After successful completion of the course, students are able to deepen their design competency and knowledge in:
English:The design explores an immediate relationship between the production of building materials and the architectural form within the centuries-old tradition of the workshop of the Vienna St. Stephen's Cathedral. The focus of the design is on expanding the workshop of the cathedral's construction office and adding to the unfinished North Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral.While adapting the space for the workshop with new processing technologies, the addition to the tower is designed to become the museum of the cathedral construction office, integrated as part of the Cathedral Museum. The new manufacturing possibilities are applied to complete the tower. In this process, architecture also finds appropriate representation in the Cathedral Museum as a tool and exhibit of cathedral art – the construction office is, in a way, the living body of the art of building.The goal is to provide a contemporary interpretation of the paradigmatic relationship between 'building blocks' and 'architectural form.'Both in the construction office and in the tower, the adoption of an integral understanding is fundamental to craftsmanship, technology, and construction. The relationship between space creation and the aspiration for height is emphasized, reflecting the primal force of architecture.Despite the potentially radical nature of the task, it serves as a call for a reevaluation of the fundamental principles in architecture – the artistic manipulation and layering of matter into spatial relationships, as an inherently constructive activity. The task aims to enable the exploration of visceral relations in architecture, both practically in the project and theoretically in the realm of thought.Dealing with an attitude in and towards architecture as the cohesion of the students of the architectural form becomes a significant aspect in the design.
The course requires active and process-conscious engagement in various experimental situations during the design process. Students are encouraged to simultaneously activate their observational capacities and expressive abilities alongside the project. The project is not the sole objective here; rather, it serves primarily as a means for exploring space and construction.Scheduled is a comprehensive professional tour of the Cathedral Workshop led by the Master Builder at the beginning of the semester, along with a workshop on stone masonry techniques.
For the students of the design "The Space and the Tower," a deeper participation in the small design "Approximation: Beyond Heat" is highly recommended.
The performance assessment encompasses a thoughtful architectural design coupled with an in-depth reflection on the significance of manufacturing and construction processes, including form and shape development. Presentation is accomplished through precisely elaborated visual media, plans, and models.
