After successful completion of the course, students are able to consistently conceive a complex architectural design task, considering the urban scale where the project is inserted and using a contemporary design approach that also considers the accumulated disciplinary knowledge. They will have the skills to identify domains of action of a design project in the urban context and to develop appropriate architectural solutions. Students will conduct independent research. They will be able to develop design concepts and present them comprehensively through architectural drawings and models.
Communities play a fundamental role in society, where people feel socially connected beyond family, friendships, or work. The background of this connection can vary based on different commonalities, such as a hobby, a belief or values, an origin, or a cultural background. Often based on socio-political backgrounds and economic principles, the spatial attributions and availabilities for the respective communities and their activities are not always evenly distributed. This chair would like to address this topic in the winter semester of 2024/2025 as part of design exercises using existing communities in Vienna.
From May to October, on a bridge in Stadtpark, there is a milonga —a collective gathering for tango dancing— four times a week, with a concurrency of eight to twenty-five couples. The task of this studio will be to design a public infrastructure in an urban open space for dancing tango and related activities: playing music, drinking, resting in the meantime, and finding partners.
Tango owed its name to the places where the black Argentinian population gathered when the candombe parades were forbidden in the mid-XIX Century. Soon joined by other marginalized communities, such as natives and mestizos, these dancing events later received the European migrant population that arrived in the Rio de La Plata region. As soon as it was formalized as a musical style with all these influences, it became popular in Europe, not without polemic. In Austria, Joseph Francis I ban tango dancing for men in military uniform. Today, it is embraced by the European population, and in Austria, most of the people who dance in milongas and tango schools are far from being Latin American. Nonetheless, in Vienna, there is not a single public Glorieta —a roundabout is generally in a square or a park used for dancing tango— while tango surpasses the limits of private dancing schools and clubs into the public realm. This state of affairs will be the starting point for the design studio.
Integrative design studio with personal design support twice a week.
Critiques will take place on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Attendance is mandatory.
The final project will be individual, but group work is recommended in the initial phase of the studio.
All the students must participate in the mid-term exam and the final exam to complete the design studio.
Additional consultation with specialist supervisors for structural engineering and sustainability is mandatory.
Design Critiques will occur weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The introductory event will take place on October 10, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. in the seminar room 'Design Theory' (Karlsplatz 13, Staircase 6, 3rd floor).
Elaboration of the project with architectural drawings from draft to detailed plans in the required appropriate scales.
Presentation of the design in plans, pictures, and models;
Final and mid-term presentations in English.