. The other initial idea, which is preserved also in current practices, is the project–oriented work. The interdisciplinary groups did not merely learn about each other’s disciplinary contexts, but also became stakeholders in a common endeavour. The exhibition as a deadline has also proven its worth in the work organization. The collaboration grew steadily and in 2003 the Society for Connecting Art and Science ArtNetLab was established as a legal subject (the first year it was lead by Drušan Bučar, since 2005 the president is Aleš Vaupotič) [3]. The society is independent from the University and contends for the funding at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

From 2004 to 2006 ArtNetLab has been the main organizer of the International Festival of Computer Arts. The groups of art students, who were mainly the MA students of video and new media with Prof Dragan, and the computer science engineers, many of them linked to the Computer Vision Laboratory, collaborated within the frameworks of ArtNetLab society also after finishing the study programmes.

The festival regularly included a student’s section, which every year presented from 10 to 20 new new– media artworks.

Since 2004 the new producer ArtNetLab introduced a new regular festival platform, the Video Match.

It runs every year till the present presenting the new videos made at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and juxtaposing them with student videos or animations from the art schools from all over the world. This fact is indicative of the important fact that it was the medium of video which has pulled the different art practices together and mediated in adapting artistic concepts for interactive screens, projections or installations with sound or touch etc. The video could be considered a common ground with the computer science students. For contemporary art the video in this period seems a natural medium. But video can also build bridges with the humanities, since it was Vilém Flusser who theorized that video is the right medium for contemporary philosophy (2009).

Figure 1: The video archive Mouseion Serapeion 2.1 by Narvika Bovcon, Aleš Vaupotič et al.

In the subsequent years several projects and events are worth mentioning. Mouseion Serapeion (2004, web version coded by Tomaž Bobnar in 2005) by Narvika Bovcon and Aleš Vaupotič in collaboration with more then a dozen collaborators [4] is a web–based video–archive which stores the student videos created in the framework of the Chair for video at the Ljubljana art academy since its beginnings in 1987 till 1997 – see Figure 1. In 2007 the same artists were invited to curate the Pixxelpoint new media art festival and they invited many ArtNetLab colleagues to participate [5]. In the framework of the teaching collaboration between art academy and informatics faculty the reduplication of the projects presented at the Pixxelpoint festival was built in a virtual space (coded by Igor Lautar). The ArtNetLab society presented many exhibitions outside Slovenia (Bovcon and Vaupotič, 2011a and 2011b).

2.1 How do we set up the project teams When at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science we started with these interdisciplinary computer based new media art projects 15 years ago, the art students were invited to present their ideas for the project during lectures for computer science students. The projects were usually a requirement for the practical part of a selected regular course. In the break, after the presentations of the art students, computer science students could select a project by writing their names on the blackboard under the title of a project.

This somewhat low tech, exchange type selection of projects and formation of project teams was superseded about five years ago when the use of electronic classrooms became the norm. Now, art students must write a short project description, including a mind map, where they describe the motivation, goals and possible technology for their project. Computer science students can then read these descriptions and apply for up to three projects.

They must also give their credentials for the selected project (knowledge of specific programming languages, operating systems, development platforms etc.). The formation of the teams is then done by assistants.

2.2 Benefits for students The project teams are interdisciplinary, consisting of one art student and several computer science students.

Although the original idea for the project is given by an art student, the actual outcome of the project is a result of all team members. In all computer and technology based art projects, especially under severe time constraints, many compromises are necessary. Art students are often also not aware of all technical possibilities so that the selected technological and software solutions have in principle a large influence on the final appearance and the user interface of the installations.

| 43

This interdisciplinary cooperation between the Academy of Fine Art and Design and the Faculty of Computer and Information Science was for participating students an excellent learning experience in general. Students usually don’t gain enough experience in team work. Especially art students are used to work mostly individually.

However, new media art usually requires larger interdisciplinary teams of people. Art students in this way also came into contact with the most recent technology and with future engineers. These contacts were for many valuable also later in their career.

Computer science students, on the other hand, gained valuable experience in working for a »customer« who is not so familiar with computers and programming. They could test in practice agile methods of software development since some results had to be seen at the end of the semester in a gallery setting. The goals and solutions had to be constantly adjusted during the whole project, trying not to compromise the original artistic idea.

3 THE PROJECTS Some projects that resulted from the interdisciplinary group work connecting artistic creation and technical skills are presented in the following. For more information on several other projects the references list should be consulted.

44 |

3.1 Art installation School for cats In this project art and computer science students have teamed up to build an interactive art installation with an additional twist (Figure 2). The installation has the form of a smart table with a built–in touch screen in the tabletop on which users can assemble visual puzzles by directly manipulating the pieces of the puzzle with their hands. The puzzle is based on the principle of inter–subjectivity where the user/observer meets the image.

The philosophy of the whole project is founded on the following principles: from stability to instability, from stationary to dynamic, from perception to action and from artifact (image) to service. The main features of the finished project are playfulness, fun and learning. Playing, as a typical medium of contemporary interactive representation, epitomizes activity that abandons the position of the observer. The observer is instead included into the process itself (Pavlin et al. 2013).

What designates this installation as special is that the illustrations are a result of art therapy with a person with severe learning difficulties. The art therapist was in this case Erika Pavlin, an art student participating in the project. The design of the user interface takes into account that the intended users of the installation are also people with severe learning difficulties. User interface design for individuals with severe learning difficulties requires special attention due to the cognitive barriers to computer access that such individuals have.

This experimental project started from a collection of visual materials painted by a person with severe learning difficulties, continuing with the selection of illustrations suitable for puzzles, designing the user interface and,

Figure 2: Art installation School for cats by Erika Pavlin et al.

finally, to programming. The software is running on a personal computer connected to a touch–screen that was integrated into a specially designed table. On the screen are displayed visual puzzles and the user can directly manipulate the pieces of the puzzle to assemble them. The table is made out of plywood and painted with acrylic paints.

The use of the installation requires fine motor skills, practice and, finally, sparks also fun. This means that all senses of the players, perceptual, physical and emotional, are engaged. The final result, the table with the integrated touch screen where puzzles can be assembled, is aimed at the younger generation in general, but in particular at people with severe learning difficulties. The whole project is an attempt at integration of such people in the socially creative area of new media art, not only as a user–participant, but in addition, also as a user–coauthor.

3.2 Visualization of music with colours In this project we proposed a system of colour visualization of music based on a system of colour signs, which are connected to musical tones (Figure 3). Tones, which are in harmonic relationship are represented by related colours. First, we outline the foundations on which the system of colour signs is based – the mathematical model of harmony. Additional expressive elements of music such as melody, composition and rhythm are taken into account. These relationships enabled us to develop a computer program that employs these elements for visualization. The program mimics human perception in which the parts are determined by the perception of the whole. Furthermore, the program enables the development of tools that can enhance music understanding during listening or performing. Music performance can acquire a new quality with the use of interactive coloured musical instruments, which by using colours show the performer different possibilities for forming musical harmonies and thereby change the composing of music into a game and attractive colour–aural journey. Here we stumble upon a challenge for educational science and methodology: how to use such upcoming multimedia tools. These tools would bring the processes of learning and playing a game closer together since playing games is a child’s most natural form of functioning. Furthermore, in the area of artistic creation we can once again establish a balance between our logical and intuitive nature. The artist who participated in this project was Peter Ciuha and Bojan Klemenc, one of the computer science students continued with this research topic also in his PhD dissertation (Ciuha, Klemenc, Solina, 2010).

3.3 DADAMantra DADAMantra by Vanja Mervič is a translation of texts into a website [6] (Figure 4). Visual image of DADAMantra represents days, set in a symbolic form of the number seven. Days are marked with ancient roman names, which correspond to planets (dies Solis, dies Lunae, dies Martis, dies Mercurii, dies Jovis, dies Veneris, dies Saturni) and their symbols. Audio–visual installation DADAMantra is based in dadaistic simultaneous poetry which has the highest degree of semantic and syntactic disconnection. Vanja Mervič used a dadaist pattern, including fragmentation of religious texts and their re–merging by using aleatoric method of creation. The order of words taken from five religious texts is left to pure coincidence. The prayer, impersonally read by a software, stimulates us to rethink todays religiousness, when faith in Christianity is arguably losing its power and when people are searching for alternatives to satisfy their need for spirituality.

Figure 3: Visualization of music with colours by Peter Ciuha and Bojan Klemenc.

| 45

3.4 Sinking In his project Sinking (Figure 5), Tilen Žbona researches the new media extensions of the classical questions on art, the artist and the work of art through the metaphor of sinking in four stages. The sinking takes place through watching videos on two different levels, i.e. on the level of moving in real space and the level of understanding the individual stages that are conceptualised in four video haikus. In the first stage the project poses the question of the artist’s body and the work of art within the frame of a media performance that is reduced to the minimum narrative: the artist is merely physically present. Is the situation of a closed circuit video installation of the artist and maybe his excessive move already a work of art or not? In the second stage of Sinking the video presents the artist’s statement—is the artist’s statement a statement of truth or an artistic statement? In the third video we can see the artist’s work— the signature of the artist defines the status of the work of art—even if this is merely a mark of the artist’s fist on the eye of his colleague artist. The fourth video is self–reflective. In it a colleague—an

Figure 5: Sinking by Tilen Žbona et al.

46 |

Figure 4: DADAMantra by Vanja Mervič et al.

other artist—articulates the nature of the video as a record of the performance in front of a camera, i.e. as a third party view through the lens of the camera. However, the author is in command of this video, therefore it is not an objective and impersonal document. When the other artist takes over the active role of the director and author of all four videos, the questions as regards who is the artist and where is the artist repeat themselves in the second round, i.e. in the next four stages of sinking within the Sinking project.

As a part of the interactive installation Sinking, the video projection is divided onto four monitors, i.e. we have four video images amongst which the viewer walks through the real gallery space according to the instructions given to him by the installation system. With the aid of a Palm PC held in the hands of the viewer the system constantly monitors his position in the environment. This is performed through spatial data gained from the signals from local wireless networks that form a triangle. From this aspect the Sinking system is unique, for ‘the big brother’ is shockingly simplified to the domestic constellation of cheap nearby wireless signal transmitters that are used by the artist who acts as a friendly nomad without even using the data flow of internet networks.

With the aid of control signals the system locates the viewer’s position in the gallery and then sends him a message, where to move, the viewer can follow the instructions and »sink« into the reflection of the interactive installation. The new media work of art is not static or completed, but a process that interactively includes all three protagonists: the artist, technology and the viewer. The viewer has to confront the technology and thereby step–by–step enter into the new media object into which the artist has coded his message.

Sinking is dedicated to a theoretic contemplation on the existence of art, a sort of fundamental research on the conditions of human existence.

4 CONCLUSION The clash of fine art with computer–based media technologies was a game–changing shift. E.g. literature as we know it has transformed into something very different (Vaupotič 2013). Therefore it is essential to introduce the changes in our culture, caused by digitization, early into our curricula. The undergraduate and graduate level is appropriate to start connecting fine art and engineering, since art requires some experiences and certain age of the learners. The projects which were presented indicate some possible and different approaches. In the paper the evolution of a collaboration on the teaching and production level has been presented, which is the infrastructural cornerstone of any interdisciplinary collaboration.

References Batagelj, B and Solina, F and Peer, P 2004, ‘15 Seconds of Fame – An Interactive, Computer–Vision Based Art Installation’, in 12th ACM International Conference on Multimedia, 10 – 16 October, 2004, New York, NY, USA. Bovcon, N and Vaupotič, A 2004, ‘The Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana, Video and New Media Department, University of Ljubljana, at The International Festival of Computer Arts in Maribor, 1998–2003’ in M.Gržinić (ed), The future of computer arts & the history of The International Festival of Computer Arts, Maribor 1995–2004, Maska and MKC, Ljubljana and Maribor, pp. 154–161.

Bovcon, N and Vaupotič, A 2011a, ‘Curating new media by focusing on the recipientʼs attitude: immateriality and entertainment’, Acta graphica, vol. 22, no. 1/2, pp. 33–38.

Bovcon, N and Vaupotič, A 2011b, ‘Curating new media: condensing spaces and images’, Acta graphica, vol. 22, no. 3/4, pp. 79–84.

Bovcon, N and Vaupotič, A and Batagelj, B and Deželjin, D and Solina, F 2009, ‘Presence: The Integration of Classical Artistic Media in a Smart Space Prototype’, VSMM 2009 – Proceedings 15th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, IEEE Computer Society & CPS, Los Alamitos, California, Washington, Tokyo, pp. 98–103.

Bovcon, N and Vaupotič, A and Klemenc, B and Solina, F 2013 “Atlas 2012” Augmented Reality: A Case Study in the Domain of Fine Arts’ SouthCHI 2013, 1–5 July 2013, Maribor.

References

| 47

48 |

Ciuha, P and Klemenc, B and Solina, F 2010, ‘Visualization of Concurrent Tones in Music with Colours’, in: ACM Multimedia 2010, Firenze, Italy. http://eprints.fri.uni–lj.si/id/eprint/2390 Flusser, V 2009, Kommunikologie weiter denken: Die Bochumer Vorlesungen, Fischer, Frankfurt/M. Klemenc, B and Ciuha, P and Solina, F 2011, ‘Educational possibilities of the project Colour visualization of music’, Organizacija, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 67–75.

Kverh, B and Lipanje, M and Batagelj, B and Solina, F 2010, ‘Piano Crossing – Walking on a Keyboard’, Acta Graphica, vol. 22, no. 3–4, pp. 25–38.

Pavlin, E and Elsner, Ž and Jagodnik, T and Batagelj, B and Solina, F 2013, ‘Iz ilustracije v interaktivno instalacijo “Mačja šola”’, in Vzgoja in izobraževanje v informacijski družbi VIVID 2013, 11. oktober 2013, Ljubljana. http:// eprints.fri.uni–lj.si/id/eprint/2243 Solina, F, ‘ArtNetLab – the essential connection between art and science’, in M.Gržinić (ed), The future of computer arts & the history of The International Festival of Computer Arts, Maribor 1995–2004, Maska and MKC, Ljubljana and Maribor, pp. 148–153.

Solina, F 2000, ‘Internet based art installations’, Informatica – An International Journal of Computing and Informatics, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 459–466.

Solina, F 2014 ‘New Media Art Projects, Panoramic Images and Live Video as Interface between Real and Virtual Worlds’, DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 110–124.

Solina, F 2000, ‘Virtual technology and remote observation over the Internet for art applications’, in Konferenzband EVA, Elektronische Bildverarbeitung & Kunst, 25 – 27 October 2000, Berlin.

Solina, F 2004, ‘15 seconds of fame’, Leonardo, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 105–110.

Solina, F and Batagelj, B and Glamočanin, S 2008, ‘Virtual Skiing as an Art Installation’, ELMAR 2008, 10–13 September, Zadar, Croatia.

Vaupotič, A (2013), ‘Literature and new media art in the “sonnetoid” web projects by Slovenian artists Vuk Ćosić and Teo Spiller’, Revue de littérature comparée, vol. 87, no. 4, pp. 423–440.

[1] http://black.fri.uni–lj.si/artnetlab.

[2] http://mfru.org.

[3] http://black.fri.uni–lj.si.

[4] http://black.fri.uni–lj.si/mouseionserapeion.

[5] http://pixxelpoint.org.

[6] http://black.fri.uni–lj.si/dadamantra.

Prof. Franc Solina, PhD – Defended her doctorate thesis in 2008 at the Academy of Fine Art and Design. Since 2010 she teaches graphic and new media design at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana. Since 2000 she works as a new media artist and curator, exhibiting in Slovenia and abroad. Since 2005 she is the vice president of ArtNetLab. Bovcon’s publications include the monograph Umetnost v svetu pametnih strojev: Novomedijska umetnost Sreča Dragana, Jake Železnikarja in Marka Peljhana, 2009 (Art in the World of Smart Machines: New Media Art of Srečo Dragan, Jaka Železnikar, and Marko Peljhan), and various papers on new media art.

Assist. prof. Narvika Bavcon, PhD – Defended his doctorate thesis at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in Computer and Information Science in 1987. Since 1998 he is Full Professor at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, University of Ljubljana, since 1991 he is the head of Computer Vision Laboratory. Between 2006 and 2010 he was the Dean of the faculty. In 2010–11 he was Member of the Strategic Council on Information Society to the President of the Government of Slovenia. In 2011 he was the Quality Assurance Auditor in Higher Education at the Agency for Science and Higher Education of The Republic of Croatia. Since 2010 he is Member of the Board of Governers of the Institut “Jožef Stefan”. In 2006 he received the University of Ljubljana Golden Plaque and in 2012 the Information Society Lifetime Achievement Award.

| 49

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

From the Ljubljana Suburbs To the City of London And Back An Alternative Approach To Teaching Architecture And Urbanism Ilka Čerpes University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija ilka.cerpes@fa.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT Design and learning are interactive processes of correcting the wrong answers to the problem at hand. Sustainable learning of architectural and urban design is an equal relationship between teachers and students, in which the teacher sets the criteria of regularity or irregularity on the basis of the simulation of the real social environment and thus leads the student to find optimal solutions. We present a case study approach of the project Sustainable Housing Community in the Suburbs of Ljubljana. We carried out the project with the fifth-year students of the Faculty of architecture of the University of Ljubljana in the study year 2013/14.

Key-Words: Sustainability, Teaching, Architecture, Urbanism.

1 INTRODUCTION At the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, the education in architectural and urban design is combined in the Design Studio course (Projektiranje). The work in the course takes the form of face-to-face discussions between the teacher and the student. At the beginning of the study year, the teacher prepares the project specifications, i.e. terms of reference adapted to the respective study year, which are less demanding for the students in lower years and more difficult for those in senior years. At the end of the study year, each student, with the help of their teacher, is expected to complete a project and present it at the final exhibition. The goal of the Design Studio course is to train the students to work in a design firm, where a simultaneous command of technical skills, capability of reflective thinking and group work is required, along with the awareness of commitment to high ethical standards of the architect or urban designer. Thus, sustainable education of students of architecture and urbanism is a challenging task, encouraging the educator to use innovative approaches to learning, as, indeed, the standard set of teaching methods does not provide the appropriate answers.

Below we will present the approach developed on the basis of tradition of the Ljubljana School of Architecture and our own experience gained over the years in teaching the course. The organisation of the teaching/learning process is established on the presumption that the Design Studio course is an experimental environment that

| 51

simulates the work environment of a design studio. At the Ljubljana School of Architecture, such an approach to teaching architecture was introduced by its founding architects Jože Plečnik and Ivan Vurnik, in keeping with the Central European tradition of the time. Their original approach was carried on by their students and, with small modifications, it has been preserved until today; hence, in the past 90 years the Ljubljana School of Architecture has built up a recognisable profile of its graduates. New specialist challenges emerged over time, along with the dynamic social developments, and the approaches to teaching design had to be updated accordingly, i.e. by introducing more outside-the-classroom learning in real built and social environments.

2 DESIGN AND LEARNING ARE INTERACTIVE PROCESSES Architecture can only be studied and understood through on-site observations and, accordingly, field trips are a necessary element of teaching design. An equally important task is the selection of appropriate project terms of reference, i.e. ones that address a real problem in the real environment, where the students meet with the users of the study area and get to know their perceptions about the planned developments and associated restrictions. The interaction with the users of the study area where the new developments are to be introduced promotes the development of a critical approach to student’s own work, i.e. during the development of an idea, the work is subject to criticism outside the school environment.

3

CASE OF A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO TEACHING DESIGN:SUSTAINABLE HOUSING COMMUNITY IN THE SUBURBS OF LJUBLJANA As part of the Design Studio course for fifth-year students of architecture in 2013/14, we selected a socially relevant and current topic of a Sustainable Housing Community. When looking for an appropriate study area, we referred to the city plan of Ljubljana to gain a true perspective of the task at hand. We selected an area of dispersed settlement in the suburbs, which has long been earmarked for housing; nevertheless, it remained underdeveloped and left to degradation. We were interested in identifying the reasons behind the development deadlock and finding sustainable solutions to the situation. A group visit to the study area revealed that the

area to be developed for housing is at the edge of the city, but right along the main arterial road linking to the important regional motorway connection between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, hence placing the study area among development opportunities on a global scale. At the same time, the study area is part of the suburban area with a distinctive local identity, which remains closely tied with the original rural and later suburban lifestyles. These can be recognised in the preserved types of village settlements and agricultural land use. A sustainable conception and design solution for a sustainable housing community linking both the local and the global necessitates the knowledge of the characteristics, development problems and opportunities for both environments; as a way of introduction, we visited London as one of the major dynamic, global metropolitan areas where we learnt about grand scales and acceptance of diversity, how to deepen friendship within the group and how to be persistent and resourceful. Equipped with an open world view, the students tackled different scenarios regarding the future population of the sustainable community. They studied the types of a modern family and lifestyles and looked for relevant reference cases of housing and public spaces. Detailed analyses of the built structure of the environment in the study area were the basis for adapting the selected cases to the local conditions and for their siting. Finally, architectural drawings for individual buildings and different types of housing were elaborated. After four months of hard work, the materials were presented to local authorities, who responded critically to the solutionswhose schemes were in their opinion too cosmopolitan and overly extensive. The students were disappointed with the response and had a hard time accepting the criticism. With an in-depth discussion and thoroughly argued proposals for improvements, the students were persuaded to invest more effort to the improvement of their original proposals. The most convincing argument that inspired them in their further work was the visit to existing quality sustainable communities in the neighbouring Austrian land of Koroška (Carinthia), whose way of life and settlement patterns are similar to the ones in Slovenia, as, indeed, we share a common history and geography. It was there that they learnt how to realise and reinterpret the global features of sustainable residential building, i.e. in a social environment and on a small scale similar to ours. They recognised similar problems and development opportunities, restraint in the design, efficiency in the use of resources and pursuit of solutions for a better quality of living. The realisations about the different scales

52 |

| 53

Figure 1: Design of the urban development of a sustainable housing community in the area of the Škofovi zavodi (Bishop’s Seminary) in Šentvid pri Ljubljani, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana, 2013/14.

Students: Tamara Glavnik, Rok Golob, Maja Hrastar, Ana Jaušovec, Jan Kalšek, Simon Kramer, Nika Sedej, Matjaž Sušin, Anja Šuštar.

Mentors: Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, Assist. Aleksander Vujovič, arch. Mia Crnič, arch. Nejc Černigoj.

Figure 2: Scenarios and architectural solutions for a sustainable housing community in the area of the Škofovi zavodi (Bishop’s Seminary) in Šentvid pri Ljubljani, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Ljubljana, 2013/14.

Students: Tamara Glavnik, Rok Golob, Maja Hrastar, Ana Jaušovec, Jan Kalšek, Simon Kramer, Nika Sedej, Matjaž Sušin, Anja Šuštar.

Mentors: Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, Assist. Aleksander Vujovič, arch. Mia Crnič, arch. Nejc Černigoj.

of manifestations of a contemporary sustainable urban environment came over in their designs, brought in line with the perceptions of the local community, adapted to the scale of the built environment; hence, their visions were brought closer to the real development possibilities in Slovenia.

4 CONCLUSIONS The process of generating project solutions and, in parallel, a continuous feedback from the local and global environments leads the students towards an optimisation of the product (urban and architectural design) from the viewpoints of function, social acceptability and global comparability of the proposed technical and design solutions. The main actors in the design process are the students themselves, while the role of the teacher is narrowed down to consultancy and guidance to the objective pursued, contrary to the traditional forms of teaching based mostly on the transfer of information from the teacher to the student. In this case, learning is the combined effort of the teacher and the student. The former organises a simulation of a real-life situation and sets the criteria regarding the appropriateness of students’ response to the feedback received on the proposed solutions; the latter actively searches for a definite solution to a real problem and, in doing that, becomes one’s own teacher.

References ARCH+, ZeitungfürArchitectur und Städtebau, No. 209: Kapital(e) London, 10 Dec. 2012, Aachen, ARCH+ Verlag.

Kapfinger, O2006, NeueArchitekturin Kärnten, Klagenfurt, Kärntens Haus der Architectur.

54 |

| 55

Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, PhD, – Ilka Čerpes is an architect, holds a doctorate in science and is an assistant professor – lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana. She has authored the book Urbanistično načrtovanje (2008) and the collection of papers O urbanizmu (2007) as well as co–authored an overview of urban planning projects carried out by the Faculty of Architecture, University of Ljubljana (2012). She is mentor of various urban planning workshops, graduate theses and dissertations. She successfully participates in domestic and international architecture and urban planning competitions.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM Experiential learning in Student Workshops – Case study Žiri

Alenka Fikfak, Janez P. Grom University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova cesta 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia alenka.fikfak@fa.uni–lj.si, grom.arch@gmail.com

ABSTRACT For empirical learning the ‘experience’ itself is just as important as the process of the reflection and the transmission of experience into a new process of thinking, researching, exploring, creating new ideas etc. With experiential learning, an individual forms values, skills and knowledge through daily work and social experience.

This manner of education deepens the knowledge when students and all those included in the educational process are given an opportunity to discuss or verify the experience which was obtained through practical work.

Burnard and Chapman (1990) define 4 steps of connecting the practical and theoretical education, which, in the spatial workshops, are defined as a process of developing empirical work. At the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture (UL FA), student urban design and architectural workshops have had a long tradition of more than 40 years. Students of different years and study programmes (architecture, urban design, spatial planning, landscape architecture etc.) are included together in the research and experiential work, where the classical meaning of education comes in second. The paper presents the ways of work on the case of the urban design workshop Žiri 2012.

Key–Words: Experiential learning, creativity, students workshop, urbanism, case of Žiri.

1 INTRODUCTION My first experience with a workshop, which I attended together with my colleague Alma Zavodnik Lamovšek, was unforgettable – as were all the ones that followed. The two of us, two diligent students of the first generation of urbanism at UL FA, participated at a small workshop in Žetale, Haloze, even though at the time the workshop was not part of course credit requirements. The pleasant summer days among friendly people who gladly helped us with explanations and all kinds of spatial (and other) information left an indelible mark in all the years that followed, and filled us with the joy of work. And what did the experience mean to us? Without doubt, a direct contact with the area and inhabitants. We saw how their stories reflected in the development, the elements of design that they truly needed ... And to us, the students? Experience of being away from all work accessories, left to our thoughts and our own resourcefulness. And what did we receive from our mentor, Prof. Peter Gabrijelčič?

| 57

When he was helping us build the mock–up, he conjured up the heaviest dosage of creativity and know–how.

What makes the story special? The evening before presenting the results of a two–week work at the exhibition opening, we had no material to be used for the terrain of the mock–up. What was left was our imagination and the materials that can be found in any Slovenian house. The cooks in the primary school prepared 4 kg of bread dough without being told what it was for; and so the dough, i.e. the terrain, slowly started to rise.

The substrate of the terrain consisted of wood over which the dough was steadily rising. Another unexpected accessory was used: a hair dryer. The next morning: success, satisfaction and an experience to remember. These

Fundamentals of Creativity [3] – five fundamental insights that can guide and support educators as they endeavour to integrate student creativity into the everyday curriculum: 1. Creativity Takes More Than Originality, 2. There Are Different Levels of Creativity_mini–c / interpretive; little–c / everyday; Pro–C / expert; Big–C / legendary, 3. Context Matters_Teachers should do their best to minimize features of the environment that can impede creativity (social comparisons, contingent rewards, and so on) …

4. Creativity Comes at a Cost_Creativity is often associated with fun, fluff, and frills. Many years of painstaking effort are needed to develop the expertise to make creative contributions …

5. There’s a Time and a Place for Creativity_Teachers may feel that creativity should be encouraged and expressed at all times. But would you want a creative dentist or cab driver?

3 STUDENT WORKSHOP: EXPLORING, EXPERIENCE, EXPERIMENTING AND PRACTISE The workshops have the privilege of ‘maintaining’ the abstract level of visionary thought; their creativity is practically unlimited, although sometimes this is also an obstacle in thinking: a free field of experimenting where you have to show your creativity. With student workshops we form answers to concrete professional questions, set up a dialogue between different professions, encourage the contacts between domestic and foreign universities, transmit knowledge of foreign experts into our domestic environment, and, last but not least, set up more permanent professional and personal ties and, based on these, form a common cultural awareness about the importance of an organized environment (Gabrijelčič, 2010, 151). Many questions emerge during student workshops, but there is only one key question that leads us, the mentors and the students, forward: What is the intention or the significance of the workshop, and what will the results be used for? And: Will the results remain a solution on paper only?

58 |

Figure 1: The Young to Haloze, students workshop in 1989

| 59

were experiences that triggered our creativity in all the workshops that followed and opened the possibility of new forms of learning, in the roles of a student, researcher, mentor ... (Alenka Fikfak; more on the workshop: The young for Haloze v Gabrijelčič, Fikfak, 2012, 146–147).

2 EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AND CREATIVITY One of the main starting points, containing the description of methods in experiential learning, was David Kolb’s highly influential book entitled ‘Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development’ (1984). Of course, David Kolb’s work can be traced back to the famous dictum of Confucius around 450 BC [1]: “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.”

At the heart of all learning is the way we process our experiences, especially our critical reflections on our experiences [2]. For empirical learning the “experience” itself is just as important as the process of the reflection, observation with thinking and the transmission of experience into a new process of thinking. This is only possible when we have something to think about, when our thoughts can be connected to the recognitions, own experience or with someone else’s recognized situation. Creativity is tightly connected to empirical methods of learning, where the involvement of an individual in the experience and thinking is important. Creativity is considered more important than productivity, whereby the latter is the result of the former (Mulej, 1994).

Creativity is often confused with originality, which is not the same, nevertheless, it is its constituent part, (...) however, creative things are more than just original (...) (Guštin, 2007). With this method of learning, an individual forms values, skills and knowledge through daily work and social experience. This manner of education deepens the knowledge when students and all those included in the educational process are given an opportunity to discuss or verify the experience which was obtained through practical work. In this way the experience included in the curriculum, and which can be used as a means to upgrade the curriculum, irreplaceably completes the complex knowledge or general awareness.

Figure 2: Workshop Ravne na Koroškem, 1998. Challenge: integration of a ironworks complex in the city centre. Visit of the ironworks plant, becoming familiar with its operation and the use of ferrous waste and scrap for the making of mock–ups

In our work, we follow 4 steps of connecting the practical and theoretical education, which, in the spatial planning workshops, are defined as a process of developing the following empirical work (Burnard, Chapman, 1990): 1. Concrete experience. The lecturer / past situation / reflexion / simulations of idea development with the student (group).

2. Reflexion of experience. Through interactive interpersonal exchange of ideas and visions, the problem and the possibility of concept development.

3. Giving meaning to experience. Abstraction / concept ideas, visions, meaning to the problem / learning process experience / all involved in the process.

4. Practical experimenting or operating in a different (new) way, or repeated reflexion. Analyse the experience / different perspective, a different situation / Influences of the next experience.

3.1 Students workshops at UL FA At the UL FA, student urban design and architectural workshops have had a long tradition of more than 40 years.

First, the workshops were organised in the framework of Design Studio (study seminars) with individual teachers coming just from the Ljubljana School of Architecture. Already in the early 1980’s, Professor Edo Ravnikar organised the first five international workshops in cooperation with the architecture schools in Trieste, Graz and Vienna (Gabrijelčič, 2010). Several hundred domestic and foreign students and many teachers from mostly western countries participated in these first international workshops. The students had the opportunity to work on real spatial problems and they were offered the possibility of international exchange and comparison. Based on these positive experiences, the Slovenian ministry responsible for the environment and spatial planning paid great attention to these workshops.

Through the study programme, the students are each year included in different urban design and architectural workshops. Students of different years and study programmes (architecture, urban design, spatial planning, landscape architecture etc.) are included together in the research and experiential work, where the classical meaning of education comes in second. The student workshops address real professional questions, set up dialogue between professions, expand contacts among domestic and foreign universities, transfer the knowledge of foreign experts to the domestic professional environment and, last but not least, establish durable professional and personal ties and, on these bases, shape a common cultural awareness about the meaning of a planned environment (Gabrijelčič, 2010, 151). As a result of the many actions involving workshops, in 2012 the UL FA published a scientific monograph (Gabrijelčič, Fikfak, 2012). Starting in 2013, based on the success of the monograph, the first issue of a new journal »Creativity game (CG) – Theory and Practice of Spatial Planning« was published, representing the results of professional work, teaching and scientific research, which, by using creativity and abstract thinking, culminate in a continuous flow of experiential learning about spatial values and the related processes.

60 |

3.1.1 URBAN DESIGN WORKSHOPS AS PART OF STUDY PROGRAMMES “The workshop is making the students familiar with the research approach to different professional issues based on the principles of sustainable development, in contact with professional and general communities. The workshop is a modern form of education of students based on team work, familiarisation with current specialist developments and international student and mentor exchange. In workshops, the students acquire knowledge of professional approaches to real contemporary development problems, collection of information from different sources in the field, public relations and ways of preparation of materials for the public presentation of development scenarios.

They involve intensive work in the field over several days, related to an actual urban design task or topic. In small groups, the students elaborate a project under the supervision of a mentor, presumably in cooperation with the local community. The aim of the workshop is to combine different types of knowledge on the case of solving an actual development problem, in cooperation with the local and wider professional communities.

The forms of work include field work, guest lectures, analysis under mentor supervision and evaluation of the data collected in the field, collection of materials from the archives of local communities and information from lectures, elaboration of a synthesis proposal and presentation of results.” (source: materials for the accreditation of the UL FA study programmes).

During the preparation for the accreditation of the First–cycle university study programme in urbanism and the Second–cycle master’s study programme in urbanism, the urban design workshop was defined as an independent form of work (in the initial part of the accreditation process). However, during the stages of programme validation, at UL FA the content of the workshop was combined with the Urban Design course, as they are, indeed, inseparably connected. Both kinds of contents are necessary for a creative collection of knowledge. In the work the integration of knowledge of different professions is also important, as it creates common interdisciplinary fields of work: “Exceptionally interdisciplinary content, which is such by its nature, is found in spatial management /…/. In this field of work, the paradigm of sustainable development is embedded in its concept, and for this reason it is one of the most suitable interdisciplinary study approaches /…/. The contents of sustainable development, spatial management and spatial planning are namely closely connected to the knowledge and skills of numerous fields and areas, which are more or less closely connected with space. The areas

related to space, its characteristics and development, as the main interest, are spatial planning, architecture, landscape architecture, geography, geology, civil engineering (a structural engineer, a civil engineer, a municipal engineer, water management engineer ...) and geodesy.” (Zavodnik Lamovšek, Foški, 2012, 63).

4

CASE STUDY: URBAN DESIGN WORKSHOP FOR THE REGULATORY AREA OF THE MARKET CENTRE IN THE SETTLEMENT OF ŽIRI 2012 In 2012, the Municipality of Žiri, in cooperation with the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, Chair of Urbanism, organised and conducted the urban design workshop entitled ‘Urban design workshop for the regulatory area of the market centre in the settlement of Žiri’. Four groups participated in the workshop; they were supervised by the following mentors: Group 1: Assist. Polona Filipič, MA, Primož Hočevar and Sinan Mihelič; Group 2: Assist. Prof. Sonja Ifko, PhD; Group 3: Assist. Prof. Alenka Fikfak, PhD, and Janez P. Grom; and Group 4: Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, PhD, Nejc Černigoj, Aleksander Vujović. The work focused on the search of new ideas, in terms of both programmes and design, for developing the market area of the settlement of Žiri, i.e. the Trg svobode square. During the workshop, the groups, as a result of their mutual work, elaborated their visions of transformation of the square over time and associated developments.

The workshop was conducted to find the possible professional visions that would help to elaborate and realise a new image of the town, which would build on the creation of a new programme and spatial balance. In this context, we find that the development of the town of Žiri should be directed into transformation and updating of the existing (non)quality structure of the city, by adding programmatically complex structures, i.e. ‘urbanity’, by encouraging the role of the mental and cultural centre of the town.

Group 1, ŽIRI 2012–2017: Two programmatic axes and minimum spatial interventions The central theme of the project is to propose minimum developments, where the Municipality of Žiri could, with a small financial contribution, change the current development flow in the direction of the final idea of the workshop/project and in agreement with the wish of the inhabitants for an overall development of the town centre.

Group 2, ŽIRI 2017–2023: Redesigning the central market area The group elaborated a proposal to redesign the area of the central market. The proposed project is to be carried out in a medium–term period of five to ten years, when the inhabitants are prepared for eventually larger developments in terms of reorganising the transport and the removal of a greater number of parking areas from the central area to the edge of the centre.

Group 3, ŽIRI 2023–2033: Horizontal recreational axis in the town of Žiri When studying the inclusion of different public, community programmes and tourist activities and looking for new development possibilities, the wider cultural landscape of the town of Žiri was included with the aim of establishing a new spatial axis. Some elements of the recreational axis already exist. Parallel to the construction of the central market, a circular system of the central recreational axis is being completed and established, connecting several key spots: a Nordic centre, the area of the central market of Žiri, sports centre/park and, last but not least, a landfill area.

Group 4, ŽIRI 2033–2053: Living in the centre The vision of Žiri 2050 is a vision of long–term spatial options for the sustainable development of the centre of Žiri. The vision originates in the assumption that Žiri will develop in the direction of sustainable updating of activities of high tech companies, promoting sustainable tourism and food self–reliance. The principles of development, supporting the general developmental goals until 2050, as mentioned above, can be summarised by four catchwords: SUSTAINABLE, CONTINUOUS, SMART, FRIENDLY.

| 61

1.1 Case of experiential work in the Žiri workshop On the case of Group 3: ŽIRI 2023–2033: Horizontal recreational axis in the town of Žiri The goal of spatial evaluation was the following: the search of the balance between conservation of the natural environment and the needs of man – both of the permanent resident and the ecologically minded tourist. The potential capacity for encouraging tourist activities can be perceived in all built structures of the municipality; however, the open landscape area represents the hidden potential and the greatest challenge which could be – through the preservation of heritage, revitalisation and encouragement of new forms of tourism –, used for the development of sustainable activities.

An ecologically healthy way of living is gaining in importance as the fundamental policy of sustainable planning of contemporary spatial developments. An important part of spatial experiences is the surrounding landscape, which is supplied through the densely branched out road network. The road network should link to the existing infrastructure, but also serve as a framework for new projects. The preservation of the natural environment for the needs of the modern man could become the guiding principle of a sustainable development of landscape, supporting the existing land use and increasing the interest in learning, recreation, walking, jogging and cycling.

In this sense, vertical/horizontal connections (social axis/recreational axis) are of key importance in creating an unmistakable space–time grid in the structure of the landscape (permanently changing networking of activities adapted to the user).

In developing the system of the recreational axis, i.e. ‘horizontal connections’, the developments and connections with natural elements, i.e. vegetation, trees, water, forests, have a major role. The materials used in the developments should bring the natural environment closer to the user. The system is upgraded over a period of 10 years, as we assume that the adaptation of traffic and parking to a more central role of the pedestrian and the cyclist can only be done in a stepwise way. The ‘transport’ user is not removed from the area; however, the areas used for transport also become part of the reorganisation ‘in the green’.

62 |

| 63

Stages of the Žiri workshop The work in the Žiri workshop can be summarised in several steps, which were first taken in 2012 and are still underway. They are the following: 1. Preparation for the workshop, field visit without students, collection of materials, 2. Presentation day of the workshop – the problems were presented to the students, along with the developments, guidelines, description of the situation; the definition of the objectives and aim of the workshop, the presentation of the main characteristics of the town and the study area, field visit and on–site interpretation, 3. Elaboration of analytical work, group work supervised by mentors, elaboration of materials for the first presentation of work at the workshop to a core working group of the municipality, 4. Work in individual groups, 5. Presentation of workshop results to the general public and an exhibition, 6. Elaboration of workshop materials for presentation at the Municipal Council and confirmation of results, 7. Elaboration of materials for publication in different media and on the website, 8. Help in elaboration of baselines for implementation of individual spatial developments, 9. Elaboration of individual developments, in line with the initial ideas of the workshop ...

Working methods and acceptance of new developments in the local community are important. The first presentations start an intriguing process of acceptance of novelties and knowledge. Upon presentations of students, the first reaction of (most of) inhabitants is that the students lack the knowledge of the area, that they are full of innovations and fresh ideas that cannot be realised ... But the reverse process is also important, i.e. the subconscious one: How can one develop the area differently, having in mind the options of the proposed innovations?

Unknowingly, the interlacing of acceptance of innovations and the inclusion of new ideas begins. In a way, the creativity, experience and experimental learning touches everyone involved in the workshop. Including those who only read about it in the media.

Figure 3: Different steps of work at workshop Žiri, group 3, 2023–2033: Horizontal recreational axis

5 CONCLUSION The built environment, at the levels of architecture, architectural detail or urban scale, is changeable, diverse and complex. Structures and areas, as the main elements of the built environment, are firstly planned, and then designed, analysed and built based on the experience and theoretical knowledge of the designer; however, in the end they are intended for the users and their living environments. As the creators of the real world, these ‘lived spaces’ provide an excellent platform for the education of new generations of designers of future spaces.

The workshop are, indeed, a window on the world of the real and a path where, in the course of their studies, the hypothetical can be applied and integrated to the real. The experience as an upgrade of the theoretical basis is an invaluable exercise which helps them gain a critical attitude towards their own thought, and as a result, the quality of creation.

64 |

References Fikfak, A, Grom, P J, Vilfan, T, Valenčič, G, Hrovat, E, Štibernik, J 2012, Delavnica za območje urejanja trškega jedra v naselju Žiri 2012. Žiri 2023–2033: Horizontalna – rekreacijska os v prostoru mesta Žiri, Urbanistična delavnica, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za arhitekturo.

Gabrijelčič, P 2010, Študentske urbanistično–arhitekturne delavnice, pomembno strokovno orodje pri iskanju prostorskih rešitev za urejanje mestnih jeder, Dialogi, 46, (7/8): 151–168. Maribor, Založba Aristej.

Gabrijelčič, P, Fikfak, A 2012. Igra ustvarjalnosti: urbanistične, urbanistično–arhitekturne in planerske Gabrijelčič, P. and Fikfak, A. (ed.), 2012, Igra ustvarjalnosti: urbanistične, urbanistično–arhitekturne in planerske delavnice, Ljubljana, Fakulteta za arhitekturo.

Guštin, N 2007, Aktiviranje ustvarjalnosti za večjo inovativnost poslovanja podjetja, Magistrsko delo, Univerza v Mariboru. Ekonomsko–poslovna fakulteta. Available at: http://www.epf.uni–mb.si/ediplome/pdfs/gustin– natasa–mag.pdf (1 August 2011).

Kolb, D 1984, Experiential Learning: Experience as the source of learning and development, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Mulej, M., et al. 1994, Inovacijski management, Knj. 1, Inoviranje management, Maribor, Ekonomsko–poslovna fakulteta.

Zavodnik Lamovšek, A and Foški, M 2012, The role of the interdisciplinary learning for the urban design and spatial planning workshop (70–77), In: Gabrijelčič, P and Fikfak, A, Igra ustvarjalnosti: urbanistične, urbanistično– arhitekturne in planerske delavnice, Ljubljana, Fakulteta za arhitekturo.

[1]http://reviewing.co.uk/research/experiential.learning.htm#axzz32vsdQljJ [2]http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_d/mod20.html [3]http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational–leadership/feb13/vol70/num05/Fundamentals–of– Creativity.aspx

Assist. Prof. Alenka Fikfak, PhD – PhD in architecture and urban planning; senior lecturer. Head of Chair of urbanism UL FA, Head of UL FA Management Board, member of Chamber UL FA. Heading the process of accreditation of the study program in urbanism, 2010–12 (bachelor and master’s), re–accreditation (unified master’s) study program in architecture, 2012–13. Research experience: spatial and landscape planning, planning of small settlements, ruralism and rural architecture, regulatory plans for the regulation of non–urban settlements, evolutionary constants of a settlement culture undergoing renovation, with particular reference to the coastal region, models for revitalisation of degraded landscape areas, analysis of trends of spatial development. Different EU projects/programmes.

Tech. Assist. Janez P. Grom – As technical assistant: since 2010 at the Chair of Urbanism headed by Assist. Prof. Alenka Fikfak, work with graduate students, ruralism and rural architecture course, several workshops. Private practice experience: Participation at the ASO Conference ‘Shifting planning culture in SEE: Development of Strategic Approaches in Urban Planning’ (2008). Spatial and landscape experiments with guidelines, proposals for the municipalities of Ljubno (2006), Nazarje (2006–2008), Mozirje (2007–2010). Spatial and landscape proposal following the realization for the Municipality of Mozirje (2008–2010). Criteria for urban revitalisation of Šmihelj.

