After successful completion of the course, students are able to

- conceive of and design novel types of green architecture and constructions as prototypes for new urban landform architectures;

- understand and utlize the role of specific human experiences related to these novel types of green architectures;

- understand and utilze multi-species design from a posthuman perspective;

- based on the specific designs formulate guildines for planning and design of new urban landform architectures;

- understand, develop and utlise geomorphic tectonics for the design of novel types of green architecture and constructions;

This studio is the 5th edition of the ECOLOPES studio series related to the H2020 FET research project Ecological Building Envelopes. Vienna is frequently elected as one of the most livable cities in the world. It is likely that easily accessible green space in and around the city plays a role in this view. What is perhaps lesser known is the presence of hiking paths in the periphery and certain urban areas in Vienna (https://www.wien.gv.at/english/leisure/hiking/paths.html). These paths provide for a human-nature interface and specific related human experiences. The studio will focus on the design of novel green architectures and constructions that operate on and intesify human experiences in specifcally selected junction points between city and nature. These novel green architectures will fuse architecture and landscape architecture, and terrain and construction, while making provisions for multiple-species based on a posthuman perspective. The designs will explore the notions of "urban landform" and "geomorphic textonics" and serve as protoypes for urban landform buildings and the drafting of guildeines for the planning and design of urban landform buildings.

At the start of the semester the studio will focus on site selection and analysis and the two-week "Envisioning Urban Landform" workshop.

The studio will use both digital and physical models to advance the designs and base the approach on specifically selected readings of key texts on the subject matter. Students can work individually or in teams of two.

The semester will start with the "Envisioning Urban Landform" workshop which serves the purpose of acquiring different types of knowledge that is relevant to the design project.

Seminars and Lectures will be provided that serve to deepen the different types of knowledge that is relevant to the design project.

Weekly tutorials serve the purpose to guide the development of the design projects in a detailes manner.

In the studio we will study key literature on the topic at hand. This will involve in particular:

Allen S, McQuade M (eds) (2011) Landform Building. Lars Müller Publishers, Baden, Switzerland.

Doherty G, Waldheim C (eds) (2016) Is Landscape...? Essays on the Identity of Landscape. Routledge, Oxon, UK.

Ingold T (2010) Footprints through the weather-world: walking, breathing, knowing. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16(s1), 121-139.

Hensel M (2023) Geomorphic Tectonics. TAD Technology |Architecture + Design, 7(1), 15-19. 

Students will present their analyses and design work in two interim and one final presentation. The design projects and the quality of presentation will be examined. The progress made during the semester will also be considered in this context.

Working knowledge in computational modelling (preferably in Rhino and Grasshopper)

Skills in working with physical models