University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts

485 Lawrence HallEugene, Oregon

Advanced Design Communication and Theory: Innovating the Practical, Systematic AffectsARCH 222 - Spring 2013Syllabus

“Id like to think that we are now entering a third, more mature phase in our relationship to digital technology. Thanks in part to a new generation of architects who have been educated entirely within the digital regime, and on the other hand to the first generation of digitally trained architects who have continued to evolve their thinking, the computer is beginning to have a practical impact, beyond the formal or the metaphorical.” - Stan Allen, If…then… Architectural Speculations “Drawings are primary instrument for the production of architecture. But a design process that remains limited to the relationship between drawings and real-space buildings is constrained to the actualization of conventions and commonly resists the integration of variation, local specificities or changes of conditions. This is where the diagrammatic process becomes advantageous in a culture characterized by change.”

- Alejandro Zaera-Poloi

“Projections are the architect’s means to negotiate the gap between idea and material.”

- -Stan Allen

INSTRUCTORSPhilip Speranza, Assistant Professor Office: 485 Lawrence speranza@uoregon.eduGraduate Teaching Fellow: Ivan Kostic; Lab Instructors: Ivan Kostic and Dan AnthonyTeaching Assistants: Dan Anthony, Yuliya Dimitrova-Ilieva, Idil Gumruk , Madison Jackson, Minh LeDao, Carolyn Lieberman, Alyssa Phanitdasack, William Smith, Erica Thompson

TIME & PLACEClass meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00- 11:50 AM, LA 115 and Studios

COURSE OVERVIEW

Design communication pervades the way design approaches today may be seen as systematic frameworks for participation that evolve through understandings of context through phenomenology from the bottom-up. This course will investigate design communication methods in parallel with architectural studio projects in three approaches: qualitative diagramming; analog parametrics; and digital parametrics, as a way to explore the human experience of each student’s design intent. Students will bridge analog and digital media to create systems approaches that are calibrate to existing and proposed conditions. This method of systems thinking allows students to use digital media to apply existing data performative and subjective in nature not as singularities but as systems. The course will introduce theoretical ideas in a lecture format and provide opportunities for one-to-one workshop learning in a studio setting applied to studio design projects.

Software Requirements: Windows and Adobe Creative Suite Basic (Photoshop, Illustrator and In-Design).* The department will provide lab license access to Rhino 4.0 and VRay for Rhino. Hardware Requirements: please see http://aaa.uoregon.edu/computing/purchasing/student#architecture, PC or Mac. Additional Hardware Strong Recommendations: minimum 4-8+ GB RAM, an external monitor, a mouse, an Ethernet cable (some studio will and will not be hard wired). Virtualization software such VMware or Parallels is optional.

James Corner, Time, Material, Place Diagram

COURSE OBJECTIVESStudents will use design communication to explore the following architecture objectives:

I. Diagramming: drawing relationships as a generative design tool o Single idea “d” diagrams: ink drawings and digital hard-linedo Collage Diagrams: vectoral space, materials/textures, timeo Time-Based Diagramso 4th degree generative diagramso Simple surface modeling for use in diagramming precedentso Abstracting plan and section from volumetric modelso Autocad, measured digital drawings

II. Analog Parametric Modeling:o History of tiling types as used in patterningo Two-dimensional tiling exercises, including transformative

step-by-step diagrams of operationso Three-dimensional tiling exercises, considering volumetric

implications and scaleo Lighting and mapping, consideration of affect and human

interfaceIII. Digital Parametric Modeling:

o Analysis studio design intent, generative diagrams, and material affect to create a parametric wall system and optionally for a plan/section organizational system for the studio project

o Considering mapping data sets into the parametric system to inform a single operation such as a material assembly with consideration of affects to human experience

- Presentation Methods: o Studio board layout and other communication methods will

be studied using case-study examples and diagrams to support the final studio presentation

o Design Communication final as an exploratory digital fabrication or a 30-60 second movie presentation to explore affect, time and presentation.

CRITICAL DESIGN ISSUES- Context- Organizational systems- Performative systems- Documentation and Analysis- Synthesis of systems- Abstraction of systems- Material Affect- Non-Linear Parametric Design

METHODThis course is organized as one lecture group and smaller lab groups as coordinated with studio sections in which students engage in independent project-based learning. The course time will be split between lectures, discussion and workshops using the analog and digital media in the studio environment. The work will be shared in class to foster peer-to-peer learning. Class meetings include a variety of communication formats including lectures, tutorials, desk-critiques, pin-ups, reviews, in-class discussions and reading assignments. **Students are required digitally post work to the weblog by 12:00 midnight: last_first_222_S13_01.jpg at 3000x3000 pixels. Printed versions are due at 10:00am with teaching assistants.// No post means you will not be considered for recognition.// Students must watch tutorials as homework BEFORE class.

EVALUATIONPerformance will be graded. Student work will be evaluated for achievement in all of the areas listed in the Department of Architecture's studio evaluation form. These forms include a checklist of performance criteria and written evaluations by instructors. You will be graded for each exercise.

