2023-2024 / ARCH3260-2

Architectural studio II, Introduction

Duration

20h Th, 70h Pr, 1d FW, 85h Proj.

Number of credits

 Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Engineering7 crédits 

Lecturer

Catherine Elsen

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

As a continuation of the Architectural Studios IA and IB, the Architectural Studio IIA brings the student to the gradual acquisition of the essential skills and know-how in regard of architectural composition: analytical approach of a site, users' needs and contexts; mastery of the reality complexity; harmony of formal and structural choices as well as attention to architectural detail.
The spatial and programmatic scale of the projects evolves: the student is invited to compose living and working spaces of moderate size, in rural or urban environment. Several weeks are devoted to the fine and reflective analysis of the program and the context: the student is invited, if he/she sees fit, to complete the statement with his/her own personal propositions. The notion of "architectural parti" is deepened and structure the iterative approach of design, sometimes acting as an instrument for self-analysis, sometimes as guarantee to the project's intrinsic coherence.
The user-centered approach is refined, with the on-the-spot encounter of the different actors involved in the project. 

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course the student will be able to analyze an architectural program in a critical way and to initiate his/her work by seeking balance for the project as well as development of a personal approach in harmony with the rationality of the art of building.
He/she will be able to propose a coherent solution integrating all constraints and architectural parameters: programming constraints, ergonomics and user needs, constructive constraints, spatial environments and qualities, plastic qualities, relation to the context and the external environment.
He/she will also have gradually mastered the graphic expression and the verbalization of his/her production.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Cours d'Ateliers d'architecture IA et 1B - ARCH3270-1 et ARCH0066-2
Cours de Techniques de construction des bâtiments 1 : Eléments - ARCH0003-7
Cours de Méthodologie du projet architectural  I ARCH0002-01 

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The proposed theoretical sessions nurture open debates in which students take a proactive role. Everyone is then invited to compose, either alone or in small groups, his/her proposal of architectural artifact in response to specific statements.
The student discusses and defends his/her choices in front of his/her peers and supervisors, who suggest constructive ways to improve the project. The supervision mode and the possibility of individualized follow-up encourage an iterative and co-constructed learning approach. Most of the work will be carried out on a face-to-face basis (in presence or remotely), but a personal investment is expected from the student outside the sessions to benefit from the supervision. Participation to practical sessions is mandatory and opens access to the evaluation.
Several mandatory visits to exemplary buildings in rural or urban environments are organized during the year (if sanitary condition allows it).

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

The workshops are organized in the drawing room, Building B52 floor 0, Sart-Tilman Campus.

Recommended or required readings

« De la forme au lieu » de Pierre VON MEISS
« Apprendre à voir l'architecture » de Bruno ZEVI
The consultation of architectural journals is also essential to the acquisition of pedagogical objectives, as well as any participation to architectural visits, conferences or exhibitions.

Any session :

- In-person

oral exam

- Remote

oral exam

- If evaluation in "hybrid"

preferred in-person


Additional information:

To have access to the final evaluation, the student must have been present at the studio sessions and have done all of his / her work on time. Without valid proof of absence, the teaching staff reserves the right to refuse access to the final assessment.
The evaluation will cover work done during the year (in paper or digital format) as well as the projects defenses conducted in front of juries, including the final examination defense. The juries, during these defenses, will be composed of faculty supervisors and external professional experts. Their deliberation is sovereign.
The faculty and the members of the juries evaluate the adequacy of the student's proposal in regard of the question asked; the coherence of the discourse given the constraints of the program; the conceptual, technical and formal mastery implemented to express the architectural artifact as well as the quality and attention to detail provided by the student in regard of his/her graphic and verbal communication of ideas.
The weighting of the scores obtained for projects and defenses will depend on the level of difficulty of each exercise and the overall evolution curve of the whole class group.
The examination concerns the graphic and verbal presentation of a project elaborated during the quarter, usually during the last sessions of the course. If the student obtains a grade of less than 10/20 for the quarter, and if he / she has regularly participated to the studio sessions and regularly returned his / her work, he / she will be allowed to rework the last design project and represent it to the next session. The rating obtained at this second session will replace the previous rating for this project in the overall weighting.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Catherine Elsen - Professor catherine.elsen@uliege.be

John Schrayen - Assistant john.schrayen@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs