Frequentare

PAOLA ALTAMURA

General objectives
This workshop focuses on developing technological environmental design skills in architecture, linking such content with the experience gained during the study course so as to apply it in an informed and responsible way to a project for regenerating the built environment. Students will need to use the right design tools in order to guarantee the necessary consistency between the project’s various phases of development at its various different levels of detail and the environmental, energy and technological feasibility of the solutions for regeneration put forward, demonstrating the suitability of its design and implementation at all scales, given the social, environmental and economic context. During the design process, particular attention will be paid to issues such as the improvement of energy efficiency, the use of renewable fuels, the reduction of toxic emissions, the environmental comfort and the bioclimatic efficacy of urban regeneration improvement work.
Specific objectives
Knowledge and ability to understand
At the end of the course the student must have acquired knowledge and understanding skills, as well as skills that allow to support, from a theoretical-methodological point of view, the setting up of regeneration strategies for the built environment. Furthermore, the student must have acquired an adequate and specific knowledge of the procedures and application tools to operate in the field of regeneration of the built environment, also by means of project verification methods at the various levels of investigation and the technological feasibility of the proposed regenerative solutions , demonstrating the appropriateness of design and construction, at various scales, with respect to the cultural, environmental and economic context.
The verification of knowledge will be carried out through the design experimentation conducted during the Design Studio, through in itinere tests and the final examination.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate the acquisition of specific cultural, theoretical and methodological references to the technology discipline, the mastery of the experimental and analytical-methodological approach that articulate the Design studio and the contributions brought to the setting activities during the seminar. The student will also have to develop and verify, through integrated application processing, the knowledge and understanding skills acquired, aimed to solve complex problems related to the appropriate practice of material processes and technologies that oversee the complex relationship between the construction system and the environmental system. The project in its methodological and instrumental contents, in order to guarantee the sustainability requirements, intended as the result of both the functional organization and the physical-spatial variables that define the "internal" structures of the constituent parts, both of the "external" macro-environmental components which, determined by the more general settlement process, have a direct and significant impact on the quality of living. In particular, the student must be able to make explicit and consistent the logical and operational structure followed in the application of the procedures and techniques adopted and in the formalization and communication of the results related to the creation of a resilient and environmentally sustainable Smart Environment.
These capacities will be verified in the context of experimental and design activities, through simulations of regeneration processes related to territorial realities and concrete experiences, aimed at developing the ability of individual and group approach to applicative and professional problems.
The verification of the knowledge will be carried out, moreover, through the exam test proper and through tests in itinere.
Autonomy of judgment
At the end of the course the student must demonstrate the ability to acquire knowledge and experience, to evaluate and rework them for the purpose of forming an independent and original judgment.
In particular, the student must demonstrate skills in the autonomous management of the necessary consideration and integration of the different interacting environmental factors in the same formulation of the urban regeneration project program, the preventive evaluation of the intrinsic, direct and indirect effects related to the transformation, deriving from the processes of infrastructure / construction, in order to achieve, in trend, an ecological state of equilibrium in the planning, implementation and management of the project intervention, with the aim of restoring technologically innovative and environmentally sustainable solutions.
The achievement of these critical and autonomous judgment skills will be acquired during the experimental and project activities, through simulations of regeneration processes related to territorial realities and concrete experiences.
The verification of the knowledge will be carried out, moreover, through the exam test proper and through tests in itinere.
Communication skills
At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate, for the acquisition and the operational capacity with respect to the theoretical methodological, technical and design knowledge, typical of teaching, to be able to communicate them, in an effective and innovative way, within of project proposals, using advanced and multimedia communication tools in the field of representation and different forms of language: verbal and written-graph. The achievement of these skills will be acquired during the experimental and design activities of the Design Studio that ensure full possession of the specific expressive and illustrative skills of the project. The verification of the knowledge will be carried out, moreover, through the exam test proper and through tests in itinere.
Learning ability
At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate a high capacity for autonomous learning, which allows to continuously update and increase their knowledge and skills in the field of technological design and, more generally, the issues related to urban regeneration strategies.
The acquisition of these skills will take place through specific theoretical contributions given by the teacher during the course, aimed at expanding the skills framework to access innovative methodologies, tools and applications and through constant participation in the laboratory's experimental and design activities, dialectical field verification of acquired knowledge, within concrete design experiences.
The verification of skills will take place, above all, through the exam test, structured in such a way as to highlight the autonomy in organizing one's own learning.

