2007年10月29日 星期一

Course Description

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
4th Year Design Studio, Autumn 2007

The course will operate in the Datun River valley of the Sanjhih county, North Taiwan.
The aim of the course is to research the Taiwanese local knowledge phenomena in the

A) Fishing community
B) Farming community

and to produce architectural design reactions based on the local knowledge research.

Datun River valley provides fruitfull insights to original the Taiwanese ways of life in close connection with nature. The small fishing community and its harbor preserves the traditional knowledge of changing weather conditions, navigating on the ocean and predominant movements of the fish and crab.

The farmers have been cultivating the valley for tea and rice over generations and as the fishermen, know the environmental conditions through their hard labor. The architectural solutions in both the fisherman community as with the farmers reflect a natural understanding of the site specific environmental conditions as the houses are build by the same hands as the fields are farmed or the boats operated. This local knowledge is valuable to study in order to direct contemporary architecture towards a more natural relationship with the environment.

Another layer in the Datun River Valley is the factory industrialism that was introduced in the beginning of the 1980’s. The industry polluted the Datun river making farming commercially impossible. In the recent years the river has been naturally restored and the industrial pollution put under control. The Datun River valley is now looking for the future where factories and sustainable farms are operating as neighbors.

T-FACTORY STUDIO
In the Datun River valley the student group can work, study and relax in the T-Factory ruin.

NEW FARM HOUSE
As an individual task the students will design a 50 m2 house located in their chosen place in the Datun river valley or on the sea shore. The architecture must reflect their understanding of the Local Knowledge.

The students will realize a 1:1 scale fragment of their design - a personal shelter in which they are required spent over night.





Marco Casagrande, Visiting Professor

Midterm Requirements

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
4th Year Design Studio, Casagrande


Midterm Critic Requirements,



1. Individual presentation of Local Knowledge research in the Datun River valley

- Interviews of the local people done individually or in small groups
• Analyze of the interviews, what is your own image of the realities of the location
- Interviews and interactions with the local people and environmental site specific conditions about your individual SITE of design
• What are the local site specific environmental conditions and how have you been researching them
(interviews, photo documentation, sketching, mapping, walking, being on site, testing with models etc.)
- Personal mapping
• Map of the Datun River valley
• World maps
• First line of the World
⇒ What is the connection between the SITE, WORLD and DESIGN

2. Sketching in the ruin
- What do you understand about the ruin condition: architecture has become part of nature
- How can you make a new design respecting the ruin values, architecture and nature together
⇒ What is your design solution (sketch) for ruin

3. Design: New Farm House
- How is the Local Knowledge research and understanding of the ruin condition (architecture + nature) being present in your design and design process?
- What are the site-specific conditions that are generating your architecture?
• Big site plan of how is your place located in the valley
• Possibly big sections
• Local site plan describing the relationship between your architecture and the site
• Possibly site sections
• Principal sketch drawings of the architectural solutions: plans, sections, facades, structures, materials…
• Working model. This can be purely conceptual, even artistic.
• Photos, drawings, paintings or other illustrations describing your feelings and processing of architecture.
- How is your new house part of nature?

4. Design: Shelter
- How are you going to realize your personal shelter in your site
- What is the connection between your shelter and the New Farm House design?
- How is your shelter supposed to help you in researching the site-specific conditions?
• Sketches and model

DESIGN A SHIRT:
- C-LAB (or C-Laboratory)
- LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

• Can be T-Shirt, long sleeves or with hood
• Black, red or white