ATTENDANCE POLICYStudents are expected to attend all course meetings, be on time, and stay for the entire scheduled session working on course activities. Unexcused absences are not permitted. Students with three (3) or more unexcused absences are required to meet with their instructor before returning to class. Excused absences (such as illness or personal emergency) must be reported to the instructor prior to the missed class if at all possible.

Reindeer herd reacting to helicopter overhead; Field condition diagrams by Stan Allen, Toy Ito diagrams

Grading10% PROJECT 1 /// Diagramming: Abstraction and Measured10% PROJECT 2 /// Ritual: Collage and Time-based diagrams10% PROJECT 3 /// First Schematic Project + Precedent10% PROJECT 4 /// 2D Tiling10% PROJECT 5 /// 3D Tiling10% PROJECT 6 /// Lighting and Mapping15% PROJECT 7 /// Parametric Material Experience5% PROJECT 8 /// Final Studio Presentation10% PROJECT 9 /// Final Experimentation Fabrication5% Digital Archiving5% Class Participation

Students will not receive a final grade until all work has been uploaded for digital submission.

Projects

The projects for this course are designed to encourage exposure to various means of communicating your designs through a variety of tools including everything from hand sketching to digital modeling. Detailed descriptions and requirements will be given at the time each project is assigned.

Schedule (this schedule may change with notice)

DiagrammingWeek 1 T 04/02 Diagrams Introduction

Lecture/WorkshopTh 04/04 Workshop

Week 2 T 04/09 Time-Based SystemsLecture/Workshop

Th 04/11 Collage and Infographics Workshop

Week 3 T 04/16 Generative DiagramsLecture/Workshop

Th 04/18 Workshop

Analog Parametric DesignWeek 4 T 04/23 2D Tiling Exercise

Lecture/WorkshopTh 04/25 Workshop

Week 5 T 05/30 3D Tiling ExerciseLecture/Workshop

Th 05/02 Workshop

Week 6 T 05/07 Lighting/MappingLecture/Workshop

Th 05/09 Workshop

Digital Parametric DesignWeek 7 T 05/14 Affect+Parametrics

Lecture/WorkshopTh 05/16 Workshop

Week 8 T 05/21 Parametric ModelingLecture/Workshop

Th 05/23 Workshop

Week 9 T 05/28 Presentation ExerciseLecture/Workshop

Th 05/30 Workshop

Week 10 Studio Final Week, date to be determined

Week 11 Final Exercise Due, date to be determined

AttendanceAttendance is mandatory. Lateness will be counted 15 minutes after class has started. Absences will be counted 30 minutes after class has started. After 3 unexcused absences your grade will be lowered by a grade point for each additional absence if you do not have a written medical, school or religious excuse. All students are expected to participate in class discussions and to develop their projects beyond the minimum requirement.

PROJECT OWNERSHIP, PUBLICATION, AND PUBLICITYWork created for credit and/or using the facilities of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts belongs jointly to the school and the student. The AAA reserves the right to document and display all original work for the purpose of documenting student performance as mandated by the National Architecture Accrediting Board [NAAB]. Furthermore, the school reserves the non-exclusive right to use images or likenesses of the work for publicity and display in print and electronic media as well as to submit such work for competitively reviewed exhibitions or to various award programs, The School and its representatives [including faculty and teaching staff] have the non-exclusive right to use such work as illustrations in scholarly and/or technical publications and presentations.

DISABLED STUDENTSIf you have a documented disability and anticipate needing accommodations in this course, please make arrangements to meet with faculty soon. You should also request that the counselor for students with disabilities send a letter verifying your disability.

Reading ReferencesAllen, S. (1999), “Field Conditions,” Points and Lines, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY.Allen, S. (1998), “Diagrams Matter”, in ANY 23, Dec. 1998Franck, K (2007) Design from the Inside Out, Wiley, West Sussex, EnglandJacobs, J. (2001), The Nature of Economies, Random House, New York, NY.Jacobs, J. (1969), The Economies of Cities, Vintage Books, New York, NY.Koolhaas, R. (1994), Delirious, Monacelli, New York, NY.de Landa, M. (2000), A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History, Zone Books, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Latour, B & Yaneva, A. 2008. Give Me a Gun and I Will Make All Buildings Move: An Ant’s View of Architecture. In R.Geiser (ed.), Explorations in Architecture: Teaching, Design,Research. Basel: Birkhäuser. 80.

Lima, M (2011). Visual Complexity, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, NY.Schwartz, P. (1991), The Art of the Long View, Doubleday, New York, NYTschumi, B. (1996), Architecture and Disjunction, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Zaera-Polo, Alejandro (2010) “Between Ideas and Matters: Icons, Indexes, Diagrams, Drawings and Graphs”, AD The Diagrams of Architecture, Wiley, West Sussex, England

OMA, Rem Koolhaas, Seattle Public Library

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