Conservation analysis and development strategy for the Idrija city centre (2009). Urban plans for tourist zone development in Istria, Duba, Trsteno in Croatia (2009–2012). Urban plans for new settlements in Pekre in Slovenia, Novi Sad in Serbia (2009–2012). Several design, architectural and urban planning competitions (Post of Slovenia 2005–2008, Franciscan Monastery in Strunjan 2011 ...) several housing or public buildings (2008–2012).

| 65

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Indicators and Urban Design Strategies for Sustainable City Development

Tadej Glažar, Lars Bylund, Irena Ostojić Fakulteta za arhitekturo Zoisova 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia tadej.glazar@fa.uni–lj.si, lars.bylund@yahoo.se, irena.ostojic@guest.arnes.si

ABSTRACT Sustainable spatial development is a generally accepted value and a mandatory component of urban design, but at the same time it is neither uniformly defined nor standardized. Research and teaching of sustainable urban design should develop a comprehensive, objectively measurable method, which would help define base-line data (diagnose the current state of sustainability in urban area), identify targets (set sustainability goals) and provide urban design strategies to meet the set goals. The method presented in the paper is based on urban metabolism theory, which is a tool to define conceptual and empirical base-line data for assessing environmental sustainability in urban areas.The method was tested on urban design project in Savskonaselje in Ljubljana.

Key-Words: natural resources, sustainable urban development, Savsko naselje.

1 INTRODUCTION “City planning has been going on for quite a number of years with a rather incomplete toolbox.” Jan Gehl [1] Sustainable spatial development is a generally accepted value and mandatory component of urban design, but at the same time it is neither uniformly defined nor standardized. As soon as a project becomes operational, the questions about qualitative and quantitative sustainability indicators appear, to which there is no single answer in urban design practice.

What is the cause for it? Urban theory does not provide a single answer. Contemporary urban regions are complex and co-dependent systems of spatial-environmental, social-cultural-political and economic factors operating at local and global levels. Today, there is neither a single definition of sustainability nor a single set of sustainability indicators. On the contrary. Most of the institutions and programs at international, national and local level, dealing with sustainable urban development or sustainable goals, have their own set of criteria and definition.

It is characteristic that the definitions and criteria depend on the values and goals of the one who defines them.

According to Levett (1998) sustainable urban development is defined by two key criteria: sustaining the burdens onto natural resources and enabling good quality of life. Both criteria can be identified and objectively measured, therefore provide a framework for sustainable urban design method.

| 67

2

CONCEPTUAL AND EMPIRICAL BASELINE OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Definition of sustainable urban development Sustainable urban development is depended on balance between spatial - environmental, social and economic components that require material-energy, social and economic „inputs“ and produce material-energy, social and economic “outputs”. Sustainability operates simultaneously at all levels of the city; it is a complex and interdependent network of elements and associated measures (Bylund, 2006; Rudlin, 2009; Mostafavi and Dorethy, 2010; Rydin, 2011;Luederitz, 2013). Sustainable urban development is obtained only when imbedded in all levels and layers of the city and when environmental, spatial, social and economic needs are in balance.

Becker et al. (1997 in Kos, 2004) defined the relations between environmental-spatial, socio-cultural and economic factors with the concept of three levels of sustainable development that have to be observed simultaneously: analytical, normative and strategic. The analytical level brings empirical measuring of consequences of societal actions on the use of the natural resources and carrying capacity of the natural environment, the normative level checks the level and mode of societal responses to these findings, while the strategic level defines goals and measures for achieving sustainable development. Kos (2004) points out that interpretation of sustainable development must also consider the ‘motivation capacity’ of humanity, which encompasses both cognitive and value-related dimensions.

These findings give a clear answer to the question why sustainable development cannot be globally standardised.

It can be such on the analytical level, where the level of burdening of natural environment can be measured

fuel energy, water and materials, which are not efficiently exploited. They result in producing large amounts of emissions to air, water, soil, solid waste, waste water, waste heat and noise (Plut, 2006; Meijer et al., 2009; Pincetl, 2012; Leduc and Van Kann, 2013). The negative effects of linear urban metabolism are present on the global and local level. Products of fossil fuel combustion are carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause global climate changes (IPCC, 2007; MacKay, 2011; Kajfež Bogataj, 2012). On the local level negative effects are reflected in polluted air, water and soil, large amounts of hard waste, problems with drinking water, noise and urban heat islands. They reduce quality of life in urban areas, diminish suitability of environment for living and its carrying capacity for functioning of urban system. Inefficient use of natural resources and pollution cause economic costs due to rehabilitation of environmental damage and health problems.

Energy use is recognized as a key sustainability indicator in terms of efficient use of natural resources in urban areas (Liu et al., 2009; Pincetl et al., 2012). Urban physical metabolism is interpreted with quantitative energy flows, which in addition to energy also include flows of water, goods and waste and thus cover functioning of the entire urban system. Energy is needed for urban system to be established and to function; it is indicator of its effectiveness and efficiency. It correlates to other levels of urban system as it reflects cultural values and living standards of the population. Rational energy use is social responsibility because it is directly linked to the use of natural resources and degree of environmental pollution. Energy use as the evaluation tool for sustainability of urban areas is objective when calculated with the LCA method (Life Cycle Assessment), which provides control over environmental impacts of every single development or production phase of urban system, thus providing control over its impacts on local and global level (Liu et al., 2009).

68 |

| 69

Figure 1: Concept of sustainable urban system, adapted after Piencetl et al. (2012)

empirically, but when it comes to societal responses (normative level) or the definition of achieving goals and strategies (strategic level), these are conditioned by their local context and pertaining socio-cultural-economic environments.

Despite the complexity and mutual interdependence of components in sustainable cities the paper focuses on physical, spatial - structural level and its relations to natural resources as an entry point of the research. Spatial - environmental layer of the city operates in two levels: spatial - structural and spatial - perceptual. The later is defined by the identity and ambient, the former by the spatial structure composed of five basic spatial layers: land use, built space, open space, mobility systems and energy-communal infrastructure. Intertwining of the two defines context of space and integration into the cultural environment.

2.2 Efficient use of energy and natural resources–baseline data of sustainable urban development Spatial - structural level of the urban space is explained with the method of urban metabolism. The method examines energy - material flows and defines spatial - structural level of the city as a „system“ that requires energy – material inputs to function and produces energy – material outputs (Plut, 2006; Pincetl, 2012; Leduc and Van Kann, 2013). Sustainable city development reduces amount of inputs and outputs, efficiently uses natural energy resources and returns outputs back into urban system as recycled inputs (Plut, 2006; Meijer et al., 2009).

Unsustainable, linear urban metabolism of city occupies large areas of land and requires large amounts of fossil

Figure 2: Key sustainability criteria for spatial – structural level of the city, adapted after Meijer et al. (2009)

The framework described above defines objectively measurable base-line data to asses the state of sustainability of urban area in terms of burdening natural resources by indicators of: use of water, land, materials and energy; pollution of air, water and land by emissions, wastewaters, hard waste and waste energy.

It also defines objectively measurable goals for sustainable urban development in terms of burdening natural resources, which are: to reduce use of water, land, energy and materials, among which the use of energy by LCA method is the key sustainability indicator; to reduce output products of urban system, i.e. pollution in all forms into air, water and land (emissions, GHG, wastewaters, hard waste, waste energy); to maximise recycling of pollutants and their reuse as material, water, land and energy resources.

The definitions described above have been well known in the environmental sciences since 1970s, but have been considered mostly as technical questions and measures to be performed. It is important to become aware that the decisions on how the cities are developed, what patterns of land uses are defined, how the built and open spaces are structured, how mobility systems are organised in the city area, what principles of communal-energy systems are applied, have direct impact on the use and pollution of natural resources. For example: Ljubljana has high rates of air pollution due to moto-traffic (MOL, 2010). Theinformation should bean important starting point for all strategic, management and investment decisions on mobility systems in the city, which should improve the infrastructure for public transport, biking and pedestrians as well as reduce the standards for individual car mobility. In that case the development dilemmas such as whether to enlarge Dunajska cesta into a 6-lane city avenue, the analysis on the impact onthe air quality should give an objective argument to support the decision for sustainable development of the city.

principles and greening the roofs, providing energy production from renewables, enhance rain harvesting and greywater recycling; to reduce amount of waste by reusing existing buildings, providing facilities for recycling of waste, reduce the amount of wastewaters by arranging “rain” gardens for retention – slow percolation of run-off, protecting existing green areas and vegetation, setting green roofs due to absorption of the rainfall; to reduce noise by minimising car traffic and providing “green”sound barriers by the noise polluted roads, reducing speed of traffic in the area and on its borders;

Table 1: Analysis of natural resources use and objectives for urban design strategies

3 urban deSIGN STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3.1 Urban design project for Savsko neighbourhood in Ljubljana: the analysis Urban regeneration of Savskonaselje in Ljubljana is a project, run by four non-governmental organisations (ProstoRož, V.I.B.E., MHP,Saprabolt!) and co-financed by the City of Ljubljana. The area is located 2,5km from the city centre; it is 28ha large with the population of 8.000 people. The urban regeneration includes spatial, social and economic actions supported by the intensive work with local inhabitants.

70 |

| 71

Figure 3: Spatial analysis of Savsko neighbourhood, e.g. morphology, walking network, green spaces

The design studio of prof. Tadej Glažar at the Faculty of Architecture developed urban design project for the comprehensive spatial development of the neighbourhood. The analytical phase of the project included standard spatial analysis (Fig. 3), analysis of sustainability indicators for use of natural resources (Table 1) and analysis of local inhabitants wishes and needs that were collected by NGO ProstoRožin workshops with inhabitants.

to protect area form urban heat island by protecting existing green areas and vegetation, minimising asphalt paving, setting green roofs; the area is located in the inner city area and is achieving sufficient density, therefore it is not to be further built up.

In terms of sustainable use of natural resources key objectives for urban design were: to reduce energy use and pollution by car traffic by providing the missing programmes in the area (community services, work, leisure time), improving accessibility for pedestrians / bicycles within the neighbourhood and to the adjacent city districts; to reduce use of energy and water in buildings by reconstructing existing buildings with energy active design

3.2 Urban design project for Savsko naselje in Ljubljana: the concept The listed sustainability objectives were coordinated with the spatial analysis conclusions and inhabitants needs, which resulted in the development of the three leading concepts of urban design project: sustainable open space, sustainable mobility and sustainable infrastructure.

Figure 5: Sustainable open space concept for Savsko neighbourhood 72 |

Figure 4: Urban design project for Savsko neighbourhood

The analysis showed that the daily functions (kindergarten, school, food shops, bars, services) are provided within the walking distances in the neighbourhood (up to 400m). The diversity of programmes is located in the city district centre of Plavalaguna situated 1km away and in the city centre and regional shopping centre BTC, both located app. 2,5km from the neighbourhood. The population density is 280 inhabitants/ha with FSI 0,5 – 1,2. The location is situated in the inner compact city area, it is inhabited by the densities, that are sufficient to provide economic viability for social and commercial services therefor the area was not to bedensified with new constructions. The existing building structures were revitalised by enabling natural warming and cooling of the interior as well as improving natural lighting and ventilation.

neighbourhood and to enhance travels by public transport, cycling and walking within the neighbourhood and around the city. In order to achieve that, the following urban design strategies were applied: traffic network with clear user priorities: the mobility network was structured into connected networks with clear user priorities for pedestrians-cyclists, shared-spaces and moto-traffic, with good access to BUS stops within walking distances around the neighbourhood (300m); mini multi-modal transport hubs: there was a multiple choice of different mobility systems provided by the BUS stops with parking facilities for public and private bicycles; parking management: a dense network of bicycle parking facilities was established, car parking facilities for 0,7 parking / unit was provided on the public spaces and in the garages. The missing capacities were provided in the unused existing garages within the 600m distance of the neighbourhood.

Sustainable open space was designed by the following urban design strategies: mixed use: open spaces were organised to provide the missing programmes for spending leisure time (running track, sport and children playgrounds, open air fitness, pet park) and developing food self-sufficiency (open air food market, urban gardening); social spaces: network of open spaces was designed for socialising and establishing connections between public programs within the neighbourhood and on its borders; “ecological space�: open spaceswere designed to enable better local microclimate conditions (byshading, ventilation, evaporation from the water surface and vegetation), minimise quantity of wastewaters and rainwaters (by enabling seepage, retention, plant absorption), provide space for recycling of wastewaters and absorption of pollutants (by vegetation from soil, water and air), reduces noise from moto-traffic byvegetation.

Sustainable mobility concept followed the objective to diminish the number of car travels within the

Figure 6: Sustainable waste management concept for Savsko neighbourhood

| 73

Sustainable infrastructure was designed for water, energy and waste. It was designed by the 3R principles (reuse, reduce, recycle),enhancing self-sufficiency of Savsko neighbourhood in energy production, water collection and waste recycling. The waste was recognised as a key resource for production facilities and employment opportunity for local inhabitants.

CONCLUSION Sustainable urban design projects should be developed through a comprehensive method by: analysing the state of sustainability of urban area; setting the sustainability goals for development of urban area; defining urban design strategies to meet the set goals.

74 |

Starting point of sustainable urban design projects should be identification of problems considering sustainable development, which is defined as a balance between minimising burdens of natural resources and maximising the quality of life. In this paper aspects of burdening natural resources and the correlations to structuring of urban areas were discussed.

To provide the objective arguments on success of urban design strategies in meeting the sustainability goals, the continuous measurement of sustainability indicators should be performed and urban design strategies should be adapted in relation to the attainment of the set goals. Achieving the sustainability goals is crucially depended on the habits and life styles of the inhabitants, therefore the plans as described above are only a starting point for discussions and coordination with the local residents. Public participation should follow the two objectives: the first is to adjust the spatial plans to the needs and habits of the local inhabitants, on the other hand to raise awareness of the public and initiate behavioural changes into more sustainable life-styles. Last, but not least, city and state management administration should support the sustainability goals with financial and regulatory measures.

Teaching of sustainable urban design should provide a clear, objective framework, how structuring of urban space burdens the natural resources and enhances quality of life. At the same time it should provide understanding of multidisciplinary interactions between spatial, social and economic aspects within the urban environment.

uni-lj.si/, [28. 11. 2012].

MOL2010,Okolje v Mestni občini Ljubljana, MOL Oddelek za varstvo okolja, Ljubljana.

Mostafavi, M and Doherty, G 2010, Ecological urbanism, Harvard University Graduate School of design and Lars Muller Publishers, Cambridge.

Pincetl, S, Bunje, P and Holmes, D 2012, An expanded urban metabolism method: Toward a systems approach for assessing urban energy processes and causes, Landscape and Urban Planning, [el. ed.] 107 (3), pp. 193–202, available through: http://www.sciencedirect.com.nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/, [16. 11. 2012].

Plut, D 2006, Mesta in sonaravni razvoj, Znanstveno raziskovalni inštitut Filozofske fakultete, Ljubljana.

Rudlin, D and Falk, N 2009, Sustainable urban neighbourhood: Building the 21st Century Home,Architecural Press, Oxford.

Rydin, Y 2011, The purpose of planning: Creating sustainable towns and cities, The Policy Press, University of Bristol, Bristol. Štular, B. 2014, Učinek urbanega toplotnega otoka, Delo, 27.2.2014.

[1] The Human Scale, http://thehumanscale.dk.

| 75

Notes Data collected for Ljubljana, no available data for Savsko neighbourhood.

References Bylund, J 2006, Planning, Projects, Practice – A Human Geography of the Stockholm Local Investment Programme in HammarbySjöstad, Department of Human Geography, Stockholm.

EIU 2009, European Green City Index, Siemens AG,Munchen.

IPCC 2007,Climate Change 2007: Synthesis report, [el. ed.], available through: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_ and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_synthesis_report.htm, [12. 11. 2012].

Kajfež Bogataj, L 2012,Vročinovisvet,Cankarjevazaložba. Ljubljana.

Kos, D 2004, Tri ravnitrajnostnegarazvoja,Teorija in praksa, 41(1-2), pp. 332–339.

Leduc, WRWA and Van Kann, FMG 2013,Spatial planning based on urban energy harvesting toward productive urban regions,Journal of Cleaner Production, [el. ed.], 39 (01), pp. 180-190, available through: http://apps. webofknowledge.com.nukweb.nuk.uni-lj.si/, [16. 11. 2012].

Levett, R 1998, Sustainability indicators – integrating quality of life and environmental protection, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 161(3), pp. 291–302.

Liu, J, Matsumoto, T, Xue, Y 2009, ‘Applicability of Emergy analysis method to indicators for sustainable development by comparison with Exergy, LCA and footprint methods’ in M. Havranek (eds),Urban metabolism: measuring the ecological city, Charles University Environment Center, Prague.

Luederitz, C, Lang, DJ and Von Wehrden, H 2013, A systematic review of guiding principles for sustainable urban neighborhood development,Landscape and Urban Planning, 2013 (118), pp. 40–52.

MacKay, DJC 2009,Sustainable Energy — without the hot air, UIT Cambridge, Cambridge.

Meijer, M, Adriaens, F, van der Linden, O and Schik, W 2009, A next step to sustainable urban design in the Netherlands,Cities, [el. ed.]. 28 (6), pp. 536–544, available through: http://www.sciencedirect.com.nukweb.nuk.

Assoc. Prof. Tadej Glažar, MSc at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana explores regional context of architecture and urban space and its relations to the sustainable local, bioclimatic design of open and built spaces. Prof. Glažar is Associate Dean for international university cooperation at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana and member of Croatian Academy of Science and Arts. He regulary publishes scientific and professional articles in Slovene and foreign publications and has received a number of awards for the arcitectural and academic work.

Prof. Lars Bylund, at Bergen School of Architecture in Norway explores implementation of energy efficient building design and urban design. Prof. Bylund was involved in research and design of neighborhood Sjöstad Hammarby in Stockholm, which became a model example of sustainable low-carbon urban area. Currently he has been working on DigiEcoCity project in China, supported by the Finnish government and aimed to develop optimal urbanization through Nordic eco-knowledge and experience. DigiEcoCity is project for two cities, each for about 100.000 residents and developed to be zero carbon and energy self-sufficient.

Irena Ostojič is architect and urban designer with 15 years of professional experience. She is a PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana, where she has been developing a system for measurable, sustainable and low - carbon city under the menthorship of prof.

Tadej Glažar, prof. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj and prof. Lars Bylund.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Space and Recreation

Aleš Golja University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, Zoisova 12, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering Jamova 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ales.golja@fgg.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT Recreational activities are key to promoting better quality of life that allows people to appreciate more their surroundings and to develop the sense of community through social activities. At the same recreational activities contribute to creating a better living environment as well as to the planning process and the creation of it.

Quality of life is a very common expression that describes a number of factors, such as personal health, costs of living, social and environmental settings, availability of services, possibilities for education, availability of suitable jobs nearby, availability of cultural and recreational activities.

This paper aims at presenting the course of Space and Recreation, which is based on experiential learning and is performed at the Faculty of Architecture in Ljubljana. In this course, students learn a variety of recreational activities of the open space and the multiplier effects of land–use for recreation (aesthetic value, flexibility and multifunctionality, connectedness, playfulness, sustainability, etc.).

On the basis of their own perception of space from different perspectives, such as co–creators of the future living culture and image of open space in an innovative and creative way of looking for spatial solutions, they improve the current situation in the area designated for recreational use. The program is performed as a fieldwork – in natural environment and workshops.

Key–Words: Space, Recreation, Quality of life, Well–being, Personal health 1 INTRODUCTION Outdoor recreation is often perceived as a natural activity and its use as well as implementation of programs do not require any special managerial work or knowledge. Thus, such understanding conceals the effects of activities on the environment and prevents communities to protect nature before permanent degradation due to uncontrolled use (Simoneti, Zavodnik Lamovšek, 2009).

Good planning of recreation can have a significant influence on the quality of life in society and for the individual.

Quality of life means creative mutual influence of diversities of forms of society and personal satisfaction. It thrives where individuals, communities and organizations are able to contribute to the creation of the belief that

| 77

all things are possible and are interested in maintaining balance in dealing with stressors and resources (Koller, 2009).

Spatial planning is involved in the process of ensuring better quality of life by supporting efforts to address specific deficiencies. Improvements in access to services and infrastructure development are an important contribution to this process of improving the quality of life, while recreation plays an important role as complement to other activities.

Recreational activities play an important role in achieving sustainable development in areas such as conservation of resources, equality, cooperation and economic development. Recreation is also important means of linking environmental, social and economic priorities that contribute to building sustainable communities, restoring neighbourhoods and increasing participation in activities by using the resources of the community. Recreation will therefore be an important contribution to the overall effort to improve the quality of life and its stability.

Spatial planning for recreational activities is an opportunity for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach at local, regional and national levels. At the same time it is also an opportunity for participation of the private, public, and voluntary sectors. Thus, it is possible to create planning and design of space with added value that contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

Also basic knowledge of students of architecture about physical education is important, as this helps them understand better spatial planning, open space for recreation proposal. It about understands the needs of those who use the space and the type of environment for recreation use [1].

78 |

2 PROBLEM FORMULATION Before defining problems of our research area and searching the solutions with students, we need to discuss about the themes of spatial planning recreation from several aspects: Improving quality of life and well–being, Environmental sustainability, health improvement, Local economic viability, Community safety, improving education [2]. We also need to consider the most important planning action of this century –New urbanism, with the following principles: walkability, connectivity, mixed–use & diversity, mixed housing, quality architecture & urban design, traditional neighborhood structure, increased density, smart transportation, quality of life [3].

High quality spatial planning of recreation (Figure 1) can influence the quality of life and several social factors that are an integral part of quality of life [2]: – Environment: recreation can contribute to sustainable use of natural resources and protection of the biotic system. Recreation can play an important role in the achievement of sustainable development in areas such as natural resources, equality, participation and economic development. Sports and recreation are also important means of integration of environmental, social and economic priorities that contribute to building sustainable communities, rebuilding neighborhoods and increasing participation in activities that use resources of the entire community. Also, there are various indirect contributions, such as providing opportunities for recreation in the vicinity of settlements, thereby reducing the need to travel. Sport and recreation will therefore be an important contribution to the overall effort to improve the quality of life and its stability.

– Safety: Recreation can directly help to reduce social exclusion and resentment. The main contribution of recreation to the safety of the community is indirect reduction of crime, particularly that caused by young people. Although there is no direct link between participation in recreation and reduction of crime, there is an indirect link. Recreation provides sense and distraction to those who are more inclined to participate in harmful and criminal acts, and thus part of a series of measures that can help reduce these problems.

– Economy: Recreation contributes directly and indirectly to local and national economic exuberance. The diversity of the local economy is one of the building blocks of sustainable communities and promotion of economic vitality is its main concern and goal. Today the biggest problems of the economy is associated with weakening industry that changes consumer demand, creates unemployment and causes shortage of skilled workers. Recreation plays a potential role in all of these areas, with some direct and indirect contributions to the economy, such as: opportunities for investment and regeneration, employment, improved possibilities of living, working and travelling, reduction of absences from work due to illness, improvement of motor skills. On the other hand, at the local and regional levels recreation always provides a focal point for various industries.

– Health: Physical activity in the form of recreation contributes to better health of the individual, it increases the perception and experience of well–being and the sense of belonging to the surroundings. For human development and for normal state of health regular movement is absolutely necessary. Children and adults

who are deprived of playful moments with movement and relaxation, often experience stress, which is not released during physical and social activity. The reason for this is also poor motivation, health problems and mental pressures. Thus, there is a strong link between regular exercise and good physical and mental health, so it is very important to encourage and enable people to participate in sport and physical activity.

– Education: Lifelong education is basic for health and sports excellence, and it should start the early years of human life. Participation in recreation is essential for the development of lifelong physical activity and establishes a base for the sporting excellence. Children should be encouraged to participate in recreation activities, and must be given adequate opportunities to conduct sports activities. These may include the provision of facilities for multipurpose use as well as safe and regulated infrastructure. Allowing children to play is very important, because the game provides social contacts and ways of expressing emotions. For example, climbing on the climbing wall and other physical activities are useful in learning about their own abilities, which is also useful for the child’s future. Thoughtful planning of spaces for active educational games, using less wasteful and more environmentally appropriate materials leads to solutions. In early adolescence environment has a major impact on learning through experience, which is essential for planners. The quality of various recreational exercises enables a larger number of children quality learning about different recreational activities, and could help them on their way to the top sports results in adulthood. It also affects their later active life.

| 79

Figure 1: Philosophy of Spatial Planning for Recreation

3 PROBLEM SOLUTION The methodology of spatial planning for recreation is based on an interdisciplinary connection of expert knowledge of different professions. The student workshop is implemented at predetermined time steps: informing participants about the problems, definition of the starting point, field work with a visit to the project area (analysis, inventory), preparation of plans, creation of the final materials and presentation of the final tasks (Figure 2). For successful solving of spatial problems related to the topic of recreational planning, students must maintain a high level of: insatiable curiosity, testing knowledge through experience, continued refinement of the senses, willingness to embrace ambiguity, developing a balance between art and science, cultivating grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise, recognizing the senses and appreciating that all things are connected [4]. With student workshops we form answers to concrete professional questions, set up a dialogue between different professions, more permanent professional, personal ties and we form a common cultural awareness about the importance of organised environment (Gabrijelčič, 2010, p.151).

“Education for sustainable development and responsible treatment of space is the objective that can be continuously upgraded through experiential learning and project work in the workshops” (Fikfak, 2012).

Figure 2: Student workshop –The Creativity game

80 |

4 CONCLUSION Implementation of the educational process through student workshops is crucial to promoting a better quality of life and allows students to appreciate more their surroundings, to develop a sense of community through recreational activities that contribute to creating a better living environment, the process of planning and designing of it, to get acquainted with various aspects of physical locations, land use and social factors that make it an attractive place for recreation.

Such an approach in solving spatial problems for recreational activities demonstrates that: – Experiential learning is very important in the educational process of future experts who will deal with land–use planning in urban and countryside area for the needs of recreation activities.

– Research of space represents a big challenge for the students because of its rich natural and cultural heritage.

– With such approach the student gets a kind of a free playground in open space, which highly activates the process of idea creation in terms of creativity and innovativeness to solve complex situations.

– We might say that such spatial solving of problems creates the creativity game for the students in the process of learning and scientific research.

– Students workshops – new know–how – help cultivate independent thinking, balance mind and body to reduce stress, help them find opportunity in uncertainty, think creatively, improve decision making for the development of recreational activities in open space.

References 1. Fikfak, A 2012: Delavnica kot oblika izkustvenega učenja. Ljubljana: Znanstvena monografija, prva izdaja, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za arhitekturo,: 34–40.

2. Gabrijelčič, P. 2010: Študentske urbanistično–arhitekturne delavnice. Pomembno strokovno orodje pri izkanju prostorskih rešitev za urejanje mestnih jeder. Dialog (Maribor), letn. 46, 7/8, str. 151–168.

3. Koller, M.,Neugebauer, EA.,Augustin, M.,Büssing, A.,Farin, E.,Klinkhammer–Schalke, M.,Lorenz, W.,Münch, K.,Petersen–Ewert, C.,Steinbüchel, Nv.,Wieseler, B., 2009: Assessment of quality of life in health services research–conceptual, methodological and structural prerequisiteson.. The German Network for Health Services Research.

4. Simoneti, M., Zavodnik Lamovšek, A., 2009: Prostor za vsakdanjo rabo: širimo znanje za sodelovanje v urejanju prostora. Ljubljana, Ministrstvo RS za okolje in proctor, Direktorat za proctor.

[1] http://www.jdta.co.nz/architecture–projects/sports–and–leisure–architecture–/ [2]http://www.sportengland.org/media/121927/document–8–spatial–planning–for–sport–guidance–on–se– aspirations–and–experience–5–.pdf [3] http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism/principles.html [4] https://www.entheos.com/academy/courses/How–to–Think–Like–Leonardo–Da–Vinci

| 81

Lecturer Aleš Golja, MSc. As a lecturer in a special educational unit of the Faculty of Civil Engineering since 1998, I manage and implement the contents of the course of physical education in the second and third years of higher education and university studies at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering. This course was also taught, and the first and second years of the Faculty of Architecture before the renovation of programs. As part of the course I implement carried out yearly annual workshops on the diversity of leisure activities in open space having regard to the criteria of environmental protection and natural resources. As an assistant of Urbanism, (from since 2012) I lead the selective subject course Space and Recreation for students of the Faculty of Architecture.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Creativity and ethics in landscape architecture study program

Mojca Golobič University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department for landscape architecture Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia mojca.golobic@bf.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT The questions of sustainable development are complex and future oriented. Knowledge about our environment, which can be provided by natural and social sciences is an indispensable basis to find the answers, however usually not enough. Creativity and ethics are two skills that are fundamental for teaching sustainability. While creativity is indispensable for developing sustainable solutions, ethic provides an evaluation framework to select the good ones. This contribution refers on the strategies from the UNESCO Teaching and learning for a sustainable future program to reflect on how these are used in landscape architecture study program to enhance development of creativity and ethic in students. Enquiry learning, community problem solving and values learning are most relevant in this respect. Although we do not have the empirical evidence and despite the lack of adjective “sustainable” in the course titles and curricula, we argue that sustainable development is deeply incorporated in landscape architecture study, and that it teaches students methods and tools to contribute to its implementation.

Key–Words: landscape architecture, creativity, ethics.

1 INTRODUCTION Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, and requires using the natural resources within their carrying capacity (WCED 1987). A more general version refers to balancing the environmental, social and economic aspects of society (The General Assembly 2000). Both assume that human development is not without limits: the freedom of development is restricted by natural and social boundaries. Sustainable development therefore requires solving conflicts arising from encroachment of these limits. Knowledge about our environment, which can be provided by natural and social sciences is an indispensable basis guide our actions, however usually not enough. There is no one and only right answer to the question how to act, and it cannot be discovered. It has to be created in a deliberative process. The creativity is needed to develop the possible alternative ways of development, while the ethical framework is needed to be able to choose among these the one, which is socially

| 83

84 |

just and least environmentally aggressive.

All definitions of sustainable development also require that we see the world as a system—a system that connects space; and a system that connects time. Landscape is therefore at the heart of sustainability (Wascher 2000): it is a spatio–temporal concept and a result of the interplay between human and natural processes.

In past decades, several landscape concepts were developed, addressing one or more aspects of sustainable development. Landscape is considered a part of environment with a certain carrying capacity (European Environmental Agency, 1991). Economic view considers landscape as a part of the total capital stock (Schnell et al., 2002), within the social aspect, landscape is a part of social capital (Antrop, 2006) or a source of place attachment and identity (Proshansky et al. 1983; Kianicka et al. 2006, Palang et al. 2006). All three aspects are integrates in the definition of “sustainable landscapes” as multifunctional landscapes providing functions and services, which are valued as desirable by society (de Groot 2006; Dax 2001, Potschin and Haines–Young, 2006).

These values are considered to be endangered by the contemporary transformation process driven by market globalization, demographic changes and climate change, which are considered unsustainable (Palang et al. 2006).

Their impacts on landscapes include decrease of species and ecosystem diversity (Tappeiner et al., 2006) and loss of landscape diversity, coherence and identity (ELC 2000, Antrop 2006). Another reason why landscape change is also perceived as negative is the lack of opportunity of the local population to actively influence the process (Buchecker et al. 2003). As a response to these threats to landscape values, European landscape convention (ELC, 2000) identifies three approaches: landscape conservation, management and planning. Landscape conservation implies protecting of a limited set of the most valuable landscapes together with practices that have created them (Ashworth 1991; Waitt 2000). However, landscape convention concerns also ordinary and degraded landscapes (ELC, 2000), which possess certain potential to enhance sustainable development (Antrop 2006). To realize and enhance this potential, the landscapes have to be planned and managed. Landscape management means action, from a perspective of sustainable development, to ensure the regular upkeep of a landscape, so as to guide and harmonise changes which are brought about by social, economic and environmental processes (ELC 2000). Planning is understood as linking knowledge and action (Friedman 1973). In the case of landscape planning, consideration of natural features often leads to restriction of human action.

The concepts of sustainability have been inherent part of landscape architecture ever since the definition of its foundation as a discipline. Among its many definitions, the one of Sylvia Crowe (1969), describing it as “creative conservation” seems best to underlie its two central pillars: ethics and creativity.

2 TEACHING ETHICS AND CREATIVITY IN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE European landscape convention binds its members to promote landscape education, including organizing school and university courses which address the values attaching to landscapes and the issues raised by their protection, management and planning (ELC 2000). In Slovenia, these topics are included in the Landscape architecture study programme at Ljubljana University, Biotechnical Faculty. While many contemporary study programmes in different disciplines boast with the adjective “sustainable”, there are very few such among the landscape architecture programs. In Slovenian landscape architecture study program there is no such subject.

Do we therefore teach sustainability?

The basic concepts of the study are balanced relations between the social needs and environment, using the landscape /environmental planning and design approaches. Besides providing the knowledge, necessary for the decision about conservation, management and planning of landscapes, the aim of the study program is also to raise the experts, sensitive and responsive to the need of users and with ethical attitude towards nature. The topics and approaches applied in the landscape architecture course can be related to all eight strategies of the UNESCO programme (figure 1), as well as creativity and ethics as two most important pillars. In the following chapters we briefly address all 8 strategies and provide a more elaborate discussion on those, which are more relevant for ethics and creativity.

2.1 Experiential learning and learning outside the classroom Landscape is a personal experience of everybody, experienced not only by visual but also by all other senses (Kljenak et al. 2013). Without immediate contact, teaching about landscape would not make sense. From the first year, and in many classes, students get to know the object of their profession in field trips (figure 2) and different methods of field research in a range of landscapes: from urban to agricultural and natural. The teaching

Figure 1: The relation of eight strategies of the UNESCO programme to developing ethics and creativity within landscape architecture study

of landscape design begins at the micro scale of immediate environment (private garden, urban park), where the analysis derives from the knowledge gained by personal experience, and the evaluation from the needs of place users. The scale of gradually widens to regional scale landscapes (e.g. Alps), where the experience needs to be gained through different media and representatives. The personal experience helps students to better understand the needs of their clients and different groups of society and to develop critical and ethical attitude, by asking not only what is good (for the client) but also what is right (for society and nature).

2.2 Enquiry learning From their second year, students learn in studios, where they are given certain real–life problem, and have to go – individually and/or in groups – through the complete planning process. This is structured in 6 key steps and corresponding »models« (Steinitz 1990): goal setting, analysis (presentation and evaluation models), proposing alternative solutions (change models), evaluation and comparison of alternative solutions (impact and evaluation models) and choice of the solution (decision models) (figure 3). Especially the first part of this process involves different types of enquiry, e.g. research and articulation of the problem, data acquisition, evaluation and processing. Many of these tasks also involve co–operation with other students, experts, residents and decision–makers.

Figure 2: Students of landscape architecture gain much of their knowledge in interaction with landscape

| 85

which teaches concepts and methods of participation. Students learn the rationale of public participation and techniques to manage participative planning processes. They also learn the pitfalls and barriers of putting participation concept into practice.

2.5 Appropriate assessment There are little recipes and standardised procedures in landscape planning. Each problem is unique and has to be approached from scratch. The only way of learning it is by doing and receiving appropriate feedback from relevant critics. Teachers are important, but not the only evaluators of their work. Especially in higher grades, the assessment and feedback process is provided by external experts, clients, users of the area, public administrators and decision–makers. They provide assessment and feedback of students work at regular intervals throughout the process. The comments are often diverging, and students have to learn to deal with it and to decide which comments to take aboard and how.

2.6 Values education Values implicitly or explicitly underlie proposing and deciding for any change in the landscape. The evaluation process is introduced to students as linking objectives and interests (researched by social sciences) to physical characteristics of landscapes (researched by natural sciences) with aims of developing a solution. This knowledge is fundamental and at the same time also unique for the landscape architect. The interests are not only different, but also sometimes implicit, often conflicting, and always changing in response to different driving forces, including the proposed plan itself. In the landscape valuation and planning course these values are explicitly dealt with by using suitability models (McHarg 1969; Steinitz 2012), where landscape features and processes are evaluated from the two different aspects: attractiveness (for development) and vulnerability. These, often opposing interests are mapped and can be used as a base for developing alternative proposals and for optimizing

86 |

| 87

Figure 3: Planning process with adjacent landscape planning models (after: Lyle 1985; Johannesen et al. 1998; Steinitz 1990)

2.3 Future problem solving and storytelling Landscape planning – as any planning– is inherently future oriented. According to European landscape convention (ELC 2000), “landscape planning” means strong forward–looking action to enhance, restore or create landscapes.

Landscape scenarios are taught as a tool to better understand the driving forces behind the landscape change, to test the strategies of landscape planning and management, to set the visions and landscape objectives. While prospective scenarios are used to research the problem and to understand the driving forces and dynamics of the landscape in which we plan to intervene, the normative scenarios are used to set the objectives and to develop the alternatives.

spatial development (figure 4). In the phase of decision models, where a decision has to be made between different alternatives, the students are taught to use multicriteria evaluation in the form of comparative analysis of alternative proposals from the aspects of economic, functional, environmental and societal value.

2.4 Community problem solving Most of the studio assignments involve solving a community problem. This is usually a conflict between protection and development, between different development incentives and/or users of space. Students get inputs not only form their teachers, but also from the users of the concerned area. This interaction provides knowledge exchange and often results in innovative ideas. In their last year students deal with more abstracts concepts, such as social construction of reality (Berger and Luckman, 1967). According to this concept, landscape in not only physical reality, but a result and at the same time the factor of identity on national, group and individual level. The change in landscape therefore requires users to remodel their identities, which can result in rejection of development proposals. Students are therefore acquainted with the concept of “participatory planning”

3 CONCLUSION Sustainable development depends not only on (inter)national policies of protection and development, but also on everyday decisions about acting (or refraining to act), which are taken by individuals, business managers, municipalities or state governments. The “sustainability” of these decisions depends a great deal on knowledge we have, but also on the ways the decisions are taken. Although education is primarily aimed at building solid knowledge base, the experts also need to be socially and ethically aware; sensitive for the needs of people and responsible towards nature, as well as creative to produce the solutions to complex problems. We do not have the empirical evidence whether and to what extent these goals are achieved in the study program for landscape architects at the University of Ljubljana. Teaching allows no controlled experiment. We are, however positive

Figure 4: Example of value maps: attractiveness for industry development (left), vulnerability of environment due to industrial activity (centre) and synthesis: suitability for industry in Škofja Loka Municipality (Golobic et al. 2006).

that despite the fact that no single subjects boasts with the adjective “sustainable” in its title, and not many of these will be found in the course curricula, that the idea of sustainable development is deeply incorporated in landscape architecture study, and that it teaches students methods and tools to contribute to its implementation.

88 |

References Antrop M 2006, ‘Sustainable landscapes: contradiction, fiction or utopia?’, Landscape and urban planning, 75 pp.187–197.

Ashworth GJ 1991, Heritage planning: conservation as the management of urban change. Geo Pres, Groningen.

Berger PL and Luckmann T 1966, The Social Construction of Reality, Anchor, Garden City, NY. Buchecker M., Hunziker M and Kienast F 2003, ’Participatory landscape development: overcoming social barriers to public involvement’, Landscape and urban planning, 64 pp. 29–46.

Crowe S, 1969, Landscape planning: a policy for an overcrowded world. IUCN, Morges, Switzerland.

Dax T 2001, ’Endogenous Development in Austria’s Mountain Regions: From a Source of Irritation to a Mainstream Movement’, Mountain Research and Development 21(3), pp. 231–235. de Groot R 2006, ’Function–analysis and valuation as a tool to assess land use conflicts in planning for sustainable, multi–functional landscapes’, Landscape and urban planning 75, pp. 175–186.

European landscape convention (ELC) 2000, T–LAND 06e. Document established by the Secretary General, the General Directorate of Education, Culture,Sport and Youth, and Environment, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.

Friedman J 1973, Retracking America: A theory of Transactive planning, Anchor Press, New York.

Golobič M, Cof A and Gulič, A. 2006, Vulnerability, attractiveness and suitability analysis of the area of Škofja Loka municipality for production activities. Urban planning institute of the RS, Ljubljana.

Johannesen JA, Olaisen J and Olsen B 1998, ’The philosophy of science, planning and decision theories’, Built environment 24, 2–3, pp. 155–168.

Kljenak M, Kurdija S, Polič M and Golobič M 2013, ’Experiencing Dalmatia : what constitutes the sensory landscape identity of the Dalmatia region?’ Društvena istraživanja, 22, 2, pp. 277–302.

Kianicka S, Buchecker M, Hunziker M and Muller–Boker U 2006, ’Locals’ and tourists’ sense of place: a case study in a Swiss Alpine village’. Journal of Mountain Research and Development. 26 (1) pp. 55–63 Lyle JT 1985, Design for human ecosystems, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.

McHarg IL 1969, Design with nature, Natural History Press, Garden City, New York.

Palang H, Printsman A, Konkoly Gyuro E, Urbanc M, Skowronek E and Woloszyn W 2006, ’The forgotten rural landscapes of central and eastern Europe’. Landscape Ecology 21 (3), pp. 347–357.

Proshansky H, Fabian AK and Kaminoff R 1983. ’Place–identity: Physical world socialization of the self. ’ Journal of environmental psychology 3, pp. 57–83.

Schnell KD, Scherer R, Berwert A, Bieger T and Rutter H 2002. ’Managing and monitoring sustainable regional development in alpine regions’ in Bade FJ (ed.). Proceedings of the 4th Congress of the European regional science association, August 27–31, Dortmund, Germany Steinitz C 2012, A framework for geodesign – Changing geography by design, ESRI, Redlands California.

Steinitz C 1990, ’A framework for theory applicable to the education of landscape architects (and other environmental design professionals) ’, Landscape Journal, 9 (2), pp. 136–143.

Tappeiner U, Tasser E, Leitinger G and Tappeiner U 2006, ’Landnutzung in den Alpen: Historische entwiclung und zukunftige szenarien’ in Psenner R and Lackner R (eds.). Die Alpen im jahr 2020, Alpine space – man and environment vol.1, Innsbruck university press, Innsbruck.

The General Assembly 2000, United Nations Millennium Declaration, United Nations.

Waitt G 2000, ’Consuming heritage: Perceived historical authencity’, Annals of tourism research 27 (4), pp. 835– 862.

Wascher DM (ed.) 2000, Proceedings of European Workshop on Landscape Assessment as a Policy Tool, European Centre for Nature Conservation and The Countryside Agency, Tilburg, Cheltenham.

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) 1987, Our common future, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

| 89

Assoc. Prof. Mojca Golobič, PhD, graduated and earned a PhD in landscape planning at University of Ljubljana, Biotechnical faculty. For 13 years she has worked as a researcher at the Urban planning institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Since 2003 she is affiliated with the University of Ljubljana, where she took a full time lecturing position in 2010. Presently she teaches the courses on Landscape evaluation, Planning theory and methods, Landscape typology, management and conservation and Public participation. Since 2012 she is head of the Department for Landscape architecture. She was Fulbright visiting lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design and visiting lecturer at several universities in USA and Europe. Her research work focuses in methodological issues of environmental and land–use planning, strategic impact assessments and public involvement in planning processes.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Students’ Conceptions, Methods And Approaches in Learning For Sustainable Development Maja Terlević, Maruška Šubic Kovač, Andreja Istenič Starčič Maja Terlević, Faculty of Education, Cankarjeva 5, 6000 Koper, Slovenia Maruška Šubic Kovač, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Jamova cesta 2, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia Andreja Istenič Starčič, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Jamova cesta 2, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia maja.terlevic@yahoo.com, maruska.subic–kovac@fgg.uni–lj.si, andreja.starcic@siol.net

ABSTRACT The concept of sustainable development is often ambiguous, widely misunderstood and exploited for various purposes. Numerous studies indicate the absence of consensus regarding the definition of this unstable concept, which is directly linked to the process of its formation. The first step in the direction of education for sustainable development is to understand the multiple meanings of the concept of sustainable development. In the past, all three dimensions of sustainable development, i.e. environmental, economic and social (the cultural dimension is promoted in the last decade) were discussed separately or in pairs. Only more recently, in the last three decades, became discussion about sustainable development more holistic. However, the education for sustainable development is still dominated by the emphasis and consideration mainly on environmental issues, which is not characteristic only in the Slovenian education system, but is also encountered in many other countries.

In this paper we describe the emergence and development of the concept of sustainable development and activities in the field of sustainable development in higher education. We present an empirical investigation, which took place at the university level at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in Ljubljana, about students’ conceptions of sustainable development and the methods and approaches in learning for sustainable development. The results showed that the majority of students know only individual dimensions of sustainable development and the use of a variety of methods and approaches to teaching and learning for sustainable development. Investigation of such views provides important evidence and need for different approaches to learning and teaching, which will encourage a more holistic view of this important subject and contribute to the achievement of principles of sustainable development.

Key–words: Sustainable development, education for sustainable development, student, teaching and learning methods, quantitative research.

