Building engineering and architecture

The Course aims to prepare the student to independently design a complex architectural organism through a process of learning the theories, tools and methods of architectural composition. Essential aim is to induce in the student a constant attention to the relationship between engineering, architecture and contemporary aesthetic-cultural trends. Through theoretical lectures, the student will be directed to conduct reflection on the foundational problems of architecture and building, such as the dialectical relationships between building and context, form and structure, space and function. At the same time the student will have to carry out a project aimed at the definition of a complex building for a public function (museum, library, exhibition pavilion, theater, cultural center...), inserted in a context to be recovered in the city of Rome. The proposed theme is also offered as an opportunity for a broader reflection on the general problems of architecture and building such as, for example, the relationships between building and context, determined by the characters of the place, the physical form of the area and the pre-existences; the dialectic between space, structure and function; the composition of solids and voids at the architectural and urban scale; and the mutual relationship between interior and exterior space. The new intervention will have to relate to the place intended as a dialectical relationship between morphology and history, considering the urban fabric and the landscape in which it is inserted, as spheres with which to establish dynamic connections and new visual relationships of form and content. On this basis, therefore, not only the architectural and constructive project of the building is required, but also a reconfiguration and coherent characterization of the open spaces pertaining to it or otherwise related to it; and this is done both through a proposed modification of the immediate surroundings and possibly through an actual remodeling of the land.

The exam of Architettura e Composizione Architettonica 2 can be carried out after taking the preliminary exams of Architettura Tecnica 1 and Architettura e Composizione Architettonica 1. The prerequisites required for understanding the content discussed during the theoretical lectures, as well as for carrying out the laboratory teaching activities (exercises and project elaborations) are as follows: - specific skills on the techniques of drawing, representation and graphic synthesis as necessary tools for the knowledge and analysis of architectural works, as well as for the conception, development, elaboration, control of the project hypothesis and communication of the final outcome; - knowledge of basic typological-distributive and technical-constructive aspects.

No specific textbooks will be adopted for the course. Materials explanatory of the course subjects and illustrative of lecture topics, as well as those useful for carrying out the project exercise, will be recommended throughout the year and transmitted to students through E-learning and Classroom platforms. The following texts are recommended for consultation. Architectural history texts: • Giovanni Fanelli, Roberto Gargiani, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea. Spazio, struttura, involucro, Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari 1998 • Kenneth Frampton, Tettonica e architettura. Poetica della forma architettonica nel XIX e XX secolo, Skira, Milano 1999 • Marco Biraghi, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea.2 voll., Einaudi, Torino 2008. Critical essays: • Fernando Espuelas, Riflessioni sullo spazio in architettura, Marinotti Edizioni, Milano 2004 (ed. orig. 1999) • Steven Holl, Parallax. Architettura e percezione, Postmedia Books, Milano 2005. • Carlos Martì Aris, Le variazioni dell'identità, il tipo in architettura, Edizioni Clup, Milano 1990 • Carlos Martì Arìs, La cèntina e l'arco. Pensiero, teoria, progetto in architettura, Marinotti Edizioni, Milano 2002 • Rafael Moneo, Inquietudine teorica e strategia progettuale nell'opera di otto architetti contemporanei, Electa, Milano 2005 Recommended journals: • Casabella, Domus, El Croquis, AV Arquitectura Viva, Architectural Review, Rassegna di Architettura e Urbanistica, 2G, Area, Detail, Tectónica.