At the beginning of the course the student has to hold knowledge and understanding, as well as skills suitable to support, from a theoretical-methodological point of view, the implementation of technological strategies learned in the Environmental Technological Design Studio. The student must also have specific knowledge and understanding, aimed at solving problems related to the appropriate practice of material processes and technologies that oversee the relationship between the building itself, the external macro-environment and the physical-spatial micro-environment variables that define the assets "Interior" of the building parts.
To take the "Environmental Technological Design Studio for Regeneration and Sustainability" exam, it is necessary to have passed the Environmental Technological Design Laboratory exam.

The Studio focuses on a design experimentation that develops the contents of the environmental technological design of architecture correlating these with experiences gained during the Course of Study, to foster an aware and responsible regeneration project of the built environment. Students will have to use design tools to guarantee the necessary coherence between the phases of development of the project at various levels and the environmental, energy and technological feasibility of the proposed regenerative solutions, proving their design and construction appropriateness at the various scales and with respect to the context of intervention in social, environmental and economic terms. Special attention will be paid to the design of energy and resource efficiency, use of renewable sources, use of circular materials and solutions, reduction of harmful emissions, environmental comfort and bioclimatic effectiveness of urban regeneration interventions.

CASE STUDY
For this academic year, the case study to be re-designed in the Studio will be the Ex Deposito Vittoria in Piazza Bainsizza, in the Prati district of Rome.

ARUP, Ellen Mc Arthur Foundation (2016). Circular Economy in the Built Environment. https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/research/section/circular-economy-in-the-built-environment
BATTISTI A., SANTUCCI D. Eds. (2020). Activating Public Space. An Approach for Climate Change Mitigation, TUM Press, ISBN: 978-3-948278-08-3
European Commission (2023). EU-level technical guidance on adapting buildings to climate change. Best practice guidance. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
European Commission (2015). Nature-Based Solutions and Re-Naturing Cities. Final Report of the Horizon 2020 Expert Group on “Nature-Based Solutions and Re-Naturing Cities”, European Commission, Brussels.
EEA (2016). Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe. Transforming cities in a changing climate, EEA Report No 12/2016, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
LEHMANN S. (2019). Urban Regeneration. A Manifesto for transforming UK Cities in the Age of Climate Change, Springer Nature Switzerland.

Further publications on specific topics will be provided by the teacher during the Studio.

The lessons will be held in blended mode (both in presence and on-line through Google Meet).
The Studio will be divided into lectures, exercises to be delivered during the classes, aimed at the development of the design solutions for the regeneration project on Studio’s case study, with a series of work’s submissions and flipped classroom presentations, and a final exam.

LECTURES
The Laboratory will articulate its lessons on 10 key topics of contemporary environmental technological design, each of which will be developed through lectures held by the teacher and/or by experts (designers/researchers):

1. Urban regeneration: scenarios for a sustainable future within cities
2. Designing with climate: how to assess and enhance environmental potentialities and resources at the urban level
3. Principles and strategies for an environmentally sustainable urban regeneration: decarbonization, circularity and resource efficiency
4. Principles and strategies for an environmentally sustainable urban regeneration: ecological infrastructure systems and networks (water, green, waste/materials)
5. Regeneration of outdoor spaces.
6. Urban farming.
7. Renovating with a bioclimatic and nearly zero energy (NZEB) approach: passive and active systems
8. Life Cycle approach: circular, low-carbon materials and reversible design.
9. Designing the building renovation with wooden construction systems.
10. Innovation and evolution of the building envelope.