1 INTRODUCTION Research about the history and development of the concept of sustainable development (Godard, 1994; Nordhausen, 1998; Pezzey and Toman, 2002; Vivien, 2003) indicate that the lack of consensus regarding the

| 91

definition of the term sustainable development is indirectly related to its creation process. Environment and scarcity of natural resources have economists taken partly into account for centuries, emphasizing the link between the land and wealth. The turning point of the discussion of limits to growth begins after 1970 with the report of the Club of Rome ‘’Limits to Growth’’, where relationship between the exponential growth of the world economy, population and resource consumption from the industrial revolution on were discussed and with the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, where the concept eco development was introduced (UNEP–UNCTAD, 1974). After 1980, the use of the concept of eco development starts slowly to withdraw, the concept of sustainable development started to emerge. In 1987, report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future also known as the Brundtland Report, from the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), defined the definition of sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The three pillars of sustainable development; environmental, economic and social (in the last decade, also the cultural pillar) interact with each other and addressing sustainable development from different perspectives, e.g. ecocentrism (system of values which are nature–centered, as opposed to human–centered), biocentrism (life and biology are central to being, reality, and the cosmos) and anthropocentrism (the belief that human beings are the central or most significant species on the planet), depending to which area is devoted the most attention.

92 |

1.1 Teaching and learning for sustainable development At the conference in Stockholm in 1972 (UNEP, 1972), there was officially recognized at the international level, that education plays an important role in promoting sustainable development. Since then, number of academic statements, documents, guidelines and partnerships have been designed in order to promote education for sustainable development. However, sustainable development remains ‘’relatively new, innovative idea’’ in most universities (Lozano, 2006:788). Although in the past decade, efforts intensified at the highest levels for the corresponding adjustment of the educational systems and processes towards sustainability and sustainable development, this still doesn’t solve the conceptual dilemma of sustainable development and education for sustainable development. One of the problems is still too much emphasis on environmental issues in addressing education for sustainable development, which is not only a characteristic of Slovenian education system, but it is also encountered in other countries, which are in the implementation of the Decade active for a longer period of time. Partly this derives from the fact that in many places the approach to the education for sustainable development is taken from the field of environmental education and from the one–sided perception of the very concept of sustainable development. Webster (2004) believes that certain areas of sustainable development are separated from each other and that the integration of these areas (economical, environmental, social and cultural) is in some way optional. Furthermore, he considers (ibid.) that it is a reflection of the mechanical view of sustainable development; e.g. economic growth, which provides the means to protect the environment, ensures the cleaner production and promotes “social progress”.

The first step in the direction of education for sustainable development is to understand the multiple meanings of the term sustainable development. Today, it is clear that the transfer and accumulation of knowledge from the field of sustainable development, is no longer enough. Thinking in terms of ‘’if people will learn about environmental issues, their behavior will change’’ is now seen as a very simplistic and naive (Sterling, 2001, 2004). To fill curricula with new contents – one of the biggest teachers fear in general – does not lead to sustainable development. It will require a different approach to learning (and teaching) which will enable to achieve sustainability objectives. In the last decade a different opinions of experts regarding the introduction and implementation of sustainable development in education are emerging.

Tilburyjeva (2007) believes that for education for sustainable development are important the following components: systems thinking, the ability to see a vision for the future, critical thinking and reflection, partnership for change and participation. Müller–Christ et al. (2013) suggest the following ways to influence the introduction and implementation of sustainable development within educational organizations: the introduction of an additional subject in the field of sustainable development, support versatile minded people, external pressures, the declaration of sustainable development at the university and incentives for professional development. Maretić

Požarnik (2008) believes that all goals of education for sustainable development can’t be sufficiently achieved only with a use of traditional methods, mainly with frontal – teaching– central methods (lecture, discussion, chat, narration, explanation). She proceeds (ibid.) that much more can be achieved in particular by using the following forms and methods based on experiential learning: group work or collaborative learning, interactive lessons (dialogues, debates, discussions), project work, role playing, simulations, instructional games, direct experience in nature (tours, excursions). Erčulj Sedmak et al, (2008) presents, the following methods and techniques for teaching and learning, that have been shown to be effective in education for sustainable development: mind mapping, concept folders, research literature, experiment, case study, problem–based learning. UNESCO (2009), suggests following teaching and learning strategies that can help students achieve the wide range of knowledge, skill and values objectives of Education for Sustainable Development: experiential learning, storytelling, values education, enquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom, community problem solving. Maretič Požarnik (2008:28) believes, that in the knowledge society, demanding learning objectives focused on the development of higher cognitive functions, including the development of creative, critical thinking, the ability to solve complex problems, integration of knowledge and their use in new and unpredictable situations, are gaining increasing importance and weight and also contribute in training and motivating students for continuous updating of knowledge – lifelong learning.

2 RESEARCH Even though, that in the past two decades, efforts to introduce and implement measures of sustainable development in higher education, had intensified, the education for sustainable development is still dominated by the emphasis and consideration mainly on environmental issues, which is not characteristic only in the Slovenian education system, but is also encountered in many other countries too. Only the accumulation of knowledge by filling the curriculum with new additional content in the field of sustainable development, does not contribute to new knowledge, creation of critical and creative thinking and functioning in a constantly changing world. Zupan (2011) believes that one of the major challenges of our time, is the use of modern methods and approaches to teaching and learning at all levels of education. Traditional educational methods and approaches still dominate, sometimes even requiring from pupils and students repetition, rather than encourage critical thinking, analysis and synthesis, and creative use of the information provided. There is a need for new methods and approaches to teaching and learning that will encourage a different way of thinking and work towards sustainable development.

The purpose of the research is to present the emergence and development of the sustainable development, students’ conceptions of sustainable development and the use of different methods and approaches to teaching and learning about sustainable development in higher education.

We have formulated the following research questions: – RQ1: What are students’ conceptions of sustainable development in the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in Ljubljana?

– RQ2: How often and what methods and approaches in learning about sustainable development are used by students of the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in Ljubljana?

Based on the research questions we set the following hypotheses: – H1: Students’ conceptions of sustainable development are linked to the specific areas of sustainable development.

– H2: Teaching and learning about sustainable development it’s still dominated by traditional educational methods and approaches.

In theoretical part of the study we used a descriptive (narrative) method, the review of foreign and domestic sources, literature and transparent research from the field of sustainable development, education of sustainable development and methods and approaches in teaching and learning in higher education. In the empirical part, we carried out non–experimental quantitative research and collected data using the designed questionnaire on the sample of students from the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in Ljubljana. Sample represents the 13,77 % of the total population of students at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in Ljubljana. Sampling

| 93

was done by a dedicated sampling method. For the purpose of research and verification of hypotheses we set up the measurement instrument – the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 15 questions: 3 closed questions, 3 open questions and 8 questions which consist of several items, including Likert–type scale. Respondents ranked the 5 – point scale as follows: importance (1 – not at all important, 5 – very important), frequency (1 – never, 5 – very often) and consent (1 – strongly disagree, 5 – completely agree). Analysis method to determine the internal consistency reliability of the measurement instrument showed good internal consistency and reliability of the instrument used.

3 RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION These are the preliminary findings from a survey of 129 students from Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana. There were 129 completed questionnaires, 63,6 % of respondents were male, 36,4 % were women. The average age of the surveyed students was 24 years. The largest proportion of respondents (37.2%) are enrolled in master’s study programm, 1st year, followed by students (24.8%) bachelor degree programm, 1st year (university study) and students (24.0%) bachelor degree programm, 3rd year ((university study). Other respondents (7, 0%) are enrolled in bachelor degree programm, 3rd year (higher education professional study) and in level II, master’s study programm, 2nd year.

94 |

3.1 The familiarity of students with the term sustainable development To the question Too what extent are you familiar with the term sustainable development?, more than half of students (55%) believe that they are familiar, followed by students (26.4%) who are neither familiar nor unfamiliar and students (7.8%) who are not familiar with the term sustainable development. In the study Eyuboglu et al.

(2010), come up with similar findings, where survey showed that there is a certain awareness of term sustainable development among students, but they don’t know the definitions, principles and objectives of sustainable development and not aware of the importance of sustainable development, which can cause serious problems in the dissemination of knowledge, information and thinking about the environment, environmental issues and sustainability in general.

3.2 Association with the term sustainable developmet Answers to the open question What do you understand by the term sustainable development?, has brought interesting results. More than half of the students (58.9%), understands sustainable development as development that is more important for future generations, as to them personally, as indicated by the results of other studies (Azapagie et al., 2005; Eyuboglu et al., 2010). Only 20% of students connect sustainable development with the present and the current generation. The lack of seriousness and awareness about sustainable development issues in the present may cause students, according to Eyuboglu et al. (2010), serious problems in the dissemination of knowledge, information and thinking about sustainable development.

More than half of the students (51.9%) associate sustainable development with economic field, then the environment field (32.2%), followed by social field (11.6%) and cultural field (7.0%). Although the Strategy for Education for Sustainable Development UNECE, which has been in force for almost a decade, mostly promotes topics related to the social Development (64.7%), among students still prevails economic and environmental aspect of sustainable development.

If we would summarize the most common responses of students to question What they understand by the term sustainable development?, the answer would be: Sustainable developments is a development which is important for the future and involves economic and environmental issues.

3.3 Linking sustainable development with individual fields The results are consistent with a closed question With which areas are you connecting term sustainable development?, where the greater part of students (83.7%) associate sustainable development with economic area, followed by environment area (82.2%). Other surveys also indicate similar findings, where a large proportion of students knows environmental and economic aspects of sustainable development and more than half of students are unable to identify the social (Azapagie et al., 2005; Summer et al. 2004) and cultural aspects (Kagawa, 2007).

3.4 The importance of individual topics of sustainable development Analysis of the average values (Mean) in the set of questions, where students assess how important are the individual topics of sustainable development (topics are by UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE, 2005) showed the following results. Students of all mentioned topics considered the following issues and topics related to sustainable development to be the most important: – environmental area: environmental protection (M = 4.57), and the management of natural resources (M = 4.51), followed by – economic area: economy (M = 4.26) and corporate social responsibility (M = 4.25) and – social area: health (M = 4.25).

3.5 Frequency of the inclusion of individual topics of sustainable development We were also interested in how often are the topics in the field of sustainable development included in the study subjects (topics are by UNECE – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE, 2005). Analysis of the average values (mean) in the set of questions, showed that students estimate that on average most frequently included in the study subject are following areas and topics: – environmental area: environmental protection (M = 3.77), and the management of natural resources (M = 3.57), followed by – economic area: rural and urban development (x = 3.38) and the economy (M = 3.26).

3.6 Methods and approaches for teaching and learning about sustainable development Analysis of the average values (Mean) in the set of questions How often do you use the following methods and approaches to learning about sustainable development at the university, showed that students, on average, most often when learning use the following methods and approaches: – lecture (M=3.22), conversation and writing method (M=2.79), followed by – working with text (M=2.76) and teaching by example (M=2.76) and – drawing (M=2.75).

3.7 The students preferred methods and approaches for teaching about sustainable development We were also interested how often students would like to use the individual methods and approaches to learning about sustainable development at the university. Analysis of the average values (Mean) in the set of questions showed that, that on average, students for learning most often want to use the following methods and approaches: – practical training courses and fieldwork (M=4.08), – solving real–life problems (M=3.98) and – excursions (M=3.89).

4 CONCLUSIONS Research has shown that students on average are familiar with the term sustainable development, although this knowledge is rather superficial and one–sided. The larger part of the students knows primarily economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development, the social aspect is rarely mentioned and cultural aspect is completely neglected. It is necessary to re–examine what additional content related to sustainable development, it is necessary to introduce into the curriculum and include it into the teaching and learning, so that students will gain a more holistic insight about sustainable development issues. Therefore it is necessary, to shift from a partial, fragmented, one–way thinking to systemic, multidimensional, holistic thinking, where one of the key roles have new methods and approaches to teaching and learning about sustainable development. There is also a large gap between the used methods and approaches to teaching and learning and the students preferences of the use of these methods. Education remains dominated by traditional method and approaches of teaching and learning in spite of constant and rapid changes in life that require a different way of thinking for the quality of life now and in the future.

| 95

96 |

References Azapagic, A, Perdan, S in Shallcross, D 2005, How much do engineering students know about sustainable development? The findings of an international survey and possible implications for the engineering curriculum.

European Journal of Engineering Education 30 (1), 1–19.

Erčulj, J, Sedmak, S, Trnavčevič, A in Kuzmanič, T 2008, Vključevanje elementov trajnostne potrošnje in trajnostnega razvoja v šolski kurikul, Zaključno poročilo o rezultatih opravljenega dela raziskovalnega projekta v okviru CRP »Konkurenčnost Slovenije 2006–2013«.

Eyuboglu, K T, Uslu O in Oz M D 2010, Attitudes of University Students Towards Economic and Sustainable Development, in Istanbul International Review of Business Research, 6 (3), 123–128.

Godard, O 1994, Le développement durable: paysage intellectuel. Natures–Science–Société, 2 (4), 309–322.

Kagawa, F 2007, Dissonance in students’ perceptions of sustainable development and sustainability. Int. J. Sustain. Higher Educ., 8: 317–338. DOI: 10.1108/14676370710817174 Lozano, R 2006, Incorporation and institutionalization of SD into universities: breaking through barriers to change.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 14 (9–11), 787–796.

Marentič Požarnik, B 2008, Konstruktivizem na poti od teorije spoznavanja do vplivanja na pedagoško razmišljanje, raziskovanje in učno prakso. Sodobna pedagogika, 59 (4), 28–51.

Müller–Christ, G, Rietje van Dam–Mieras, S, Adomßent, M, Fischer, D in Rieckmann, M 2013, The Role of Campus, Curriculum, and Community in Higher Education for Sustainable Development – a Conference Report. Journal of Cleaner Production. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652613001005 Nordhaus W D 1998, Economics and Policy Issues in Climate Change by William D. Nordhaus. London: Earthscan LLC Sterling, S. (2001) Sustainable Education – Re–Visioning Learning and Change, Schumacher Society Briefing no.

6, Green Books, Dartington.

Stir, J 2006, Restructuring teacher education for sustainability: Student involvement through a strength model. J. Cleaner Product., 14, 830–836. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2005.11.051 Summers, M, Corney, G in Ghilds, A 2004, Student teachers conceptions of sustainable development: the starting–points of geographers and scientists. Educational Research, 46 (2), 163–82.

Tilbury, D 2007, Learning based change for sustainability:perspectives and pathways. In Social learning, ed.. Wals, A.E.J. 117–131.Wageningen:WageningenAcademicPublishers.

Unece 2005, Strategija vzgoje in izbobraževanja za trajnostni razvoj. Unece.Http://www.unece.org/env/esd/ strategytext/strategyinSlovenian.pdf.

UNESCO – United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization 2009, The Bonn declaration. World conference on education for sustainable development.

UNEP – United Nations Environment Program 1972, Stockholm 1972. Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=97 UNEP – United Nations Environment Program and UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade. 1974. The Cocoyoc declaration. Cocoyoc: UNEP – UNCTAD. Vare, P In Scott, W 2007, Learning for a change:exploring the relationship between education and sustainable development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 2 (1), 191–198.

Vivien, F D 2008, Sustainable development: An overview of economic proposals. SAPIENS. 1 (2), 1–8.

WCED – World Commissionon Environmentand Development 1987, Our common future. Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress.

Webster, K 2004, Rething, refuse, reduce. Shrewsbury: FSC.

Maja Terlević is a PhD student in Educational Science Study Programme at the Faculty of Education, University of Primorska, Republic of | 97 Slovenia. Maja’s research interest is on sustainabe development, education for sustainable development, information and communication technologies in education and lifelong learning. Prior to her doctoral work, she worked with children with learning difficulties in primary schools and in different Volunteer Programs throughout Europe. In 2009 her master’s degree won one of the highest prizes for the contribution to the sustainable development of society in the Republic of Slovenia. During her studies she travelled a lot and been involved in many different jobs and project and attended international conferences mainly on the topic sustainable development and education. At the moment she is finishing her PhD studies, about the impact of curriculum and approaches to teaching and learning and conceptions about sustainable urban development and spatial planning in Slovenia.

Assoc. Prof. Maruška ŠUBIČ KOVAČ, PhD is an Associated Professor in Municipal Economics at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering of the Ljubljana University of the Republic of Slovenia. On graduation from the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering (BSc in Civil Engineering and MSc in Spatial and Urban Planning), she was awarded her PhD in Technological Sciences (Real Estate Valuation).

She is an active member of the Municipal Economics Institute of the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering of the Ljubljana University.

Her research is focused on Property and Planning, and other related subjects, as for instance, the Spatial and Urban Planning, Urban Regeneration, Land Management and Economics, Property Valuation and Taxation. She currently teaches the subjects within the Civil Engineering, Geodetic Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Spatial Planning study programmes and is the Head of the Municipal Economics Institute. She has published around seventy scientific papers in the Slovenian and international peer–reviewed academic journals and proceedings, books/monographs, and several other scientific works. She is a fellow of several associations in Slovenia and member of Executive Board of the European Academy of Land Use and Development (EALD) of Zürich.

Assoc. Prof. Andreja ISTENIČ STARČIČ, PhD from University of Ljubljana. Andreja is employed at University of Primorska, Slovenia & University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Andreja is Honorary Fellow at Macquarie University Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. As associate professor, she is teaching Educational technology, Media education, Creative production of multimedia contents, Contemporary theories in education. In the 2009/10 she was teaching at Aalto University School of arts, design and architecture in master course »Media Management: Creative producer«. Her research interests include ICT media and communication, Cognitive, social, affective aspects of human interactions with ICT, Virtual simulations and games, Teacher education. Andreja is in editorial boards of BJET – British Journal of Educational Technology, TOJET – The Turkish Online Journal of Education Technology, iJAC– International journal of advanced corporate learning. She is a regional associate editor in iJET – International journal: emerging technologies in learning. She is involved in international conferences committees: SDM’2014 International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, EDUCON 2014 – IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, ICL – Interactive Computer Aided Learning. She is organiser of special session ICCHP 14th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs. She is a coordinator of national and European projects. In 2012 the scientific article by A. Istenic Starcic, M. Cotic, M. Zajc was selected as exceptional research achievement in social science – education in Slovenia.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Urban Planning Workshop for Community Problem Solving Case Study Island of Vir Tihomir Jukić and Lea Petrović Krajnik Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb, Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture Kačićeva 26, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia tihomir.jukic@arhitekt.hr, lea.petrovic@arhitekt.hr

ABSTRACT The topic of the Urban planning workshop 2 – Town planning in the winter semester of the academic year 20122013 (Research, transformation and reconstruction of the Island of Vir) was chosen in the context of socially responsible theme – future rehabilitation of the areas where legalization of illegal buildings recently took place, as a contribution to specific community problem solving, encouraging discussion and reflection on the process of spatial development. The main tasks of the Workshop were exploration, transformation and improvement of the areas on the Island of Vir after the process of legalization as well as enquiring about possibilities of future development and land use in the long term. The aim of the Workshop was to observe and identify the problems and development potentials, as well as to make development concepts for specific areas and for the whole island.

Students proposed overall development of the Island of Vir, new reconstruction scenarios, in order to improve the quality of life. Their aim was to affirm the characteristics of the island and exploit its potentials, create recognizability and to enable its sustainable development in the future. Local community – Municipality of Vir, Zadar County and Zadar Society of Architects participated in the implementation of Urban planning workshop that gave it wider social importance. Selected student works were presented at exhibitions in Vir, Zadar and Zagreb, and published in a book Research, Transformation and Reconstruction of the Island of Vir. The entire project was presented at the Congress of Croatian Architects in Osijek in 2013 where the exhibition of the student works took place as well as promotion of the book. In 2014 the project was given special recognition within the first conference ARTUR Architecture and Tourism in the category professional research and publications.

Key-Words: Urban planning workshop, community problem solving, Island of Vir, sustainable development, urban transformation, rehabilitation.

1 INTRODUCTION UNESCO program Teaching and Learning for Sustainable Future, is the starting point for the organization of international meetings and workshops “Smart urbanism” - teaching sustainability. Teaching & Learning Strategies represents one of the four thematic sections of the UNESCO program, which is important for the improvement of

| 99

architectural and urban studies. This section gives practical advice on using teaching and learning strategies that can help students achieve the wide range of knowledge, skill and values objectives of Education for Sustainable Development [1].

Since the idea was to emphasize the importance of practicing skills that are necessary for students to participate in finding solutions to local problems related to space, and skills in the planning of values clarification and values analysis with possible solutions, professional development module Community problem Solving was chosen as a starting point of this presentation. Involvement of the local community in the planning process and in the implementation of Urban planning workshop, is a key ingredient in the delivery of good planning outcomes. It also allows planners / students insight into relevant issues - identification of local needs and problems, inform policy-making, and provide feedback on service delivery while at the same time fostering a sense of local ownership and civic pride [2].

Urban planning workshop 2 – Town planning, is training course of the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture in the first/second semester of graduate program of Study of architecture and urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb. Since the Urban planning workshop is planned for senior students, its task is relatively complex, therefore the integral approach to solving problems in space by using previously collected experience and knowledge during their study is expected.

During their undergraduate studies, students have met the following urban planning tasks: planning of residential development of single family housing (Architectural Design Studio 1), Planning of residential developments (Architectural Design Studio 2), planning of landscaped areas (Landscape Design), planning of the selected part of the city (City planning), and in their graduate studies transformation of central city areas (Urban planning workshop 1). The task of this Urban planning workshop includes solving spatial planning problems, as well as problems of urban planning and urban design, and elaboration of specific details of public space design.

Since the academic year 2009 - 2010 themes of Urban planning workshop 2 - Town planning had been the

100 |

Presentation of student proposed solutions that differently perceive the subject area, its problems and potentials significantly contribute to community problem solving.

2 URBAN PLANNING WORKSHOP – ISLAND OF VIR Until the deadline for submission of applications for legalization of illegally constructed buildings in Croatia (June, 30 2013), according to the Minister of Construction and Physical Planning Anka Mrak Taritaš, approximately 820,000 requests were submitted. [3] The administrative body of the Zadar County received about 4,000 applications for legalization of illegally constructed buildings on the Island of Vir. For many years the Island of Vir was considered as an example of devastated area and “small empire of illegal construction” where from a total of 10,000 buildings constructed around 8,500 were built illegally.

The reason is that in the former Yugoslavia in 1978 the Island of Vir was foreseen as one of the locations for accommodation of nuclear power plant. In order to avoid this possibility, local authorities were “inviting” citizens to build on the island even without the necessary documentation authorizing the construction (Hlača and Nakić, 2010). Thus, a newly built weekend-settlement ensured the abandonment of the former government plans to build a power plant on the island, and also encouraged further illegal construction trend that has been continuing until nowadays.

During the academic year 2012 - 2013 the topic of legalization of illegally constructed buildings was current in professional and political circles. In 2012 Croatian Parliament adopted a new Act on procedures with illegally constructed buildings (OG 86/12), which shall supersede the old law dated from 2011. In 2013 the amendments of the subject law followed (OG 143/13). This Act regulates the conditions, procedures and legal consequences of involvement in the legal system of illegal constructed buildings, and establishes the Agency for the legalization of illegally constructed buildings.

According to Professor Jukić (2013) topic of rehabilitation of area devastated by illegal construction after the implementation of the legalization process is partly neglected in the process of legalization as well as in legislation. Consideration of issues of rehabilitation, as a community problem, led to questions like: what is actually rehabilitation, who plans it, organizes and implements it, how to organize and implement it, according to which criteria the rehabilitation areas are chosen and to which areas are given priorities, how to use the funds

Figure 1: Spatial plan of the Municipality of Vir – Land use plan. Source: [4](Golobic et al. 2006)

Municipality of St. Ivan Zelina, the City of Novska, outskirts of the City of Zagreb, the Island of Vir and the Municipality of Kostrena. The coordinator of Urban planning workshop 2 – Town planning – Research, Transformation and Reconstruction of the Island of Vir in the academic year 2012-2013 was Professor Tihomir Jukić.

Each academic year, the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture, together with the coordinator of the training course intend to select various current topics as student assignments.

Figure 2: Students’ Analysis of the Land use on the Island of Vir

| 101

102 |

raised by the process of legalization, and what is the role of local communities in the process?

Therefore, the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture had the intention to highlight the importance of the process of rehabilitation and the role that spatial planners, urban planners, architects and the local community play in that process.

Pointing to the profession, and thus the general public on the importance of the issues of rehabilitation after the legalization of the Department chose the theme of the training course Urban planning workshop 2 –rehabilitation of the Island of Vir. The main tasks of the Workshop were to explore, transform and improve the area of the island after the implementation of the legalization process on the Island of Vir. In addition, it was necessary to explore the possibilities for planning future development of the island and land use in the long term.

Students were asked to examine and explore specific models or rehabilitation procedures that were appropriate for the specific area in order to achieve sustainable development and improve the quality of life on the island and in its wider spatial environment.

The third part was Urban planning solutions of the Island of Vir as a whole or its segments where each student proposed building design elements, public space design elements or other ambient.

The fourth part was proposal of Program sketches as models for planning and designing that students showed through coast details, beach details, detail of the square and street design, etc.

2.1 Project Assignment The whole Island of Vir (area of 22,08 km2, 3,273 inhabitants (2011)) is administratively one Municipality that contains settlements Vir, Lozice Torovi and small Školjić island. Municipality of Vir is a part of a larger territorial organizational unit - Zadar County.

The task of the Urban planning workshop dealt with the area of the whole island and it was structured into four separate parts, spatial planning, urban planning, urban design and design of public spaces.

In the first part, students had to determine basic goals of the island development at the level of spatial plan of the Municipality of Vir, to propose the concept of development for the whole island, to develop a concept of land use plan, traffic plan, and to determine the buildable area: detailed allocation within and outside the construction area.

The second part was a Program with templates for formative and functional design and rehabilitation of the built up area that students presented through program of facilities, photo collage of possible functional design and rehabilitation of the built area.

2.3 Thematic lectures During the semester beside an introductory lecture on the course which was held by its coordinator Professor Tihomir Jukić, four thematic lectures were held with the intention of additional introducing the issues of rehabilitation, tourism, sustainable urban development and identity to students.

Saša Borić Poljanec in a lecture entitled Social descriptors for urban therapy of the Island of Vir argued the need for poliparadigmatic approach that included understanding of the various socio-economic constructs and concepts. Ana Mrđa in the lecture Tourism and space, warned of the potential adverse environmental

Figure 3: Vir – Island of encounters (student: Monika Milić; tutors: Marijan Hržić & Svebor Andrijević)

2.2 Students Field Survey It is necessary to emphasize the importance of direct space experience in order to understand and analyze its values and potentials, and to provide the impetus for finding appropriate solutions to local problems.

At the beginning of the semester, the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture with the support of the Municipality of Vir organized a one-day expert guided tour around the Island of Vir to help students meet the space condition and realize inappropriate situations in space. In addition, the presentations of representatives from municipality and county were held, which presented first-hand pointing to the existing problems of the local community and their vision of the possible development of the island.

| 103

Figure 4: Proposal of the concept of new public space of the Vir settlement (student: Damjan Kolundžić; tutors: Tihomir Jukić & Ivona Jerković)

and socio - cultural effects of tourism and presented four models of the use of space and nature for tourism purposes by Pierre Donadieu. Professor Srečko Pegan in lecture Physical factors of tourism development with explanation of improving spatial planning conditions for tourism areas, emphasized the necessity of amending the prescribed technical criteria of tourism spatial development in coastal areas and their involvement in spatial plan, the importance of long-term plans and action plans for tourism development, as well as the European Spatial Development Perspectives.

In the lecture City as identity system, associate professor Feđa Vukić pointed to the need of establishing communication type program, and emphasized that the problematic points of identity notion necessary to explore, interpret and practice as a kind of social agenda.

2.4 Students analysis of the Current Situation on the Island of Vir Students’ work in the Workshop of the first/second semester of graduate study was organized into 8 groups, each consisting of approx. 16 students, one professor and assistant. At the group level according to the targeted topics, students made the analysis of the current situation of the island of Vir and analysis of spatial planning documents1. Students prepared a joint analysis in the form of a Reader. Reader of each group contained basic information about the area of the island of Vir, which served as a starting point for further work.

104 |

3 STUDENTS PROPOSALS FOR COMMUNITY PROBLEM SOLVING Pursuant to the comprehensive analysis presented in Reader, field visit and thematic lectures of experts and representatives of the local community, students proposed the development vision of the Island of Vir. Visions were characterized by diversity of thought and planning solutions, from the consideration of the development of the island in the context of the region, planning of development of western undeveloped part of the island to the urban design of micro locations. The proposed solutions placed an emphasis on defining new strategies for economic development, introducing new activities (in order to attract new permanent residents, to extent tourist season and to profile tourism offer) and solving the existing infrastructure problems. Different scenarios of the Island of Vir were proposed, as well as new scenarios of rehabilitation of areas devastated by illegal construction that would contribute to improving the quality of life on the island. The goal of the students was to affirm the characteristics of the island and to explore its potentials, and by proposed solutions to create recognizability and enable sustainable development of the island in the future.

4 CONCLUSION At the end of the semester the final presentation of the workshop was organized. All students within their groups presented their proposals and each group leader chose the best student works and suggested them for the exhibition.

To present the reflections of students on the subject topic to the general public, the various exhibitions of selected student works were organized. The exhibitions took place in the Municipality of Vir on the Island of Vir, in Rector’s Palace of the National Museum in Zadar and at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb.

As a result of the Workshops a book entitled Research, Transformation and Reconstruction of the Island of Vir was published in 2013. A book is structured in six sections. The first section, titled Introduction to the Urban planning workshop: Reconstruction of Built up Area in the function of the Transformation of the Island, editor introduces the reader to the theme and explains in detail the choice of topics and raises numerous questions about the rehabilitation of devastated areas, the site selection criteria, and about the priorities and means of implementations. The second section consists of summaries of thematic lectures held during the semester that were conceived as an incentive for students to reflect and create scenarios of development and rehabilitation of the Island of Vir. In the third section the course assignment is explained. The fourth section represents an introduction to selected student solutions that encompasses parts of students’ work related to the analysis of the current situation of the Island of Vir, in relation to the context. The fifth section, titled Student projects, is most extensive part where 29 selected students’ development visions are presented through diversity of thought and planning solutions. In the last section, entitled Contributions, the work process on the task is documented by photographic material.

The entire project was presented at the Congress of Croatian Architects in Osijek in 2013. As a part of the Congress the exhibition of selected students’ works took place, as well as promotion of the book. In 2014 the

project Research, Transformation and Reconstruction of the Island of Vir received a special award at the first conference ARTUR Architecture and Tourism in the category of professional research and publications.

Local community – Municipality of Vir, Zadar County and the Association of Zadar Architects participated in the implementation of the Urban planning workshop that gave it a wider social importance. Profession interest in the presentation of the project at the Congress of Croatian Architects and the received award at the conference ARTUR Architecture and Tourism pointed to the success of the project and a good selection of the Workshop topic which was confirmed also in the professional circles.

Notes Prostorni plan uređenja općine Vir i Izmjene i dopune prostornog plana uređenja općine Vir [4] References Jukić, T (ed.) 2013, Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Borić Poljanec, S 2013, ‘Društveni deskriptori za urbanističku terapiju otoka Vira’ in T. Jukić (ed.), Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Jukić, T 2013, ‘Saniranje prostora u funkciji preobrazbe otoka’ in T. Jukić (ed.), Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Mrđa, A 2013, ‘Turizam i prostor’ in T. Jukić (ed.), Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Pegan, S 2013, ‘Prostorni čimbenici razvoja turizma’ in T. Jukić (ed.), Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Vukić, F 2013, ‘Grad kao identitetski sustav’ in T. Jukić (ed.), Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija prostora otoka Vira, Arhitektonski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Općina Vir, Zagreb.

Hlača, V, Nakić, J 2010, ‘Zaštita pomorskog dobra u Republici Hrvatskoj’, Poredbeno pomorsko pravo, 49 (2010), 164, pp. 493 – 529.

Petrović Krajnik, L 2013, ‘Istraživanje, preobrazba i sanacija otoka Vira’, Prostor, 21(2013), 2(46), pp. 369-369. *** 2012, ‘Zakon o postupanju s nezakonito izgrađenim zgradama’, Narodne novine, 86/12. *** 2013, ‘Izmjene i dopune zakona o postupanju s nezakonito izgrađenim zgradama’, Narodne novine, 143/13.

[1] http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/.

[2] http://www.tcpa.org.uk/.

[3] http://www.mgipu.hr/.

[4] http://www.vir.hr/.

Prof. Tihomir JUKIĆ, PhD is a professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb, the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture and a head of the Section of Urban design. At the Graduate program of the Study of architecture and urban planning he teaches the course “Urban transformations” and is a coordinator of the Urban planning workshop 1 – “Transformation of the city”. At Doctoral Study of architecture and urban planning he teaches the course “Contemporary urban transformations”. He was a head of the research project “Transformation, identity and sustainable development of the modern Croatian city” and is collaborator in international research projects. Besides teaching he is engaged in professional and scientific work.

Lea PETROVIĆ KRAJNIK, PhD is a senior researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Zagreb, the Department of Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Landscape Architecture where she has been assisting in teaching all training courses since 2004. In 2009 she completed her Doctoral studies at the Technische Universität in Graz, Austria. She is involved in teaching the training courses “Introduction to Spatial Planning” Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb and “Entwerfen 3” Institut für Städtebau, Fakultät für Architektur, TU Graz. Besides teaching she is engaged in scientific research, and professional work in the field of architecture, urban planning and spatial planning.

| 105

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR: Same Problem – Different Location

Anja Jutraž, Tadeja Zupančič University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova 12, 1000 Ljubljana anja.jutraz@fa.uni–lj.si, tadeja.zupancic@fa.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT Long–distance collaborative work on architectural projects presents a challenge for students and mentors alike, as they cannot meet face–to–face and are therefore compelled to solve all problems virtually. When students are not familiar with a site and when they need to produce an architectural design related to a site they have never visited before, different digital tools for effective long–distance collaboration and visual presentation should be used.

This paper describes experiences gained in long–distance education in the field of architecture, based mainly on the research and pedagogical activities in the long–distance architecture Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR, which was based on an international interaction, and cross–cultural exchange of knowledge and experience.

The main idea was collaboration between two universities from different cultural environments with different educational curricula, where distinct local architecture and natural constraints were identified: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, and the University of Puerto Rico, Escuela de Arquitectura. The purpose of such collaboration is to allow the participants to work on a joint problem while being based at different locations, and thus share with each other different background knowledge and design principles. The design studio focuses mainly on teaching and learning for a sustainable future.

The research is based on the survey among students from Puerto Rico and Slovenia, which was conducted at the end of the course.

Key Words: Long–distance collaboration, digital tools, international collaboration, transcultural interaction.

1 INTRODUCTION Long–distance, virtual collaborative work on an architecture project is a challenge for students and mentors alike, as they are compelled to use new digital tools and discuss everything with each other. Good and constant communication is fundamental in a digital world. A virtual design studio is “a collection of geographically distributed, functionally and/or culturally diverse entities that are linked by diverse digital tools and rely on dynamic relationships for coordination” (DeSanctis & Monge, 2006). Viera and Koščo (Joklová Viera & Koščo,

| 107

2007) described the virtual studio as an online venue allowing long–distance education in a form of a studio, operating in various parts around the globe and including several universities, students and professors, as well as enabling the use of ICT for communication, consultations, data, image and sound transfer, evaluation and presentation of projects.

There was design studio set up, joining two universities, namely University of Ljubljana and University of Puerto Rico, where architecture students worked in groups of four on a joint project throughout the entire design process. This year, the design studio was organized for the second time. It has been created on the basis of experience gained in the AEC Global Teamwork course at Stanford University (Graaff, Kolmos, & Fruchter, 2003).

In addition to the AEC Global Teamwork course, there have already been many other virtual design studios set up so far, e.g. OIKIDOMOS (Joklova & Riddy, 2009), a virtual design studio allowing collaboration between University of British Columbia and Krakow University of Technology (Wojtowicz & Butelski, 1999), University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and the University of Florida (Brien, Ph, Soibelman, & Elvin, 2003), The Penn State Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (Holland, Wing, & Goldberg, 2012), Notre Dame University – Louaizé in Lebanon (Asmar & Mady, 2013), etc.

The virtual design studio offered students the opportunity to work on a site from the other side of the world, see how other societies influence architectural design, and it helped them to better understand the complexity of the world around us. The work in the studio focused on sustainable building, particularly on the influence of the site on the architecture and urban design. Our aim was to show students how the location (with its climate and geographical characteristics) affects design. We focused on urban planning and urban design, with special attention being placed on greenery, surrounding buildings, views and other sustainable characteristics. Students had to design a new cultural hub near the old town area, and their design had to be inspired by famous local artist.

108 |

Modern technologies and methods offer new tools and possibilities, as well as influence education, research and practice. Internet does not enable only data and information exchange, but also the exchange of experiences and cultural properties (Joklová Viera, 2008). International collaboration and working with students and professors from a totally different environment and culture can be seen as a new method of teaching and learning for a sustainable future, as we “encourage wider awareness of Information and Communication Technologies, the potential of multimedia–based approaches to education and the potential of the Internet as a rich source of educational materials, and enhance skills in computer literacy and multimedia education” (“Teaching and learning for a sustainable future: a multimedia teacher education programme),” 2014). Moreover, using digital tools for long–distance collaboration can have a big impact on students’ future professional careers, as it can show them new options and help them with outside–the–box thinking. By working together, students have a chance to think about their values and raise the awareness of the needs for new cultural values.

them etc.?

– Which digital tools did they use and what kind of tools did they miss?

– How difficult did they find long–distance communication, where did they experience problems and what were the biggest challenges for them regarding communication?

– What were the biggest challenges regard the process and tasks?

– What was the role of the artist in their process and design (how did the artist influence them, what element provided by the artist did they incorporate into the design etc.)?

– How good was the team process and whether they regret any decisions made?

– What did the students learn during this course?

To explain, the main objective of our research was to find out how the Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR can improve traditional teaching methods and what kind of influence can it have on students’ future professional careers.

3 METHODOLOGY Our research was based on a survey conducted between the students who participated in the Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR (students from Ljubljana and from Puerto Rico). They were asked questions after the final presentation at the end of the course. We used descriptive statistics for general questions (age, gender etc.) and qualitative methods to analyse other questions. Some additional information was obtained through observation during the whole design process. It was evaluated by using different research methods, while there were also some suggestions prepared for the purpose of future improvements. First, there will be an explanation given on general characteristics of the Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR: task, timeline, student groups, and tools.

3.1 Task: Same problem, different location The task of the design studio was to design an artistic village with apartments for local artists and visiting artists, including an additional commercial program, wellness and recreational facilities, along with workshops and art studios. Special attention was paid to positioning the new development on the site, with respect to the

This paper will serve as a general presentation of the Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR (task, process, composition of the groups, digital tools) and its evaluation with a few suggestions for future work.

2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES For the purposes of this paper, the Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR was proposed as a method for a long– distance discussion on architecture and the chances to enhance communication and collaboration skills between architects, and explore how location and culture influence the design. The purpose of this course was to introduce students to collaboration via tools allowing remote work. Students were expected to develop various skills: – Team work and team collaboration; – Use of remote collaboration tools; – Be exposed to decision–making in a cross–cultural/non–collocated scenario; – Role of the geographical and climate characteristics of the site and its influence on design; – Cultural differences in building: how society influences design of the same kind of a building in different countries.

The research questions guiding this study are as follows: – What was the overall experience of students of the collaborative studio: what did they like, what was hard for

Figure 1: Location in Ljubljana, Slovenia (left) and in San Juan, Puerto Rico (right)

surrounding buildings and connection to the old town area. The outside public space was part of the design and it was just as important as the architectural complex and its interior. We chose two comparable sites, one in Slovenia and one in Puerto Rico. Both were located close to the old city centre and they were approximately the same size. Both were located close to the water: river Ljubljanica in Slovenia and Caribbean Sea in Puerto Rico (spectacular views in both cases). A difference was noticed in the cultural context, as the existing architecture was seen as valuable heritage, however the values with regard to heritage were considered differently, which had to be respected and taken into account. Some students were faced with a location and a new culture on the other side of the globe for the first time, and this was a substantial challenge for them.

| 109

3.2 Timeline The entire course was composed of two parts: preparatory phase (two weeks) and main phase (five weeks).

During the preparatory phase, students worked separately, all students from Slovenia worked together, and the same was done by students from Puerto Rico. They visited the site and prepared a site analysis. After two weeks, we divided students into 6 mixed groups (there were approximately 2 students from Puerto Rico and 2

Table 1: Timeline

110 |

from Slovenia in each group), and we started with virtual collaboration. All students and mentors met once a week through the help of virtual tools. The purpose of these meetings was to hear presentations and potential criticism (on Mondays), and once a week, they met locally (on Wednesdays), one group in Puerto Rico and one group in Ljubljana. Moreover, the teams had at least one team meeting every week during which they discussed the project and divided their workload.

As the entire design process is an online–based one and since students collaborate and make decisions only by using different digital tools, it is also important that they are always available and that they are prepared for new ways of working together. Moreover, in this case, students were not located in the same time zone, some

Table 2: The structure of groups Students were aged between 20 and 28 years, most of them were 21, 22 or 23 years old. Most of them were 3rd– or 4th–year students (9 3rd–year, 9 4th–year students), 1 was a 2nd–year and 5 of them were 5th–year students or older.

3.3 Groups of students There were 10 students from University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture participating in this Collaborative Studio, and 13 from the University of Puerto Rico, School of Architecture. They worked in 6 mixed groups, composed of 3 or 4 students (at least one student from each country). In Slovenia, there were 3 groups working on the site, and 3 in Puerto Rico. The table below shows the distribution of team members.

3.4 Tools Students used different digital tools for online collaboration, from tools for exchanging information to tools for direct voice communication. They used Box for storing materials, and Facebook for communication. Sometimes they also used Facebook for exchanging the files, because it enabled them to comment on the files and exchange their opinions really quickly. They used Skype for short discussions, but for more successful meetings, they usually used GoogleHangout through which they talked, saw each other and also shared files. GoogleHangout

Figure 2: Virtual meetings through GoToMeeting

also enabled them to sketch at the top of documents. However, they had some problems with connection, which meant they were compelled to spend much more time on the meeting than they planned at the start. Translating an idea into words was quite a challenge, as well as expressing the idea with words, and sometimes, it was even difficult to sketch it online. Students expressed their ideas, with the help of different conference tools for long– distance collaboration, and sometimes they combined traditional tools with more advanced ones: they sketched on paper and showed sketches using tools for video chats, they sketched in Paint or PhotoShop and shared that program, they used plug–ins for GoogleHangout for sketching etc. They even shared their opinions visually and with words, they found out that sometimes they did not understand each other perfectly, and they had to re–do certain things.

Students used GoToMeeting for official weekly meetings, for presentations of their weekly work, and for receiving feedback from mentors. These sessions lasted from 3 to 5 hours. The sessions were also recorded, so if the students were unable to hear all the comments, they could use the opportunity to listen to the comments later.

GoToMeeting was also used at the beginning for team–building purposes (its aim was to get to know other team members and to learn how important it is to listen to each other), and sometimes for team meetings (when mentors joined the team and tried to help them with discussions).

were from Slovenia, and the others were from Puerto Rico. The time difference between both cities is five hours, and it was on the basis of this difference that they needed to plan their meetings and their schedules (lectures and other obligations). It was discovered that good time management, coordination and being in touch all the time are crucial components of such a design studio, as the students did not have any opportunities to meet face–to–face and discuss the design and associated problems.

The role of social media was also important for gaining acceptance and respect between the team members.

They used Facebook for discussions about the project, for coordination and deciding on timelines for team meetings, and sometimes they also shared some funny photos or YouTube links, which helped them to avoid stress arising from long–distance collaboration. By talking about everyday topics, students were able to foster trust among team members, and it can be said that they became friends at the end of the course.

| 111

112 |

4 RESULTS Results of the survey are divided into the following categories: overall experience of the collaborative studio, digital tools, process and topic – artistic village.

4.3 Process On average, students spent 8.1 hours per day on a project (minimum 2 hours, maximum 24 hours), and 59.7 hours per week (minimum 15 hours, maximum 108 hours).

4.1 Overall experience In general, students liked the collaborative studio, as it was a different experience from what they were used to from their daily lives. Students believe this was a unique and interesting project, a great learning experience that provided a new perspective on the process of architectural design. It was an enriching experience offering a new view of working on architectural projects, which is a consequence of the fact that Slovenian and Puerto Rican students have been educated differently. It was really interesting for them to work in teams with people that used different designing approaches, and to see how these differences could be reconciled through working on a joint project. As one of the students said, “it took them away from the daily monotony and the feeling of being enclosed in one place”, and the workshop also gave them the opportunity to meet new people, learn about new ways, new perspectives, learn to cope with one another, learn to listen to ideas that might be completely different from their own, as well as see the positive and negative aspects of it in order to make better decisions during the design process. They also pointed out that they learned a lot from other teammates.

