Course detail

Studio – Large House

FA-AT2-AAcad. year: 2022/2023

Working in a design studio is the main method of teaching architecture which comprehensively works with other methods of teaching process. It is based on the method „learning by doing“, i.e. gaining knowledge and skills when applying them in practice. It is a dialogue of pedagogues and students about the work-in-progress projects. The integral part of teaching are architecture critiques.
In Studio Large House students design buildings with more functions in a wider context of a place.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

12

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Department

Department of Design (UN)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

– Students will acquire the ability to create an architectural and operational design for a building with more functions.
– Students will know the basic standard requirements for designing buildings and will be able to apply them in the design.
– Students will acquire the ability to produce documentation for the architectural study.
– Students will be able to select a structural system suitable for the specific form of the designed building.
– Students will be able to understand the context of the place and to reflect it in their design.

Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The fundamental method of teaching is the design studio which accentuates the long-term individual work of students when students individually or in groups systematically develop the studio project according to the assignment. A significant part of the course is the presentation of the design at the design critiques and presentations, and the consultations and critical discussions with the project supervisor and other specialists. Depending on the topic, the complementary teaching method could be field trips (workshops). The design process takes 13 weeks and is divided into three blocks, each concluded by a critique or the final presentation in front of a jury. The time schedule can be specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”. The project assignment must be published in the Intranet FA simultaneously with the announcement of the topic description (before the registration of students).

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

The project is assigned and evaluated by the project supervisor. The project is specified by the supervisor in the “list of studio topics” and optionally in “project assignment”. This information is published in the Intranet FA before the students register.

It is compulsory to submit the project in the form of architectural study and to include (if the supervisor does not require otherwise):
– author's report (including the brief, analyses, aims, principles and the concept of the design, structural and operational schema),
– working sketches and photographs of working models,
– location plan,
– site plan,
– floor plans of individual storeys,
– sections,
– elevations,
– spatial rendering of the designed building including sitting in the context of the place,
– spatial rendering of interior,
– architectural detail,
– physical model (including its photographs).
The project is submitted in printed and electronic form in accordance with the FA internal standard “Study rules”.
The required annexes can be further specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”.

The following components of the design are evaluated:
– place, interpretation, analysis, synthesis, idea;
– processes, operation;
– materiality, structure, construction;
– form, arrangement;
– presentation, adjustation, defence;
– student´s approach to the project elaboration.
The weight of individual components is defined by the supervisor.

The grading scale is given in Article 14 of the Study and Examination Rules of BUT. The recommended grading scale is the following:
– A: excellent project showing personal contribution, all aspects and components of the project are excellent
– B: very good project, or excellent project with partial deficiencies
– C: good project, skillfully designed and technically correct
– D: skillfully designed and technically correct project with partial deficiencies
– E: sufficiently developed project, with all assigned tasks completed, and complies with the legal requirements (standards)
The works which do not meet the minimal requirements (specified as E) are graded failed (grade F).

Course curriculum

Semester block schedule:
I. Analysis and interpretation, synthesis, idea and solution; excursion; development of construction programme
II. Work on architectural, operational, and structural design; sketches and design in the standard form of architectural study, graphical expression of the concept
III. Graphical and verbal presentation of methods and results, adjustation, defence

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

Students master the process and methods of designing and presenting architectural designs of a building with more functions, complex processes and requirements on operation, on the structure and construction, and the arrangement and form, in a wider context of a locality.
The work focuses on the design at the level of locality and at the level of actual building.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Students must attend one consultation a week at the times specified by their supervisor, two interim design critiques, and the final public presentation. Students must submit a design project that meets the requirements (further specified in the Course Evaluation section) and meet the submission deadline (specified in the internal guideline “Study Rules”).
The particular time schedule of the above mentioned compulsory lessons, or further compulsory participation, might be further specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”. The project assignment must be published in the Intranet FA simultaneously with the announcement of the topic description (before the registration of students).
In the case of a student's apology and with approval of the supervisor, personal participation may be substituted with online participation in the studio.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Basic literature

DAY, Christopher. Spirit and Place, Architectural Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0750653596. (EN)
CHING, Francis D. K. Architecture: Form, Space, & Order. Wiley, 2014. ISBN: 978-1118745083. (EN)
MEISS, Pierre von. Elements of Architecture: From Form to Place + Tectonics. EPFL Press, 2013. ISBN: 9782940222698. (EN)
NEUFERT, Ernst. Architects' Data. John Wiley & Sons, 2019. ISBN: 9781119284352. (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme B_A+U Bachelor's 2 year of study, winter semester, compulsory