Duration
256h Pr
Number of credits
| Master in architecture, professional focus in architecture and urban planning | 20 crédits |
Lecturer
Martina Barcelloni Corte, Jean-Philippe Possoz, Karel Wuytack
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the second semester
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
In the context of climate change, the depletion of resources and the increasing urbanization of the planet, the Design Studio LABORATORY, as a privileged place of experimentation, calls for a redefinition of the Architectural Project in a post Anthropocene and post-Carbon perspective.
Focusing on 'repair' and 'regeneration' of damaged habitats and ecosystems (both human and non-human), the Studio invites students to critical reflection and to take a stand within the profound transformation that our society is undergoing. The specificity of the proposed approach lies in a positive attitude and ambition, that of reconnecting Architecture with the 'living'. What would look like an "Architecture" (a Project) that repairs, reconnects and regenerates?
To do this, the Design Studio focuses on concrete situations requiring urgent reflection on their transition. The 2022-24 editions worked on the theme of 'flooding' and the regeneration of the Vesdre Valley (BE), heavily hit in 2021. This was done in partnership with the Walloon Region and in collaboration with the Faculties of Architecture at ULB, KUL and EPFL in Lausanne (CH). The 2025 edition will take place as part of the 'Sambre 2030' initiative, which since 2023 has brought together a number of public and private players (including the Walloon Region, the La Cambre Horta Faculty of Architecture at ULB and the LOCI Faculty of Architecture at UCL) to improve the quality of ecosystems within the Sambre river watershed. Inspired by famous international initiatives (Le Parlement de Loire in France, the Bronx River Alliance in the United States, actions around the Whanganui River in New Zealand, Mar Menor in Spain, etc.) this project aims to obtain, by 2030, the right for the river to have a "legal personhood" and therefore to act 'legally' in defense of its community of inhabitants (human and non-human). A vision that will inevitably require the deployment of a series of innovative spatial strategies, at different scales.
The Atelier aims at deepening the links between territorial knowledge and design by strengthening its interdisciplinary knowledge (ecology, hydrology, pedology, climatology...) at different scales, and by focusing on concrete situations.
Never based on a pre-defined program, the Atelier's design hypotheses will emerge gradually during the semester thanks to a deep territorial understanding and a multiplicity of contributions (teachers, experts, students, local actors, etc.) in a "research by design" approach.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The Atelier aims at the acquisition of tools and working methods as a support for an inter-scalar and inter-disciplinary design practice, capable of being both pragmatic and highly imaginative.
To address the inter-scalar approach, a survey will be initiated at the micro as well as at the macro scale. Through the exploration of these two "extremes", the relevance of intermediate scales will be highlighted and exploited.
To address the trans-disciplinary approach, a series of experts will be invited to lecture and advise the students on their "work in process".
At the end of the Atelier, the student will be able to :
- Analyze and describe a territory as a complex reality, where multiple interrelationships are constructed and transformed over time;
- Develop design strategies attentive to the preservation of ecosystem balances and adapted to risk (current and future);
- Develop design strategies through interdisciplinary expertise and reasoning;
- Nourish design with a fine understanding and knowledge of local material/technical devices (construction methods, network functioning etc.);
- Nourish design with a fine understanding and knowledge of local dynamics/resources (energy, water, plants, etc.) and their cycles;
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Atelier Q2
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
In presence
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Course materials and recommended or required readings
A 'Reader' (available on eCampus) containing a set of essential texts for the course will be made available to students at the beginning of the term.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Continuous assessment
Additional information:
SINGLE SESSION COURSE
Types of evaluations:
Assessments can take several forms that can be combined:
- Formative: feedback from the teacher(s) on the week's production. This evaluation allows the student to progress but does not intervene in the construction of the grade;
- Continuous: individual evaluation based on explicit criteria defined by the supervisory team;
- Summative: Grades attributed to different assessment tools and moments which are then summed up to form an overall grade;
- Certificative: A mark awarded to the work handed in and presented orally to a jury and which sanctions the acquisition of learning.
The evaluation moments are also moments of reflection and training. The results of the work and the state of learning are discussed. Continuous evaluation is individual.
Weighting of the evaluations:
- Description phase = 10%
- Pre-project jury = 10%
- Final Jury = 70%
- Continuous assessment = 10%
- Quality of engagement in the survey and data collection process;
- Quality/congruence/relevance of the cross-scalar approach;
- Quality/congruence/relevance of the trans-disciplinary approach;
- Methodological quality of the "project research" (problematization, experimentation, iteration, integration of resources, critical analysis);
- Quality of the territorial strategy/architectural response - constructed and not constructed;
- Quality of the synthesis and its graphic, written and oral expression;
Prospective dimension of the project.
- Quality of commitment to collective work;
- Presence and quality of interactions during formative exchanges;
- Presence and quality of interactions during meetings with experts;
Among the different types of jury members, we distinguish :
- members of the course management team ;
- internal members (faculty members);
- external members (teachers from other faculties, architects, resource persons, etc.)
Procedure in the event of absence or lateness :
Modalities in case of absence or delay during an intermediate or final submission (jury). A late submission or an unjustified failure to submit is penalized by the non-receipt of the work and a grade of "0". In the event that the student is unable to be present on the day and at the time of a submission, the protocol to be followed is the following:
Notify the teacher in charge of the group as well as the teachers coordinating the course by email before the date and time of the presentation;
Submission of the work (in the state it is in) by a third party, on the day, at the time and in the place provided. In addition, documents must be submitted digitally (including scans and/or photos) via the MIRO or eCampus platform by the due date and time;
Submission to the secretary's office of a receipt for the day of absence, with a copy to the referring teacher and the coordinators;
The jury will deliberate on the admissibility or not of the documents, as well as on all the measures it deems necessary for their examination;
In case of admissibility and on the scheduled date of the examination, the work will be evaluated on the basis of the documents as they are.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The first week of the Atelier is an intensive week. It mobilizes all the students during the whole week.
Unless otherwise stated, weekly meetings and exchanges are concentrated during the last two days of the week. The first three days are devoted to group work (fieldwork, design..) and to the preparation of the exchanges. A constant presence in the Atelier is expected throughout the whole week.
All useful documents are available to students on the Ecampus platform.
Contacts
Martina Barcelloni Corte : mbarcellonicorte@uliege.be
Jean-Philippe Possoz : jp.possoz@uliege.be