However, they said it was a tough experience: “Lots of sacrifices had to be made in order to get to where we’re at. Putting all that aside, it was a very educational experience because it taught me how much variety there really is in the world, and that only together we can prevail.” They said this experience made them work hard and learn how to deal with other perspectives; the final results were a great package of knowledge that they got for their future careers. The workshop equipped them with skills allowing them to tackle the challenges in their future careers. They will surely be faced with situations compelling them to work with people that have different perspectives and ways of solving problems than they do.

They liked the first week the most, as they worked on the artist inspiration (12 students), and last week, which was reserved for the preparation of the final presentation (6 students). The hardest weeks were week no. 3 (9 students) and week no. 5 (9 students).

What students liked the most was the opportunity to meet people from other places and cultures. They liked learning about different ways of seeing projects and contexts, and about how to design for a place in which the climate is almost the exact opposite of their own. They also liked to work via Internet; they had the opportunity to work with architecture students from another part of the world and to learn about different tools for long– distance collaboration. They also pointed out that it is valuable to attend lectures and receive corrections and comments from professors from different faculties.

Figure 3: Local meetings in Ljubljana | 113

4.2 Tools and long–distance communication Students said that they used the following tools to work in the Collaborative Design Studio: – For meetings (video, voice): Google Hangout (Scoot and Doodle), GoToMeeting, Skype; – For communication: Facebook (Groups and Chat), Email; – For drawing/designing: SketchUp, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Revit, vray, Ilustrator, Atlantis, Rhino; – For sketching and exchange: Paint, Adobe Reader, Photoshop; – For exchanging files: Box, Google Drive.

Students said that they learned to work in a group in which each member had a different approach to criticism and in which different cultures and different professional backgrounds were represented: “I have learned to work with people living far away from me, to design through online features and programs, to wake up at 8:00 am on a Sunday to meet with my group and keep the work on a steady track”. Students reported that communication was difficult, but having different points of view made the design process more interesting and challenging. They learned that even they themselves could have different idea, but the most important thing was that they were not always right and it was wise to listen to what others have to say to make an idea even better. They pointed out that if they combine all ideas, the result can be better. To sum up, making decisions was not really an easy task to do in the online world. Students needed to discuss all pros and cons, spend much more time on evaluating different proposals, and at the end, they needed to make some decisions. Sometimes, they regretted decisions, but there was no time to go back and start from scratch. If you work in a team, making decisions affects everyone in the team, and you cannot change things alone, without consent of the other team members. Even if you decide something on your own, your work cannot be accepted, if it is not a group decision.

Students learned a lot through the process of making decisions; they learned how to evaluate and describe their ideas and come up with the best one together. Their journey and their experience were more important than the destination.

Students pointed out that it is important to be honest and respectful to each other, if you want to work in a team.

Beside architecture, personal issues were often discussed during local meetings, and students tried to find ways to improve communication and the design process.

However, they missed the opportunity to make physical study models making the modelling process more intuitive – everything was focused on 3D modelling because this allowed everyone in the team to see the model and work on it.

4.4 Topic: Artistic Village During the first week, students had to choose and analyse one local artist, which had to serve as their inspiration for their architectural concept. Students really liked to work on this part, because it let them think outside the

Communication and coordination presented the biggest challenge for the students. They found it very hard to be available at all times, and they also had to sacrifice some of their other classes. The time difference was also substantial which meant they used a lot more time to make a decision compared to face–to–face work.

Moreover, the division of the work was also quite challenging, especially when each side had its own responsibilities that for various reasons could not be fulfilled. Also, making decisions within the group was difficult. As one of the students said, the hardest part for him “was reaching an agreement that all 4 group members were entirely happy with, after all, they had 4 different minds working on the same project”.

box and it allowed them to focus on a more artsy project (“it allowed me to kind of get out of my comfort zone”).

Working on the artist forced them to think about different possibilities, as well as explore ways in which they can create different feelings and opportunities (“look at how a simple object can be used for things other than its original purpose”).

5 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK To conclude, it should be stressed that using digital tools and collaborating only virtually is not an easy job. This Collaborative Design Studio SLO–PR is focused more on the process than on the project. Students were not only learning about architecture and urban design, but also about some really important topics for their future careers: how to collaborate at a long distance, how to work in the team, how to design in a different culture, how to make decisions etc. Sometimes, the students had to step back and change their way of communication and rethink their personal values, e.g. patience, listening to each other, trusting others, respect, acceptance of different ideas etc. They did not learn only about architecture, but also a lot about themselves.

Next year, the lessons learned this year shall be used to improve the collaboration between the two universities.

More focus will be put on presentation techniques (how to prepare a better presentation), tools for online sketching, and there will be more critics invited. It was also discovered that this year’s project was too complex for such a short time period, and since it involved long–distance collaboration, this made the situation that much harder. A less complex project will therefore be proposed for next year, which will focus more on collaboration and tackling details.

To sum up, this experience was valuable for students and also for all the mentors involved, and it will have a big impact on the participants’ future lives.

114 |

Acknowledgments This research project was conducted in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Architecture; our special thanks must be extended to Blanquita Calzada, Robin Planas Casado and Humberto E. Cavallin Calanche.

References Asmar, J–P El, & Mady, C 2013, A Constructivist Approach to Design Teaching at the Postgraduate Level: The Case of an Interdisciplinary Design Programme at FAAD, NDU, Lebanon, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 531–538. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.09.234 Brien, WO, Soibelman, L & Elvin, G 2003, Collaborative Design Processes : An Active– and Reflective– Learning Course in Multidisciplinary Collaboration, (2).

DeSanctis, G & Monge, P 2006, Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations, Journal of Computer– Mediated Communication, 3(4). doi:10.1111/j.1083–6101.1998.tb00083.x Graaff, E de, Kolmos A, & Fruchter R, 2003, Project based learning. Dublin, Ireland: TEMPUS publications.

Holland, R, Wing, S & Goldberg D, 2012, Interdisciplinary collaborative bim studio.

Teaching and learning for a sustainable future: a multimedia teacher education programme, 2014, Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/ Viera, Joklová, 2008, Virtual Design Studio: Application of ICT based environment to the core subjects in architecture and urban design.

Viera, Joklová, & Koščo, I, 2007, Virtual Communication and it in Architectural Education: Experiences from International Studio Projects, in CORP (pp. 1–6).

Viera, Joklova & Riddy, P, 2009, OIKODOMOS: a virtual campus to promote the study of dwelling in contemporary Europe (pp. 1–22).

Wojtowicz J & Butelski K, 1999, Lessons from Distributed Design Practice. In eCAADe (pp. 482–487).

| 115

Assist. Anja JUTRAŽ, PhD: Her research work focus on urban planning and design, public space, digital tools for public participation in urban design, virtual worlds and other virtual tools for public participation in urban design, long-distance collaboration, interdisciplinary architecture, integrated design, urban ambient interventions. Currently she works on continuation of her PhD research, where focusing on visual digital system of tools for public participation in urban design, more exactly on designing Virtual urban laboratory for public involvement. Moreover she is involved also in pedagogical process at the Faculty of architecture (Ljubljana).

Prof. Tadeja ZUPANČIČ, PhD: Involved in research and pedagogical activities in architecture and urban design at the Faculty of architecture since 1993. She is a research vice-dean, active member of Advisory group for the preparation of the spatial planning documents in Slovenia (at the Slovene Ministry of Environment and Space) and since 2005 a member of Advisory Committee for Education and Training in the field of Architecture at the European Commission. She is involved in the EC Group of Coordinators for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications in Architecture. Her recent research activities are focused to the linkage between architectural and virtual space design education. In the last 5 years she coordinated and participated in many national and international research projects oriented to development of advanced systems in education.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Reviewing the Sustainability in Students’ Design Work

Saja Kosanović, Branislav Folić Faculty of Technical Sciences 7 Kneza Miloša Street, 38220 Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo saja.kosanovic@pr.ac.rs, branislav.folic@pr.ac.rs

ABSTRACT Both Sustainability and Sustainable Development are wide spread in all segments of today’s society, and so in the education, as well. Architectural–urban studies certainly are the example of the intertwining of sustainability concepts with educational process, as the profession holds large responsibility both for production and reduction of negative environmental impact. Accent has been put on the integration with various curriculum courses, up to the level where sustainability becomes the backbone of architectural education. The main objective of introducing the sustainability in educational curriculum is the development of additional, but at the same time essential category of quality of students’ work. In design studio work, the achieved success of the set goal is obvious and therefore can be easily reviewed.

This paper aims to stimulate the debate on current issues related to practicing the sustainability in design studio.

Analysis of the actual state led to the questions: What are the problems with implementing sustainability concept in design studio? Do educators and students perceive sustainability as abstract or precise term? How to present derived design work in a form of concrete, measurable or measured result? Finally, how sustainable is sustainable enough? Answers on these and other raised questions represent the guidelines for future considerations of sustainability in architectural education, especially in the design studio, and may be of use to educators who are tutoring the design processes.

Key–Words: Design studio, sustainability meaning, understanding and measuring.

1 INTRODUCTION The need to develop sustainability literacy and to integrate sustainability issues with all segments and levels of education is growing together with the complexity of sustainable development process. “Our uncertainty about the stability or fragility of Earth’s ability to support life has resulted in a global discourse on a strategy of sustainability” (Khan and Hornbaek, 2013, 36). Sustainability education, therefore, aims to prepare us to cope with, manage and shape “conditions characterized by change, uncertainty, risk and complexity” (Sterling, 2012, 9). The concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims to continuously equip the learners with

| 117

knowledge and skills which are necessary to balance all aspects of sustainability. Proposed transdisciplinary educational methods and approaches intend to foster the respect for human needs that are compatible with sustainable use of natural resources and the needs of the planet, and to nurture a sense of global solidarity [2].

Adopting the adaptive behaviours and practices through lifelong learning will “enable all to live a full life without being deprived at basics” (UNESCO, 2005, 4).

“Within built environment, the education need is large, given the acknowledged impact that buildings make to the economic well–being of the country; the social well–being of people and the impact on the environment” (Cowling, Lewis and Sayce, 2007, 2). Indeed, architectural–urban studies account for an appropriate example

118 |

Figure 1: First–year students’ understanding of the term “Sustainable Development” Source: Bone and Agombar, 2011

of introducing the sustainability issues into educational process. The facts that buildings use significant amount of natural resources: water, energy, land and raw materials and consequently produce significant negative environmental impact caused the shift in the branch and in the education, as well (Kosanović and Folić, 2013, 61). While educating future architects and urban planners, however, broader context of societal, economic and cultural aspects of sustainability cannot be underestimated.

Sustainable development, because of its scope, cannot “be thought as a discreet subject” (UNESCO, 2005, 17); “it needs to be holistic, spread over the whole curriculum and seen as a context for delivering existing aims of education and not as a competing priority” (UNESCO, 2005, 23). This thesis puts a demand for the integration of sustainability issues with curriculum and also for the development of additional, but at the same time essential category of quality of students’ work. In studio design work, the achieved success of the set goal is obvious and therefore can be easily reviewed.

2 SUSTAINABILITY AND THE DESIGN STUDIO “It is in the design studio that students are expected to bring together knowledge from the different disciplines to inform the development of their architectural designs” (Nicol and Pilling, 2000, 5).

By practicing sustainability in design studio, many of the recommended characteristics of ESD concept can potentially be fulfilled. Interdisciplinary, value–driven, learner–centred, praxis–oriented and problem–solving approach; development of systematic, critical thinking and professional skills by using multiple educational methods (designing exercises, seminars and theoretical lectures, case study analyses, identification of best practices, field trips, collaboration and team work, debates, presentations, computer modelling and simulation, etc.), are all equally important for both studio and the sustainability active and interactive teaching and learning processes. Studio is the playground where students may build interrelationships between theory and practice, local and global scale, present and future, all of which, according to Sterling (2012), are the highlights of the ESD. Teaching and learning, decision–making processes in studio should preferably contribute to the transdisciplinary understanding of all pillars of sustainable development: society, environment and economy, and their inter linkages through the dimension of culture. But, most commonly, the design studio responds solely to the environmental (ecological or technical) segment. Societal and economic aspects of sustainability are still seen as too “abstract” by many students, and, when present in a curriculum, are often thought as independent (isolated) theoretical courses. This simplification has negative consequences, and may even be considered as one of the reasons why, after years of educating architects and urban planners on sustainability, we still live in the world in which the sustainable designing/building/planning practices are not taking significant share in new developments.

“To adequately address the social and environmental problems we currently face, a new way of educating our students is required; one that empowers them with the capabilities and skills to seek out and examine their own frameworks for thinking… By allowing students to critically question their own experiences of sustainability, they can examine the way they interpret the world and how their understanding and opinions (morality and ethics) are shaped by their ‘sphere of influence’” (Hayles and Holdsworth, 2008, 42).

Potential failure in integration of sustainability with design is clearly visible in those solutions in which “conventional” is clearly split from sustainability designing measures; architectural expression remains unclear in these cases and the overall quality of design is jeopardized. Integration of sustainability issues with design should, therefore, start in the earliest phase, so that the delivered concept solution already presents result of the fusion.

Mackie and Kagawa (2007) perceived the slow uptake of sustainability in the design work and discussed the causes. Reasons for the noticed reluctance among students to fully engage with sustainable issues could be: too abstract reasoning of sustainability in general; over concern about the profitability and the way to make the buildings cheaper; presence of the dilemma whether a building may at the same time be beautiful and sustainable; and doubt on the applications and functionality of the theory of sustainability in practice. Reluctance among the educators to fully engage with sustainability concerns in their teaching activities comes from somewhat similar reasons; the lack of knowledge and resistance to the sustainable framework, all up to belief that sustainability may damage the form account for the main aggravation causes. To overcome the mentioned problems, students themselves proposed the solutions: a brief introduction to sustainability at the beginning of the degree programme; a broader inclusion of sustainability in all studio projects; an introduction of few specific aims and ideas to every project, where at least one of them relates to sustainability; (informal) students’ debates and discussions on sustainability; and rotation of studio tutors per project in order to get diverse perspectives (Mackie and Kagawa, 2007). Sustainability educational trainings for teachers, providing durable skills (capacity building), are also considered as necessary. “Within the formal education system and in non–formal settings, the level of knowledge and enthusiasm of the educator will be a key factor in stimulating the learners’ interest and appreciation of issues of sustainable development. The attitudes and methods which the educator employs must reflect the values of sustainable development as well as the highest standards of pedagogical practice”. Both the educator and the student need to deeply understand the “learner–centred instruction focused on personal engagement with learning and on critical assessment of problems and possibilities” (UNESCO, 2005, 29).

3 ABSTRACT VERSUS CONCRETE SUSTAINABILITY IN DESIGN “The concept of sustainability is the common–sense response to great uncertainty: when an outcome is impossible to predict because of complexity, one may hope that reducing interference with natural systems may

| 119

120 |

increase the overall stability of the system, based on the assumption that natural systems are maximally stable from millions of years of natural optimization. If we can reduce uncertainty by reducing human impact on the environment while we continue to learn and understand more about the systems involved, we hope to be able to extend our time frame for survival and even prosperity” (Khan and Hornbaek, 2003, 36–37).

In relation to the definition, according to which sustainable development is a “dynamic process followed by constant positive societal transformation which aims to provide sustainable future” (UNESCO, 2005, 4), it can be concluded that, in fact, it is all about the abstract term referring to ideas and concepts and to “change of the meaning with the time and circumstances” [1]. But with the deeper look on sustainability and its segments, it is possible to note that not all of the complexity is abstract, however. Observed from the common engineering viewpoint, technical (environmental) pillar is found as the best defined and the most precise segment, often supported with the determined physical referents.

In context of the paper’s objective, the main course of “abstract vs. concrete” debate is directed towards different aspects of sustainability that students perceive as abstract or well defined. For formed professionals, architects and urban planners, “abstract” has its maturity in individual, creative, emotion–related, but also knowledge–based attributes; it is built over the years of education, professional experience and finally life. But, for the students, whose creative and critical thinking is still developing and the understanding of complexities of environmental, social and economic dimensions is requiring time, “abstract” may equal unknown or/and incomprehensible. This is why students are prone to simplify the definition of sustainability, which consequently may be misleading and resulting with weak quality design. The same is true for those educators who perceive sustainability as distant, too complicated, or even unnecessary issue. Probably the strongest resistance exists among those professionals, even students, for whom the aesthetics approach to architectural design represent the ultimate quality. The statement that “good design is also sustainable design”, surely oppose this attitude.

Through knowledge gaining, abstract vision is transforming into defined reality, and this transformation leads towards sustainable development.

Among social, economic, environmental and cultural segments of sustainability, the environmental–technical segment is generally best understood among students of architecture. Inadequate distribution of sustainability themes over the curriculum, isolation from other themes instead of integration, educator factor, and unsuitable teaching and learning methodologies often contribute to the fact that non–technical aspects of sustainability remain unexplored and blurred. Learning material also plays important role; in this context, and having on mind that the environmental sustainability obviously present the most emphasized segment in architectural– sustainability education, Hannover principles (McDonough and Braungart, 2003), referring to the design for sustainability, represent a good starting point for introducing sustainability into design studio and a good matter for bringing to students more specific detail.

While explaining their observation, Hill et al. (2004) state that sustainability relates to ways of thinking about the world and forms of social and personal practice that lead to: ethical, empowered and personally fulfilled individuals; communities built on collaborative engagement, tolerance and equity; social systems and institutions that are participatory, transparent and just; and environmental practices that value and sustain biodiversity and life–supporting ecological processes.

Listed complexity needs to be transformed into a mode which is comprehensible to students. With close definitions, standardization, systematization or quantification, much of the isolated knowledge with questionable further application in complex problem solving may be transformed into more applicable one. “Measuring”, therefore, may be considered as one of the methods which is preventing from going into superficial blind end of inadequate understanding of sustainability. In the most determined purpose, “measuring” aims to help the students in bringing better design decisions in various environmental aspects, such as, materials, energy or land use.

4 MEASURING THE SUSTAINABLITY IN DESIGN „Education for sustainable development must share the characteristics of any high–quality learning experience, with the additional criterion that the process of learning/teaching must model the values of sustainable development itself. These characteristics echo the area which offers to all an education of quality leading to excellence and measurable learning outcomes” (UNESCO, 2005, 17).

Even though the technical sustainability most commonly marks students’ design, there still are abstract issues

concerning the aspect itself. While “greening” the architectural/urban projects, students are often met with two main concerns: measure and balance. The measure of “green enough” in students’ work is often either overemphasised or under–emphasized. Failure to link assessment strategies with the design often lead students to the application of as many green measures as possible, by simple thinking that “more” is “greener”. Application of vegetated roofs and facades, wherever possible, is an obvious example of this. As a consequence, the absence of “right measure” may also lead to the loss in aesthetic quality of the project. And isn’t the aesthetics itself a type of sustainability quality? On the other hand, by putting the emphasis on just one segment of environmental sustainability, other aspects may be jeopardized. Both problems are often caused by not understanding the issue in its full complexity, and may be simultaneously solved by applying measuring tools.

So, how green is green enough? Or, in a wider scope, how sustainable is sustainable enough? Any attempt do give answers on these questions, which students may ask while working on projects with integrated sustainability, calls upon the need to define, to limit, to standardize, to quantify. The learning objective should be primary oriented towards better understanding of the essence of the issue, and then to gaining the skills for performing the assessment. Among expected learning outcomes, it is considered as very important that the students are able to respond to the peculiarities of every given design task.

Khan and Hornbaek (2013) point the difficulty of obtaining measures about sustainability, as “on the one hand, sustainability is a complex issue, drawing on multiple disciplines. On the other hand, sustainability may be described at varying levels of scale, each with a very large number of variables, assumptions and interactions.

Causal relations are difficult or impossible to find. Variables change dynamically and more are yet to be discovered”.

Erdel–Jan and Frame (2001) stated: “Some students argue that sustainability is only a fad and it will go away sooner or later, like many others before it. Architects are not scientists or engineers and should not concern themselves with energy and environmental issues. Evaluation of the environmental impact of their architecture is not part of the design process”. The same authors than gave their counter thesis: “Using the software students can experiment, observe, and reflect on the consequences of their design decisions. They are able to make informed judgments about their work and in this way students can learn much more about the environmental impact of architecture than by simply discussing the issues”(Erdel–Jan and Frame, 2001, 8). By evaluating, which is a sort of experiment conduction, students may also expand the previously, even isolate gained knowledge.

Measuring is turning abstract into concrete. We need to compare two options and chose the better one; to predict the environmental outcome of our design; to measure in order to mitigate, to reduce, to reuse. We need to examine the environmental quality of building materials in order to select the best option for our project. We predict human behaviour, operational energy usage and many other sustainable attributes. “The wicked and ill–defined nature of design can be tackled through iteration and refinement, and with simulation as part of this process the designer has both a greater number of options to choose from and a better understanding of which options are most likely to perform as intended or conceived” (Gerber and Goldstein, 2014, 1).

In practice, the measurement of sustainability of design projects is done by using assessment tools and/or computer modelling and simulation. By using the assessment tools, it is possible to rate different segments of mainly environmental, but also some issues of social and economic sustainability. However, the overall model which would evaluate all aspects of sustainability is very hard to make because of the multiplicity of input data, parameters and indicators, their dynamics, and constant complexity – growing transformation. “Conventional assessment and planning processes today are not often well designed for addressing human and ecological effects within complex systems”, Gibson (2006) notes. Folke at al. (2002) argue that the emerging recognition of fundamental past errors heralds awareness of the need for a worldwide fundamental change in thinking and in practice of environmental management. The first error has been an implicit assumption that ecosystem responses to human use are linear, predictable and controllable. The second has been an assumption that human and natural systems can be treated independently. However, evidence that has been accumulating in diverse regions all over the world suggests that natural and social systems behave in nonlinear ways, exhibit marked thresholds in their dynamics, and that social–ecological systems act as strongly coupled, complex and evolving integrated systems” (Folke at al., 2002, 437).

Anyhow, various assessment systems used to evaluate reduced, but still to some extent comprehensive understanding of sustainability on unit (building or its part), group (neighbourhood) and urban level, are available.

Best known among these are international systems: BREEAM, LEED, DGNB and Japanese CASBEE.

| 121

Computer modelling and simulation, on the other hand, mainly serve to examine the narrow aspect of technical sustainability – energy efficiency and consequently CO2 emissions; many energy related software tools are in use today: Autodesk ECOTECT, Energy 10, DOE–2, eQuest, Green Building Studio, Design Builder, Energy Plus, Energy Plus–SketchUp Plugin (Open Studio) etc. (Attia et al, 2009) “The first objective in design is to define an answer or solution to an unsatisfied need. The evolution of the chosen solution (at feasibility/sketch stage) is a consequence of various cognitive activities undertaken by the design team. Building Energy Simulation tools aim to alleviate some of the complexities involved and assist the positive development of the design” (Obanye, 2006).

Developed tools, based on the life cycle assessment methodology, enable examination of environmental quality of building materials and offer possibility to compare various types, which assists in making the right choice.

“People such as product designers, architects, and engineers make choices that impose consumption levels on others for the lifetime of their designs. Unfortunately, many critical design decisions are made early in the design process that implicitly dictate detrimental resource consumption during extraction, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, and usage. However, if the consequences of these choices were revealed to the designer before such decisions were made, significant improvements would be possible whose positive impact would exist throughout the artefact’s lifetime. Given the estimates while still developing the computational model of the product, designers can reduce resources required during manufacture and usage, and improve the reuse and recycling of objects” (Khan and Hornbaek, 2013). The potential impact of building simulation would be greatly enhanced if its use was extended to (multiple variant) design optimization and included much earlier in the design process (Hensen, 2010).

122 |

5 CONCLUSION The aim of this paper was to investigate some problematic issues on practicing the sustainability in architectural/ urban design studio. Inclusion of all aspect of sustainability in design work, students’ and tutor’ understanding of sustainable development concept, and methods to “measure” achieved design results were analyzed.

Author Sterling (2012) looks back to the report on first–year students’ expectations on graduate employment and highlights the words of researchers: “80% of respondents believe sustainability skills are going to be important to their future employers and the majority of first–year students involved believe that it is the role of universities and courses to prepare them for graduate employment. The softer skills incorporated within sustainable development are consistently of paramount importance to graduates, regardless of course, university type or nation” (Bone and Agombar, 2011, 3).

While educating future architects and urban designers, we cannot equate sustainable development with the environmental education “which focuses on humankind’s relationship with the natural environment and on ways to conserve and preserve it and properly steward its resources” (UNESCO, 2004, 17). The students also need to understand and learn about broader context of socio–cultural factors and the socio–political issues.

Social change and evolving circumstances are central to any treatment of sustainable development. However, in curriculum examination, opposite from overall strategic recommendations, it is observed that environmental aspect prevails (Kosanović and Folić, 2013).

There is no universal recipe for successful integration of sustainability with design studio work. Positive changes that sustainable development calls upon cannot be uniformed; there is a demand for diversity of “right solutions”, and this exactly is one of the main concepts of sustainability.

The complexity of sustainability surely implies both qualitative (abstract) and quantitative (concrete, measured) segments, and demands adequate responsive and complex approach. Identifying values, bringing assumptions or ethical system development cannot be measured, but the physical context may There is no universal measuring technique which could be used for checking the derived project’s sustainability.

However, the combination of tools with tutor’s experience and developed sense for sustainable biological and technical circles represent a road to success. What is measured in design project will to the large extent depend on “the local context and issues of relevance and urgency” (UNESCO, 2005, 20). The tutor’s role here is considered as very important.

Measuring the sustainability evolves in line with sustainable development. Every used assessment system, therefore, is transitional, and this fact must be understood by students. Nothing is fixed in the course of sustainable development, except the needs for recognized human values, empathy and sense for others.

Tutors in studio may set their own criteria and parameters for assessing the sustainability in students’ design work. Even students may develop their own assessment tools, while attending seminars and workshops linked to the design studio basic theme. This kind of assignment can be very beneficial for knowledge and skills gaining, and also contributes to the critical thinking development. The practice is carried out at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, and the achieved results point on success.

References Attia, S, Beltran, L, De Herde, A and Hensen, J 2009, ‘”Architect Friendly”: A Comparison of Ten Different Building Performance Simulation Tools’, Proceedings from Eleventh International IBPSA Conference, 27–30 July, Glasgow, Scotland, pp. 204–211. http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2009/BS09_0204_211.pdf (Assessed 08 April 2014).

Bone, E and Agombar, J 2011, First–Year Attitudes Towards, And Skills In, Sustainable Development, The Higher Education Academy, Heslington, York, pp. 1–121. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/ sustainability/FirstYearAttitiudes_FinalReport.pdf (Assessed 08 April 2014).

Cowling, E, Lewis, A and Sayce, S 2007, ‘Exploring the Changing Nature of Students’ Attitudes and Awareness of the Principles of Sustainability’, Proceedings of the Built Environment Education Annual Conference (BEECON 2007), 12–13 September, University of Westminster, London, pp. 1–16. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/ cebe/Documents/resources/themes/P1_S_Sayce.pdf (Assessed 18 April 2014).

Erdel–Jan, L and Frame, I 2001, ‘Theory and Practice of Learning and Teaching: Environmental Issues’, Architectural Exchange 2001 Conference, 11–12 September, CEBE, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University, pp. 1–10. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/subjects/cebe/erdeljanl.pdf (Assessed 25 April 2014).

Folke, C, Carpenter, S, Elmqvist, T, Gunderson, L, Holling, CS and Walker, B 2002, ‘Resilience and Sustainable Development: Building Adaptive Capacity in a World of Transformations’, AMBIO, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 437–440. http://www.ima.kth.se/utb/mj2694/pdf/folke.pdf (Assessed 25 April 2014).

Gerber, D and Goldstein, R (eds.) 2014, ‘Preface’, Proceedings of the Symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design – SIMAUD 2014, 13–16 April, Tampa FL, USA, pp. 1–2. http://simaud.com/proceedings/ download.php?f=SimAUD2014_Proceedings_LoRes.pdf (Assessed 25 April 2014).

Gibson, RB 2006, ‘Sustainability Assessment: Basic Components of a Practical Approach’, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 170–182. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3152/147154606781765147 (Assessed 11 April 2014).

Grant, M, Marco, E, Pilkington, P and Burgess, S 2012, ‘The Public Health Residency: A Novel Way to Focus Attention on Sustainability and Wellbeing in the Architectural Studio’, Journal for Education in the Built Environment, vol.

7, issue 2, pp. 84–109. http://journals.heacademy.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.11120/jebe.2012.07020084 (Assessed 21 April 2014).

Hayles, CS and Holdsmith, SE 2008, ‘Curriculum Change for Sustainability’, Journal for Education in the Built Environment, vol. 3, issue 1, pp. 25–48. http://journals.heacademy.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.11120/jebe.2008.03010025 (Assessed 25 April 2014).

Hensen, JLM 2010, ‘Building Performance Simulation for Sustainable Buildings’, Proceeding of 3rd International Conference on Technology of Architecture and Structure / ICTAS, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing. http:// www.bwk.tue.nl/bps/hensen/publications/10_ictas_beijing.pdf (Assessed 24 April 2014).

Hill, SB, Wilson, S and Watson, K 2004. ‘Learning Ecology – A New Approach to Learning and Transforming Ecological Consciousness’, in O’Sullivan, E and Taylor, M. (eds.) Learning Towards Ecological Consciousness: Selected Transformative Practices, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, pp. 47–64.

Khan, A and Hornbaek, K 2013, ‘Sustainability through Computation’, in: Zander, J and Mosterman, JP (eds.), Computation for Humanity: Information Technology to Advance Society, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, pp.

35–68.

Kosanović, S and Folić, B 2013, ‘Green Themes in Architectural Curriculum: Scope and Content’, The Creativity Game: Theory and Practice of Spatial Planning, no. 1/2013, pp. 60–67. http://www.iu–cg.org/paper/2013/IU_ st01_kosanovic.pdf (Assessed 25 April 2014) Mackie, M and Kagawa, F 2007, ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Students and Teachers in Introducing Sustainability in Design Studio Teaching’, Proceedings of the Built Environment Education Annual Conference (BEECON 2007), 12–13 September, University of Westminster, London. http://cebe.heacademy.ac.uk/news/

| 123

events/beecon2007/files/P17_M_Mackie.pdf (Assessed 18 April 2014) McDonough, W and Braungart, M 2003, The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability, 10th Anniversary Edition, William McDonough & Partners, pp. 1–98.

Nicol, D and Piling, S 2000, ‘Architectural Education and the Profession: Preparing for the Future’, in: Nicol, D and Piling, S (eds.) Changing Architectural Education: Towards a New Professionalism, E & FN SPON, London and New York, pp. 1–21.

Obanye, I 2006, ‘Integrating Building Energy Simulation into the Architectural Design Process’, Built Environment Education Annual Conference (BEECON 2006), 12 – 13 September, London, UK. http://www–new1.heacademy. ac.uk/assets/cebe/documents/events/beecon2006/P18_Ike_Obanye.pdf (Assessed 24 March 2014).

Sterling, S 2102, The Future Fit Framework – An Introductory Guide to Teaching and Learning for Sustainability in HE, The Higher Education Academy, York, UK, pp. 1–75. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ assets/documents/esd/ The_Future_Fit_Framework.pdf (Assessed 18 April 2014) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2005, United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014: Draft International Implementation Scheme, pp.1–52. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001399/139937e.pdf (Assessed 1 May 2014) [1] Friedlander, J ’Abstract, Concrete, General, And Specific Terms’, The Guide to Grammar and Writing, http:// grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm (Assessed 24 April 2014) [2] United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) ’Education for Sustainable Development Information Brief’, http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/extras/img/DESDbriefWhatisESD.pdf (Assessed 16 April 2014)

124 |

| 125

Assist. Prof. Saja KOSANOVIĆ, PhD Department of Architecture, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Kosovska Mitrovica. Holds titles PhD and Mr.Sci. in Architecture and Urbanism, obtained at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, and M.Arch. in Architecture, obtained at the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering in Priština. Holds lectures on Architectural design, Sustainable architecture and urbanism and Environmental assessment of buildings and tutors design studio work. Research experience in: Environmental impacts of buildings, Sustainability assessment methodologies, Sustainable architectural and urban strategies, planning and design, Architectural education.

Author of the National system for environmental assessment of single–family houses. Author of the monograph Environmentally friendly buildings – introduction to planning and design. Visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade.

Branislav Folić, M. Arch., Teaching Assistant, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Kosovska Mitrovica. PhD candidate at the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade. Studied two years at Mt. SAC in Los Angeles, where he was awarded 2nd place by AIA at a students’ design competition. Currently finalizing his PhD research on architectural education. In 2004, undertook an internship at the company PTE Architects, London. Associate at the winning project for representing Serbia at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, 2008. Holds exercise classes on Architectural design, including studio work.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Cities – Laboratories of Smart Urbanism

Višnja Kukoč University of Split Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture & Geodesy Matice hrvatske 15 | 21000 Split | Croatia visnja.kukoc@gradst.hr

ABSTRACT “Cites are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design. This is the laboratory in which city planning should have been learning and forming and testing its theories”, Jacobs (1961).

The process of changing the city during the transition from socialism to capitalism is taking place now, for the first time in the history of urban development. Books, texts in periodicals and other literature on the subject are rare, and their authors are mainly sociologists, urban geographers, economists, and in very small numbers urban planners and architects.

Great cities have their own rules. They grow at a rate which is computed by number of people increasing per hour. Little cities of a few tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people give the impression that they still can be “comprehended with an ordinary dictionary”.

Cities in countries of the former Yugoslavia have up to 300 000 inhabitants, with the exception of Zagreb, Belgrade, Skopje and Sarajevo. That is why in this region we have to concentrate on how to teach on sustainable architecture and urbanism in small cites. „Towns, suburbs and even little cities are totally different organisms from great cities. We are in enough trouble already from trying to understand big cities in terms of behavior, and imagined behavior, of towns. To try to understand towns in terms of big cities will only compound confusion”: Jacobs (1961).

Bearing in mind the above learning outside the classroom from our own good practice should be our commitment.

“The way we design our streets, open spaces, public buildings and neighborhoods will give shape to urban society for a long time to come”: Gehl in Rogers and Power (2000).

Keywords: Small cities, good urban practice.

1 INTRODUCTION The process of changing the city during the transition from socialism to capitalism is taking place now, for the first time in the history of urban development. Here we mean on socialism in the former Yugoslavia, called the self–management socialism, characterized by one–party system, social ownership (instead of state ownership

| 127

128 |

proclaimed in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Block countries) and social or “socialist” self–management.

This system was decentralized (Socialist Republic) and it respected some elements of the market economy.

In the former system most goods, natural and those man–made, were socially owned. “This property had a mutual relationship with a particular kind of self–management with which it was mutually conditioned. The conceptual basis of this type of property was the Marxist postulate of the withering away of both the state and the property as a right”,( Gams, 1988:215).The center of interest of urbanism was planning and construction of public spaces as private ownership of real estate in cities was limited. Public spaces and their programs were dimensioned according to the expected growth in population and the planned economy development. Former system did not formally recognize individual and private initiative.

With changes of both the social order and the laws, which occurred in 1991, social ownership was changed into a state ownership. Market and private equity became crucial for enterprises in construction industry. With no regulations or incentives that promote social component¸ which every construction in a city should have, developers through the investment strive only to profit. A balance between public needs and private interest has not been established. Currently no one thinks of a city as a whole and of its urbanity. In the absence of vision and scenarios of development of those who have the mandate to manage the city only developers and landowners appear as initiators to create new and modify the existing plans.

In December 1991 five times bigger number of cities and municipalities, local government units, ( LGUs ), than Croatia had in the former Yugoslavia were created. The Republic of Croatia Constitution established that the land use management is in direct jurisdiction of LGUs. When LGUs were formed Urban Institutes of the previous cities were abolished, and new were not formed. Urban planning together with programming was transferred from public to private sector. Only administrative city planning departments remained in the cities.

Plans from the previous system that contained control mechanisms for construction were in force, but they were not operational. The state intervened with laws. From 1991 to 2014 the Construction Law together with the Law on Spatial Planning were changed 22 times, but little has been done to define the specific mechanisms of implementation.

Cities in the successor states of the former Yugoslavia have mostly up to 300, 000 inhabitants, with the exception of Zagreb, Belgrade, Skopje and Sarajevo, which makes them smaller cities. Small and large cities differ. Large cities grow at a rate which is computed by the number of people increasing per hour. Small cities of a few tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people give the impression that they still can be “comprehended with an ordinary dictionary”. „Towns, suburbs and even little cities are totally different organisms from great cities. We are in enough trouble already from trying to understand big cities in terms of behavior, and imagined behavior, of towns. To try to understand towns in terms of big cities will only compound confusion”, Jacobs (1961).

Based on the data presented we can see how the process of urban planning in the region is specific. Few books on the subject by authors who did not live in the cities whose processes they described cannot be relevant. They dealt with the cities in the transition in the Eastern Block and omitted the former Yugoslavia.

Regarding the above we think that the way education on architecture and urbanism in the region is to proceed is primarily learning from regional specific practice. “Cites are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design. This is the laboratory in which city planning should have been learning and forming and testing its theories”, Jacobs (1961).

during the investment phase but also including the exploitation phase of the neighborhood and the city where the building is located.

2.2 Housing is the main, but not the only factor in the development and the construction of a city, which means that: – planning and programming of neighborhoods, including their economic analyses, should be treated as an integral part of an existing city, and not as isolated entities – along with the dwellings construction neighborhood supporting facilities should be built (schools, kindergartens, clinics, playgrounds, etc), as well as city supporting facilities (high schools, museums, etc) 2.3 While constructing a city not only spaces for living, work and leisure are created but also social transformations among present and future inhabitants.

“Jane Jacobs was the first strong voice to call for a decisive shift in the way we build cities. For the first time in the history of man as a settler, cities were no longer being built as conglomerations of city space and buildings, but as individual buildings (… )Fortunately, interest in building dynamic, mixed–use urban areas instead of conglomerations of free–standing single buildings is growing”, Gehl (2010) As a conclusion we may say that aims and tasks of architecture and urbanism are the construction of dwellings and supporting facilities within available funds, through construction of a city.

Construction of a building or a neighborhood consists of three phases: preparation phase, construction phase and exploitation and maintenance phase. At the very beginning of the preparation phase, at the time when the smallest amount of investment money is needed the biggest intellectual and creative work is to be done, and far– reaching decisions that have the greatest impact on the future realization have to be made. In the construction

| 129

2 AIMS AND TASKS OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM In architecture and urbanism particular problem will always be present: how to construct an optimal number of dwellings with available funds and existing social and economic conditions while building a city, or in other words how to organize the construction of dwellings and its immediate infrastructure and at the same time build a city together with its social and economic relations.

2.1 To build an optimal number of dwellings with available funds means that budget–price building is estimated not only with layout analyses but with analyses of usage value, exploitation value, neighborhood urban plan and city urban plan value.

It also means indivisibility between architecture and urbanism of both neighborhood and city, respectively indivisibility of economic possibility of the investor, private or public, not only through analysis of cost price

Chart 1: The rationalization and the construction effects related to the investment amount; pursuant to Vojnović (1978)

and the exploitation phase, when substantial money is invested possible influence on the realization decreases.

Thus, the aims of architecture and urbanism described above can be achieved if maximum attention is paid to the preparation phase.

3 PROBLEM FORMULATION One of the reasons why maximum attention is not paid to the construction preparation phase is the lack of architects and planners that could master a complex task of the construction of cities and coordination and synchronization of the process.

130 |

4 PROBLEM SOLUTION Architectural and urban education should have aim and task to provide for experts and coordinators who will put into realization principles of the city construction and enable optimal cooperation among all participants in different phases of the construction of dwellings, neighborhoods and cities.

The method and the content of the education in architecture and urbanism results from the aims and the tasks: – educate a particular type of specialists, that is coordinators, who will be able to create a vision and preparation, construction and exploitation processes of a particular operation according to the principles of the city construction, and then to animate all the participants of the process – have complex approach that will include achievements in the city construction related to good practices, first of all in the region – have a general frame of teaching with the possibility of changes and adjustments according to current needs – seminar papers and projects should be linked to tasks from local communities, monitored and guided to its implementation as well as the results of the implementation, thus achieving full cooperation of the science and the practice.

Wider areas of education should include the following: 1. History of city development 2. Planning 3. Financing 4. Programming and design: architecture, urbanism, infrastructure 5. Construction: preparation, construction, maintenance 6. Systems organization and management 7. Exploitation 8. Information technology 9. Law studies 10. Case studies from good regional practices (e.g. Split 3) “If cities are to function efforts must focus on all aspects from the physical environment and social institutions to the less obvious cultural aspects that have great significance on how we perceive individual quarters and entire city societies”, (Gehl, 2010).

The erection of Split city section called Split 3 introduced a new approach to the urban planning worldwide in 1968. Many domestic and foreign professionals visited the enterprise (Giancarlo de Carlo, Jane Jacobs, Donald Appleyard and others). Its construction principle was the arrangement of urban units, based on an existent communication grid dating back to the ancient division of the terrain from the first century, of the then outskirts of Split. The parcels were on average 50–60 ha each. Sites of about that size appear as a term and a requisite in urban planning in the early 20th century in the United States, and later in Europe and the Soviet Union, in the form of a neighbourhood unit that is an urban unit. In Split 3, the urban unit has produced positive results for more than 40 years.

4.1 Students and teachers After finishing this type of education students could be employed in – offices and agencies for urbanism (spatial planning) in a city, a county or a state, including ministries – agencies and institutes for natural resource management in a city, a county or a state, including ministries – private offices, agencies and companies for urbanism (spatial planning) – construction companies

Illustration 1: Split 3, 1970

or with minor changes in the curriculum, they could be employed in – European Community Institutions – United Nations institutions Having in mind that this type of education is meant primarily for daily practice teachers should be closely connected with it.

5 CONCLUSION Teaching for sustainable architecture and urbanism is to take into account regional conditions of transition from socialism to capitalism having in mind how to proceed in contemporary conditions in cities to meet the social processes that are drivers of interactions by which the city develops. That is to be achieved by educating students who will provide for optimal coordination of all participants in the process in all phases of city construction, based on wider educational areas of architecture and urbanism and with the emphases on case studies from good regional practices.

References Gehl, J 2010, Cities for people, Island Press, Washington Jacobs, J 1992, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, ( first edition 1961), Vintage Books, New York Rogers, R and Power, A 2000, Cities for a Small Country, Faber and Faber Limited, London Vojnović, J 1978, Koncept postiplomskog studija Gradogradnja, Split [1] http://www.paris–sorbonne.fr/enseignements–dispenses–3939

Višnja Kukoč, PhD, senior lecturer, architect. Born in Split (Croatia). Graduated at the Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana University. Worked as an architect in different studios in Ljubljana and Split.

From 2002 until 2013 held the position of a senior lecturer at the University Department for Professional Studies, Split and associate lecturer at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy. Since 2013 fully employed at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy Was on study visits to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen and University of Padua.

Participated in scientific projects at Ljubljana University, Faculty of Architecture and Scientific Institute of the Faculty of Arts. Defended her doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Architecture, Ljubljana University.

Active teacher, scientist and architect.

| 131

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Encouragement of Fine Arts Sensitivity and Sense of Space on the First Level of University Study of Urban Planning Peter Marolt University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Zoisova 12, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia peter.marolt@fa.uni–lj.si

ABSTRACT Movement across space is one of the fundamental aspects of discovering space. In addition to the drawings, different computer presentations and model, for future space designers there are existing also less conventional methods of perception and representation of space, which are related to the broader field of fine arts. In a collage or torn paper technique we do not worry over the real existing space, but can be a useful tool for the future architect urban planner. In the context of a pedagogical process, it is the practice, which considering the minimum limits as far as free approach to composition gets students indirectly accustomed to better orientation in two–dimensional space.

In certain tutorials, it goes more for the way to bring students to the point of observation and to distinguish elements in the composition that have an art meaning. In the process, it is important to encourage listeners to identify hidden orderliness in an even seeming mess. The purpose of such fine arts compositional tutorials is to raise a curiosity, inventiveness and creativity in students. In such a manner, we familiarize them with the tactile aspect of the fine arts and indirectly we develop hand making skills. But mainly with that we may bring in the space design field the juiciness, imagination and unconventional approach of fine arts creator.

The atmosphere in the space is possible to represent on the nonverbal level by the means of fine art expression.

The meaning of tutorials, which are more than not pertinent to painting techniques, however, are developing indirectly a sense of components that are co–creating a space, from the light to the textures as example, what would later benefit students in the space design field. Fine arts thinking can actually represent an abstract method which indirectly leads to some general model of how to step in any task of complex design.