The design experience, carried out in the laboratory through a seminar modality, with exercises and individual or small group reviews, will be guided by a series of theoretical lectures. A. LESSONS The theoretical part, which will be divided into 20 lessons of 2 hours each distributed throughout the year, will focus on the reading and analysis of some projects by modern and contemporary architects, and will constitute a critical and methodological reference in the development of the concept of the project. During the exam, the level of knowledge and in-depth study of the topics dealt with during the lessons will help to determine the individual evaluation of the candidates, even if part of the design test is elaborated in groups. A series of monographic lessons is aimed to explain some masters of the Modern Movement through some significant works, framed in the context they belong to and analysed above all for the current value of the lesson transmitted. Another series of monographic lessons deepens the projectual research and the works of some of the most significant contemporary architects. It aims, therefore, to introduce the scenario of the present through the experiences and theories of those architects and engineers who, not having yet entered history and manuals, can be seen in a critical and therefore formative key. Cultural conditioning, compositional choices, design results, formal languages and construction aspects of their most significant works will be highlighted. The thematic lessons identify some specific projectual issues, developing topics related to ways of composing and addressing the trends of contemporary architectural debate. The approach, therefore, is not historical, but purely projectual, and is aimed at analyzing the different ways to articulate the space, to organize the functions, to conceive the structure, to use the technique, in order to achieve certain architectural results. B. EXERCISES The exercises are individual or group activities, integrated to the laboratory, aimed at acquiring the necessary skills and method to face the project experimentation. They correspond to the preparatory phase of the project and constitute moments of confrontation within the seminars, through collective reviews. The following exercises are foreseen, concentrated in the first part of the year: 1st exercise: Analysis and interpretation of the project area (October) An interpretation of the project area is required through a direct approach to the site and an analytical reading, based on surveys, cartography and reference documentation. The exercise will consist of a photographic report, a graphic survey and the realization of a 1:500 scale model of the area, mono-material and monochrome. 2nd exercise: Compositional analysis of an exemplary project (November) The students will illustrate, through diagrams, drawings, plans, sections and images organized according to a provided layout, a contemporary architecture assigned by the teacher. The following will have to be analyzed: relationship with the context, compositional logic, aggregative principles, spatial characters, distributive organization, structural principles and constructive aspects. 3rd exercise: Setting the design idea (December) The objective of the exercise is the maturation and communication of the compositional idea at the basis of the year's project. The students will have to synthesize their idea in a study model (scale 1:500) and in one or more A3 format pages containing the context analysis, sketches and evolutionary schemes of the composition, general planimetry and section-profiles in scale 1:500. This work will be presented in the respective seminars for collective discussion and comparison. 4. LABORATORY Development of the project theme (January-May) The laboratory activities, organized in seminars conducted by the Tutors and followed by the teacher, are aimed at elaborating the project and verifying the intermediate phases of its development. Students at the beginning of the year will decide whether to work individually or in a group (max. 3 students), and will be assigned to the various seminars.

During the hours dedicated to the laboratory, attendance is compulsory; attendance at the ex-cathedra lessons is strongly recommended, to acquire a theoretical-conceptual basis considered fundamental for general training and the necessary information for the development of design experimentation.

Verification of learning will take place throughout the year through preparatory project exercises and individual reviews to guide the design process. The overall assessment will be through a final examination (theory and design). This test is individual and consists of the presentation of the preparatory exercises, a discussion of the project setting and content, and verification of knowledge of the topics covered in the Course. The final examination will assess: - the understanding of the disciplinary, theoretical and methodological content covered within the lectures; - the acquisition of the critical-interpretive reading skills of an architectural project; - the acquisition of the basics for the conception/organization/construction of an architectural space starting from the interpretative reading of a specific physical, historical, social, environmental context; - the ability to articulate and argue with clarity and competence the choices made during the project process. Evaluation of the project will be based on the following criteria: - consistency and completeness of the architectural composition, expressed through an organic configuration of the whole and its parts; - quality and richness of the spatial conception and articulation of the functional program according to innovative typological solutions; - congruence of constructive aspects with formal and distributive aspects; - adequacy of insertion in the urban context; - mastery of graphic tools, as well as quality, care, completeness and effectiveness of representation; The overall evaluation will also take into account the commitment devoted by the student during the year, the constancy shown in the performance of Laboratory activities and the degree of autonomy and awareness gained in the development of the project. Access to the exam is subject to obtaining the certificate of attendance which will be recognized in relation to the presence of the student in the laboratory activities contemplated in the course (attendance above 80% combined with feedback on the work done). To take the exam, students must present the following material, in addition to the exercises carried out during the year: A. Urban context and settlement principle - General planimetry at a scale of 1:5000. - Diagrams on the settlement principle, relationship of the project to the neighborhood and the city, accessibility, connections with the network of public spaces, green spaces, special buildings... - Planivolumetric in scale 1:1000 of the area as a whole, with insertion of the project. - Planivolumetric of the cultural center with indication of the external arrangements, significant profiles and sections, at a scale of 1:500. - Images of an axonometric virtual model that succinctly represents the project in relation to the context. B. Spatial, distributive, and constructive characters of the cultural center. - Diagrams and ideograms explicating the genesis and design process. - Significant floor plans, elevations and sections, at a scale of 1:500. - Analytical diagrams on compositional logic, morphological characters, spatial, functional and distributive articulation of spaces, structural characters, in scale 1:1000. - Plans of carpentry in scale 1:1000/1:500. - Plans, elevations with significant shadows and sections, scale 1:200, with representation of furnishings and materials. - Three-dimensional representations (axonometric cutaways and exploded views, perspective sections, views of exterior spaces and interiors...). - Possible in-depth study of a part of the project at 1:100/1:50 scale.