TEACHING MATERIALS, EXERCISES AND REQUIRED WORKS
The teacher will provide the materials necessary for the development of the project on the Studio’s case study in the form of digital files. There will be 5 exercises and related intermediate submissions, aimed at defining the regeneration intervention according to progressive levels of development. The design project must be carried out in groups of 3 students.

Each group will have to produce, for the final exam, 5 presentation boards, in A1 format (horizontal), in black and white and/or in colour, illustrating the following contents:

_BOARD 1: Analysis of the context and the present state of the areas subject to intervention. Surveys about the territorial and urban planning, demographic and housing demand; climatic and environmental analyses. Identification of the strengths and weaknesses and consequent definition of the typological and functional program and of the overall intervention strategies, to be defined considering the system of climatic, environmental, ecological and technological requirements. Definition of the general morphological-functional characteristics of the intervention in relation to the interaction model between microclimatic factors of the intervention units and the context.

_BOARD 2: Preliminary level design elaboration of the renovation and fine-tuning of the intervention according to the studies and technical checks set up at the meta-design level in Board 1; functional study and reinterpretation of spaces. Synthetic framework on the identified requirements / performance system (explanation of the technological-environmental requirements and the related design choices).

_BOARD 3: Design elaboration (final level) of the building system and of the related subsystems and components in coherence with the environmental context and its interrelations with the transformations activated by the intervention. Representation of the technical solutions adopted for the technological units and classes of technical elements through section-type and axonometric section / exploded view accompanied by technical specifications.

_ BOARDS 4 and 5: Detailed design of the strategic technological systems used for the overall performance increase of the built system, and specifically of significant architectural parts such as the building envelope and the "passive" bioclimatic control devices.

The heading of each table must indicate: the University, the Faculty, the academic year, the Studio, the teacher’s name, the student’s name, the case study, the number of the Board and its content.
The student will deliver the documents in digital format (.pdf /.jpg) and a reduction of them on paper in A3 format.

Attendance is compulsory for laboratory courses: according to the regulations, students are required to attend and actively participate in laboratory activities (lessons and exercises) for at least 70 per cent of the lesson hours.
Attendance will be checked by signing in and out.

ADMISSION TO THE FINAL EXAM
Admission to the final exam will be guaranteed to the students who have attended to at least 70% of the total number of hours of teaching activities and have participated in exercises and submissions according to the Studio’s schedule.
In case of an insufficient number of attendances and/or inadequate work, the student will be invited to attend the following academic year again.

FINAL EXAM
At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate the ability to acquire knowledge and experience, to evaluate and re-elaborate them for the purpose of forming an independent and original judgment.
In particular, the student must demonstrate to be able to manage autonomously the necessary evaluation and integration of the interacting environmental factors in the formulation of the urban regeneration project program, to preemptively evaluate the intrinsic, direct and indirect effects related to the transformation, deriving from the processes of infrastructure / construction, in order to achieve, in trend, an ecological state of equilibrium in the planning, implementation and management of the project intervention, with the aim of restoring technologically innovative and environmentally sustainable solutions.
The achievement of these critical and autonomous judgment skills will be acquired during the experimental and planning activities, through simulations of regeneration processes related to territorial realities and concrete experiences. A series of group elaborations will be required, in order to verify the knowledge achieved and evaluate the effectiveness of the developed laboratory activities.
The verification of the knowledge will be carried out also through the actual exam and through intermediate tests/presentation boards’ submissions.
The exam focuses on the evaluation of the design documents and on the discussion of the topics covered during the lessons. During the exam, targeted questions will allow the teacher to understand if the students have assimilated all the information provided to them and if they were able to transfer them concretely into a project.

EVALUATION MODES
The evaluation is out of thirty.
To pass the exam, a grade of not less than 18/30 must be obtained. The student must prove to have acquired a sufficient knowledge of the topics related to the technological project, a basic knowledge of the topics related to the environmental ecological sustainability of the project and of innovative and experimental technologies, showing to be able to apply the theoretical and methodological notions to the project.
To achieve a score of 30/30 cum laude, the student must instead demonstrate to have acquired an excellent knowledge of all the topics covered during the course, being able to link them in a logical and coherent way.