Key–Words: Developing a sense of space and composition, spontaneity, creative inspiration, atmosphere, a seeming mess in the composition, deliberate composition, collage.

1 INTRODUCTION Drawing is the most common way, a tool (much like a working model and scale model) we use in our work with which space designers may in relatively easy, fast, effective way present an idea about space. (Freehand) drawing

| 133

represents a way of non–verbal communication, but does not mean the only visible mode of visual communication between space designer and client, the first one and contractors, but it is true that it represents (the fastest) way of verification, how would it work all together in a space. Suhadolc says that freehand architectural drawing as a useful category of drawings, still cannot be avoided when it comes to moving the idea in my head into the world of visible because ideas that are existing only in our heads are unstable. [2007: 8, 10] In addition to developing drawing skills, it is important for space designer to develop fine arts sensitivity and sense of coherence that relate to texture, color, dynamic composition (which is established by direction, dominant, form). Without general fine art design fundamentals, it is not possible to have a critical, that is an objective judgment about fine arts values on the existing; to establish, to respect and to stick to the fine arts criteria, what comes right in installing a new inside the old one. (And this regardless to the fact that modern space designers often are breaking these rules.)

Art tutorials such as collage or torn paper technique (Figure 2, Figure 3) encourage inventiveness and creativity and because as such are not tied to a number of other fundamentals, which have an impact on the space configuration. For a diligent student in the thinking process “of shaping” ideas can be benevolent, as he will find himself more relaxed and most of deliberation may be devoted only to balance fine art composition, what will be found beneficial later in the arranging space.

134 |

by education, which are working in the broad fine artsfield. As Barbara Boltar, curator of the Gallery Šivčeva hiša in Radovljica, in critics of exhibition of students of a Faculty for architecture pieces held in the same space said, that the Gallery repeatedly opens the door to those space designers who also took place on the other fields of fine arts as painters, sculptors, graphic artists, illustrators (and I know, that she considered architecture studies as a sort of fine arts education, what helps us when we candidate as a potential exhibitors), who knew how to use their knowledge in a more loose artistic way.

And as she continues, the same authors may exhibit in pieces of gallery formats as well as in architectural creations, taking in the art formation the order and the system of the art building; and in the architecture they implement the juiciness, imagination and unconventional approach of fine art creator. [Two views–Spatial forms/ space structure, from leaflet] In this context, it would be necessary to implement in the existing framework of urban planning study some fine–design tasks, challenges, which prospective students would at least indirectly learn about the meaning of the fine arts necessity for the space design. How important are her words written in the same leaflet brochure at the exhibition when she says that temporarily a newly redesigned Gallery calibrated as a result of research,

1.1 Getting to know the kids about space with the help of dance motion In (some of) kindergartens in Slovenia kids learn about space by means of rhythmic moving, so, therefore, rhythmic motion across space. As it is possible they are free to express themselves through motion, and thus perceive the dimension of space.

Motion across space is, therefore, one of the fundamental aspects of cognition of space. On the other hand, there is a drawing plane, a painting surface, so a two–dimensional space, also just a mean by which children and educated creators express, present and perceive space. In the best case, when we talk about, for example, an exceptional drawing skill, about real knowledge, experience and fine arts mighty piece, we say that the creator’s hand “is dancing” across the surface. (We even say, “the canvas sings” in creative boost of the artist.) Although these are metaphors, which already exist as a long time constant in conversation as well as in the records of certain established fine arts critics, they are real description of mastery of space; however; it is: a space in architecture, in urban planning, as landscape or painting and its poetic definition can be realistic.

| 135

2 TOOLS OF PERCEPTION OF SPACE; FINE ARTS THINKING According to mentioned way of ˝mastering˝ space of our kids with the help of motion across space, expressing emotions through the dance motion, we can claim that it is entirely possible that in addition to the drawing, different computer presentation and model, there exists another less established mode of perception and presentation of space. Certainly, for the answer to this challenge, at least on the educational level of the future space designers, it is necessary to look at the broader field of fine arts. It is indisputable that both the architecture as well as urban art design as we like to call urbanism, in addition to the fact that both simultaneously belong to engineering, to social science, and they draw upon the knowledge of different spheres of human activity, they also belong to the field of fine arts. (Not to say that the concepts of metrics, rhythm and composition appear in all other spheres of art and that we often mark the architecture as a petrified music.) As final, architecture as well as urban planning, urban design we just name the arts of space design.

Familiarizing the future architects, urban planners at the beginning of the study with the drawing, so, is not the only approach for the aspiring student to be prepared for professional challenges linked to space design.

The purpose of familiarizing the students with the general rules of fine art composition is to develop a creative way of thinking. (In most secondary schools, in our country, subject, which is in a way or another linked to art design, practically doesn’t exist.) Fine arts thinking namely quotes on complex as well as on non–objective way of thinking and goes hand in hand with the creative mindset.

2.1 Fine arts education and creativity The importance of general insight into the world of fine arts and the importance of familiarizing fine arts design as a constructive segment of education, which should also be worth to future architects urban planners, may also indicate the importance that some curators, gallery directors are attributing to the segment of those architects

Figure 1: Ines Košec, Nina Perić, workshop Two views–Spatial forms/space structure, from exhibition of students workshop in the Šivec House Art Gallery in Radovljica, 2006. (photo Miran Kambič)

understanding and evaluation of space and also through creativity, intuition and manual skills. For the exhibition of students workshop Two views–Spatial form/ space structure, which author, mentor and leader was I a few years ago, we created a place in the same Gallery, which was the subject of the exhibition itself. (Basic material we used as building material that determined the space was a willow wicker. We went with curator to cut down in the Valley of Mirna in lower Carniola. (Figure 1))

136 |

3 ENCOURAGING ARTISTIC SENSITIVITY AND MANUAL SKILLS Developing creativity and artistic sensibility is definitely the one that should be done in the future to encourage space designers at least during the study. This kind of experiences can be started with the “models”, so in making fine arts artifacts, during fine arts tutorials, where students are, despite the use of high technology, still working with their hands. Don’t forget, the arm is an extension of the mind, computer programs, however, are not yet able to feel and think instead of us. The impulse that occurs right in time when you need it lies in our case right in the past similar (fine arts) experiences (from education time), and if anything, then it is an intuition, the inspiration, the core that gives the juiciness, the power to (fine) art. And without practice there is no perfection.

If we consider that there are no coincidences, then inspiration needs proper basis and does not come just like that by itself, without being supported by past work. It would be useful and mostly fair, to give the students in the study direction of urban planning, within the established frameworks, fine arts basis and thus greater chances of being competitive in the market. Thus, they will be able to use that knowledge in the space design.

That would also be good for the environment in which we live, and indirectly for the society as well. Considering such approach we may just give them a starting point to develop their talents and perhaps over the years (at the same time) they will might reach for other areas of the fine arts too.

One of the ways to introduce a perception of space to the future professional space designer, is the assembly of elements into fine art composition, for example, collage and torn paper technique. (The word collage means assemblage of papers, photographs, drawings, ... by gluing into a fine arts unity. Torn paper technique is a painting technique in which we model fine arts design by gluing pieces of torn out paper, foil, etc. In patching, we use waste textile.) Torn paper technique, much like model, indirectly make student to become familiar with almost forgotten work and presentation of space with tools, where they actually work with their hands (in order to balance the work with the computer), where the hand is similarly as in drawing only a thinking tool or the way of expression. Working with hands indirectly represents the way, how to familiarize with the aspect of tactile

Figure 2: The introductory fine art tutorial for subject Basics of urban planning for students in the direction of Urbanism. Student has among others pointed out the texture and the connecting element. (Kristijan Lavtižar, collage, torn paper technique, academic year 2013/14).

in the fine arts. (Even kids learn about the world in a way when they grab everything with their hands, holding things, tasting them, even though they often unintentionally cause gray hair to their parents. It is necessary to know that fine arts has a broader concept then visual art or visible art, because fine arts include also the tactility, so the feeling of touch.)

Such a tasks that are not directly tied to the urban space design, or not at all, since there are at the level of general knowledge, tools, skills, at least as it turned out in slightly more perceptible students, or, in the case of those who are a little more interested in the subject and have listened to what I wanted to point out during lectures, they can provoke creative potential in individual; however, it is a similar approach that may encourage non–concerning ways (fine arts) thinking. Perhaps even more so because there were as the starting point of the composition tutorial a balanced asymmetrical composition and to some extent a so–called “seeming mess” (what goes together with the modern approach to the creation of space, which at first glance may work as fairly disorganized, but in reality, it is just a different, it is a hidden order).

3.1 Already seen Seeming mess is (regarding asymmetry) apparent only at the first glance, because relying on life philosophy, that is quite different from our view of the world but was known to Far East for centuries. In garden design, in the smallest extent also in the architectural space, in addition of, applying mandatory symbolism, which in terms of the operational dynamics and structure of nature, they took care in meeting opposing poles. On the field of painting, as well as in the garden design, which largely comes out from the first, the tradition of the Far East underlined also the equality in diversity. Lying on the absence of concern sense with building forms and strictness in composition, as known in the greater part of Europe. (At least, or not at all, such approach in the Far East is applied in city/town arranging.)

3.2 Less common methods and techniques of cognition with space Collage, torn paper technique, or a combination of both (patching would also fit in this context) are useful in learning space mainly because students are not overloaded with real existing space (Figure 2, Figure 3), so, they can loose thinking on composition, what gives them more time in handing with concrete tasks concerning space design. In the process, they will meet many other challenges, and so is possible that they will forget soon enough the starting points to some of the basics of (fine arts) composition. Such tasks are not seen as tasks that are taken

Figure 3: The introductory fine art tutorial for subject Basics of urban planning for students in the direction of Urbanism FA in Ljubljana.

For all students, the starting point was equal, and that is a black and white composition, with the possibility of adding a color accent.

The basis to this solution is constructional approach to fine art design. The similarity of thinking on composition with the basic axis, as a link, connecting element on which individual spaces, streets and markets are strung, and they are opening in front of us, when we are moving around the space. Approach to composition would come us handy even at the level of the basic features of town or access to it.

This example can demonstrate that in space design we also can, without guilt, sum up such approach. (Nik Zornada, collage, academic year 2013/14).

| 137

out of the context of education, because as learning about space through drawings, these tasks can be useful tools for the future architect urban planner, as well.

Any such a “trip into the unknown” as is a wider field of fine arts, can be a rewarding experience, in terms of cognition with composition. This can also mean familiarizing with both modern art as well as contemporary art production, especially if it is supported by visiting a fine art exhibition by renowned fine artists (in our case a retrospective exhibition of Gabrijel Stupica and Slovenian constructivists in Modern Gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia).

It would be perfect, if all students together could go to see an exhibition, such as the (Russian) constructivism, which has managed to unite artists of different forms of fine arts and where the fine arts also arises as a generator of ideas for creations of space design too and where with their approaches in design still today this impacts on architectural design. A similar impact could have numerous branches of modernism, especially the approaches that set up so–called time–dimension in sensing space (space–time, as is called from some of contemporary creators) when on the same painting simultaneously two different sights are shown; two different views, from Picasso and cubist artists on, that may be close even to the modern “deconstructivist” approach to the space design…

138 |

3.3 Free form composition based on reduction of elements It is good in urban design to have defined frameworks, but in the context of content should not be predefined.

For some things, it is sometimes better to leave them to their nature and to spontaneous development of the situation. (Later can be built some of the walkways between apartment buildings when it will be more transparent where pedestrians walk.) Between coincidental arranged cutter flakes (whose structures are interesting because they may occur in the process of student–making models and are, therefore shown in the classroom), we’re trying to distinguish such structure (composition) of the elements that contain some artistic sense. Just with that, when we changed our observation to somehow familiar, acceptable way, we have shifted our direction from seeming coincidences to thoughtful performance. (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 11) Let’s just say that there are more stages of artistic exploration. The first is the observation of existing, followed by a phase of weighing, then the selection or decision and, ultimately, transformation, (Figure 6, Figure 12) when we consider that it is necessary and that at the same time means the outcome or solution. The purpose of such an approach, which represents a creative game, is gaining experience of fine art creation and (fine art) composition.

Figure 5: Fine art thinking also means to abstract the redundant elements. When we select a segment from a coincidental composition of cutter flakes, we think in a creative, fine arts way. We can watch on the composition in two ways: first, the most important for us is void, second, the filled space. Forms that are closer to the shape of a square, they are in a way positive and negative of the same shape.

Two smaller squares have similar square footage as white one, so observing the light contrast, they are in some equilibrium. (Peter Marolt)

Figure 4: One of a dozen selected from random of compositions that emerged from cutter flake of paper, when I blew them, and as such served for further fine art compositional handling.

Figure 6: The fine arts solution based on the previous image. Point, line, plane, the relationship between light and dark, as well as color are basics of fine art references. (Peter Marolt, Piranski mandrač (penultimate version), 12 x 9 cm, mixed media, acrylic on panel, 2014.)

| 139

However, in such fine art exploration it is a matter of combination of a hidden order, order within a seeming disorder (that’s how our mind works) and to develop a sense of fine art composition. (But usually we cannot repeat the same fine art design approach, not in the same way, because any such task is a challenge for itself.)

For such a venture, however, students, for example, need some knowledge of constructivism and the way of thinking that fits in, and that is important, because even today, it represents the correct design approach. Never mind, if, in a modern deconstructivist approach, this is hidden, as perhaps it is the opposite of the first one, on the other hand, in some way derives from it.

The purpose of such fine art compositional tutorials is to raise the curiosity in students and to indirectly show them how important it is to know to observe. To watch does not necessarily mean to see, as “to see”, in fact, means the internal “feeling” the composition is the right one.

So, in “coincidental” fine arts composition we are searching for some “potential development.” The basis is rarely final and complete, usually it is imperfect; therefore, it is necessary to take more time to persevere in its upgrading. (Even arranging, upgrading such fine art composition has in some way similar tendencies as it is valid for settlements, towns and cities that are developing, responding to changes, by all means behaving like a living organism.)

These sorts of tutorials and gained experiences are in general just means more or less unburdened cognition of space, ways to awaken perceptiveness of space.

4 DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PRESENTATION OF SPACE AND IMAGE OF SPACE ATMOSPHERE As it is visible, I derive from an assumption that architecture, as well as design of outer space, are integral parts of fine arts. (Architectural) space can, therefore, be abstracted to the level when it in fine arts way is presented.

In general, the levels of presentation of space can be quite different. Architectural sketch made (on site) by hand by using pen or pencil, which represents a definite space, is usually like first analytic. In such case in particular represents the best utility in perception of material space. Such a drawing usually talks about proportions between building volumes, about relations between material elements of space. (Figure 7, Figure 9)

Figure 8: So to speak, the same fine art handling, but a different way of interpretation, because painter’s approach talks of the evening atmosphere of space. J. M. W. Turner, Venice: San Marco and the Piazzetta, with San Giorgio Maggiore, Night c. 1840, watercolour and overlay color on gray–brown paper, 14.8 x 22.8 cm. Source: [Warrell, 2003: 127]

140 |

| 141

Figure 7: Architectural (line) drawing. Ching, Piazza San Marco, Venice and Ching, symbolic gates – “torii”. Source: [Ching, 1979: 258]

Figure 9: Fronting different levels of fine art approach in “describing” space. Architectural drawing as an analysis of the space. Light and shadow. Monochromatic watercolor drawing. Ljubljana and the medieval part of town made in a human scale. Elements of street space: as a concrete lamp on Plečnik’s Čevljarski most and fences that complete the street. Greenery, as weeping willows, as the water lovers are an important part of the riverside area. In some cases they are hanging down even in the riverbed, softening the concrete side of the river Ljubljanica and to some extent, at least in certain places they softly link the river surface and the level of the street.

Source of the drawing: [Brezar, 2012: 38]

A credible imitation of material elements of space, together with feelings connected to our presence in there, is a presentation of space that is just not an analytical display, and regard this, such presentation of atmosphere of space is an expression of fine art. Because this way of artistic expression includes an individual’s feelings about a certain space, so it tends to be in a way a presentation of space as an artistic reflection. (Figure 8, Figure 10) That is probably one of the rare ways to show, “to describe” a climate or mood in a certain place (atmosphere, as it expresses the Zumthor [2006: 17, 18]), in the non verbal way. Even if it is through the eyes of subjectivity.

Such approaches, which may present also the hardly measurable, may be also important for future space designers, because, with that, they might indirectly develop a sense of elementals of certain space (intensity, “temperature” and tune of light respectively shades of dark and gray shadows, the color and its impact on the feeling about space, texture, for instance).

Experiences pertaining to the presentation of existing space, and where there is a sharing in at least two level approach which may interrelate, may help us later in developing new ideas, in reality about an unexisting space.

(An architect may also express his creativity with shadows, by different line expression, ... and of course also with the color.) Space designer may find help in painting techniques, especially in watercolor that at a certain level is a sketch or drawing with colored (dry or oil) pastels. (But the truth is, as far as the understanding of space and its representation goes, the architects usually to some extent master only the line drawing (line art).)

142 |

5 CONCLUSION One of the ways how to stimulate learners to have a sense of fine art in composition and recognize the challenge presented by features in an existing composition, what can be an appropriate starting point for sustainable learning, is to encourage to recognize even in a seeming mess a hidden order. (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 11) This experience would be helpful in concrete situations, not to give up when they found themselves in a chaotic state when trying to re–design a certain space. “Deconstructivistic” way of thinking is interesting for us for a reason: it represents an example of a seeming mess, which is visible only at a first sight. Indirect learning of such modes of expression is interesting for us and brings an important reason: such an approach is one of indicators of the current time, which is to a certain extent chaotic, (excessive) dynamic.

Such approach to composition is interesting for a reason: because it is modern, but also because, to some extent, at least in starting point it keeps to until recently established design approaches, even though this established aesthetic canon, order, in the later stages is denied. This means that the starting point fundamental – composition is at first disassembled and later again reassembled but in a different manner, in such a way that we either change the relation between elements (where tectonics is not necessarily at the forefront, on a contrary, can appears even atectonic way of handling compositions) or even more often with the help of rotations (spinning around the basic axis) to create such a dynamic composition, where there is hardly any element perpendicular to the base or to the other, or parallel with it.

Constructivistic approach in principle and general is marking deliberation, also in cases when we do not repeat not in size and even nor in shape, therefore, the real construction must radiate an inner strength and must give the impression to be the one, the real one. [Marolt, 2011: 109, 111] We could say that knowing both mentioned starting points and their intersection, at least theoretically, can mean real balance, but above all, one of the modern approaches in the space design.

Composition, practice, with the name of collage, is in the context of pedagogical process in initial phase of study of urban planning (during subject Basics of urban planning) just an tutorial that according to minimum limits and liberal approach to composition in order to get students indirectly accustomed to be oriented in two– dimensional space, i.e. to arrange space, similar as a dance movement that leads kids to easily facilitate direct perception of space and thus to a better orientation in it.

6 DISCUSSION It is as Sunzi says; disorder is based on order. [2009: 88] Capable designer can recognize order also inside mess (Figure 12) and acts in accordance with a sensitivity, not only intellectual. [Marolt, 2011:73] The essential is, therefore, left to the creative intuition as everything can not be thought. [Didek, 1982, introduction] However, systematic approach is very important.

When I speak about recognizing the hidden order in seeming mess, normally, I have in mind the conscious denial of known to us, established norms, of rational networks, strict order, or at least elements, that break that severity

Figure 10: Exposed artistic shape in presentation of space. Individual artistic expression, where there is maybe just fine art truth for space feeling, where faithful impression of space and space analysis are no longer in the foreground. But there are at the foreground the importance of relatively strong sunlight and reflections from the water surface illuminated concrete riverbed. The plane and the line (also known as an “incision”) as a final emphasis and separator between panels. Color as an important fundamental element of the draw. (Peter Marolt, acrylic, dry pastel/paper) Source: [Marolt, 2004: 69]

| 143

Figure 11: One of the photographed compositions from cutter flakes of paper, that remains from making something else, which I have trimmed it later only as a result of the game of “coincidences” when I was blowing the cutter flakes on the table. While, in the first stage, I have followed spontaneous random of solutions, there was later an analysis of (fine arts) space, fine art composition, that means a conscious search for those segments of the existing composition that represents an interesting fine art compositional starting point. Void is equally important as the fullness. (In fact, composition can be understood as an abstract market image, rendering it to be of interest also for students of urban planning). The edges of the composition are equally important as a central part of it. This composition can be considered either as an interesting graphic or as a starting point for logotype, what confirms at the same time the known fact of no necessity to distinguish between individual forms of fine arts, and that all of these forms are part of the same wholeness.

Figure 12: The fine arts transformation and solution based on composition, shown on the previous image. Fine arts creation (painting), where we use the existing, unsatisfactory surface, what means an interesting texture at the same time, the starting point for the application of further load of colour layers, ... (Seeming) mess, much like the ruined facade, can benefit in establishing a new fine art order.

Starting from the point that nothing is useless and that the order comes from disorder. Such art solutions, of course, are not equal to architectural composition, but it is however true, that students of urban planning can with a similar approach get experience related to texture, colour layers. (Peter Marolt, Landscape 1, 11.7 x 10.7 cm, mixed media, acrylic on panel, 2014.)

144 |

and implemented dynamics into composition and relate to a different form, size or direction. (Figure 2, Figure 3) When we consciously fight with for the most unusual dynamics, this should mean anything but inconsistency. (In my opinion, for a balanced asymmetric composition much knowledge and feeling is needed, perhaps even more than to establish a symmetric balance, but certainly the first is reflection of modernity and as such, with all due respect to the established order, rules, a classical composition, ..., should be presented to students.)

What can the hidden order set apart from rigour of the usual infusion of order in the composition, is the spontaneity. (Unfortunately, adults smile at kids with approval when they are responding spontaneously and then after few years, in ignorance, unawareness, the same act is suppressed with the way of education, which more or less supports only the established approaches and methods that do not allow different ways of thinking and which gives support only the suggested responses, learned, as we appear. Spontaneity in responsiveness to the set problem (that in my experience is more present for students at the Academy then to our students) and in the tasks I’m talking about, it’s not tied directly to the studies of urban planning, for example, but more to the fine art design as one of fundamentals, which gets its full usefulness in more complex tasks where it is necessary to take into account a number of aspects necessary for space design successfulness. It is happening too quickly that fine arts deliberation is the first to be lost in the process, at least the essence of that art reflection, the essential constitutive element, which insert space design into the sphere of fine arts.

One such spontaneous not yet learned responses is, for example, the process of identification the possible foundation of (two–dimensional) composition, when even in the waste material (in cutting, as cutter flakes) we can recognize a particular potential. (Far East in this context says that for the master nothing is useless; that disorder transforms into order and that the order can turn back to disorder. Traditional Chinese music is for westerners’ ears discordant, but its intention is to make an easier way to reach the listener’s internal harmony.

Apparently unfinished parts on pictures of the traditional Far East brush painting serve the same purpose. In the European art from previous century artists have found that it is possible to create fine art compositions from waste items (from discarded things, such as parts of the old useful radio apparatus, usable items of metal, etc.). Such approaches have become completely legitimate ways of expression.) Of course, this is not a denial of established approaches linked to design and composition. It’s an approach to analytical way of thinking, which alongside also raises an inspiration, an impulse, a direct perception, which serves as a trigger to move thinking and/or (fine art) design, where common sense, experiences, knowledge in the following stages lead to reach the final form.

Fine arts reflection can represent an abstract method, which indirectly leads to a general model to give the way of artistic reality and also to any complex design task. (Seeming) coincidences that are things we have not planned, but may occur, are an integral part of life, and thus part of (fine art) design. It is, however, necessary to start with a relatively simple, but certainly, with pretty clear idea. All is meant (also) for any other composition.

First, we must learn to walk, that we can dance later.

References Boltar, B 2006, v Marolt, P. Dva pogleda – Prostorske forme / struktura prostora. Zloženka ob razstavi del študentov Fakultete za arhitekturo iz Ljubljane: Barbare Klopčič, Ines Košec, Nine Perić, Anje Pipan, Marka Stanovnika, Anžeta Šavsa in Jureta Šuštarja. Galerija Šivčeva hiša, Radovljica, 19. –28. maja 2006. Muzeji radovljiške občine, Radovljica. // Boltar, B 2006, v Marolt, P. [Two views–Spatial forms/space structure. Leaflet at the exhibition of the students of the Faculty of architecture Ljubljana pieces: Barbara Klopčič, Ines Košec, Nina Perić, Anja Pipan, Marko Stanovnik, Anže Šavs and Jure Šuštar. Šivec House Art Gallery in Radovljica, 19. –28. May 2006. Municipal museum of Radovljica.]

Brezar, V 2012, Moja IAHS skicirka. (My IAHS Sketchbook.) International Association for Housing Science, Istanbul.

Ching, Francis DK 1979, Architecture: Form, Space & Order, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, Cincinnati, Atlanta et al.

Didek, Z 1982, Raziskovanje oblikotvornosti, DDU Univerzum, Ljubljana.

Fister, P et. al. 1993, Arhitekturne krajine in regije Slovenije, Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor RS, Zavod RS za prostorsko planiranje, Ljubljana.

Marolt, P 2004, Pomen likovnosti za arhitekturni prostor, (Doktorska disertacija) UL, Fakulteta za arhitekturo, Ljubljana.

Marolt, P 2011, Likovno oblikoslovje – arhitektonika prostorskih form. (Univerzitetni učbenik) UL, Fakulteta za arhitekturo, Ljubljana.

Ravnikar, E 2007, Umetnost in arhitektura. (Vodopivec, A. ur.) Slovenska matica, Ljubljana.

Suhadolc, J 2007, Prostoročno risanje za arhitekte. Fakulteta za arhitekturo, Ljubljana.

Sunzi 2009, Umetnost vojne: kitajska knjiga življenja z uvodom in razlago prevajalca Johna Minforda, Mladinska knjiga, Ljubljana.

Warrell, I 2003, Turner and Venice, Tate Publishing, London.

Zumthor, P 2006, Atmospheres, Birkhäuser, Basel, Boston, Berlin.

| 145

Assist. Prof. Peter Marolt, PhD. Peter Marolt defended his master thesis ˝The Architecture of the Sacral Space in Slovenia Today (The Sacred in the Sacral and the Profane)˝ in 2001 and 2003 he became a member of the Union of Slovene Fine Arts Associations. In 2004, he successfully defended his doctor thesis ˝The meaning of Fine Arts in Architectural Space Design˝. In 2005, he won the ˝Recognition of Remarkable Fine Arts Works˝ by the University of Ljubljana in the field of architecture. In the same year, he was elected assistant professor in the field of architecture and design. He actively attends international congresses on housing architecture, international congresses on vernacular architecture. He publishes articles in professional periodicals (Les/Wood, AR). Beside five prizes won in fine arts competitions called Ex tempore he also won ˝Recognition for high–quality Artwork˝ on ˝Srečanja 2013˝ – International Fine Arts Festival Kranj – The Slovenian Association of Fine Arts Societies.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

International Workshop: Teaching for Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

Florian Nepravishta Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Polytechnic University of Tirana Rruga: “M. Gjollesha”, Nr. 54, Tirane, Albania florian.nepravishta@fau.edu.al

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the recently completed workshops on the specific issues of urban planning for sustainable development of heritage sites. It analyses specific didactic cooperation perspectives with the participation of the High School of Landscape Architecture Engineering (hepia) of Geneva, Classical Archaeology Unit of University of Geneva, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Polytechnic University of Tirana and Albanian Center of Archeological Research. Those institutions having previous experiences in similar projects were the base of this international teaching cooperation. Each of the participating institutions had its specific approaches and targets in the framework of the “SCOPES”.

The study reflects the rich exchange of the interdisciplinary workshop in natural and archeological heritage sites, but also transcribes and leaves a trace of the joy of this adventure. This workshop addressed the relations between territorial developments, architecture and landscape. The paper will retrace the origins of the Oricum case study interdisciplinary projects and the history of the social encounters and the support required for their completion. It will also present the educational processes set up to coordinate the workshop and several courses within each partner school. This study compares different perspectives of teaching for sustainable architecture and Urbanism in the respective countries.

Finally, this paper concludes with the lessons learned from the didactic process in both organizational and implementation features, as well as in aspects of contents and final results.

Key–Words: architecture school, urban planning, international workshop, sustainable teaching.

1 INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, one of the most notable changes in Albanian universities has been a rapid growth made towards institutional diversification, the development of more focused institutional missions and profiles and the rapid development of private Architectural and Urban Planning Schools. While the Bologna process has inspired, innovative reforms in a number of public and private universities met with considerable in–principal support, on a wider scale implementation of the reforms is hampered by insufficient resources, conceptual

| 147

ambiguity and conservative resistance. In the goals of the new curriculum are still not reflected all the requests of the market economy and the sustainable development of the country.

In the frame of improving architectural and urban research in the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) of Polytechnic University of Tirana a continuing process of curricula upgrade is going on. It attempts to promote a revised curriculum reflecting a more holistic approach to education under the banner of quality education, and teaching of sustainable architecture and urban planning.

FAU ‘s mission is to develop a curriculum in accordance with European standards and the Bologna Charter.

It has been open for cooperation with national and international organizations as well as versus professional community. This dimension is reflected widely in intensive exchanges and varied with different partners, both in the context of research and teaching activities as well as academic staff mobility at the level of the students.

In recent years are carried out some joint projects with foreign universities on different topics with the involvement of several disciplines such as architecture, urban planning, urban design, restoration, environment, landscape and photography. Developing joint programs with international partners aim to ensure a high degree of information sharing, teaching methods and practical experiences.

One of these joint projects was “Oricum. The Study Project of Archeology and Natural Park in Albania”. Albanian– Swiss multidisciplinary research project in cooperation with Hepia of Geneva, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Joint Master of Architecture students.

2

148 |

ORICUM PROJECT– THE RICH EXCHANGE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORKSHOP

2.1 Educational objectives Educational objectives were based on the UNESCO objectives of Education for Sustainable Development. Some teaching and learning strategies used were experiential learning, storytelling, values education, inquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom and community problem solving [1]. Those strategies have to be used to help students achieve the wide range of experience and skills.

The purpose was to cross the glances of different professionals as archaeologists, landscapers, architects, planners and environmentalist in one place with the intention of making tracks, emerge reflection and proposals.

This workshop was also an opportunity to meet and exchange about project development of space. Both schools can present their positions, methods and approaches in terms of sustainable development.

Travel in the site has permitted the students meeting and working together. During the elaboration of the project new technologies has provided the continuing of this work by video conferencing and internet. A common presentation of all projects takes place in Geneva with the presence of Albanian and Swiss students.

2.2 The heritage values Oricum is unique about territorial issues nowadays. It joins the mythology of major cities of antiquity which have ceased to exist due natural or policy changes, such as Ephesus, Miletus or Limyra. This paradoxical situation has given them a benchmark status because they were made somewhat intact it has to provide an original reading because they have not experienced growth to reach the present. If the situation is exceptional, it has also witnessed the recent history that has left this virgin territory and propels, therefore, without development in the future.

No innocent one can believe that this situation will remain long, and the problem goes far beyond anecdote.

Society, whether Albanian or other European ones have a fundamental global responsibility not to deteriorate this site, but to recognize its value, document and bring to the future by providing a dynamic view of history.

The workshop teaching was based on the definition of the basic land structure, landscape, status of the soil, networks, and the frame. All historical traces, social and cultural govern the specificity of this site, and to through critical analysis, interpretation and oriented to not only pose a diagnosis but also reveal the ambition of the area and its possible futures.

2.3 Nature and landscape values of the Oricum site Oricum forms as a whole a remarkably very high preserved archaeological, historical, cultural, natural and landscape values. The site and its region deserve attention for its conservation in all of its values. Between sea and mountains, the situation Orikum is a unique beauty. Visit the archaeological park and natural of Orikum

may be related to the closure and beautiful National Park of Llogara. The site includes many representative ecosystems and rare Mediterranean flora.

The archaeological park has real natural value. The Lagoon, including the Marmiroi Church in the south and the ancient Necropolis, located on the west bank, were part of the scope of the study.

3 PROGRAM OF THE PROJECT The opening of an archaeological site to the public and its relations with the surrounding area is a subject rarely studied in schools of architecture and urban planning, or landscape. This arrangement should be taking account of the archaeological heritage site, ecology and the sustainable tourism development.

The qualities of the site were based on the presence of the old elements, like the ancient city and Necropolis, Byzantine church and the contemporary ones, like disused buildings, occupied in the past by the army and military port. All these human settlements were based on obvious qualities of the area: the proximity of the sea and the lagoon, a fertile plain, protected by the peninsula of Karaburun and a temperate climate. Together with the disparate natural elements, these were the landscape qualities of the site. The issue of palimpsest of this site highlights relationship of local and world history, whatever times.

The project has examined the relationship between the towns, the plain, the lagoon and the sea in relationship with the mountain and the future development of this territory in the presence of the military base. Thus, access to the site has to be based on natural and architectural elements to enhance each other. About the rehabilitation of existing military buildings, was planned the feasibility study of the museum and to predict the public space.

For the visitors and users welcoming was provided parking areas, toilets, cafe, ticketing and possibly selling local products and local park maintenance spaces.

The issue of pedestrian routes and walks around the natural and archeological site has been important in the project program. The discovery of a natural environment quality, including the lagoon, with all its elements, including fishermen has been facilitated by the connections between archaeological and architectural elements in the area.

The program takes in particular into account the creation of an archaeological and natural park covering first the area of the ancient city of Oricum, but also Necropolis, the Byzantine church and the Lagoon. Reassignment has been considered for militarily abandoned buildings. The idea of three museums in the current military zone has to be explored and the specific content to be defined. It has to consider the creation of a discovery route of the fauna and flora and the parking as a starting point for hikes in the mountains.

4 MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND CULTURAL WORKSHOPS The Orikum workshop addressed the relations between territorial developments, architecture and landscape.

The site makes it possible to cross these themes with the environment, but also the human occupation on the site attested since the 6th century BC. Traces are still visible, from the remains of Greek colony BC, set to date by current excavations and the new buildings of Military Naval Base of “Pasha Liman”.

To take the measure of the complexity, and the wealth of the territory was planned a one–week study visit and workshop on site by bringing all students and teachers. This trip provided the analysis of the site and its landscape context, the understanding of its archaeology, history and launch reflections on the future sustainable development of the site. It also allows the exchange of glances carried to the site and the past to feed mutual exchanges and experiences. It has given an opportunity to work towards common rich proposals of the exchanges.

During the workshop the Albanian students’ of Architecture (12 students), Urban Planning (six students) and Environment (six students) as well as Swiss students of Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (24 students) and Students of Joint Master of Architecture (12 students) were supervised by teaching staff with different expertise1.

1

Teachers HES: Lawrence Alder, Professor HES, Landscape Architect; Joris Castro, Landscape Architect, Federal Control; Natacha Guillaumont, Professor HES, Landscape architect; Robert Perroulaz, Dendrologist Federal Control; Denis Roptin, Landscape Architect.

Teaching Assistant HES: Casoni Sebastian, Landscape Architect; Benjamin Dupont Roy, Landscape Architect Teachers Joint Master of Architecture HES: Nicolas Pham, Professor HES Architect, Luigi Snozzi, Professor Architect; Tedros Yosef, Adjunct Scientist Architect.

Teachers UPT: Florian Nepravishta, Professor UPT Architect; Oltion Marku Professor UPT Environmentalist; Klaud Manehasa, PhD in Urbanism UPT; Dorina Pllumbi, PhD in Architecture La Sapienza di Roma.

University of Geneva Classical Archaeology Unit: Jean– Paul Descoeudres, Professor University of Geneva; Gionata Consagra , PhD in Archaeology University of Geneva.

Albanian Center of Archeological Research: Saimir Shpuza, Archaeolog.

| 149

The team of Orikum municipality assisted the work and the study visits during the workshop.

5 THE WORKSHOP DIDACTIC PROCESS In the frame of improving architectural and urban studies the cooperation between four institutions, the High School of Landscape Architecture Engineering (Hepia) of Geneva, Classical Archaeology Unit of University of Geneva, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Polytechnic University of Tirana and Albanian Center of Archeological Research was very important.

The idea of this international project, in the framework of the “SCOPES” program, had a long time elaborating between these organizations and its achievement was a great joy for all parties. It was a multidisciplinary project leaded by the consortium. After the drafting of the project by the Hepia team in cooperation with other partners and a number of staff meeting, the workshop has started in the Orikum. It was time to unite thoughts from different points of view, but with a single purpose, understand what is happening and what can be proposed for the future sustainable development of the area.

On the first day of the workshop, two groups of students were on their way to Orikum. Students from Geneva had a longer route to make and many new things to see before arriving at the Orikum reality. The Albanian students less, but they were not familiar with the site because of not being allowed by militaries to visit it.

The first meeting before arriving in Orikum was in the monastery of Zvernec located on the island with the

Figure 3: Site visits to the site of Marmiroi Church and Necropolis during Orikum workshop

of Orikos–Oricum, Karaburun, the Marmiroi church, the Laguna, the old village of Tragjas and the new Orikum city (Figure 2, 3).

During these site visits, students were documenting what they see by the photos and perceptions cast by sketch drawings on paper. The attention was to understand what are the environmental and social characteristics of the site. The site visit has continued and the third day by students working individually or in groups. The working group was composed of two landscape students and one architecture student of Hepia, and one architecture student, one urban planning student and one environment student of UPT. The site visit reflections were the starting point of the students’ ideas during the workshop sessions in Marina.

150 |

| 151

Figure 1: Site visits to the island of Zvernec during Oricum workshop

same name. An informal presentation of students, as the place was asking for and then pictures in memory of this moment. It seemed that the nature and a rich cultural heritage was welcoming and encouraging from the beginning this cooperation (Figure 1).

The workshop was located in a beautiful place called Marina at the yacht harbor of Orikum, which has been the students home and their working place for one week. An organization meeting took place in the late afternoon of the first day. The second day of the workshop starts with the guided site visits on the ancient archeological site

Figure 2: Site visits in Laguna during Orikum workshop

Figure 4: Students group work and teachers during a workshop at Marina

A SWOT analysis was done by each group. The teachers were tutoring the workshop sessions by giving their specific expertise (Figure 4).

In the and of each day the teaching staff did the professional review for each group of students work. The most auspicious criticism was made by Luigi Snozzi, famous Swiss architect and professor . Reflections about teachers criticism and reviews were reflected in the students’ work during the workshop where they worked in different groups and later than during their personal work. The tutorials, the professional reviews and student presentations (Figure 5) were some of the richest moments of the workshop experience.

Figure 5: Students work presentations during the workshop at Marina

The meeting realized with local government authorities and urban specialists of the Orikum Municipality was a significant event for students. Discussion with stakeholders affecting the development process of the area helped to come out, for a moment, from the conceptual aspects of the design and to make more tangible the practical, legal and official ones. Those meetings were important to show that universities can and should be important actors for contributing to the process of sustainable development of the area and for the preservation of natural and cultural values.

Diversity in the positions of the students from Tirana and those from Geneva and their approach to the project and the area revealed a wide range of viewpoints.

The Oricum project for Albanian students was not like other works made in the atelier of design each semester, were in some of them, they had learned design based on the typology with strong technical character. The Albanian school of architecture, for its own history, derives mostly from a technical approach towards architectural issues, particularly in the urban scale. The communist meaningless of self–isolation from the world, the socialist planning policies and the spirit of rationalism made Urbanism the science that has resolved functional problems in the city, stripped from the emotional experiences. With the opening to the European experience in the transition period of the market economy as the answer to the urban dynamics in the country, the school was influenced from new optics of treating the problems of the built environment. It is an increasing sensitivity towards the human cause and the life quality of the city. A flexible approach, conceptual and visionary one is the future towards which the Albanian school of architecture and Urbanism and its students should be directed.

For Swiss students the Oricum project was a beautiful adventure with the possibility to work and study in a remarkable place rich of natural and archeological heritage. The perfect place to work on, with complex problems and planning solutions. The concept was the strong point of their work.

The creative and visionary spirit that characterized the Albanian and Swees students work during the workshop where the richest value gained during this experience of the Orikum multidisciplinary project. The tutorials, the professional reviews and last work presentations in Geneva were some of the richest moments of this experience.

152 |

6 SUSTAINABLE PLANNING AT THE SERVICE OF THE SITE The pedagogy for sustainable planning needs to be addressed by a range of skills and complementary experience. It is to this end that the workshop was organized by students of different backgrounds and expertise.

Figure 6: Students final presentations and the teachers in Geneva

Sustainable development of Orikumi area intersects many disciplines related to each other, like urban planning, architecture, archeology, environment and landscape (Nepravishta et al., 2013). The didactic process responded to the complexity of this project. The workshop rich with contributions of experienced teachers from different disciplines, had a direct impact to create conceptual scenarios.

The variety of students’ perceptions presents an interesting reflection on the area complexity and its potential development. Phenomenological approach oriented towards the care and deep reading of the context, focused to understand the dialectic development, sometimes is lacking the nature and the built environment.

For the realization of the project the group work of students with different backgrounds aimed not only to be interdisciplinary but also adopting different levels of cooperation. This modern practice is increasingly embraced in the didactic process of architecture schools, including and the schools of architecture in Geneva and Tirana.

In the urban scale, the project was focused to create visions on how to improve the city. It’s examines issues related to the management of expanding the city limits and the relationship of the built environment with the morphology of the territory, the natural elements, the orientation, the character of the spaces and the hierarchical relationships. The sustainable development suggests that the project has to reevaluate the major natural and historic assets of the area. The urban management strategy was expressed in three main directions: access, connection and preservation (Nepravishta et al., 2014). Preservation and revitalization of the parks and archaeological heritage was mainly successfully faced in urban plan itineraries with different proposals for alternative tourism development such as the beach tourism and the cultural, natural, agricultural tourism.

On the building scale, the students’ projects were focused mostly on public facilities. The sociocultural and museum objects, mostly with different characters (city or natural), perceived as a catalyst to revitalize and regenerate the urban life. They were free to choose the object positioning after a careful area analyzes. There were students who chose the positioning of the museum in the city as part of the intended plan in a larger urban scale giving importance to the recovery of the city life. At the same time there were other students who chose to have their proposed projects positioned at peak moments of the natural setting, such as when the land is meeting the sea and lagoon and the history meets with nature. There are also successful proposals, positioning objects in the heart of nature, making these objects being careful touch of the site so in this way that naturally accept them.

Figure 7: Students picture after the final presentations in Geneva.

| 153

7 PRESENTATION OF THE WORKSHOP RESULTS Developing Orikumi area, that was the main challenge of this project and the aim of this international cooperation, was handled successfully by students of both schools. Presentations represent an important theme to share.

They occur after two months in Hepia, Geneva and allow exchanges and discussions between students and teachers (Figure 6).

The Orikum sustainable development project addresses the problem of landscape architecture and the relationship of the site, themes of history, memory and the environment which has been certainly at the center of workshop discussions. Following the presentations, synthesis has been developed for all projects, identifying the different lines of thought and their possible realization. This summary has been the basis for the Geneva exhibition in the occasion of the 100 anniversaries of Albanian Indipence. Following the workshops, discussions and syntheses, a publication tentative have been made. It describes the work of the Albanian– Swiss students for the site visit, programs, sketches, the workshop to synthesis of the best projects.

154 |

8 CONCLUSION The UNESCO objectives of Education for Sustainable Development have guided all the didactic process of the Orikum project. Some teaching and learning strategies like experiential learning, storytelling, values education, inquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom and community problem solving were used to help students achieve the wide range of experience and skills.

This study serves as a reference in architecture and urban planning schools, both in terms of progressive educational workshops on the importance of landscape, heritage and architectural joint approach. The issue of opening Archaeological Park and the notion of archaeological sites, its relationship to the landscape surrounding is rarely addressed in the course of study, both in archeology and architecture school training. The site Orikum projects and workshops where the opportunity to emerge research themes. Indeed, the theme archaeological parks and his relationship with his area in all its components is absent from current research.

The complex subject of Orikum project, challenged the student, guided by their pedagogues, to confront various problems such as archeology, landscape, environment, urban planning, architecture, on the other hand, it provided solutions, work and teaching experiences which have been quite beneficial not only in the auspices of implementation of the academic program, but also in professional and cultural aspect. In this regard the success of the project lies not only in the pedagogical and scientific benefits, but also in the social and spiritual ones (Figure 7). It creates opportunities for students and pedagogues to learn about two different cultures and to profit from each other, by establishing the foundation of friendly relations between the students and the teachers of both schools.

References Nepravishta, F., Pllumbi, D., Manehasa, K. and Marko, O. 2014, Waterfront Planning for Sustainable Development of Natural and Archeological Heritage. Proceedings of the 2nd ICAUD International Conference on Architecture and Urban Design Epoka University, Tirana, Albania, 08–10 May 2014. Paper No. 329 Nepravishta, F. and Vokshi A. 2013, Planning for the Development of Tourism in the Natural and Archeological Park of Orikum. Proceedings of International Conference on Business, Technology and Innovation. ICASP 2013– UBT– Durrës 1–2 November 2013.

