Class Elements of Architecture I

This Curricular Unit, the first one within the Integrated Master of Architecture, provides the student with a series of practical exercises , supported by theoretical discussions, aiming at a first understanding of the the intrinsic elemsnts that define the discipline of architecture.

We pretend to give the student a first look at the different levels  where the discipline opperates, the issue of the program, scale, function, materiality, context.

Different exercises will be presented, critically looking at the perception of urban athmosphere adn architectural forms, as well as a more perceptional look at the built enviroment around us.

Finally we want the student to become familiar with the langauge of architceture, stimulationg their capacities to perceive, represent, and communicate the architectural phenomenon.

In the discipline of Architectural Elements we propose to initiate students in the perception of the phenomenon of space, the kowledge of form making, connected with the understanding of the conceptula methods that inform architecture.

The understanding of the constructing of the architectural space as an internal process suported by  natural and technical facts, as well as by the social and cultural context.

This specific knowledge shall incentivate the student to develop the capacity to see, understand, imagine, represnet and comunicate. Learning processess and methods are centered on a workshop atmosphere, where both technical and cognitive startegies are used and developed.

 

Classes will be both include the presnetation of theoretical data, supported by a strong visual tools. Text and document analysis will be discussed and used for the investigation and research of each of the students.

Class discussion and class debate shall be present  during the development of the project and in its final stage. Visiting professors and critics are welcomed for the critical review fo the work itself.

Site and study visits are also welcomed, as a way of enrich the debate obver the general issues that should inform the student work.

Different exercises will be presneted with variable complexity.

Bibliografia 

Campo Baeza, Alberto (2004). A ideia construída. Lisboa: Caleidoscópio
Cota: AQ/273-BC
Campo Baeza, Alberto. (2011). Pensar com as mãos. Caleidoscópio. Lisboa
Pallasmaa, Juhani. (2011). Os Olhos da Pele, A arquitectura e os sentidos. Porto
Alegre: BOOKMAN, ARTME