Reference texts: • Kenneth Frampton, Tettonica e architettura. Poetica della forma architettonica nel XIX e XX secolo, Skira, Milano 1999 • Giovanni Fanelli, Roberto Gargiani, Storia dell'architettura contemporanea. Spazio, struttura, involucro, Editori Laterza, Roma-Bari 1998 • Rafael Moneo, La solitudine degli edifici e altri scritti, Allemandi, Torino 2004 • Steven Holl, Parallax: architettura e percezione, Postmedia Books, Milano 2004 • Peter Zumthor, Pensare Architettura, Mondadori Electa, Milano 2003. Recommended journals (available in the Department DICEA Library): Casabella, Domus, El Croquis, AV Arquitectura Viva, Architectural Review, Rassegna di Architettura e Urbanistica, 2G, Area.

The Course is organized into ex cathedra lectures (60 h), exercises (51 h) and laboratory (51 h) integrated with each other. A. LESSONS The theoretical part, which will be divided into 30 lectures of 2 hours each distributed throughout the semester, will focus on the reading and analysis of some projects of modern and contemporary architects, framed according to thematic areas, and will constitute a critical and methodological reference in the development of the project idea. A series of monographic lectures is aimed at presenting some masters of the Modern Movement through some significant works, framed in their context and analyzed especially for the current value of the lesson transmitted. Another series of monographic lectures delves into the creative path and works of some of the most significant contemporary architects, addressing trends in the current architectural debate. The cultural conditioning, compositional choices, design results, formal languages and construction aspects of their most significant works will be highlighted. A set of thematic lectures identifies some specific design problems, developing topics related to the techniques of composition. The approach of the lectures, therefore, is not historical, but strictly design-oriented, and is directed toward analyzing different ways of articulating space, organizing functions, conceiving structure, and using technique, to achieve certain architectural results. B. EXERCITATIONS Exercises are individual or group activities, integrated with the laboratory, aimed at acquiring the skills and methods necessary to deal with design experimentation. They correspond to the preparatory phase of the project and constitute moments of confrontation within the workshops, through collective reviews. The following exercises are planned, concentrated in the first part of the year: 1st exercise: Compositional analysis of an exemplary project. The student will have to illustrate, through diagrams, drawings, plans, sections and images organized according to a provided layout, a contemporary architecture assigned by the lecturer, having such characteristics as to constitute a possible reference for the project. The following should be analyzed: relationship with the context, compositional logic, aggregative principles, spatial characters, distributional organization, structural principles and construction aspects. Exercise 2: Analysis and interpretation of the project area. The exercise will consist of an interpretation of the project area through a direct approach to the site and an analytical reading, based on site surveys, mapping and reference documentation. A photographic report and graphic investigation are required. Exercise 3: Setting up the design idea. The objective of the exercise is to communicate the compositional idea behind the project. The student will have to summarize his idea in an A3-format book containing context analysis, sketches and evolutionary diagrams of the composition, general planimetry and profiles-sections at a scale of 1:500. This work will be exhibited within the respective seminars for collective discussion and comparison. C. LABORATORY The laboratory activities, organized in individual or small group seminars and reviews, led by Tutors and supervised by the lecturer, are aimed at the elaboration of the project and verification of the intermediate stages of its development. Students at the beginning of the year will decide whether to work individually or in groups (max. 3 students), and will be assigned to different seminars.