[1] http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_gs/mod0a.html?panel=3#top [2] http://aefoundation.co.uk/architecture–and–education–luigi–snozzi/

Assoc. Prof. Florian NEPRAVISHTA, PhD – Full professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of Tirana. He is actively involved in the development of education curricula of DA, including research and international network activities.

Doctor (2009); MSc on Urban Housing Management, IHS – Erasmus University, The Netherlands & Lund University, Sweden (2001– 02); Diploma of Jurisprudence, the University of Shkodra (1995–2003), Diploma in Architecture, the Polytechnic University of Tirana (1998–93). Florian is visiting professor at the State University of Tetovo, Macedonia and Albanian University. Florian has over 20 years of experience in education and practice in the fields of architecture and Urbanism, education and research. He has worked as a consultant for Local Government, NGO and Private Companies. He has been a member of various national and international scientific committees and international juries of architecture competitions. Research interest: teaching architecture and Urbanism, housing, building adaptation, heritage conservation and revitalization.

| 155

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Teaching for Urban Complexity in Smart Cities

Tomaž Pipan The CASS, School of Architecture, London Metropolitan University 59–63 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7PF tomaz@urban.si

ABSTRACT Recent trends in the direction of Smart City development had been spearheaded by the IT companies like Siemens and IBM in order to meet the challenges of Climate Change and seek solutions for low carbon economies. On the other hand, the domain of Smart City has been already claimed by developers and civil engineers. And where is the role of architects and urbanists? The city is more than computers and digital infrastructure, and more than economic figures and land capitalisation. Understanding urban environment and building a smart energy efficient city requires varied expertise and does not only depend upon installing a state of the art database and linking all the computers together through algorithms. The conceptual and digital level of smartness needs to be complimented with its spatial implementation. Classical disciplines dealing with urban space like urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, have the ability to explain and organize complexity of the city through drawings, diagrams and visual material. However, in order to accommodate this new information–driven understanding of the city, the teaching practice has to change. Instead of morphological and spatial plans, the topic of investigation and teaching has to be reoriented towards processes and management of city complexity where different constituencies interact. The qualities of urbanists and architects in the discourse of smartness are in their ability to represent complexity visually and drive the management of this complexity through their spatial knowledge. TO do that, a strong management methodology is needed.

Key–Words: Urban Systems, Managing Urban Complexity, Sustainable Smart City.

1 INTRODUCTION This paper is looking into the problem of interdisciplinary condition of today’s management of the city. If ever more different expertise are needed, and if increasing amount of these expertise hinge on the knowledge connected to high technology, the question arises: what is the role of architects and urbanists within this new world? What are our qualities and expertise that we can bring to the discourse of smart city and sustainable urbanism? That question naturally leads to the question how should a teaching of this field be framed in order to accommodate this changing contemporary condition where fields of experience are ever more dependent upon technology.

| 157

We will therefore first define who are the main constituencies in today’s discourse on the smart city, secondly we will briefly look at traditional teaching practices of urbanism and what are the skills that urbanists and architects learn within and finally we will propose a changes needed based on traditional knowledge and skills but to accommodate the most pressing needs of unfolding smartness in the cities.

2 PROBLEM FORMULATION The most aggressive in claiming the competence of smart cities are the digital IT companies that deal with hardware and software solutions. ...intelligence is being infused into the systems and processes that make the world work – into things no one would recognize as computers: cars, appliances, roadways, power grids, clothes, even natural systems such as agriculture and waterways.

Today, it’s not a question as to whether the technology to build a smarter planet is real. Now, we need to know what to do next. How do you infuse intelligence into a system for which no one enterprise or agency is responsible?

How do you bring all the necessary constituents together? How do you make the case for budget? Where should you start? (www.ibm.com: the smartercity, accessed April 2014) 2.1 Problem 1 Multinational corporations like IBM are starting to reach into the domain of the urban infrastructure and the city as such. With cities being ever more dependent on utilization of information, the digital giants are changing their focus from mere supply of computers and software to devising integrated city solutions. Through this act, they are entering the spatial, political and economic domain of urban environment. Through data mining and information synergy, they are proposing a better world, where traffic will run smother, healthcare will be pervasive and where “green” energy will be in abundance.

158 |

However, the city is more than computers and digital infrastructure. Understanding urban environment and building a smart and sustainable city is more than installing a state of the art database and linking all the computers together. Urbanists have to address the current appropriation of the concept of a Smart City by global corporations such as IBM, Phillips and Siemens. We need to develop new approaches to urban design that work within technological domain of innovation, where attention is towards the systemic rather than spatial. This brings us to our second problem.

2.2 Problem 2 Cities across the world are recognizing the need to rethink approach to the city design, management and planning in order to accommodate for a giant leap of technology on one side and to cater for sustainable long– term and resource–conscious development on the other. The decisions on management and planning of cities are increasingly dependent upon complex digital systems underpinned by “bic data” requiring new approaches in management and design. For example, in 2008 EU has established the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) an independent body of EU that is responsible to: “[1.] increase European sustainable growth and competitiveness, [2.] reinforce the innovation capacity of the EU Member States, [3.] create the entrepreneurs of tomorrow and prepare for the next innovative breakthroughs” (http://eit.europa.eu/, our mission, accessed Apr. 2014). In short, it has been widely recognized that the competitive advantage of European cities, in order to battle the questions of sustainability, is their innovative capacity. However the direction and framing of this innovation is crucial. It has been recognized that the innovation needs to be connected to companies with global outreach in order to support fostering of smart ideas in the cities in order to assure sustainable development of ever increased pressures onto cities and world resources (Amin and Thrift 2002). On the other hand, the innovation environment is rekindling the idea of new regionalism where localization brings about knowledge spill–overs and favourable resource sharing (Marshall 1890, Porter 1998, Komninos 2002). Core partners in EIT sponsored programs are, on one side multinational industry partners – companies like Philips, Intel, IBM; and on the other side, research institutions and their SME spinoffs in leading universities; research chairs that deal with computation, digital technologies, civil engineering and so forth.

It is staggering to observe that one of the most important and well–funded European initiative that deals

with the questions of cities and their future development has so completely bypassed the architectural, urban departments and institutes. For example, in TU Berlin, there is only one chair within the two schools of architecture and urban planning that is a standing partner within this initiative (http://chora.tu–berlin.de). The majority of partners are dealing with smart technologies (institute for telecommunications http://www.tkn.tu– berlin.de/), artificial intelligence (http://www.dai–labor.de/) or applied mathematical computation (http://www. matheon.de/). Where is the place of architects and urbanists in this new world of comprehending, designing and managing the city? What do we have to offer, and how do we need to change our teaching practices in order to become a competitive partner in this new knowledge economy?

2.3 URBANISM AS A DISCIPLINE One of the main problems about urbanism is that it is never understood as an independent discipline but is attributed to one or another; namely to architecture, geography, landscape architecture, planning, sociology, economy… and the list could go on. From this condition, main problem arises; each of these disciplines understands term “urbanism”, or rather, discipline deals with urban space in a different way. For example: architects are concerned with the considerations about sun exposure and organization of building volumes and differentiation of programs. Landscape architects evaluate the quality of urban open space on the basis of physical comfort – shade, water bodies, green areas etc. Urban geographers analyse the environment through adequate infrastructure, energy and water supply etc. Even though these disciplines are so different in a way how they analyse the city, they still have one important quality in common. They rely heavily on drawings, maps, diagrams and visual information to distil, understand and most importantly manage urban problems. This is the most significant capacity and “skill” that the traditional disciplines dealing with urban space can contribute to the smart city and sustainability debate.

However, if this is such a strong comparative advantage, why are these skills not present in current debate on smart city described in previous chapter? Why is the access of “traditional” space–related disciplines like urban design so limited within the debate of smart city? Let us look at an example of a student project (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Ground plan of a proposed urban design © Hana Geder, Student Work, FA Ljubljana, 2011.

| 159

Figure 1 is an urban design of an area. It shows buildings, public spaces and greened landscape areas with correct widths of roads, parking spaces, ramps, building heights and corresponding programs. It presents the city through programmes and urban order of the space. These are all important architectural and urban design properties that need to be taken into account if we would like to build a part of a city. However, these are not the qualities of interpretation and visualization of space that would let us know how certain systems in this space function. It does not represent the technological and systemic aspect of, for example integration of smart mobility networks; a visualization that would be required to understand smart cities. If we look at description of one of the EIT projects below, this problem will be even more apparent: Behavioural Change for Sustainable Urban Mobility Developing business models to engage the private sector in sustainable urban mobility.

In the Behavioural Change for Sustainable Urban Mobility (BestMOB) project various innovative business models will be developed to reduce the negative effects of congestion, not only on the environment, but also on the economy and the lives of individuals. The public sector has limited means to achieve this. Private interests, however, could simultaneously drive and benefit from the transition to sustainable mobility systems. (http:// www.climate–kic.org/ acessed Apr. 2014)

160 |

The ideas behind solution described above is noble; however the implementation of these ideas in reality – although technologically possible – would benefit form a spatial perspective. This is where natural sciences based knowledge of research departments dealing with technical smartness needs to be augmented by knowledge of spatial disciplines. If companies like Siemens are devising software–driven answer to the Smart City and sustainability debate, our response as architects and urban designers should be a spatial and design–driven facilitation of these technological ideas. However, this does not mean only to draw the buildings, streets and the “public space” but to be able to visualize and present the whole process of implementation and integration of these urban systems within the urban environment. However for that, the visualizations need to move from representing the physical form to representation and drawing of management of these technological systems.

Therefore, the question is not as much on the side of spatial design; of the spatial organization of different massing volumes, types of programs, heights of buildings; widths of roads. The question of sustainability is how to represent visually the operability of these new technologies in order to manage their implementation and combine them meaningfully so they can be available to the public.

3 NEW PRACTICE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING IN URBANISM Instead of drawing diagrams of uses, we should start thinking about diagrams and concepts of city systems as abstracted value chains within the city (Figure 6). The qualities and expertise of urbanists and architects can be used in two ways. Firstly: urbanists are able to draw and represent visually and spatially the city and therefore should be able to represent the complexity of contemporary urban systems augmented with technology. And secondly, urbanists are able to manage the implementation of this complexity precisely due to the ability of structured representation of information. In following sub–chapters I would like to propose firstly a management methodology for this complexity, and secondly show a few examples of what kind of spatial and systemic drawings urbanists should be able to produce in order to think this complex urban environment.

3.1 Managing complexity To make sense and to understand this rich technologically augmented city (Figure 2), in addition to understanding its spatial orders, economy and culture, we need to look at it as cohabitation of multitude of systems. We can describe these systems by understanding and drawing the underlying processes that make these systems work (Figure 5). Drawing all these aspects together creates the complexity of the task nearly uncontrollable. That is why we need a comprehensive and overarching methodology that helps us structure this complexity and make it

Figure 2: Managing the complexity of a city by identifying main directions. 1. Managment (Players, Actors, Stake Holders) 2. Systems (IT, infrastructure), 3. Site (physical geography of the city, morphology) and 4 Identity (the cumulative effects of interaction of the previous 3 layers) © Tomaz Pipan for CHORA, 2006. | 161

manageable. Urban Gallery1 is a an example of such methodology that helps us to define, classify and organize systemic, economic, managerial and spatial aspects of the city in order to design sustainably and not lose the sight of the overarching questions. Urban Gallery is a methodology that enables us to look at specific territory, identify its elements, and understand problems and opportunities. Further it enables us to create and manage planning scenarios. It is made of four distinct layers through which it is possible to holistically understand and act within this territory. These layers are set so to inclusively discuss and incorporate matters concerning spatial, economic, political and social issues in a sustainable manner. These layers are Database (DB), Prototypes (PT) Scenario Games (SG) and Action Plans (AP).

Cities are dynamic and multiple; they comprise a vast range of ‘players’ and ‘agents’ whose ‘effects’ flow through the system, continually reworking the variety of urban spaces in any given field. His approach is aimed first towards identifying and then redirecting the temporal play of these various forces. Consequently, urban design is practised less as spatial composition and more as orchestrating the conditions around which processes in the city may be brought into relationship and ‘put into effect’. (Corner 1999: ‘The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention’)

1

Urban Gallery as explained here is a practical use of methodology developed and tested by CHORA (www.chora.org). Parts of urban gallery are published and defined in the book Urban Flotsam (Bunschoten, Hoshino, Binnet 2001). The data consistency protocols and online Urban Gallery are being developed by Tomaz Pipan and tested out in numerous didactic sessions with professor Raoul Bunschoten and other tutors throughout 2006 – 2014. It is an on–going process. The latest incarnation of Urban Gallery is the BrainBox; research project at the Technical University Berlin at the Chair for Sustainable Planning and Urban Design. (http://chora.tu–berlin.de). BrainBox is a fully interactive physical environment, where the urban gallery methodology can be used on the fly through tacit participation.

We use tools like mapping and diagrams to show and explain these layers in order to propose new solutions and design new ideas. Urban Gallery represents an open platform that can manage negotiation of different claims and stakeholders on the territory. Through Urban Gallery, we are defining a new occupation of urban curation through design (Figure 3) that is able to handle dynamic masterplaning in a contemporary complex city.

The above example shows that urbanistic skills can be well utilized in management and steering of smart cities; the important difference is application of this knowledge. This leads us to the realisation that we need a new type of profession that fills the gap between urbanists–designer and a manager. We can argue for a new profession of curator–designer within urbanism that is based on understanding of urban processes to propose sustainable

162 |

| 163

Figure 3: Negotiation and development of a project within the urban gallery. Due to strict 4–layer structure, it is much easier to engage on multitude of levels; from design and management to participation and implementation. © Tomaz Pipan for CHORA, 2012.

and energy efficient (smart) solutions, framed through the methodology like the Urban Gallery that represents a platform to inclusively and dynamically manage the implementation.

The practices of urban planning and architecture are evolving in the context of an ever–more complex second skin. In collaboration with other practices, inhabitants, users, clients, decision makers, producers and investors, these practitioners help to invent new urban forms and define the shifts in practice that are required for the management of these new forms. Urban Curators orchestrate this shift in practice, detect emergent phenomena, designate cities as metaspaces, form galleries, and curate their contents. (Bunschoten, Hoshino, Binet 2001: 57) Urban Gallery is used to propose new solutions and manage implementation of these new solutions dynamically through negotiation of involved partners, players and stakeholders. It allows discussion of possible scenarios and different stakeholders to contribute to the debate and shaping of a territory.

3.2 Drawing complexity However, in order to have such a methodology operational, the curator–designer should be versed in new representational skills and drawings that need to integrate the representation of systems so that they are easily accessible and comprehended. Only as operational drawings city systems can be integrated into the management strategy and finally into the design. There are various ways of doing this, let us look at three important ones.

Figure 4. Spatial index representing the population densities and on that basis it is representing the optimization of public transport networks. Spatial index enables to define types of public transport nodes, typologies and important players that need to be involved in the process of managing and organization of specific nodes. © Carolyn Tan; Student Work, London Met, 2010

3.2.1 Index maps Instead of drawing analysis of space where we analyse massing, heights, skyline, programming, direction of buildings; index maps are mapping hidden topographies of space that allow for deployment of technologies and smart systems. Index maps are a type of diagrams that compress metric information and convey it in a more efficient way allowing us to identify unknown qualities of space. With the help of index maps space is revealed in a new way uncovering the hidden landscapes of urban geography of the city.

3.2.2 Diagrams of processes and organizations Instead of drawing diagrams of space that represent the programmes, the types of buildings and users, the drawings of diagrams have to focus towards representing the processes in space; the drawings have to depict firstly: how one process works, what are its parts and what are the technical specifications, and secondly, how that process is combined to other processes making up the city metabolism (Figure 6). Diagrams are therefore instruments deployed in several different levels (spatial, social, economic, ecological ...) enabling the establishment of networks of relationships across multiple fields. We understand diagrams as machines that compress information and convey it in a more efficient way allowing us to identify unknown functions that should be part of an overall design problem.

Figure 5: Drawing the processes that create a smart system. This diagram represents how industrial agriculture is connected to industry, education and the city. In addition it explores opportunities for alternative energy production. It looks at ecological, economic and social processes and integrates them into a coherent organization of systems–of–systems.

164 | © Regner, Makarewicz, Ferreira; Studnet Work, TU Berlin 2012

3.2.3 Building kits Instead of designing typologies like mixed used blocks, Building Kits provide a catalogue of components; technologies, concepts, policies, infrastructures; that can be combined in various ways in order to react to local conditions and to work within the limits of index maps in a territory. Building Kits enable assemblages of prototypes – mixtures of technologies that are better suited to relate to the questions Smart City is asking, and that are better suited to work within the topography of smart city that is being so radically claimed by natural sciences and high technology.

4 CONCLUSION Understanding this wider complexity of urban systems requires that the teaching approach to urbanism is just as varied. The didactic framework for teaching has to respond to wide array of academic knowledge that needs to be taught. In order to “think” this complex field, knowledge of urbanism cannot be rigidly classified. If we take the Kolb–Bilgan Classification of Academic Knowledge as the base of classification (Figure 7), then the academic knowledge of urbanism would fall into all four categories.

Figure 6: Different initial components (far left) are combined in many varying ways (left) in order to facilitate specific conditions on the index maps (right) and are finally connected to proper architectural typologies (far right) © Freijeiro, Mackert, Becker; Student Work, TU Berlin 2012

| 165

A new genre of public infrastructure which encorporates the three elements of public open space, community services and facilities and a natural black and grey water treatment system [BGT] prototype. The [BGT] is an environmentally sound alternative to standard waste treatment which is currently inadequate. The [Community Hub] improves the standard of living for the catchment population of Urban Villages by providing these services in a single piece of infrastructure which is designed to cater for the future new developments which will share and eventually over the neighbourhood. (© Aja Teelock, Student Work, Description of the Project, London Met, 2010) This project is proposing a particular kind of strategy and design for public spaces, where the main quality of space were the reed beds (ponds) that simultaneously act as waste water filtration system (Figure 8) and a public

The Kolb–Biglan Classification of Academic Knowledge “suggest that the preferred learning style might be attributed to a relationship with a particular disciplinary framework.” (Fry et al, 2009: 19) However, we believe, that the knowledge required for described approach to urbanism requires a completely mixed approach. As an example of just how varied the field of this type of teaching urbanism is, I will describe a student project from academic year 2009–10 at School for Architecture and Spatial Design (ASD) at London Metropolitan University2.

2 2 The project does not deal with highly technological systems directly, but is taking a more classical system of water filtration as a starting point.

Due to its didactical demonstration value, we are using it to explain the needed complexity of knowledge within the systemic approach to urbanism.

Figure 7: Fry et al. 3rd edition, 2008: 19 © Fry et al 2009

166 |

Figure 8 Individual stages of natural grey water treatment © Aja Rose Teelock; Student Work, London MET, 2010

Figure 9: Left: Description of the urban green space/water cleaning system as a “machine” that can be deployed on basis of its parameters, policies and limitations – all drawn as graphical representations of the machine. Right: Deployment of two of such systems in Xiamen. © Aja Rose Teelock; Student Work, London MET, 2010

green space of the city (Figure 9). This smart (sustainable–green–urban) system becomes an infrastructural framework for further growth and speculative development of the area. Student had to show proficiency in many different fields. She had to understand how the reed beds function, what reeds are the best and what they filter out (Abstract reflective class, Natural sciences aspect). She had to consider how different stages of filtration could be used as environment for social interaction and good public space. Each stage had very specific technical requirements that also meant that they will be accepted differently by the public and she had to plan accordingly (Concrete reflective class; Social sciences aspect mixed with Abstract active class; Science–based profession, engineering). She then had to think how does the system of pumping water in the public space work by proposing an engineering detail that assured seeming integration of otherwise “ugly” infrastructural element into urban space (Abstract active class; Science–based profession, engineering). Finally, she had to devise a design that fulfils legal framework for water purification on one hand and safety and accessibility guidelines for public spaces on the other (Concrete active class; Law).

References Amin, A., Thrift, N., 2002. Cities: reimagining the urban. Polity, Cambridge.

Bunschoten, R., Hoshino, T., Binet, H., 2001. Urban flotsam stirring the city: CHORA. 010 Publishers, Rotterdam.

Corner, J., 2011. ‘The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention.’ Mappings, Cosgrove D (ed), 213– 52. London: Reaktion, 1999.

Komninos, N., 2008. Intelligent Cities and Globalisation of Innovation Networks, 1st ed. Routledge.

Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., Marshall, S., 2009. A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice, 3rd ed. ed. Routledge, New York ; London.

Porter, M.E., 2000. ‘Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy.’

Economic Development Quarterly 14, 15–34.

Illeris, K., 2009. Contemporary Theories of Learning: Learning Theorists ... in Their Own Words. Routledge, London.

Tomaž Pipan graduated from the University of Ljubljana and continued with his Master degree in Landscape Urbanism at the AA School of Architecture in London. Currently he is a PhD candidate at London Metropolitan University and a research fellow at the Technische Universität Berlin. Tomaz worked at established practices such as CHORA and Gustafson and Porter.

| 167

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Buildings and Facilities as Determinations of Urban Matrix

Goran Radović Faculty of Architecture in Podgorica – University of Montenegro Bulevar Džordža Vašingtona bb, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro goran.radovic@ac.me

ABSTRACT Urbanism as a scientific and professional discipline regulate and organize settlement in accordance with the needs of the population, taking into account the aesthetic, hygienic and practical needs. Given that the settlements formed in different terrains and environments, urban development and the concept of villages and cities is different, and nowhere the same. For this reason, every urban neighborhood has its own characteristics.

Urbanistic concepts were created on the needs of the residents and based on traditional culture and lifestyle to which they had influence socio–economic and political–economic relations in the country or region. The development of urban settlement structure aims to draw attention to their uniqueness and distinctiveness. That led to having urban models and symbols by which today recognize cities as urban areas. Besides, the urban matrix had a pretense of spreading, also easily recognizable and identifying the orientation. Urban areas have tended to be easier for a man to cope and make them easier to recognize in order to help organizing the necessary amenities to its residents. For this reason, many cities in history have experienced their treatment due to excessive and uncontrolled urbanization and the creation of confusion and space that could be easily and quickly recognized.

The opening of boulevards and forming squares, urban areas are more clearly established their communications and their relations in space. All this influenced the tendency towards hierarchical relationship in space, which has established clear and legible image of the village. Clearly and logically formed urban communication, street, which has a target start and end and the strategic intersection, as landmarks such as plazas and traffic squares, makes the urban environment legible, clear and clever in which you can easily navigate and such it seems smart and readable urban area.

Key–Words: Urbanism, form, squares, landmarks, communication.

1 INTRODUCTION Concentration of people and their families in a particular area formed a settlement that these same people throughout history adapted to their needs of life and survival. The development of social and living needs in these areas was creating more opportunities for staying there and a better life. For this reason, these environments

| 169

were the centers of immigration, which perceived their development. Development of settlements has influenced the formation of urban areas because the space required to be controlled in order to be able to place the basic functions. So, they created the city’s urban areas that developed not only its economic but also political power.

city. Based on this classification there are the definitions of the city from a sociological, geographical , economic, functional, cultural, developmental and legal point of view”

Figure 2: Plaza Etoile, Paris.

Figure 3: Square Bat.

Figure 1: Florence.

Many cities have become centers of power and were a magnet and places of attraction for people who go to them. The economic power of cities has enabled to build a significant and unique objects that were supposed to show the power and strength of the city and its politics and economy. Important objects that have historically marked the power are the churches and cathedrals, mosques and other temples, public squares and monuments, the city’s palaces, plazas and other public facilities.

170 |

Built significant buildings in the city have become symbols and benchmarks for which the city is identified. These are the objects that have become symbols of the cities and sometimes symbols of states and continents. Looking at the relationship of objects in the historical entities, we can see their hierarchical relationship in which the highest and most representative building was a church or cathedral, mosque or temple of a different kind. Long throughout history, the church was the most important building in the city so it was the tallest and its silhouette was dominant on the horizon of the city.

With the development of society, dominant roles in political and social terms of urban areas are changed.

There were new buildings that were more important and that the man rose indicating that they are now the most important centers and benchmarks of the city. Such facilities are tall skyscrapers of office buildings in the megalopolis.

Besides the buildings, benchmarks in urban areas are also the squares, which were formed in the beginning around the most significant buildings such as churches, city palaces, shopping malls administrative palaces etc.

The squares were places on which they formed traffic communications of the city. Thus, the squares became a landmark in the area and meeting places.

2 THE IDEA OF A CITY The idea of the city derives from the Latin word “civitas”, meaning a gathering of people with different motives and means the nucleus of society. In definition of the terms of a city various professionals dealt: architects, urbanists, planners, sociologists, economists, geographers, historians and others. According to that, city can be defined in a number of ways sporadically, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. Today there is no single– accepted opinion about what the city is. The range of that ancient Alberti’s (Leon Batista Alberti) definition taken from Aristotle who said: “A city is a large house and the house is a small town”, to the modern definition which can now be found in the lexicon... However, despite all the complexity and diversity, the current definition of a city can be classified according to the dominant viewpoint of inhabitants which observe the phenomenon of the

In fact, the city is an urban structure that offers its residents a variety of options for various activities and needs of the man who designes and conducts them in accordance with its vision and need. According to Laurens Halpin “city life has two aspects – one is public and the other social, where everything takes place in open and mutually intertwined. It is a life of streets and squares, large parks and public spaces, live activities and ebullience of merchant neighborhoods... There is also another aspect of life in the city – private and withdrawn from the world, personal, isolated, life centered on the individual who seeks peace, shelter and reticence.” Halprin still believes that “the ultimate goal of any city in our time is to give people creatively inspiring environment in which they live” At the present time there is no clear picture of the ideal form of the city and its structure, which was clear in the past. In the Roman Empire, cities were established as military camps with a clear urban orthogonal urban grid, which aimed at easy and quick lifting and defense. Later, medieval towns are surrounded by high defensive walls for defense against attackers. In the Baroque period, a new urban concept forms in which large avenues and squares of the circular stellar dominant points branch off other avenues that were built for the big parade and to control hostile population of the city.

Idea of the purpose of the ideal city we have today is that the purpose lies in the fact that the city has to provide to all residents a rich and biologically satisfying life. Looking at the city through time distance, Henri Lefebvre points out “the city is space – time, not just a projection of the social structure of global society in a secluded area.” There is no doubt that the city is a place of reflection of society, a place of political, economic, technical, cultural and other changes throughout the centuries. Through the historical development of the city, development of civilization and social progress is important. For this reason “temporal continuity is an essential element of the definition of the city from a development perspective”.

To understand the urban grid of a city, we will do the best if we can learn about its shape. Knowledge of the shape of the city allows us to navigate more easily, either easier understanding of its urban schemes.

3 THE SHAPE OF THE CITY Every urban area has a built form that determines its character, diversity and specificity. The shape of the urban area is its key morphological characteristic that best represent its structure.

Moving through the urban area was a man acquires various impressions in his space, and only after getting to know deeper, forms a complete picture of it.

In the theory of urbanism the first classification of cities according to the mode of origin of the urban form was

| 171

Figure 5: Eg Mort plan

Figure 4: Palmanova look.

Figure 5a: Eg Mort look

Figure 4a: Palmanova plan.

done by Pierre Lavedan, who divided a city into two categories: spontaneous–created cities and systematically– created city. Spontaneous–created cities are called organic, generated or non–geometrical, incurred without the participation of planners and architects, while planned cities are the result of specific planning activities. This division is taken with a certain amount of caution because every spontaneous city has some of the planned unit and every planned city has certain spatial units that were built without a plan, or spontaneously. This means that the basic form of division of urban space mutually intertwined.

Figure 6a: Gdanjsk plan.

Figure 6: Eg Mort look

“In general , there are three groups of key features which, each in its own way, determine the form of urban structure: – the quantity and quality of development – communication systems – location of public facilities and locations of fixed content.”

172 |

| 173

The first group consists of the basic parameters of development which are expressed through the density of development as a quantitative manner and through physical worthiness as a qualitative manner. Density of development of the urban area is one of the basic characteristics that determine the shape of the urban structure.

With this feature goes the quality of construction or the way in which urban structures are interpreted in space.

The second group consists of the types and characteristics of urban communication systems, which are one of the most important functions of urban space. The freedom and ease of movement through the urban structure of the city is one of the most achievable tasks when planning and building cities.

Figure 7: Granada

The third group of characteristic consists of positions of public buildings in the urban structure, such as churches, town halls, government buildings, museums, universities, markets, libraries, theaters, etc. as well as the location of facilities that serve the mass population, such as shopping malls, office complexes factories, hospitals. The

Figure 8: San Francisko plan

Figure 8a: San Francisko look

Figure 9: Karlsrue plan

Figure 9a: Karlsrue look

importance of the position of public facilities is that in many cases they determine the city’s communication flows and density of development of surrounding urban structure.

“The layout of the town is seen on the basis of physical structures, systems of communication flows and positions of public facilities and location for the permanent activities, can be expressed in one of the following forms: compact, linear, orthogonal, radial, annular, axial, circular, as well as their many combinations thereof.”

The functions of the city are the initiator of the formation of morphological structure. The position, size and shape of the urban area are directly related to the functional areas of the town that are formed during its development.

City as diagram can be divided into two groups: normal human functions and specific urban functions as the product of historical development of urban structures.

Figure 10: Cech Budzevic

Figure 11: Kopenhagen plan

Figure 11a: Kopenhagen square Amalienborg

Socio–political conditions have significantly affected the historical organization of urban space. This was manifested as all historical forms of government had expressed their power, ideals and ideologies through architecture and urban structure of the city. Important city has always represented a certain political reality so a form of urban space has largely determined governance.

It is considered as influence of space on the principles and methods of political rule, which means that space affects a lot the awareness of the organization of life and power.

“If the phenomenon of socio–political functions of the city appeared as a criteria of classification, then the city could be classified as: ecclesiastical city, city–state, naval power, imperial city, ideal city, a residential town, the old capital city.”

174 |

In addition to the political influence on the function of the urban area, it is strongly influenced by the economic factor. Economic growth of capital, massive production of goods and the emergence of large–scale scientific and technical achievements significantly initiate changes in the character of urban space. “If the phenomenon of socio–economic functions of the city appeared as a criteria of classification, then cities could be classified as following: commercial city, an industrial town, spa town, a university city, garden city, the colonial city, the holy city…”

4 SQUARES As the concept the square can be defined as a free urban area at the intersection of streets, surrounded by buildings, yet Branislav Kojic would defined it as an “urban element of the city that had a significant role in the economic and cultural life of the cities through history”9. There are many definitions of a city square, from simple definition of Rudolf Ajnhajm that states that the square is”... any gaps in urban construction,” to those definitions according which the square is, “a microcosm of urban life.” Having in mind the shape, form, function and the reasons for its occurrence, the most acceptable division of the square is the one according to its physical and socio–cultural characteristics. According to this theory, perhaps the most accurate definition of a square is “... the relation between open space, objects that surround it and the firmament”10. Another interesting definition is that the “square is the space framed with buildings, where the frame of these objects is the essence of the part of the square, because it is formed so as to show itself in the best way “11.

Figure 12: St. Peter’s Square

The function of the square is its basic characteristic and initiator of its constitution and duration. In addition, the function significantly defines the initial shape of the square, as well as its location, shape and size. During their historic existence the squares have had a large number of different functions, many of which retained while some of them did not, as a result of development of society and social changes. The diversity of function of the square dates back to the earliest forms – the Greek Agora, which represents the dominant center of every Greek city, where almost all the functions of the city took place. “Agora has included all major urban functions such as administration, trace, religion, law, social life, manufacturing, sports and the arts, while in some Hellenistic cities it covered the living function as well.”12 The functions of the city square can be divided into two groups, on the functions of the public space of the square and the functions of the objects that surround the square. If we take into account functions of the public space of the square, then the squares may be classified as: the market square, the square–gate, military square, manifestation square, traffic square and a park square.

The definitions of the city square from the socio–economic point of view can be classified into several groups: an aesthetic, psychological, developmental and symbolic.

Observing the square from the architectural and urban point of view, its definition is expressed through the structure, function, and cultural identity.

The shape of the city square, a largely depends on the characteristics of the city in which the square is located as well as on the characteristics on which the city has been built. In this context, the squares can be divided into two groups: the squares of regular shape and the squares of irregular shape.

Figure 13: A market square in Siena

Figure 14: A market square in Verona

| 175

crosses make clear benchmarks in the forest of city streets.

Figure 15: Central Square in Madrid

Figure 16: Square Trafalgar in London

The squares observed according to the function of the objects that surround the square, can be classified into: square as a community center, church square and residential square. In many cases, the public function of the square and these ones are intertwined, as it is logical, taking into account the fact the separate functional characteristics of the square are rarity.

176 |

Besides the objects with its forms and altitudes make a reference point in the urban area and many of them have become symbols of the city. In the old days there were certain perceptions about the architectural significance of certain categories of buildings, starting from their external expression to their height. It that way it has been created the composition of volume of fifth facade of certain settlement. The Church has been regarded as the most important object for centuries, so it was the tallest building whose silhouette dominated at the settlement horizon. With its size the church rose as a symbol of something that is more and higher than everything else. The church wanted to point out a clear message to its position and that is not dominated only in the spiritual but also in the physical sense. Immediately after church, in terms of significance, are the city hall, then the castles and palaces of the nobility and the rich layers of the population. It was clear hierarchy dominance of objects in space that was respected for centuries where the silhouette of the village was stable and recognizable for centuries.

There are a very few permanent functions of the city square . They change with the changes in the city’s social structure, politics and economics.

In the twentieth century the old hierarchical relation of fifth facade of the objects has been changed. Today, the churches and town halls are no longer dominated, but the skyscrapers of commercial buildings whose height reaches up to several hundred meters. In the second half of the twentieth century, in developed countries, the prestige is building the tallest building in the world, with which they want to show the power of its technology, politics and economics. This race is still going on, so in Dubai is constructing a facility that will be close to one kilometer high.

5 THE TRAFFIC SYSTEM AND SQUARES Urban city environment, besides buildings, consists of streets and paths network that correlate into a whole.

This network communication is different in each city because it follows the city’s urban development. In some areas it has been established spontaneously in some by planning. “In order to maximize choices of movement it is necessary segregation of pedestrian and motor vehicle flows to reduce on the of scenario of urban life. They suggest that there is need for exclusively pedestrian areas of the city where the spaces are public, dynamic, and attractive, with a high degree of communication and the publicity.”13 Nowadays that are most urban areas seeking isolation of vehicular traffic because of the intimacy, calm, relaxation, recreation and these are shopping centers, parks, recreation centers, tourist centers,etc.

7 CONCLUSION For each urban area, it is very important that this space is a distinctive, unique and readable space that speaks about itself and communicates with man. A clear picture of the urban matrix of urban blocks and their communication, street points, referral points as well as of important structures as symbols and marks in space makes it easier to get around. This space speaks about itself by itself so it can be named smart urban space. In the smart urban space man communicate with the city easier, it makes it easier to remember and adopt it, which affects its beauty as well. Otherwise, that are confusing areas that confuse and frustrate man and its movement and orientation and make the space without a logical order. Smart urban planning scheme today can be only achieved by planned and controlled building.

Communication residential blocks access seeks a moderate frequency of traffic but also fast and efficient availability. For that purpose, in the urban residential blocks communications are in a hierarchical relation.

“Where there is met several streets, there are often small spaces that need to be converted into a harmonious and colorful casual events in the heart of the city. On the small square it can be found inconspicuously placed sculptures, fountains, cafes and benches that are intimate because they are human in their scale and well are suited to the purpose. That little square now becomes a meeting place for residents from their environment.”14 Over time, smaller squares – the squares become part of the soul and tradition of this part of town, a place of different events of many generations, and these are the places that kept strong and deep memory and the places that are identified in the metropolitan area as a reference points.

Conclusions should state concisely the most important propositions of the paper as well as the author’s views of the practical implications or consequences.

6 FACILITIES AS URBAN A REFERENCE POINTS Even in Roman times the need for a reference point in the city as a whole was expressed as the need for the formation of the square and the need of easier orientation in space. If we look at the urban scheme of Roman cities then it can be easily observed that at the beginning and the end of the street there was always a squarer or larger square where it was a symbol in the form of an obelisk, monument or fountain or a gate, that could be seen from the several street directions. This allowed easier orientation and movement in the urban scheme.

This can be easily seen in the urban scheme of Rome, where the mark objects on the street directions and their

| 177

Notes 1. Djokić Vladan, 2004,Urbana morfologija – Grad i gradski trg, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, page 21 2. Halprin Laurens, 1974, Gradovi, Agora – Građevinska knjiga, Beograd, page 5 3. Ibidem, page 1 4. Djokić Vladan, 2004, Urbana morfologija – Grad i gradski trg, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, page 26 5. Djokić Vladan, 2004,Urbana morfologija – Grad i gradski trg, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, page 124 6. Ibidem, page 125 7. Ibidem, page 160–161 8. Ibidem, page 168–169 9. Kojić Branislav, Varošice u Srbiji XIX vijeka, Građevinska knjiga, Beograd, 1970 10. Jaffe, str.240 11. Maksimović, Urbanizam, str.308 12. Mumford Lewis, Grad u Historiji, Naprijed, Zagreb, 1968. Str.167–169 13. Bazik Dragana, Scenario života u gradu–proces nastajanja gradske scenografije, Arhitektonski Fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Arhitektonske sveske 13, 1995, str. 13 14. Halprin Laurens, Gradovi, Agora – Građevinska knjiga, Beograd, 1974, str. 22

178 |

References Bazik, D 1995, Scenario života u gradu–proces nastajanja gradske scenografije, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Arhitektonske sveske 13.

Djokić, V 2004, Urbana morfologija – Grad i gradski trg, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu.

Halprin Laurens, 1974, Gradovi, Agora – Građevinska knjiga, Beograd.

Kojić, B 1970, Varošice u Srbiji XIX vijeka, Građevinska knjiga, Beograd.

Maksimović, Urbanizam Mumford, L 1968, Grad u Historiji, Naprijed, Zagreb.

Prof. Goran Radović, PhD, Arch., dipl.eng. Associate Professor, has published articles in international journals and international conferences focusing on the problems of design of tourist facilities and problems typology of traditional houses and settlements, and published a book ‘’Architecture of Cetinje from the fifteenth century to the Second World War’’. His research interests include spatial, technological, architectural and touristic aspects of tourist facilities and the typology of traditional houses and settlements and urban transformation.

| 179

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

AIR ART© Structural and Ludic Spatial Experimentation for Future Arid Environments Cristian Suau, Carmelo Zappulla Strathclyde University + ECOFABRICA & IAAC/UPC + External Reference Architects cristian.suau@strath.ac.uk, carmelo@externalreference.com

ABSTRACT AIR ART© is an experimental design studio –derived from FOGHIVE©– on fabrication of lightweight and modular inflatable fog collectors, which will regenerate engendered ecosystems in the planet such as the desert or remote contexts to prevent fires, draught and water shortage. AIR ART© is a radical and in–situ experimental workshop run by a selected group of students at the Welsh School of Architecture (2013). We tested innovative structural capacities of inflatable structures and hydrophobic nets to increase the yield of atmospheric water collection and harvesting in AIR ART© will work on visionary design able to ‘milk’ fog and transform it into water for drinking and irrigation. AIR ART© mainly focused on the experimental teaching and learning system of eco–design1 implemented in several design studios and compact workshops. The selected case shows how engaged students and tutors can rapidly develop key structural and ludic skills such as spatial games, pneumatic tests, environmental awareness, lifecycle thinking and collaborative research–by–doing applied to radical mock– ups and 1:1 prototypes. The design brief consisted of an intensive three–week workshop on conceptualisation, modelling and fabrication of a base model and various configurations by mounting inflatable modular frameworks: http://issuu.com/cristiansuau/docs/airt_art2 and http://issuu.com/cristiansuau/docs/art_art_comic_book Key words: eco–design, fog collectors, pneumatic structures, low–tech fabrication and remaking (DIY), research by doing, comic visions and geometrical patterns.

1

PREAMBLE

1.1 Theoretical Framework ‘All men are designers. All that we do, almost all the time, is design, for design is basic to all human activity’ (Victor Papanek, 1971).

1 Eco–design aims at reducing the environmental impact of products, including the energy consumption throughout their entire life cycle.” Eco–design (Directive 2009/125/EC on Eco–design). Source: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/efficiency/ecodesign/eco_design_ en.htm, accessed in 22/05/14.

| 181

What is design, art or rather science manifestation? Is design a medium that mediates between art and science, Air and Earth? How can we bridge the gap between them? We all know that this interval is quite diffuse and per Air and Earth? How can we bridge the gap between them? We all know that this interval is quite diffuse and permeable, a borderland without demarcations. The ancient Hellenic cultures referred to the world techne (τέχνη) to describe the amalgamation of art and science. The legacy of this notion continued for centuries as collective expression, being perfectly integrated in the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci’s machinery production that interpreted the techne–making as engineered artefacts or rather visionary designs and mock–ups, where the frontier knowledge between art and science achieve embedded outputs. In the words of Fritjof Capra, ‘Leonardo was a systemic thinker, ecologist, and complexity theorist; a scientist and artist with a deep reverence for all life, and as a man with a strong desire to work for the benefit of humanity2.

Nowadays contemporary design is a bond, holistic, ecological and interdisciplinary system. For instance, according to Humberto Maturana, Cybernetics is “the science and art of understanding”3.

182 |

The Systemic Thinking has demonstrated how the ‘Mechanicist’ model has completely failed due to it has concentrated its own attention on the separation and regimentation of disciplines, without considering the relationships between components and their interconnectivity. In doing so, systemic design is twofold: structured and structuring phenomena. It offers a holistic worldview regarding the environment and its inner structure.

According to the theory of the ‘Four Laws of Ecologies’, Barry Commoners (The Closing Circle, 1971) affirms “everything is connected to everything else. There is one ecosphere for all living organisms and what affects one, affects all”. Here eco–design provides an articulating interface between biological and technical nutrients where waste is transformed into energy and vice versa. This implies not only an aesthetical or technical meanings but it also asks for an ethical position. Bucky Fuller (Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, 1967) reveals an even more challenging statement. He sees ‘we are all astronauts’, synergy–makers. Paraphrasing him, Victor Papanek (Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, 1971) reconsidered the holistic vision of design, which emphasise the democratisation and customisation of design through the transformation of planet Earth and the total engagement of mankind.

Deeply influenced by Buckminster Fuller, the artist Graham Stevens has been investigating the symbiosis between ecology, society and technology. Especially the legacy of his pneumatic art is fundamental in this study because it promotes the relationship between inflatable structures and their environment. Desert Cloud is a documentary (Kuwait, 1974) that shows the behaviour of an inflated giant mattress, hovering in the sky and triggering a new climatic domain. It is composed by linear cells, transparent in the upper part and reflective in the lower part, and separated by black membranes. This configuration is aimed to overheat the air and producing a floating structure. Moreover the structure provides shade and condensation even in arid lands. How? The experimental artwork of Stevens is more than a simple poetical provocation. In fact it does not only connect the technical and the artistic dimensions but underpins the energy–water transformation processes in impervious context.

Based on this heroic experiment we have deepened the aspect of pneumatic moisture collection in any fog formations by integrating hydrophobic and elastic meshes within the inflatable tubular structures.

Figure 1: Study of the sectional detail of the inflatable mattress made by Graham Stevens’s experiment called Desert Cloud (1974), shot in the Arabian Desert. Source: authors

Water provision is a large complex issue and opportunity for the future of sustainable habitats as symbiosis between society and available natural resources. Nowadays both drinking and irrigation water shortage represent a severe menace in human settlements across all continents. The provision of water will be one of the great challenges for the future because central water supply systems cannot technically or logistically be maintained.

Being the continuation and advancement of FOGHIVE©4 – 3D fogtrap invented by Dr Cristian Suau–the form of AIR ART© is determined as much by climatic and geographic factors as by alternative transportation and technologies. It aims to target this issue by designing and prototyping smart structures (pneumatic or space– frames) and screens (plastic meshes) for fog collection constructed from remanufactured industrial waste. The overall aim of the project is to deliver a fog collector design adaptable for integration in the existing city water grid or as an independent supplement for sanitation, landscape irrigation and disaster relief. Refer to: http:// www.ecofab.org/index.php?/projects/foghive–3d–fogtrap–chile/ FOGHIVE© improves the quality of human life across the world via innovative sustainable passive water provision methods. It provides subsistence water for drinking, sanitation and landscape irrigation in coastal urban areas through an affordable passive method to trap atmospheric water from fog formations. FOGHIVE© targets the issue of global water shortage by designing and prototyping smart deployable structures and screens (hydrophobic meshes) for fog collection constructed from remanufactured or reused materials. It unites eco–design, environmental engineering and smart manufacturing in a cross–disciplinary project targeted at sustainable self–sufficient future cities. The complete research is available electronically: https://pure.strath. ac.uk/portal/files/24165518/suau_plea12_fog_hive.pdf (manuscript) and http://vimeo.com/52608001 (video).

Planet Earth needs to find out new pathways to tackle climate change into a sustainable living by providing a more effective and interconnected management of renewable energies like solar, wind and clean water supplies.

2 Capra, F. (2012), http://www.fritjofcapra.net/leonardo.html, accessed in 22/05/14 3 Maturana, H. (1999), Patterns, ASCD System Thinking/Chaos Theory Network/ASC Newsletter, (Spring/Summer 2006). He stated: “I proposed the phrase ‘The Art and Science of Human Understanding’ for cybernetics. Why? The person that guides the ship, the skipper, acts both on practical know–how and intuition. Thus, the skipper acts both as a scientist and as an artist. Understanding a system requires both intuition as a gestaltic grasping of the systemic coherences of the system under consideration, and the seeing of the structural (causal) coherences of the locality where the observer stands. Understanding further involves relating these two different operational perspectives in a manner that, although not deductive, shows the dynamic connectedness of any part of the system to the dynamic totality that the system is. So, to the extent that cybernetics has to do with the handling of systems, as well as with explaining them scientifically as they arise in our understanding as observers, I call cybernetics the art and science of understanding.” : http://www.asc–cybernetics.org/Patterns/PATTERNS%202006%20Spring_Summer.pdf, accessed in 22/05/14

4 FOGHIVE© is an autonomous polyhedral fog collector designed by Dr Cristian Suau (2010), which employs agile space– frames to trap atmospheric water in coastal arid lands and then harvest water for drinking and irrigation. It is a lightweight module fully wrapped with a smart hydrophobic mesh. It also performs like a shading/cooling device and a soil humidifier for greenery and potential inhabitation. Being a transformative construction, it can easily be installed anywhere.

| 183

remanufacturing in rural arid areas. In addition to this, he has developed applied research on eco–design, games and reuse: – De Vos, Els (ed.) ‘Theory by Design: Architectural Research Made Explicit in the Design Teaching Studio’; Section ‘Knowing by Making’, Suau, C. ‘The Power of Less’ (2012), Artesis University College, Antwerp, pp. 353–362. ISBN 978–94–90705–07–7 – Ferrater, C. & Pinos, C. (ed.) ‘A Game in a Place: Vertical Studio’ (2011), Suau, C. and Blanco ‘Pool Table Laser; Drawing in the Air & Puzzlab’, M. ActarBirkhauserD, Barcelona, pp. 59–65. ISBN 978–84–938493–1–3 – Suau, C. ‘Minimum Game Plans’, Theory and Practice of Spatial Planning Journal, CREATIVITY GAME nr 1 (December, 2013), University of Ljubljana ed., Ljubljana, pp. 34–39, ISSN 2350–3637 – Suau, C., ‘The Power of Remaking: Lessons of Innovative Eco–Design in Design Studios’ (2013), MADE Journal, Issue 7, The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff, pp. 55–63, ISSN 1742–416X – Suau, C. ‘The Art of Eco–frames: Lessons of Innovative Eco– Fabrication in Design Studio’. PLEA 2012 Conference, Nov. 2012. Lima. Topic: ‘Education’. T09–20120123–0009: http://www.plea2012.pe – Suau, C. ‘Visionary Prefab in the Modern Age: Deconstructing Keaton’s Films’, DOCOMOMO Journal 44 (2011/1): ‘Modern and Sustainable’, Barcelona, 2011, pp. 81–85: http://www.docomomo.com/com/journal–docomomo. htm – Suau, C. & Jacobsen, A. ‘Fabricating Eco–Dwellings with Elemental Junk–Frames’. The Annual Symposium of the Nordic Association for Architectural Research, April 2006, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, pp. 176–184, ISBN 13–978–87–7830–144–4: http://www.arkitekturforskning.net – Codinachs, M.; Mrkonjic, K. & Suau, C. ‘University Network for Sustainable Architecture’. Project sponsored by ‘Asia Link’ (EU 2006). January 2006, International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp. 165–172, ISSN: 1832–2077: http://onsustainability.com/journal

184 |

Figure 2: Installation of the FOGHIVE© fogtraps in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Source: Suau

1.2 Authors’ Research and Teaching Work AIR ART© was engendered from FOGHIVE© extreme visions on how lighter structure can colonise remote foglands.

Since 2004 Dr Suau’s research outcomes on fog collection have extensively published in relevant scientific media, international conferences and design workshops. This study highlights the following key literature review: – Suau, C. ‘FOGHIVE©: 3D Fog Collection in Arid and Semi–arid Coasts’, Smart City Expo, World Congress (December, 2012). Environment finalist: http://www.smartcityexpo.com/web/19309/9 – Suau, C. ‘FOGHIVE© 3D Fog Collection in the Coastal Atacama Desert’. PLEA 2012 Conference, Nov. 2012. Lima.

Topic: ‘Climatic, Water and Biodiversity Context’; T12–20120123–0007: http://www.plea2012.pe/fullpaper/ – Suau, C. ‘FOGHIVE©: Sustainable Architecture in the Atacama Coast’, 2011, MADE Journal, Issue 6, The Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff. pp. 31–40, ISSN 1742–416X: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/archi/made – Suau, C. ‘Fog Collection and Sustainable Architecture in the Atacama Coast’, 5th International Conference on ‘Fog, Dew and Fog Collection’, Muenster, July 2010, pp. 179–188: http://www.fogconference.org He has recently been the scientist in charge in the FP7–PEOPLE–2012–IEF Marie Curie titled ‘Euro Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE)’ at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (2013). Recently Dr Suau is leading a new PhD project at Strathclyde University. It is called ‘FOGHIVE REMAKE’ on fog collection and

Dr Carmelo Zappulla has academically been working on different topics related with inflatable structures. In the teaching context he was focused on holistic energy production, co–leading with Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto the Studio ‘When Energy Becomes Form’ (2013) at the Institute For Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), Barcelona. In this occasion students worked on bio–technological prototypes whose morphology, materiality and aesthetic novelty are emergent qualities of specific flows of energy and information. Firstly the students investigate metabolic processes such as: phitodepuration, enzymatic bio–energy, bio–cementification, mycotic growth, bio–digestion. Secondly, cutting edge 3d modeling instruments are provided so as to work on the morphology of the metabolic processes. Thirdly, prototyping and inoculation processes and finally growing and production follow: http://www.iaacblog.com/blog/2013/fall–term–presentations–when–energy–becomes– form/.

Another fundamental academic experience –directly connected with AIR ART©– has been ‘Urban Activators’, an international design workshop at COAC (Barcelona). It took place during EME3 Festival in 2012: http://www. eme3.org/eme3_on/urban–activators/ This unit worked on portable, slight and movable pneumatic pavilions, which may temporarily activate public space within the city of Barcelona. The method was implemented through four phases: a. theoretical–critical (through lectures and 72 hour urban action); b. practical (learning DIY techniques for building inflatable devices); c. experimental (developing Situationist criteria for place making); and c. implementation (testing prototypes in various contexts) 1.3 Research by Playing Pedagogically the principal teaching method is ‘learning by playing’, through collaborative design and fabrication; experimentalism; setting spatial games; and instant feedbacks and self–assessment.

The AIR ART© is based on both ludic and structural research explorations. The meaning of any fog game is to increase the water fog yield through the design and construction of a lighter, versatile and modular fog collector.

In doing so, the best way of learning is by playing, so before cohort learns cognitive abilities, they need to experiment individually and collective the drifting process of making. Of course, leading tutors have acted as ‘players’ and ‘facilitators’ of this participatory game.

| 185

And we did well. Firstly, the spatial games dynamics included non–prescriptive investigations and transgressive designs; secondly we mocked up and then fabricated a 1:1 model, which was tested on site. Refer to: http:// issuu.com/cristiansuau/docs/art_art_comic_book Prior the official inauguration of our studio, we selected ten eligible candidates to join us and we asked them to prepare the analytical phase (comparative case studies, climatic data and site–specific survey) individually and before the two–week design workshop was launched. During the kick–off day they worked in pairs; the following days five proposals were assessed in order to choose the development and construction of the final prototype.

The design selection process allows an optimal quality refinement and enhances group engagement throughout collaborative and constructive work dynamics where each student finds the most suitable roles.

In order to promote instant feedback, the ‘Six Thinking Hats’ method (Edward Bono, 1985) was fundamental to test the diversity and variety of all initial proposals and thus implement effective decision making and time management, from the preliminary concept to the constructive model. The AIR ART© workshop built up a critical thinking environment in which students played multiple roles (six different ways of thinking): managing, information, emotions, discernment, optimistic response and creativity. This pedagogic model stimulates parallel thinking, proactive behaviours and creative approaches.

Beyond these intangible learning assets, the tri–dimensional structural conceptualisation of the project has been thought as a spatial game plan, a polyhedral puzzle to be manipulated digitally or physically. Through the repetition of similar components and their potential for new 3D arrangements, AIR ART© enabled the generation

186 |

of visionary design and the realisation of a radical inflatable fogtrap structure. This twofold approach has provoked the emergence of high–risk and high–gain outputs beyond conventional formulas by the hybridisation between triangulated structural diagrams, pneumatic modules, water–repellent tissues and polyhedral forms of fog collectors.

Within this framework, even the communicational aspect became a pretext for playability. All the conventional representational systems turn out to be obsolete when we play ‘Constructivist’ pictorial dynamics. For instance, storytelling through comic frameworks is the natural way to manifest a suitable narrative, sequencing and space– time dimension in agile minds for the development of new visionary environments and fictional territories of inventiveness. All this experiential research has been a sensorial journey of curiosity, uncertainty and game making.

1.4 Cornerstones on AIR ART© Design Process What can we learn from AIR ART© design experience? The main lesson is that there is not boundary between research and design. Research–by–design is simply design. AIR ART© has been exploring the potential and latent playability of lightweight and movable inflatable fog collectors by interpreting economic, environmental and structural constraints. Form does not precede design but it is discovered during the process of problem solving.

In doing so, designers transform the conventional sense of design, from design–object to design–systems self– ruled by spatial explorations, drifts and inventiveness in the design and ecologic process. This case study is 100% oriented towards systemic thinking which provides high–engagement, playability, participatory manufacturing.

As result the main features of AIR ART© are: – Light and collapsible (easy to transport and settle on site) – Low environmental impact (minimise the ecological footprint) – Clean (exclude the use of toxic substances or hazardous at all stages) – Durability (encourage cradle to cradle and lifecycle thinking) – Low–tech (use locally available techniques and materials) – Low–cost (create more affordable products and services) – Flexible and customised (encourage modularity and adaptability in Eco–design) – Participatory (regenerate social capital by maximizing benefits to communities and educate clients and users) 2

LET’S MILK THE CLOUDS

2.2 AIR ART© VISIONS ‘There is an intimate and necessary relation between the process of actual experience and education’.

(John Dewey, 1938) AIR ART© envisions 3D fog collectors –lightweight and movable inflatable devices– which are able to regenerate endangered ecosystems such as the desert or remote contexts. They can prevent fire hazards, draught and water shortage. AIR ART© is a high–risk and high–gain experimental research where a selected group of students test the innovative structural capacities of inflatable structures and hydrophobic nets in order to increase the yield of atmospheric water collection and harvesting. It works on visionary design that allows the trapping or ‘milking’ of fog into water for drinking and irrigation uses. The misty context of Wales was ideal to experiment new forms of fog collection.

The research–by–design method offers a high–design and low–tech solution by testing multiple combinations and configurations of repetitive pneumatic structures (3D triangular modules) embraced by water–repellent meshes (hydrophobic fabrics that trap atmospheric water and group droplets faster than conventional membranes).

Hence, AIR ART© designed and tested various mock–ups to trap as much fog as possible; harvest and store it for drinking and irrigation. It shifts from linear process of design towards collaborative environmental design strategies where art, design and manufacturing process interplay harmoniously. It showcases the immense possibilities that can be achieved even when working with a modest budget of £100 pound.

Figure 3: Comparative images of the kick–off day and prototype period where teams tested structural diagrammatic models. Source: authors

AIR ART© fulfills the following four teaching and learning aspects (UNESCO, http://www.unesco.org/education/ tlsf/mods/theme_d/mod20.html):

| 187

A. Experiential Learning: We are all Fog Hunters AIR ART© is an inclusive design research where the learning is a progressive experience towards an individual and collective development. Selected students have been involved in this action through critical discussion (i.e.: Six Hats method), group works and on–site fieldwork. The experience can be divided in four phases: analysis, design, fabrication and test. Both design and construction were the core activities where both digital and analogical modelling was employed simultaneously. As result, hybrid design and representational processes have emerged, demonstrating a non–linear dialogue between 3D modelling and physical fabrication. In doing so, students have implemented intuitive self–learning methods by providing a critical and inventive attitude.

Moreover, both bottom–up and top–down studio cultures have been interlaced spontaneously, through the mutual collaboration between students and tutors. The other important experience was playability. The use of game strategies for learning allowed a fruitful interaction between them.

This studio demonstrated the efficacy of the learning–by–playing model. By deploying game dynamics, playability became one of the most powerful instruments of knowledge exchange. Whilst playing, cohort got more involved emotionally, socially and intellectually. The game of making an inflatable structure transformed mere initial academic task into an enjoyable experimentation. Both tutors and students performed as drifters of new spatial pathways. Within this learning process, failures, successes and uncertainty gained equal meaning of a sensorial adventure, out of control and conventions.

188 |

B. Learning Outside the Classroom: The Territory is as a Play Place The physician and educator Maria Montessori (The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children’s Houses, 1912) posed that outdoor places should be an extension of the classroom.

Outdoor learning allows students exploring and discovering natural environments from arid areas to woodlands.

It provides experiences that incentive curiosity and wonder, promoting immersive and in hands–on creativity.

Herman Hertzberger states ‘(…) continuing education (éducation permanente) is no longer confined to school hours, so with learning leaving the school territory and embracing surroundings as a whole we can speak of ‘boundless education’. Then not only does the school become a small city but the city becomes an exceedingly large school.’ 5

5

Hertzberger, H. (2008) Space and Learning. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, pp. 9

Fig 4. Outdoor experiential learning: prototype assemblage and on–site testing. Source: authors

Site–specific pedagogic experiences were significant along the AIR ART©’s drift. The first stage of this work targeted the visit to rural settlements with adequate fog density. Browsing through MET, Satellite Imaging, Google Earth, and Windows Live Earth allowed students to analyse characteristics, risks and potentialities prior the sites’ choice. Once they were selected, students recorded the experiences by using video footage, interviews, photos and sketches ‘in situ’. Moreover in the final phase the students experimented the montage of the blow– up construction in Gwaelod Y Garth and Ryder Cup Course (Usk Valley), Wales. So the studio culture was fully connected with a total fieldwork.

C. Storytelling: Comics as Narrative Tool Any game has rules. AIR ART© is not an exception. It requires players (us) and instructions too. Its narrative we have adopted the logic of the comic book’s framework, a didactic cartoon that explains the sequence of ingredients and recipe needed to build and install the fogtrap in any remote scenario: hostile, fantastic or visionary. We documented all the design phases and employed the following time–space transition: – Storyboard: illustrating a sequence of frames, where each image represents an interval of the whole story.

– Image collection and framing: research of pictorial material that enhances the storyboard – Experimenting with different styles: customisation of the pictures through digital filters.

– Screenplay: text has been used in bubbles for character’s thoughts or within narration boxes in order to set up a scene.

– Montage: the story is assembled and the sequence is tested. Final adjustments have been done to achieve the consistency and coherency of the story.

This storytelling was designed by tutors and students to stimulate their imagination, to place AIR ART© between the real vs. fictional environment of the project. Designing a visual storytelling has demonstrated how entertaining can help to catch student attention and make learning systemically. This story was developed as a ‘noire comic’, which describes a post–Apocalyptic future world where AIR ART© becomes the only solution for stopping the desertification of planet Earth.

Fear and Apocalypses are the theme of many ‘noire comics’ as well as movies, but in this story chaos and desperation are the result of a non–ecological way of living and upcycling hydric resources. After man–made disasters, a new holistic approach and high sense of well–being are mandatory for saving our menaced built environmental the last decades. Therefore AIR ART© represents not only an immediate solution but also the symbolic hero against the lifestyle of superabundance.

5

Hertzberger, H. (2008) Space and Learning. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, pp. 9

| 189

Fig 5. Sequence of noire comics’ frames utilised during the digital editing of AIR ART©. Source: authors

Fig 6: Final prototype: chosen model of tetrahedron clustering. Source: authors

190 |

D. Future Problem Solving: Awareness on Water Scarcity and Well–Being According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), “...dry lands cover about 40% of the Earth’s land surface and are home to more than 2 billion people (WRI 2002).” Desertification is increasing and it is mandatory to find new that stimulates students to propose solution to future problems. More than a prescriptive project AIR ART© was thought as an open–design that promotes future possibilities and multiple configurations to be developed. AIR ART© encouraged students to identify pragmatic problems and find easy–to–build solutions. In doing so, both teamwork and network interactions were necessary for developing worldwide water innovations and coping with drylands. Within the Copy–Left culture, AIR ART© has became an attempt for catapulting DYI prototypes able to transform the asymmetric control and distribution of water and underpin the right for clean water at any societal level.

3 STRUCTURAL AND LUDIC SPATIAL EXPERIMENTATION Regarding the programme the schedule consisted of a three–week module: – Week 1: eco–design and climatic analysis: introduction, fieldwork and design – Week 2: design and mock–ups presentation and module construction – Week 3: fabrication and display: construction, site testing and exhibition During the first week the design team worked in pairs towards initial ideals and concepts. The variety of solutions was spectacular, ranging from highly pragmatic to poetic schemes. The four design solutions were discussed paying attention to brainstorming SWOT analysis for further development. During the second week, students started working towards developing palpable design, which would incorporate the best design qualities of the initial schemes.

Lightness, flexibility and transformability of AIR ART© were considered as the key design properties as well as the ability to conceive resilient structures that quickly reacts to intermittent weather conditions. The form followed prevailing winds, moisture density in the air, geographic context, etc. These considerations, along with the practical choice of available materials, the findings from the branch resembling inflatable prototype and the physics of fluids lead to a choice of a triangulated inflatable triangle. Several structural patterns were explored: multi–layered tetrahedron, the truss, geodesic pentagon, octahedron and tetrahedron.

During the initial prototyping phase, sample of a triangular base module was constructed. It was decided that each triangle would be made of a strip and a half of the available polyethylene sheet. It was assumed that the

mesh could be inserted inside the cut made. Several problems arose while producing this prototype. The main ones outlined were: a. the mesh melted when ironed; b. neither plain tape nor stapling work as a connector; and c. double sided tape proved to be good for temporary but not permanent use. However, this prototype had many manufacturing challenges, most of which connected with the bad craftsmanship, more specifically an air tightness issue. The final prototype is an eye–pleasing module with a length of 1400 mm. The connectors used are staples for the mesh, and ironing for the side elements.

The modules produced would thus be Tetrahedrons, 40 overall with a side of 1400mm, which were able to rise as high as 5400mm according to the structure model designed. The final design was based on using 40 modular triangles to form ten basic tetrahedrons, all connected through Velcro strips. These were then joined in a structure, which branches out from the center in three directions, becoming gradually more slender. The full design and implementation process is available in the following website: http://issuu.com/cristiansuau/docs/ airt_art2 4 TOWARDS A LUDOLOGY IN ECO–DESIGN LEARNING Games are regular systems that govern our every–day life. They are often characterised by their tools and defined by their rules. Whilst rules are subject to variations and changes, enough alterations in the rules usually result in a new game. Spatial experimentation in architecture requires ludic game plans. Games are transgressive in the sense that they go beyond limits or capacities. They provide new situations to subvert rules and turn conventions upside down. Roger Caillois (Les Jeux et Les Hommes, 1992) defines the notion of game as a human activity that have the following characteristics: – Enjoyment: the activity is chosen for its cheerful character – Instant: it means circumscribed in momentary sense of time and place – Uncertainty: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable – Non–productive: the aim is not prolific but adventurous – Governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life – Abstract: it implies the awareness of a fictitious reality

| 191

Architecture is a form of 3D play with goals, routes and structure. AIR ART© offers a game–lab. Students and tutors became game–makers. What can we extract from this lesson? What new games should we play instead?

This study explored the potential and latent playability of any elementary design capable to conceive and fabricate new spatial frameworks by constraints. In doing so, we need to transform the conventional mind setting of a design workshop into a ludic laboratory, self–ruled by spatial explorations, drifts and inventiveness in the design process. Students also learnt from the simplicity of non–object based design models, with High–Design and Low–Tech. AIR ART© reveals the power of playing with less by exploring spatial compactness; structural lightness and speed of fabrication. Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) applied in Eco–design can help us to go beyond the traditional focus and production of space and manufacturing processes to include environmental, structural and aesthetic impacts of a product over its entire value chain. As well as considering the environmental impacts of the design and fabrication processes within our direct control (DIY), attention is also given to the materials used, supply chains, product use, the effects of disposal and the possibilities for re–use and recycling. Then AIR ART© experience demonstrates that responsibility for challenging environmental solutions is being taken by young designers.

References Montessori, M 1912, The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children’s Houses, New York: Frederick Stoke Co. pp. 11–24: https://archive.org/details/montessorimethod00montuoft, accessed in 20/05/2014.

Hertzberger, H 2008, Space and Learning. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, pp. 9, 203–237 Caillois, R 1992, Les Jeux et Les Hommes (French edition). Paris: Gallimard Education, pp. 323, 354–364 Calvino, I 1988, Six Memos for the Next Millennium. London: Penguin group, pp. 101–124 Kilbe, DM 1984, Experiential Learning: Experience as The Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey, Egglewood Cliff, pp 20–38: http://academic.regis.edu/ed205/Kolb.pdf, accessed in 20/05/2014.

DIRECTIVE 2009/125/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for energy–related products (recast). http://ec.europa. eu/energy/efficiency/ecodesign/eco_design_en.htm, accessed in 20/05/2014.

Cartograms of water use, water resources and poor water on Earth. Refer to: http://www.worldmapper.org/, accessed in 20/05/2014.

192 |

| 193

Dr. Cristian Suau, senior lecturer is a Chilean–Spanish architect. He holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and Master in Urban Design from Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB). He taught Architectural Design at the Welsh School of Architecture (2007–2013). Currently he is senior lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Department of Architecture in Glasgow (UK) and GPO coordinator. In addition, he has tutored in the ‘Visiting Teaching Programme’ and the ‘Mittelmeerland Urban Lab’ at Architectural Association since 2011; and guest academic at Chalmers University (Sweden), University of Stuttgart (Germany); University of Ljubljana (Slovenia); University of Zagreb (Croatia); CTU Prague (Czech Republic); ETSAB Barcelona (Spain) and the University of Tianjin (China). His research covers the fields of experimental architecture, theory of architecture, ecological urbanism and urban renewal. It has been disseminated through various international publications and scientific events, design workshops and conferences in US, The Netherlands, Egypt, Peru, Norway, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Germany, Spain, China, Morocco, Argentina, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Recently Dr Suau was scientist in charge and coordinator of the FP7–PEOPLE Marie Curie titled Euro–Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE). He is member of various scientific networks such as DOCOMOMO, EAHN, AHRA, PLEA and AA. Professionally Dr Suau was senior architect and project leader in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam designing various projects such as Almere Homerus, Koningen Julianaplein, Prada Foundation and Prada Transfomer. He has obtained several international housing and urban design awards such as EUROPAN Norway (2006) and recently the international urban design award in Chile called ‘Bicentenario Chile: Rambla for Citizenship’ (2012). He leads an international collaborative Eco–design platform called ECOFABRICA: www.ecofab.org

Fig 7: Montage of the blow–up construction in Gwaelod Y Garth, Wales. Source: authors

Carmelo Zappulla, PhD architect and founding partner of Barcelona based External Reference Architects. He argues that the use of patterns can connect architectural theory with practice, by representing, at the same time, the most relevant strains of research in contemporary design. He studied architecture at the Università degli Studi di Palermo, graduating with Honors and special mention, and holds a PhD (European Mention) with Honors from Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, Barcelona. After working in Rotterdam and in London, he moved to Barcelona where he started collaborating with RCR Arquitectes and Foreign Office Architects. Together with Nacho Toribio, Zappulla runs, External Reference Architects, a firm active in design and research in the fields of sensorial spaces, interior design, architecture, and landscape design. He is currently Faculty member at IAAC (Instituto de Arquitectura Avanzada de Catalunya) and teacher at IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), where he is also the coordinator of the Master’s Degree program in Interior Design. He collaborates with different architectural schools and institutions, including WSA (The Welsh School of Architecture), the Department of Architecture at Cardiff University, Wales, Uk. His work has been exhibited at the Biennale in Venice, during the 12th International Architecture Exhibition, at MAXXI, Rome, at Eme3, Barcelona, Europan 8, Oslo. His publications include articles and projects published in Future, Il Sole 24 ore, Blueprint, Materia, Frame, Dezeen, Domus, in the books Architect’s notebook and Architectural process 2014 by Damdi Publishing co, among others.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

User’s Experiences In Public Open Space Are Reflected In Their Values About The Space

Petra Vertelj Nared LUZ, d.d.

Verovškova ulica 64, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija petra.vertelj–nared@luz.si

ABSTRACT The article presents the findings of a survey questionnaire, which was carried out in ten Slovenian small cities case study. The results reveal a link between the arrangements of public open space and inhabitants’ use and satisfaction with it. It was found that the user’s experience in public open space is reflected in their values about the space.

Deriving from the results, we will emphasize the importance of well–managed public open space. It was found that space not only affect the use of open public space and satisfaction with it, but also the user’s values about the space in general. The article stresses the importance of spatial planning. When designing we do not only shape the space but primarily enable new uses and experiences, which affects the user’s values about the space.

Key–Words: Public open space, user, values, small Slovenian cities, survey questionnaire.

1 INTRODUCTION The quality of our everyday environment has an impact on different aspects of our lives (Delivering Quality Places, 2007). The environment and space affect our emotional state, feelings, actions and behaviour (Nasar, 1998). Public open spaces (POS) are recognized as essential spatial structures, which affect the quality of life in urban areas (Frick and Hoefert, 1986; Beck, 2009, [1]). This is confirmed by various documents, which emphasize the importance of well–managed POS in cities [2], [3], [4], [5]. The importance of POS is lately mostly recognized as a contribution to the active life, for recreation or walking in everyday life within the city, and for human health (Jackson, 2003; Kaczynski and Henderson, 2007; Paquet et al., 2013; Koohsari et al., 2013).

Our living space has therefore an impact on the quality of life, as well as on our experience in space and on us in general. We start from the fact that our experiences in space affect us in a variety of ways. It was found for example that our childhood experiences in the space influence our choices about activities in adulthood (Ward Thompson et al., 2008). But we try to show in this article that the user’s experience in space not only affects the

| 195

current or future activities in it. Moreover, we try to show that the space also affects the user’s values regarding space.

Results are summarized according to the research, in which we focused on the POS (Vertelj Nared, 2014). Besides buildings POS is a key physical element of the city. It is a place for living, a place of the society, a place of public life, a place of urbanity (Low and Smith, 2006; Kos, 2008; Madanipour, 2012). It can be divided into civic space (square, street etc.) and green space (park, playground etc.) [6]. We define POS as non–built and accessible under equal terms to all open space of a city.

with different types of POS were raised. The essential was the question of what type of POS in their opinion should not be missing in any city. Results in this article focus on findings about spatial state of the POS in each city in comparison with the answers to the questions raised in the questionnaire.

3 RESULTS Results show that spatial characteristics of each city affect how and how frequent the inhabitants use the space.

2 PROBLEM DEFINITION AND METHODS In general, values are usually defined as goals or ideals that are highly appreciated and we strive to obtain them. They describe what is desirable and worth for the individual. Values guide our behaviour; they affect our attitudes and our decisions. In short, they have an impact on how we live our life. We usually associate them with concepts such as peace, truth, security, friendship, love, culture, freedom etc. Our values can make something worthwhile or not.

Also the meanings, which are attributed to POS, can be defined in the values of POS. The social, environmental and economic values of POS are mostly emphasized [7].

Social values are recognized by impact of POS to the physical and mental health. POS can provide possibilities for sport and recreation. They provide an active and healthy way of living, which contributes to user’s health (Maas et al., 2006). POS can generate interaction between users, or identification with the city and their citizens. It can generate or contribute to the tolerance and learning about differences (Kos, 2008).

196 |

Environmental values are reflected in the contribution of POS to the city structure. POS can reduce the use of private motor vehicles, care for biodiversity, improve air, water and soil, and provide space for a variety of plant and animal species in the city [8]. Environmental values of public space are recognized by bringing nature to the city or balancing the »heat island effect«.

Economic values are reflected in the fact that the presence of high–quality and well–managed POS not only contribute to the identity of a place, attraction to living or working but also raise the financial value of the area [9]. Well–managed POS has a long–term impact on the economic value of the area, which in the future can be seen as higher real estate prices (Faushold and Lilieholm, 1999).

If we are aware of the benefits that POS is bringing both to our quality of life and to economic, social and environmental values, much less is known about what consequences POS is having to our values about the space. Therefore we would like to turn our focus to the question, how spatial arrangements in the city, especially POS, affect the use and user’s values regarding space.

To get answers to these questions, an analysis and a questionnaire survey in ten selected Slovenian small cities was made. The selected cities are: Cerknica, Dravograd, Ljutomer, Metlika, Piran, Slovenske Konjice, Tolmin, Trebnje, Žalec and Železniki. Small cities are the most numerous group of cities in Slovenia. The selected cities are comparable, but different enough that on the basis of their physical characteristics the conclusion on how spatial characteristics affect user’s values about the space can be made.

The performed spatial analysis consisted of spatial characteristics of the cities and the representation of different types of POS in each particular city. The questionnaire focused on questions about the use and satisfaction with POS. The survey was conducted in the year 2012. There were 4772 questionnaires sent randomly to residents of the selected small cities. With more than 26 % response, a representative sample was obtained, as 1272 completed questionnaires were returned.

To detect how the user’s experiences affect their values about the space, questions about the use and satisfaction

Graph 1: Where do you like to spend your free time

In cities with a well–managed city square or park people use it very often (for example: the city square is used often in Piran and Slovenske Konjice where there is car–free city square; the park is used often in Ljutomer where park is in the city centre, large enough, with high trees, pathways and benches). Or opposite, where there are no such places or they are poorly managed, people use it less often (Železniki, Dravograd and Cerknica are cities with no park; Graph 1).

The results reveal that space and spatial arrangement affect the use and the intensity of use.

Furthermore, when questioning them about what type of POS in their opinion should not be missing in any city we found out that user’s experiences in public open space are reflected in their values about the space. Which type of POS they choose is indeed, besides personal characteristics (e.g. gender), mostly connected with where they live (e.g. in a building or block) and with whether that type of POS is part of the spatial arrangement of the city.

Women, for example, in many cases agreed that no city should be missing a children playground, a school playground, sidewalks, bike paths, allotment gardens, cemetery, etc., while men preferred more sport playgrounds.

Results are also a consequence of the specific circumstances in which respondents live (e.g. type of housing – do they live in a house or block). Those who live in a block apartment agreed many times more than those who live in a house, that there should be places for meetings, social life and recreation in any city (e.g. park,

Table 1: Which types of public open space should not be missing in any city?

| 197

children’s playground, sport playgrounds, square and bike trails; Table 1). Those who live in a house preferred more functional spaces.

Above all, the city from where respondents came from, contributed to the decision about what type of public open space should not be missing in any city great deal. The result is associated with the fact of the arrangement of POS and user’s experience with this arrangement in the city. It turns out that the responder’s experiences of space are essential when deciding on what they find as an important element of any city. Mostly they choose those types of POS that are present in their city and that they have and make use of (Graph 2).

There is a strong link in the case of parks: in the cities where there is no park or is not well–managed, residents do not choose the park as important for any city (e.g. Železniki, where there is no park, only about 40 % of people identified that a park should be in every city). The finding confirms the link between the spatial condition, usage and people’s values about the space. People’s values about the space are a reflection of their experiences with that space.

Anyhow, there are some exceptions. The types of POS that are important for everyday functioning (e.g. sidewalks) or those that are relevant to a particular user group (e.g. children’s playground) are recognized as important part of any city, regardless of whether it is frequently used or not or even, whether it is well–managed in their city or not. Those spaces are recognized as of great importance, because they are essential for everyday functioning.

Figure 1: Main square in Ljutomer

The findings that the specific spatial conditions affect the user’s values were confirmed by the answers to the question, where respondents were asked what in their opinion belongs to the displayed image. Residents of all ten cities evaluated the same picture, showing the main square in Ljutomer (Figure 1). It turns out that residents of Ljutomer answered distinctly different from all the other citizens.

198 |

The comparison of the responses from the different cities emphasises the difference that occurs when people evaluate the space that is known to them (is their living space – residents of Ljutomer), and the space in a picture that is not known to them (all the other residents). Those, who know the place, evaluated the picture very differently from the others. They do not only evaluate what in their personal opinion should be in the square but also evaluate on the basis of theirs experience or the “memory” of the arrangement. In our consciousness therefore is also a “memory footprint”, based on our experiences, that is specific to a place. The result confirms the differences, as urban sociologists say, between “space” and “place” (Auge, 2011). We can say that residents from Ljutomer evaluated “their place”, while the other the respondents evaluated “the space”.

Residents from Ljutomer think that trees and grass belong to the picture (as it was before the reconstruction of the square). They also think that the monument, coffee bar and children’s playground belong to the square (Graph 3). All three listed things actually exist in the current arrangement of the square, although it is not seen from the picture (e.g. a children’s playground is placed on the northern edge of the market, parking is at the southern edge of the market, Figures 2 and 3). Residents of Ljutomer evaluated the image on the basis of their experience as users of that space.

Graph 2: Which type of public open space should not be missing in any city

Figure 2 and 3: Playground equipment and parking lot on Main Square in Ljutomer

| 199

and coherent enough to encourage walkability and contribute to a better living in the city. The design of our everyday built environment not only affects how we use the space but also shape our values about the space.

200 |

Graph 3: What belongs in the place shown in the picture

4 CONCLUSION In the article we focused on the question, how spatial characteristics of a city, focusing mostly on POS, affects the use and the user’s values about the space.

We confirmed that spatial arrangement significantly affects the use of POS. People in cities with different types of POS use them more frequently. Furthermore, when respondents were asked what in their opinion should not be missing in any city, we find that the physical conditions of their cities (e.g. arrangement of different types of POS in the city) also affect their decisions. People’s answers regarding the space are a reflection of their use in the space. People are responding to their current situation (see the case from Ljutomer).

Answers reflect the current spatial state of the city and are therefore a realistic assessment of the physical condition and satisfaction with it. On the other hand are the results, based on personal experience as users, responders’ subjective assessments.

References Auge, M 2011, Nekraji. Uvod v antropologijo nadmodernosti, Maska, Ljubljana.

Beck, H 2009, ‘Linking the quality of public spaces to quality of life’, Journal of Place Management and Development vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 240–248.

Delivering Quality Places, 2007, Urban design compendium 2, English partnerships, The housing corporation, London.

Faushold, C J, Lilieholm, R J 1999, “The Economic Value of Open Space: A Review and Synthesis”, Environmental Management vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 307–320.

Frick, D (ed.), Hoefert, HW (ed.) 1986, Quality of urban life: Social, Psychological and Physical Conditions. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.

Jackson, LE 2003, “The relationship of urban design to human health and condition”, Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 191–200.

Kaczynski, AT, Henderson, KA 2007, “Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity: A Review of Evidence about Parks and Recreation”, Leisure Sciences, no. 29, pp. 315–354.

Koohsari, MJ, Kaczynski, AT, Giles–Corti, B, Karakiewicz, JA 2013, “Effects of access to public open spaces on walking: Is proximity enough?” Landscape and Urban Planning, no. 117, pp. 92–99.

Kos, D 2008, “Polivalentnost mestnih prostorov”. AB, vol XXXVIII, no. 177–178, pp. 60–61.

Low, S, Smith, N 2006, The Politics of Public Space. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, New York, London.

Maas, J, Verheij, RA, Groenewegen, PP, de Vries, S, Spreeuwenberg, P 2006, “Green space, urbanity and health: how strong is the relation?” Epidemiology Community Health, no. 60, pp. 587–592.

Madanipour, A 2012, “Reclaiming public space from rigid orders and narrow interests”, Conference Proceedings, Human Cities, Brussels, pp. 137–142.

Nasar, JL 1998, The Evaluative Image of the City. Sage Publications, California.

Paquet, C, Orschulok, TP, Coffee, NT, Howard, NJ, Hugo, G, Taylor AW, Adams, RJ, Daniel, M 2013, “Are accessibility and characteristics of public spaces associated with a better cardiometabolic health?” Landscape and Urban Planning, no. 118, pp. 70–78.

Vertelj Nared, P 2014, Vloga javnega prostora kot podpora urbanemu razvoju na primeru majhnih mest v Sloveniji.

Doktorska disertacija. UL FGG, Ljubljana.

Ward Thompson C, Aspinall, P, Montarzino, A 2008, “The Childhood Factor, Adult Visits to Green Places and the Significance of Childhood Experience”, Environment & Behavior vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 111–143.

[1] http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2004/105/en/1/ef04105en.pdf [2] http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=52 [3] http://www.sustainablecities.eu/fileadmin/content/JOIN/Aalborg_Charter_english_1_.pdf [4] http://ec.europa.eu/environment/urban/thematic_strategy.htm [5] http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/archive/themes/urban/leipzig_charter.pdf [6] http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/131015.pdf [7] http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/the–value–of–public–space.pdf [8] http://saactivelivingcoalition.com.au/wp–content/uploads/2012/05/Creating–Active–Communities–FULL–REPORT.pdf [9] http://www–sre.wu–wien.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa05/papers/599.pdf (Pridobljeno 9. 3. 2010)

When questioning about values educations, it is important to have in mind that values can be gained from our everyday life and spatial arrangements in the city. The user’s experience affects their values about the space in general.

The results show the responsibility of spatial planners and local authorities that with spatial arrangements do not only build space, but primarily enable new uses that affect the user’s values about the space. The importance of spatial planning is that it contributes or reshapes our values about the built environment. Special attention should also be paid to spaces used in everyday life (e.g. streets) or surfaces that are designed for specific user’s groups (e.g. children’s playgrounds). It is important to build pedestrian friendly spaces that are safe, interesting

Petra Vertelj Nared, PhD – is a landscape architect. From 2004 she is emloyed in LUZ, d.d. (Ljubljanski urbanistični zavod, d.d. – Ljubljana Urban Planning Institute). Between years 2009 and 2013 was a young researcher in the economy. She received her PhD in 2014 at the UL FGG. She was researching public open space and people’s perceptions of the space. She works as a spatial planner.

| 201

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Design on Human Scale – Smart Pedestrian Environment

Milena Vukmirovć, Eva Vaništa Lazarević University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture Blvd. Kralja Aleksandra 73/II, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia milena.vukmirovic@urbanlab.org.rs, eva.vanistalazarevic@gmail.com

ABSTRACT Cities are social artefacts and products of cultural phenomena as identity and diversity. Idea of the city based on the sense of community is associated with collective places. Those places could be seen as specific manifestation of political, economic, social and cultural activities. On the other side, the contemporary urban spaces, materialized through architecture and urban design on different scales, improve city’s morphology, dynamics and symbolism.

That could be also seen as a way how the cities create new environment and convey messages about desired technological progress that are trying to meet.

The paper discusses the possibilities of pedestrian environment to contribute in creating an ambience that can be characterized as a smart or intelligent environment. Specifically, the aim is in presentation of relation between the first and third dimensions of smart city, i.e. human and artificial intelligence.

The paper proposes an original scientific approach which examines elements of the pedestrian environment on the detail spatial–analytic level. These elements are also redundant artefacts of pedestrian space. For the purpose of this research elements of street furniture are analysed. A polygon in which the research was done involves a network of pedestrian spaces in the centre of Paris.

The research emphasizes the importance of urban furniture in generating distinctive physical identity of the city and improvement the lifestyle quality of its residents. In addition, the contemporary approach in designing and improving urban furniture highlights the potential for redundant artefacts to contribute in creating a smart city.

By applying approach from detail to the whole in urban design, emphasis is placed on the elements of the physical environment in the city where open space’ users make direct contacts. In this domain, special benefits can have smaller cities that mostly use approach from details to the whole in improving the quality of their open spaces.

Key–Words: Pedestrian environment, urban furniture, redundant artefacts, smart/intelligent environments, smart/intelligent cities, Paris.

| 203

1 INTRODUCTION Challenges and opportunities that could define the 21st century are most visible in the cities in which a growing proportion of the world’s population now lives. They are manifested in the form of so–called “mega trends” that affects the strategic agenda in cities: globalization/glocalization, individualism, merging, acceleration, hi–tech, hi–touch, changing demographics, urbanization and migration. On the other side, the “hardware” of technology goes together with the “software” of emotions, nostalgia, values, architecture and design, visions and dreams and the environmentally friendly, safe, secure and aesthetic city becomes the imperative for modern civic pride (PwC 2006).

Contemporary world is characterized by globalized and decentralized life – a competitive arena of cities, regions and states. City competition meant a process through which groups seek to promote it as a location for economic activity either implicitly or explicitly in competition with other cities. In this situation cities form a unique set of changes and economic growth, modernity, innovation, modern infrastructure, new technologies, attractiveness and quality and as such are the engines of social and cultural development, strong clusters of different resources, creators and innovation. Following the rules of the global competition, the city has become a unique collage of contemporary needs, (anti)utopian images and inherited patterns that evolved into a new urban landscape (Stupar 2007). Its multiscalar nature is based upon powerful financial and information systems, balancing between numerous flows and stretching its limits through real and virtual networks. At the same time, cities are social artefacts that could be experienced, products of cultural phenomena of identity and diversity, not just a reflection of consumerism and commercialization (Alves 2005). The idea of city, based on the sense of community is consolidated by its collective spaces, public or private, and products of a particular combination of political, economical, social and cultural activities.

204 |

creativity and innovation and experience – visions and dreams. We are entering a new paradigm of society that requires new ways of thinking and acting. Futurist professor Rolf Jensen from Copenhagen in Denmark identified a new type of emerging society that he calls the “Dream Society”, society that emphasizes storytelling, culture, values and ethos (PwC 2006).

2.1 From the city of intelligence to intelligent city The current period is characterized by a situation in which a large number of cities, regardless of their size, formulate a development strategies based on the concept of knowledge and creative city. These concepts arise as a consequence of rapid economic and social changes. In these cities, knowledge, creativity and innovation of citizens are considered to be key carriers of prosperity and better quality of life. City of knowledge as their core values define the density and quality of educational and research excellence. In addition, it tends to renew the old industrial areas in the centre and clusters of knowledge. On the other hand, the creative city is generally characterized by efforts to create a stimulating and diverse environment that provides a rich experience to its citizens and visitors. Smart or intelligent city 1 as a hybrid concept arises by merging the characteristics of knowledge and creative city.

However, the competition doesn’t give equal conditions for all its participants. Cities on the higher position have privileged role in the network of global cities as opposed to the cities on lower positions or cities which are trying to become part of global flows. Nevertheless, the above social framework changes the course of thinking about the possibility of raising the attractiveness and therefore the development process of cities.

Instead of building capital objects and complexes, cities, stronger and weaker, are turning to small–scale interventions whose implementation may also achieve certain success. Application of the creative design approach based on powerful ideas and implementation of contemporary technological achievements could result in small intervention that could generate significant effect on the city level. Special attention of this paper is given to small–scale interventions in pedestrian environment, urban furniture and equipment. Observing them as redundant artefact defined by Portugali, the city could transmit the message of its technological progress and developmental objectives, and, at the same time, improve the quality of everyday environment and life in the city.

2 DREAM SOCIETY AND SMART CITY Following the different phases of evolution we could recognize hunter society which most important asset was wild animals, agriculture society – animals and land, industrial – iron and steel, information – data, knowledge –

| 205

Figure 2: Intelligent/Smart city formation. Source: PwC 2006

Intelligent city is defined as intelligent environment which makes use of information and communication technologies in creating interactive spaces which introduce contemporary computer tools into physical surrounding. From the stated perspective intelligent cities encompass physical surroundings in which information and communication technologies, as well as human senses disappear at time when they become part of everyday surrounding, where one lives, moves and works (Steventon and Wright, 2006).

Development of intelligent city is based on solid integration of three dimensions of human, collective and artificial intelligence. Human intelligence includes intelligence, inventiveness and creativity of humans, i.e. individuals who live and work in an observed city. This dimension was identified by Richard Florida (2002) and named it “creative class”, consisting of educated and talented individuals, scientists, artists etc. Collective intelligence represents the ability of human communities to develop in the direction of higher order of complexity and harmony, through mechanisms encompassing innovation, differentiation and integration, competitiveness and cooperation (Atlee and Pór 2006). This dimension is based on municipal institutions which enable cooperation based on knowledge and innovation. Artificial intelligence is incorporate into physical environment and accessible to inhabitants through communication infrastructure, digital spaces, etc.

On the other side, everyday physical environment of a city encompasses public open spaces. Findings from the

Figure 1: Types of societies. Source: PwC 2006

1

Definition of World Foundation of Smart Cities

domain of urban design indicate that development of even the biggest cities can be planned on a very small scale. By doing this, urban environment can be analyzed by five human senses and experienced at the speed of pedestrian movement. City planning on the small scale requires knowledge of basic human characteristics and specificities, because the human sensory apparatus and system for interpreting sensory experiences is adapted to pedestrian movement.

By determining basic human specifics and characteristics, primary in relation to the sensory system, enables definition of a scene which a human being covers by sight while walking. This scene enables the formation of a conclusion that pedestrians at the same time acknowledge the existence of landmarks which is observed at the end of the route while at the same time establishing intensive contact with ground floors of nearby objects (Gehl 2004). This scenery indicates that the most intensive contact is established with ground floors of nearby objects, surfaces on which a pedestrian moves, urban equipment and other humans with whom one meets, catches up and passes over.

2.2 Creative city – creative people Creative people have specific demands of a city. They want action and experience, a dynamic place which offers them the opportunity to be creative, the possibility of expressing themselves and the chance to develop as individuals (Florida, 2002). Either called knowledge workers or the creative class, these are the people that the contemporary city tries to attract – those that will contribute most to the city’s development.

206 |

The creative city approach emphasizes the place. Referring to Landry et al (2005, 1412), the concept of the creative city is all–embracing, emphasizing the role of: innovative high–technology enterprises, the spheres producing cultural goods and services, networks for exchanging information and knowledge, activity–based clusters, including creative ones, the ties between business and institutions for producing and mediating knowledge, e.g. universities and research establishments with close connections between R&D and entrepreneurship, diverse built environments, quality of public spaces, diverse opportunities for leisure, entertainment and self– development that condition individual creativity, an effective transport infrastructure and general social cohesion (mechanisms for fostering participation and greater involvement of the user/citizen). Landry (2000) approaches cities as ecosystems where cultural and symbolic values act as catalysts fostering general development.

2.3 Types of urban interventions In regard to the nature of the smart/intelligent city and the needs of its inhabitants, with respect to specificity of spatial interventions, can be concluded that the size of the polygon doesn’t matter. What is important is the power of idea on which that spatial intervention is based. Given the above, we can distinguish five types of final products – urban interventions that are the result of different design processes and disciplines. They include: 1. Creative point as product of industrial design or/and architectural design 2. Creative place as product of architectural design or/and urban design 3. Creative points/places network as product of industrial design, architectural design or/and urban design 4. Creative district as product of architectural and urban design and 5. Creative city as product of architectural and urban design, urban planning, development scenarios

Figure 3: Network of creative places in Amsterdam. Project of outdoor cultural stage “Multi Mill” by NL Architects [1]

Figure 4: Potential of the rotating platform – Kaleidoscopic theatre. NL Architects [1]

As an illustration of this conclusion can be mentioned an example of Smart City Amsterdam, formed as a network of creative places and art factories. Special attention is given to the project of outdoor cultural stage called “Multi Mill” (figure 3).

Strong idea is based on a simple principle of rotating platform, which consists of three segments: seating cascade, access ramp and projection wall. Rotating platform enables the highlight of different views and access from the water or from the ground (figure 4).

This kind of project could be also seen as an illustration of the model of improvement of open public, i. e. pedestrian space as a process moving from the detail to a whole (Vukmirovic 2014). It is acted towards redundant artefacts that include urban furniture and systems. In this way they are seen as important elements in formation of city’s identity as a smart one.

3 HUMAN SCALE AND PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT By placing an emphasis on pedestrian environment a light is put on the significance of small scale, often neglected in contemporary projects and development strategies. Visions, which correspond to this angle of perspective, put focus on specific advantages of cities proportional to dimensions, senses and walking speed and form a basis for more complex and diverse relations. More concretely, they correspond to improving the quality of the smallest places in such way that people are simply attracted to go there and spend time there.

Urban design and planning on human size has the task to encourage intensity of pedestrian movement as part of integral urban policy with an aim to develop lively, safe, sustainable and healthy cities. This is equally important for strengthening the social function of urban environment as a meeting place, which contributes to social sustainability and creation of open and democratic society. Seen from this perspective, pedestrian movement is of twofold character, since it is perceived as both mode of transport and an opportunity for many other activities (Gehl 2010). In accordance with this, the basic characteristics of walking and elements which influence it include the speed of pedestrian environment, distances, and the quality of route.

A way in which a pedestrian experiences space is demonstrated through a prism of long and short distance senses. Establishment of relations between distance and influence on human senses is asserted by proxemics, which belongs to the domain of non–verbal communication of the environment. Based on the findings from this

| 207

sphere and the results of direct field research, the relation between distance and activation i.e. influence on human senses. Having in mind the characteristics of short and long distance sense, it can be concluded that while walking one establishes the most intense contact and interaction with a city.

The scope of pedestrian space is determined by singling out and analysing specifics of pedestrian movement and elements which influence it. This scope is related to the scene covered by pedestrians’ sight, where at the same time the most intensive contact is established by ground floors of objects and impressions of space located in the distance. This leads us to the need to determine ways in which a city communicates.

By observing communication from a cultural aspect, every cultural phenomenon can be observed from the communication perspective, i.e. as a way of communicating. Method of communication of urban environment, that is pedestrian space, could be also analysed by using the theory of synergetic inter–representative networks.

Having in mind the stated theory, it can be concluded that a city, i.e. pedestrian environment and its elements can be observed as external representations, which are at the same time extension of the human cognitive system.

Second phase of realization of the project has been to form a laboratory at the city level (Laboratorie Paris Region) in which all citizens and visitors are to take part, whose contribution was to test the prototype elements of intelligent furniture in the period from 6 to 18 months. Inhabitants had an opportunity to send their comments and suggestion on the official website of the City of Paris in the section dedicated to the project.

Having in mind the above–mentioned range of perspectives on a city, as seen from the aspect of a pedestrian, this paper analyze the elements of urban furniture which contribute to improvement of pedestrian movement and the quality of pedestrian space. Those are elements which belong to spatio–analytical level of detail. With an aim of improving the quality of pedestrian environment, in relation to the criteria of authenticity and comfort this paper analyzes elements which include color and texture, treatment of the facades and materialization, rhythm and structure, details and ornaments, the pedestrian information system, lightning etc. (Vukmirovic 2013).

3.1 Redundant artifacts of pedestrian space On the basis of the theory of synergetic inter–representative networks, Potugali (2011) recognizes the face of a city, which is formed by elements – external representations, which have the capacity of covering and transmitting information. Information is divided into Shannon’s, which include informational capacity of channels of communication and semantic, which are in relation to the meaning, a way of experiencing space, having in mind the specifics of a recipient. Determining the pedestrian perspective to a city has enabled determination of the face of a city, perceived from the pedestrian perspective. Having this in mind, it is concluded that pedestrian space encompasses both classes of urban artifacts – unique and multiplied.

208 |

Unique artifacts are urban forms which carry the high value of Shannon’s information. They can be differentiated in terms of character of semantic information which define the source of uniqueness of these urban elements. On the basis of this they are divided into geometrical, symbolic and legendary unique artifacts. Multiplied artifacts encompass those objects, which because of their multiplicity (repetitiveness) form categories with different features. Suitable way to differentiate them is establishment of categories in relation to ratio. By applying this four subtypes are identified: urban furniture (open space equipment), objects, urban sceneries, and street network.

Results and research which are part of the doctoral dissertation entitles “The Importance and Role of the Pedestrian Space in Generating Competitive Identity of a City” (Vukmirovic 2013) have indicated a situation in which visitors (both inhabitants and tourists) map their good and bad experiences of cities through interaction with the immediate environment, that is with elements of pedestrian environment. In this respect, a special emphasis is put on multiplied elements – those which belong to the category of urban furniture.

Besides the above–stated, by analyzing the quality of pedestrian space of five European cities2 (Vukmirovic 2013) it has been determined that Paris has invested most efforts in improvement of urban furniture through the project called Mobilier Urbain Intelligent.

4 PROCES OF CREATING SMART PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT The project “Intelligent furniture of Paris” has been initiated in early 2011 and led by Anne Hidalgo, actual Mayor of Paris, who was in charge of urbanism and architecture and Jean–Louis Missique, in charge of innovation, research and higher education. The idea was organized through a public call, with professionals who have been invited to contribute in order to conceive Paris – the city of tomorrow. The main focus of the call was to give to the participants complete freedom to suggest solutions which are to make Paris more pleasant and efficient.

Observed as a city of creation, invention and revolution, it was aimed to achieve an image of a city which is to contribute to a city of innovation, a great showcase of new technologies and services (Missika 2013).

There were more than 50 participants to the call while 40 projects made it to a final selection, for which the prototypes have been produced. Elements of intelligent urban furniture encompassed projects of interactive public transportation stops, informational panels with information displayed in real time, traffic signal poles, moving panels etc. These elements have been placed on several dozen of locations in Paris (figure 5).

2

Paris, Munich, Vienna, Malmo and Ljubljana

Figure 5: Distribution of intelligent urban furniture, Google maps, 2013 | 209

4.1 Intelligent elements of pedestrian environment of Paris By analyzing intelligent elements of urban furniture in Paris it has been established that out of 40 projects, 25 belong to pedestrian space. On the basis of their dominant function it can be concluded that they incorporate elements which belong to the following sub–categories: (1) commercial open space contents, (2) seating spaces and elements, (3) cafe gardens, (4) pedestrian information system, (5) other methods of informing pedestrians, (6) advertising points, (7) internet and multimedia services, (8) lightning, (9) public space art and (10) multi–sensory effects (Vukmirović 2013, 503–509). An overview of selected smart elements of the pedestrian environment is given below.

As an example of commercial open space content we could stand out the project and prototype called “Triporteur Cookista”. It is a movable element for transportation of fresh goods. In this way, recipes are offered and fresh goods supplied, while at the same time promoting of consumption of fresh vegetables and professionalizing street sellers in Paris.

Seating spaces and elements comprise following projects: “Play”, “Racine des Villes”, “Blocparc”, “Reliance urbaine” and “Affordance”. “Play” is an innovative toy which is placed in parks and gardens and could be used by

a

b

c

Figure 6: a) PLAY, b) Affordance (Lionel Scharly) and c) Racine des Villes [2]

group or individually (figure 6a). The equipment consists of the screen on the pedestal and a place for seating. By using the touch–screen it is possible to play a variety of video games. “Racine des Villes” are movable elements of urban furniture (figure 6c) which enable the appearance of different contents at the same location. Formed as a modular system of squares in the base, which are movable on the vertical axis. By moving them a place for work is created, consisting of a table and a chair, elements for seating or high tables for gatherings. When not used, elements are lowered to the level of the pavement, in order not to disturb the movement of higher intensity.

“Blocparc” is a piece of furniture which is above all aimed at urban recreation and relaxation. It is consisted of

210 |

Figure 7: Moblie garden – Mobilot [3]

in which there are information that concern localities of cemeteries. This element of urban furniture enables direct insight into content on the stated locations and overtakes of maps with locations of tombs by using mobile phones. “Décodeur urbain” has the characteristics of an over–sized smart phone (figure 8b). It serves in some ways to “decode” the city Practically, it is a type of urban guide and the very application is designed so as to enable easier way to get to know the city and specific locations, which is achieved when a user searches the content, depending on his/her own preferences. “Totem digital” is a big screen placed on a vertical carrier which gives information in real time (figure 8a). It uses all the advantages of digital technology and transmits excellent picture quality, even in strong sunlight. In real time it displays news from Paris as an official Twitter feed of the City of Paris. “Plan tactile ViaDirect City” is a two–sided terminal organized as Via Direct software solution which quickly helps orientation and provides the ability to access information important for moving in the city. Urban furniture named “Oxialive colonne numérique” equipped by defibrillator and a touch screen specially suited for people with reduced mobility. “Smart borne sur candelabra” are info–terminals placed on candelabras. Used as clocks, short–term supplement for electronic vehicles on 2 or 4 vehicles and informing pedestrians. They are supported by Android platform. “Pelle intéractive Tracetel” is a prototype of an Interactive digital touch screen, placed on the vertical carrier. It gives out information on the location, most important contents in museums and other cultural institutions.

modular sides, built from pre–fabricated concrete. They can be connected or separated, the result determining their usable value. They serve to form localities and recreational spaces made for the activities of adolescents (gathering, skateboarding etc). “Reliance Urbaine” are open space deck chairs placed on vertical carriers. They enable three ways of rest in the open space. They are equipped with internet access devices. “Affordance” is a project of furniture for comfortable urban seating built by a method of 3D sculpting of memory foam of different shapes. It has built–in chips (RFID) that provide information on if a place is occupied or not (figure 6b).

Multimedia device called “EchoLink panneaux intéractifs” displays and creates information in and about the immediate environment. It also enables communication among the users. “nAutreville” is an interactive transparent panel which centralizes the informative space (Figure 8c). By turning it on a vertical axis by 360o it enables gathering of information in the surrounding in the Argumented Reality form. It includes contents such as: real time window on the immediate environment which is in GPS system and it showcases information on the screen, transparency enables optimal intelligence in urban environment, it can be rotated, which gives the user the possibility to “scan” the city, flexibility and user–oriented information system portrays specificity of every area and adaptation to different profiles (tourists, inhabitants etc). | 211

From the stated it can be concluded that these elements of urban furniture have been advanced by new possibilities which enable the appearance of playing in the open public space or connection to internet. Besides that, innovation is reflected in the contemporary methods of production of urban furniture, as it is the case with Affordance.

Caffe gardens are designed as a project Mobilot. It is a mobile urban garden with integrated benches and tables and it can be temporarily placed on the space reserved for parking and used as a cafe garden or an over–sized bench (figure 7).

Projects of pedestrian information system include: “Mobulles par Connecthings”, “Borne muséographique pour cimetières”, “Décodeur urbain”, “Totem digital”, “Plan tactile ViaDirect City”, “Oxialive colonne numérique”, “Smart borne sur candelabra”, “Pelle intéractive Tracetel”, “EchoLink panneaux intéractifs” and “nAutreville”.

Element of urban furniture called “Mobulles par Connecthings” has a relay function for digital information. It is meant to inform the visitors and local inhabitants on useful information and entertaining contents. It is accessed by digital code (bar code), which is read by the mobile phone. Stickers with “smart etiquettes” are placed on the existing elements of urban equipment. “Borne muséographique pour cimetières” is a multimedia terminal

a

b

c

Figure 8: a) Totem digital, b) Decodeur urbain and c) nAutreville [2]

Figure 9: Escale Numérique [2]

Other methods of informing pedestrians could be recognized in project “Concept Abribus”. This prototype of urban furniture is the example of future intelligent public transportation stops. In such places citizens can inform on different city contents by following digital information which can be selected. The idea is to secure some kind of “Paris within your reach”. Interface is designed as an open system in a form of a platform which is attractive and accessible to all. It consists of an info–panel, a bench, a canopy and digital advertising panel. Among other functions and contents there is a touch–screen by which one can check out local information and adverts, ATM, remote–controlled defibrillator by GPRS, free Wi–Fi etc.

E–Village is project classified in the group of elements that are used for advertising. It consists of group of interactive urban equipment which enables reading the adverts and local information on the specific neighborhood or block. By using this element it is possible to video connect one terminal to another.

Projects for Internet and multimedia services include “Kiosque multimedia” and “Escale Numérique”. “Kiosque

a

b Figure 10: a) Artspot and b) Icilasong [2]

multimedia” is a Multimedia kiosk – info point. It enables various functions: telephone, parking pay–point, charging of electronic vehicles or providing information necessary for orientation. On the other side, “Escale Numérique” (figure 9) is a point that enables use of internet in public space where one can work in the open space, charge the computer or gather the necessary information on the city. Using this element of urban furniture enables connecting to digital networks in public space, in the open.

Contemporary lighting in public space is seen in “X–Last” and “Le Petit Poucet” projects. “X–Last” is an urban furniture which primary has a safety function. It is placed solely on spots dangerous for pedestrians and has the function to point out to where they are stopping (on pedestrian isles, along the bicycle paths, etc.). Second reason for the appearance of this element of urban equipment is to prevent illegal parking. Element is built out of partially flexible and partially transparent persistent material. The authors of his element call it “Lumiart” – lighthouse of dangerous spots. Le Petit Poucet is street lightning in parterre which could be activated by a sensor.

Lamps have the shape of bird footprints, thus they are especially interesting to children.

212 |

References Alves M. R. 2005, Making Spaces for the Creative Economy: Some Challenges to Overcome, 41st ISoCaRP Congress Atlee, T. and Pór, G. 2006 ,“Collective Intelligence” by Atlee T. and Pór, G. Evolutionary Nexus: connecting communities for emergence.

Cheshire P. 1999, “Cities in Competition: Articulating the Gains from Integration”, Urban Studies, May 1999 36: 843–864 Gehl, J. 2004, Close Encounters with Buildings. Arkitekten. pp.1–15.

Gehl, J. 2010, Cities for People. Washington, Island Press Mairie de Paris, 2013, 40 projets de mobilier urbain intelligent, http://www.paris.fr/pratique/paris–ville– numerique/dossiers/40–projets–de–mobilier–urbain–intelligent, accessed 15th March 2013 Portugali, J. 2011, Complexity, Cognition and the City. Berlin, London, New York, Springer PwC 2006, Cities of the future – global competition, local leadership, http://www.pwc.com, accessed 15th March 2013 Steventon, A., and Wright, S. (eds) 2006 Intelligent spaces: The application of pervasive ICT, London, Springer Stupar, A 2007, “Expressing the Power of Technology: Urban Challenge, Global Fashion or Imperative of Sustainability?” 6th Annual IAS–STS Conference “Critical Issues in Science and Technology Studies”, Graz: Institute for Advanced studies on Science, Technology and Society Vukmirovic, M 2013, Znacaj i uloga mreze pesackih prostora u generisanju kompetitivnog identiteta grada, Doktorska disertacija, Beograd, Arhitektonski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu (unpublished work) [1] www.dezeen.com [2] www.paris.fr [3] www.innovcity.fr

Public space art and multy–sensory include projects titled as “Artspot” and “Icilasong”. Artistic point, “Artspot”, represents localities which enable special interactive experience (figure 10a). The content is activated by a smart phone which offers an overview of new dimension of local landscape shaped by artists or a famous person. On the other side, “Icilasong” is urban furniture equipped and shaped to transmit sounds and melodies (figure 10b).

It includes furniture for seating as well.

| 213

It can be noticed that each of the presented project and prototype, due to it’s powerful idea on which is based on and underlying the orientation to the needs of the public space users – pedestrians, could contribute in characterization of specific city location as smart/intelligent. The multiplication of these smart projects could result in formation of the network of smart/intelligent points, i.e. smart/intelligent city.

5 CONCLUSIONS The presented elements of urban furniture, which was tested in Paris, point to the wide variety of possibilities of individual components of pedestrian space. On the other side, all those elements belong to the group of small scale interventions in pedestrian space, or more precisely those elements which are in direct contact with users and based on which the users separate good from bad spaces, or in this case intelligent or ordinary.

Separated elements posses their dominant function in relation to which they were categorized, but they are also characterized by mutual feature that besides dominant they offer secondary contents, which are also of great importance. On the other side, positive aspect of these examples is perceived in the propensity for constant introduction of interaction among the users of pedestrian space and other users, but also the city and its spatial and functional elements.

The review of the selected projects demonstrates that elements of pedestrian space, defined also as small scale smart interventions are not to be observed solely as addition to open public spaces, but rather as an important element in formation of city’s identity as a smart one.

Prof. Eva Vaništa Lazarević, PhD, full professor at University of Belgrade Faculty of Architecture. Practicing architect in charge in Architectural Design Studio “ Atelier Eva Vanista Lazarevic”, Belgrade. Member of the Board of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade and Member of the Commission for urbanism, Chamber of Engineers of Serbia. Expert for urban renewal and urban regeneration.

Project leader and Director of the International Academic Conference on Places and Technologies. Professional work: housing and business complexes, hotels, interiors, restaurants, villas, social housing, etc.

Milena Vukmirović, PhD, associate researcher at University of Belgrade – Faculty of Architecture and Urban Laboratory, Belgrade. Her research interests are focused on the investigation of the relationship between quality of everyday environment and competitiveness of the cities. At the present she is engaged in the research project Modernization of the Western Balkans funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Republic of Serbia. She is a founder of the CSO 5km/h which aim to promote walking as a sustainable transport mode and one of the founders of professional association Urban Laboratory, Belgrade. Executive coordinator and member of the Organizing committee of the International Academic Conference on Places and Technologies.

International Scientific Conference and Workshop SMART URBANISM_ TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY Ljubljana, Slovenia, 19-21 June 2014

Revisiting Approaches to Teaching Sustainable Urbanism

Vlatko P. KOROBAR, Jasmina SILJANOSKA Faculty of Architecture, University “SS. Cyril and Methodius” Partizanski odredi 26 | Skopje | Macedonia vvpk@ukim.edu.mk, jasiljan@ukim.edu.mk University of Split

ABSTRACT The paper makes an overview of the teaching and learning strategies derived from the UNESCO document on Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future and relates them to the education of architecture and urbanism.

In order to establish an environment for connecting these strategies to the teaching of sustainable urbanism, the paper takes the ten principles from the Copenhagen Agenda for Sustainable Cities and interconnects to the teaching and learning strategies with the intention to show which ones best ‘cover’ some of the principles, but also which teaching and learning strategies could benefit from taking into account some of the principles of sustainable city governance, thus moving the educational process closer to real world circumstances.

In the final section the paper suggests that case study research and case-based teaching are the best approaches to sustainability issues in an educational environment, proposing the method of re-planning as one of the possible methods for teaching sustainable urbanism.

Keywords: Sustainable urbanism, teaching approaches, re-planning.

1 INTRODUCTION Sustainability is a word that has penetrated every facet of our daily lives. From a sole concern of ecologists, it has become an overarching concept that spans all fields of human activity. It has entered the teaching of architecture and urbanism in increments that have been barely related. All disciplines that are relevant to the fields of architecture and urbanism have deployed their individual approaches to issues of sustainability leaving limited space for fruitful interaction.

We would argue that architecture and urbanism through case study research and case based teaching could establish the common ground for an integrated approach to sustainability that would benefit other disciplines, as well.

The paper is partly based on existing teaching experiences that are going to be further developed in the immediate future as relevant approaches to teaching sustainable urbanism at the Faculty of Architecture in Skopje.

The suggested reference point for this conference, the strategies of teaching and learning for a sustainable

| 215

future as defined by UNESCO [1] have been taken as a starting point in evaluating some common approaches to teaching and learning in general and to teaching urbanism in particular, in order to evaluate a possible approach/ method of teaching sustainable urbanism.

2 TEACHING AND LEARNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE The process of teaching architecture and urbanism has been under constant pressure of major societal and technological changes in the last decades. The constant dichotomies of professional versus academic or scientific versus design nature of studies of architecture, while not being resolved, have been propelled to a new level of complexity with the advancement of the profound changes in the educational environment resulting from the balance shift in the roles of students and teachers.

The traditional emphasis on training has been shifted towards the notion of discovering, which is forming a completely new educational set up. As a result of this, as Foqué (2010) notes, the teacher of the future will be less occupied with information transfer and more centred on creating the best possible study environments in which the ‘shopping student’ is constantly seeking individualised packages of information in a global university supermarket. It is very likely that from science and technology as the primary agents of change we will move toward a new creativity based socio-economic model in which design “will deal with total processes, entire environments and global experiences, creating added value and synergy. In such a context architects and designers can play an important role as they are trained to analyse and understand the present and, from there, formulate possible futures”.1 It is more than obvious that under these circumstances the traditional methods of teaching and learning will change with the introduction of new or the reappearance of side-lined ones, that have again gained in relevance.

216 |

2.1 The UNESCO Teaching and Learning Strategies The UNESCO Teaching and Learning Strategies for a Sustainable Future simply bring ‘new vigour’ to issues that have already been dealt with at earlier times, since issues connected to the limits of the Earth’s resources and their potential to support our way of living or the questions how we reconcile the requirements of economy, society, and the environment have long been on the educational agenda.

What is important in respect to these teaching and learning strategies is, first, that they are addressing education ‘in all its forms and at all levels’ and second, that in this process there is increased orientation towards teacher education. Hence, the suggested strategies are meant to be a vehicle for improving of our role as educators as they ‘integrate contemporary thinking in educational circles on curriculum reform and effective teaching and learning strategies’. As stated in the document the entire approach is based upon ‘an experiential learning process that invites teachers to analyse and interpret information in a variety of forms (…); review new knowledge in the light of current understandings; reflect upon and generalise from learning experiences; develop skills in a wide variety of teaching and learning strategies; and adapt and apply new ideas and skills to practical educational tasks.’

The list of teaching and learning strategies includes: experiential learning, storytelling, values education, enquiry learning, appropriate assessment, future problem solving, learning outside the classroom and community problem solving. Even a brief look at this list shows that these strategies are nothing new to architecture education and that most of them, if not all, constitute the regular repertoire of teaching approaches in schools of architecture, applied separately or most often in conjunction.

2.2 The UNESCO Teaching and Learning Strategies and the Teaching of (Sustainable) Urbanism Although as mentioned above it is almost self-evident that these strategies are already part of the process of education in schools of architecture, we would like to comment them in the context of urbanistic (and architectural) education and the experience of our school.

2.2.1 Experiential learning Speaking generally one could argue that experiential learning is the core segment to education in urbanism in our school, as at the very beginning students are exposed to personal experience of urban space and throughout the course they are exposed to intense individual experience of concrete environments and tasks related to them.

As experiential learning rests within the student and comprises of four interrelated segments: action, reflection, abstraction and application it is obvious that it should result in a change in the student attitude and knowledge

as a result of the immediate experience.

The major obstacle that an educator can face in this case has been already noted by Itin (1999) as reluctance on part of the students to fully take part in an educational process that involves their active engagement and participation, as they have not been exposed to such an experience in their previous education.

2.2.2 Storytelling Storytelling as a teaching strategy in urbanism could rest primarily on indigenous stories and success stories (or cases). However, a specific approach called Terristories, developed by Klaske Havik (2009) from TU Delft has had its early application in our summer school in the town of Kriva Palanka. It is an interdisciplinary approach that connects architecture with literary techniques aiming at sensitive reading of places from the level of landscape to the scale of human everyday life. The proposed interventions were aiming at raising environmental awareness and addressing four aspects of sustainable development: people, planet, prosperity and place.

2.2.3 Learning outside the classroom and Community problem solving These strategies coupled together are a common feature in each school of architecture. The studios, workshops, summer school sessions at our school are exclusively related to assignments that require a considerable amount of work to be done outside the classroom and very often in relation with a local municipality or institution in order to expose students to a real condition and sometimes to supply them with a hands-on experience.

These two strategies provide conditions for first-hand experience in immediate communication, enquiry, value recognition and problem solving that are of utmost importance in education for architecture and urbanism.

It is important to capitalise on similar experiences of other schools, to link similar exercises in different schools and regions, in different cultural setting in order to sensitise students to the variety of possible approaches and solutions. This seems to be a regular practice at schools of architecture, but it is important that it is executed in a highly ordered fashion with the necessary preparation.

2.2.4 Enquiry learning and Future problem solving Similarly to the above two strategies, enquiry learning and future problem solving are crucial in any teaching and learning for (sustainable) architecture and urbanism if we are to shift education from training to enquiry and discovering. By the mere fact that enquiry learning includes analysis, problem definition and solving, as well as creative activities that lead to possible problem solution, it is directly connected to the ability for the more systematic exercise of solving future problems.

Carefully chosen case studies are the core element in demonstrating the strengths of both enquiry learning and the ability of problem solving as case studies lead to the understanding of contextual parameters that have physical, but also non-physical aspects connected to ideas, values and attitudes which should all be addressed, thus supplying a complex link between the problem, the context and the solution.

In the last decades architecture schools have been struggling to establish research by design as research in its own right with its own research procedures that differ from pure scientific research in order to have the specifics of research in their own discipline recognised by the wider academic community.

As case studies form a crucial part of research by design, this should pave the way for easier transfer of students from second to third cycle of studies but, more importantly, acquiring improved research skills would benefit all students and not only those who are going to pursue a research or academic career.

2.2.5 Values education Aspects of ethics and values are deeply embedded in the concept of sustainability, but they too are embedded in any education related to urbanism as urban planning is an activity that should safeguard the public interest through the reconciliation of public and individual interests.

This is an area where probably the biggest scope for improvement lies in teaching (sustainable) architecture and urbanism, as these are issues that could easily be overshadowed by our own value-laden attitudes. It is important to try to make values explicit, especially in the formative years of one’s professional education.

A year ago an issue of OASE was devoted to values in architecture by asking the simple, yet difficult question

| 217

‘What is good architecture?’ and as the editors stated “simply because a question is certain to have an infinite number of answers does not mean it should not be asked”2 and it should be asked in education, too.

At this instance, we have deliberately omitted the aspects of appropriate assessment as it opens a completely new field of discussion.

218 |

3 SUSTAINABLE URBANISM Sustainability as an issue, in general, and sustainable urbanism, in particular, have entered curricula in schools of architecture in the last decades providing a host of different names for similar areas of expertise and instruction.

The obvious fact is that the aspects of sustainability can be relevantly covered only by an interdisciplinary approach that spans areas dealing with social, political, economic and environmental issues. This poses a serious question of the ever increasing scope of issues to be covered.

The early example of the well-known triangle or the three ‘E’s (ecology, economy, equity) by Campbell (1996) that showed the three primary conflicts among goals of sustainable development (property, resource and development conflicts), was later transformed into the prism model of sustainability by Godschalk (2004) that introduced the aspect of liveability and three more conflicts (gentrification, green cities and growth management conflicts). The ever increasing scope of issues under consideration leaves us with an expectation that we are yet to welcome a possible hexahedron of sustainability in the future.

Despite this ever increasing field of issues connected to sustainability, the standard approach to sustainable development in schools of architecture usually deals narrowly with topics of mixed-use, compact city form, multimodal traffic, connected green areas, re-use, etc. leaving out the broader picture. Instead of the usual repertoire of issues connected to sustainable urbanism, for the purpose of illustrating a more operational approach to dealing with the issues of sustainable cities, we have decided to use the use the Copenhagen agenda that is related to sustainable city governance, but essentially deals with key issues of sustainable urbanism, extending the narrow disciplinary approach with issues of city governance.

We will then try to connect the ten principles for sustainable city governance with the teaching and learning strategies for sustainable future, in order to show the complex interconnectedness of issues and approaches at hand.

3.1 Copenhagen Agenda for Sustainable Cities The Copenhagen agenda states that “by nature, cities are environmentally friendly because they concentrate populations, and reduce the amount of energy needed for heating and transport of goods and people. But so far we have not succeeded in creating environmentally sustainable cities, as we have failed to understand the complexity of the urban challenges that we face. (…) Current urban development ignores the fact that we need cities to be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable at the same time. (…) These challenges must be met within city borders. (…) Therefore, we need to optimise and concentrate all our efforts into developing and strengthening the sustainable city”.3 The Copenhagen agenda is the product of a survey that included 50 of the world’s most important urban experts from all parts of the world and from a range of disciplines. In this respect, it could be viewed as a corresponding document to the UNESCO Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future. The answers of these experts who believe that we need a radical change of mindset and new strategies have been distilled into ten principles were aimed at urban residents, academics, professional and leaders. What follows is a short interpretation of the ten principles that are themselves very briefly stated: Rediscover the city: Cities must become self-sustaining organisms which are complementary to nature, rather than their hostile opposition.

Redifine city value: Because sustainable city depends on the attitude and behaviour of each of its citizens and users, a sense of citizenship must be developed and individual responsibility towards sustainable values rather than plain consumerism must be encouraged.

Involve everyday experts: A common understanding of the sustainable city must be developed because sustainable cities are participatory cities.

Break down silos: Sustainable city planning is inherently multidisciplinary which calls for an innovative, crosssector cooperation.

Redistribute urban decision-making: As environmental changes do not stop at city borders cooperation between local, national and international public institutions becomes crucial to sustainable planning.

De-design urban planning: City planning should be people centred, rather than design centred, because the city is a constantly evolving organism in need of a broader perspective than the design of individual buildings.

Promote corporate urban responsibility: As sustainable cities and successful commerce are interdependent, companies must assume responsibility for urban sustainability.

Go global: Global cooperation on the development of environmental technologies is essential, as is the joint effort to solve the massive problems of the developing world’s cities.

Embrace chaos, crisis and change: Sustainable city must be adaptable to unexpected change and an innovative mindset is vital in overcoming crisis.

Encourage passion in urban leadership: More will be expected of urban leaders of the future, a mix of business management, political leadership and creativity.

If we relate these principles to the teaching and learning strategies we discussed previously a possible interconnectedness could be established with the intention to show which of the learning strategies best ‘cover’ some of the principles or at least which teaching and learning strategies could benefit from taking into account some of the principles of sustainable city governance, thus moving the educational process closer to real world circumstances. (fig. 1) The ‘overlapping’ of these two lists does not mean that teaching sustainable urbanism

| 219

Figure 1: Interconnectedness among the teaching and learning strategies and the principles of sustainable city governance

should abandon its disciplinary confines and move into bordering areas of expertise but rather that an insight into the social environment in which sustainable urbanism should operate could only benefit the educational process.

4 TEACHING SUSTAINABLE URBANISM The position of schools of architecture in a research university is often being either questioned or unclear. The debate resulting from this situation has often pushed the schools into curriculum changes that have supposedly moved schools closer to a scientific environment.

These changes have resulted not only from the general discussion about the role of a professional school in a scientific university setting, but also from the appearance of new issues that occupy the interest of a number of different fields of expertise. Indeed, one such case is the issue of sustainability that has been the recent ‘battlefield’ of several disciplines to claim their supremacy over the issue within the university context. Sustainable architecture and sustainable urbanism have become areas where aspirations of several disciplines overlap.

As Foqué rightfully noted “professional disciplines are the connectors between basic science and the real world and between theoretical concepts and practical applications. They reduce the gap between the real world problems and academic research”. 4 He argues that professional disciplines should develop their own bodies of knowledge and methodological frameworks in order to confront other disciplines within a transdisciplinary context. This is exactly what schools of architecture must do with the broad area of sustainability and its repercussions in architecture and urbanism and consequently in the process of their teaching.

220 |

4.1 The importance of case studies in teaching sustainable urbanism Sustainable urbanism deals with issues that are complex and multidisciplinary. Foqué argues that in such cases “best solutions cannot be derived through mere application of current theories and/or methods. More and more professionals are confronted with questions for which the answer lies between disciplines and for which no clearcut theoretical framework accommodates a solution strategy”. 5 As a strong supporter of case study research and case-based learning he sees them as ‘extremely powerful tools to train students and professionals to tackle problems that are pragmatically demanding, based on creative and critical thinking, deliberating capacity and the ability to handle , within limited time frames, incomplete information and fuzzy contexts”. 6 It goes without doubt that in many regulated professions case studies have become a major tool for research and education. There is no reason why this would not be the case with architecture and urbanism, especially in the case of sustainable urbanism where the study of cases should provide conditions for a sound knowledge base on one hand, and on the other an the insight into how professional attitudes contribute to the shaping of solutions. Furthermore, the case study research in sustainable urbanism should establish a competitive knowledge base which would provide our discipline with a better starting point in the ever increasing debate in issues of sustainability.

Other professional disciplines have gone through this process and have established their knowledge base by conducting case study research in a rigorous methodological way. Writing on the positive experience of Harvard, Garvin (2003) mentions the cases of the schools of business, law and medicine, commending the latest developments in each of the schools. “For years, the ‘technology’ of cases remained static. They were written documents consisting of text, tables and illustrations. Today, however, information and communication technologies are transforming cases (…) in ways that produce greater realism, engagement, and interaction”.7 4.1 Re-planning as a teaching method for sustainable urbanism Constantinos Doxiadis once said that our discipline is like a two-headed eagle, simultaneously looking towards the past and the future. He thought that the past is the only laboratory we possess in urbanism.

Re-planning as an approach is known in urbanism. In the book ‘Responsive environments’, Bentley at al. omit a block in order to show the forces that should be taken into consideration when designing for a site where external forces decisively influence the design decisions.

Re-planning has been used as a method of teaching urbanism in our school in different contexts, one of them being the above mentioned, another the re-planning of an area for which an official plan has been adopted in order to highlight the ‘possibilities lost’, or re-planning of a consolidated city area where the exercise of replanning aims at improving the current conditions by a variety of interventions of different scale and scope, etc.

However, the re-planning exercise which is most suited to the teaching of sustainable urbanism could be labelled as ‘back to the future’ case. In all cities there are big areas that have been planned and built in a fairly short period of time, mostly housing areas from the sixties or the seventies of the last century. Due to its troubled history the city of Skopje has a number of these areas that very often have come into being as a result of a plan developed through open competition. From the initial stage of planning these areas have reached different levels of completion, and have undergone a number of planned or ad-hoc changes.

The ‘back to the future’ case-study should begin with a thorough analysis and survey of the existing state of the area, but also with a complete analysis of the competition brief or the initial planning brief. Then, an analysis of the development stages and the reasons for noticed changes should follow. An accompanying part of the case study must be an opinion survey of the local inhabitants. Through these stages the students/researchers would acquire a rather precise picture of the process that has led to the present day condition of the area.

In the case-based teaching situation, the following stage would be the ‘travel through time’ a stage in which students are asked to plan the same area, but this time taking into account the principles of sustainable urbanism.

This approach has earlier raised a number of questions about the ‘survey in vain’, the irrelevance of beginning ‘from scratch’ in an already built area and similar critiques. However, we believe that the advantages outnumber the downfalls of this approach.

We will mention only few: the students get a first-hand experience of an existing space with its advantages and disadvantages; they draw on this experience in the next stages of their work; by exploring the ‘history’ of the site they acquire knowledge of the forces and circumstances that shape the city, etc. However, the biggest advantage lies in the possibility for the students to compare the consequences of different approaches and the benefits application of the principles of sustainable urbanism can provide.

5 CONCLUSION With the appearing of the notion of sustainability and especially its repercussions on the ‘art and science of building’, schools of architecture have yet once again been exposed to a situation already known to them from earlier periods. It is the characteristic situation in which because of the multidisciplinary nature of the new issue that needs to be covered schools find themselves with the split personality syndrome. As Schön (1995) has put it, they are caught between the prevailing idea of rigorous knowledge, based on technical rationality and the awareness of indeterminate zones of practice that lie beyond its canons. It is the case with professional schools which often struggle with “the difference between the use of scientific theory in practice and the creation of new knowledge through practice”.

We have tried to illustrate with the case of sustainable urbanism how the disciplines of architecture and urbanism should position themselves in teaching sustainability issues on case-based knowledge utilising teaching strategies that are generally used, but also discipline specific methods such as the method of re-planning as a case of testing and building knowledge under circumstances which are specific to the discipline.

| 221

Notes 1 Foqué Richard, Building Knowledge in Architecture, Brussels: UPA, 2010, p.47 2 What Is Good Architecture?, OASE Journal for Architecture, NAI Publishers, 2013, no. 90 3 Copenhagen Agenda for Sustainable Cities, Realdania, 25 September 2007, p.2 4 Foqué Richard, Building Knowledge in Architecture, Brussels: UPA, 2010, p.25 5 Ibid., p.156 6 Ibid., p.157 7 Garvin, Donald A. Making the Case: Professional education for the world of practice, Harvard Magazine, vol.106, no.1, 2003, p.62

222 |

References Campbell, S1996, Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities?: Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol.62, no.3, pp.296-313.

Copenhagen Agenda for Sustainable Cities, 25 September 2007, Realdania.

Foqué, R 2010, Building Knowledge in Architecture, UPA, Brussels.

Garvin, DA 2003, Making the Case: Professional education for the world of practice, Harvard Magazine, vol.106, no.1.

Godschalk, DR 2004, Land Use Planning Challenges: Coping with Conflicts in Visions of Sustainable Development and Livable Communities, Journal of the American Planning Association, vol.70, no.1, pp.5-13.

Havik, K and Veldhuisen, S 2009, ‘Terristoties: Site Specific Research and Design’, OASE Journal for Architecture, no. 80; pp.70-76.

Itin, CM 1999, ‘Reasserting the philosophy of experiential education as a vehicle for change in the 21st century’, The Journal of Experiential Education, Routledge, vol. 22, no. 2, pp.91-98.

Schön, DA 1995, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Ashgate, Farnham.

What Is Good Architecture? 2013, OASE Journal for Architecture, NAI Publishers, no. 90.

[1] http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_gs.html

Vlatko P. KOROBAR, PhD – Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the Faculty of Architecture, University “SS. Cyril and Methodius” in Skopje; Dean of the Faculty from 2001-2009; Head of the International Summer School of Architecture; has conducted workshops at the schools in Antwerpen and Gazi university in Ankara. has been visiting evaluator at Ion Mincu in Bucharest and in Volos; licenced architect and licenced urban planner; has won grand prix awards from the Association of Architects of Macedonia; has curated the Macedonian pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2004 and exhibited in the Macedonian pavilion in 2008; has been on the editorial boards of national and international reviews for architecture and planning, currently writes for A10; has coordinated two Tepmus projects and participated in several COST projects; has organised and participated in numerous conferences at home and abroad; his research interests include issues of urban planning and development in transition societies and emerging forms of development under changed societal conditions.

Jasmina SILJANOSKA, PhD – Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the Faculty of Architecture, University SS. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Macedonia; her interest is focused on theory and history of urban development; she has established and co-edited Arshin, the first independent architectural magazine in Macedonia; she has been European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe independent expert and member of several scientific and organizational boards of international conferences and a member of management committee of two COST actions, “Cities Regrowing Smaller – Fostering Knowledge on Regeneration Strategies in Shrinking Cities across Europe” and “People Friendly Cities in a Data Rich World”.

| 223

“SMART URBANISM”_PAMETNI URBANIZEM TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY_UČITI TRAJNOST

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC MEETING and WORKSHOP_MEDNARODNI ZNANSTVENI POSVET in DELAVNICA za UČITELJE

Book of Proceedings

SCIENTIFIC MEETING ON THE TOPIC OF URBANISM, Ljubljana, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture, 19–21 June 2014

University of Ljubljana Faculty of Architecture Zoisova 12 SI–1000 Ljubljana Organisation University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Architecture Chair of Urbanism Conference Program Committee Prof. Peter Gabrijelčič, MSc Prof. Janez Koželj Assist. Prof. Alenka Fikfak, PhD Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, PhD Assoc. Prof. Tadej Glažar, MSc International Scientific Committee Dr. Cristian Suau, US, UK Birgit Klauck, TU Berlin, DE Prof. Enrico Anguillari, IUAV, IT Tomaž Pipan, MA Prof. Eva Vaništa Lazarević, PhD, UB, SR Prof. Goran Radović, PhD, UOM, ME Assist. Prof. Saja Kosanović, PhD, UPKM, KOS Prof. Živa Deu, PhD, UL FA Assoc. Prof. Martina Zbašnik Senegačnik, PhD, UL FA Assoc. Prof. Tadeja Zupančič, PhD, UL FA Assist. Prof. Alma Zavodnik Lamovšek, PhD, UL FGG Assist. Prof. Ilka Čerpes, PhD, UL FA Assist. Prof. Sonja Ifko, PhD, UL FA Organizing Committee Assist. Prof. Alenka Fikfak, PhD Assist. Polona Filipič, MSc Assist. Matevž Juvančič, PhD Assist. Anja Jutraž, PhD Assist. Špela Verovšek, PhD Assist. Aleksander Vujović Janez P. Grom Nejc Černigoj Mia Crnič Urša Kalčič Mitja Blaganje, MSc Mojca Potočnik Kogovšek Renata Stella Čop Mojca Rozman Karmen Marolt Evgen Klemenc

University of Ljubljana

Operation part–financed by the European Union, the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. Operation implemented in the framework of the Operational Programme for Human Resources Development for the Period 2007–2013, Development priority 3: “Development of Human Resources and Lifelong Learning”; Priority axis 3.3: “Quality, Competitiveness and Responsiveness of Higher Education.”

224

225

“SMART URBANISM” TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY