Lecturers: Roman Kirschner and Anthea Oestreicher
Important: Schedule is not final yet! It might still require some small adaptations due to issues with weather, overall IAD planning and guests.
Contents and Objectives
The seminar is an introduction into designing (with) spaces. „Soft Architecture“ differs from the classical idea of architecture in that it does not aim to build permanently habitable spaces. It rather encourages students to experiment with existing spaces, to ask what they offer and how they can be adapted to communicate and afford specific atmospheres, narratives, rules, actions and interactions.
Experimenting with spaces comprises experimentation with structures and materials that give these spaces character. Through trial and error, bodily experiences and discussions, students develop their sensitivity and intuition as designers.
This year we will approach this experimentation with an ecological twist. Since spaces are neither abstract nor clinically pure, we also always have to take microbiological lifeforms and entropy into account. In this year’s issue will deal with microscopic/planktonic life forms, growth processes, environmental conditions, microcosms, and technically mediated connections between micro ecologies in playful settings.
Schedule
Course: 16.09. – 10.10.2024, Monday – Thursday: 9-17
Week 1
(Introduction, Excursions, Ideation and Team Building)
| Monday (16.09.) | Tuesday (17.09.) | Wednesday (18.09) | Thursday (19.09) |
9:00-11:30 Introduction (4T31) 11:45 1st semester welcome | 9:00 meeting point: Toni entrance – Excursion to Limmat (bring weatherproof cloths and lunch. We will spend most of the day outdoors) Exercise 1 (Space) Limmat field research | 09:15 meeting point: Hardhof 9 – Visit Grundwasserwerk Hardhof | Ideation exercises in groups |
13:00-14:30 Equipment & Facilities tour ZHdK 15:00-16:45 Aesthetics of Interaction: Introduction (4T09) | Exercise 2 (Ecology) 15:00 Semester Overview with Jürgen | 13-14 Ecological Ideation exercise & group building 14-17 Presentation of Exercise results & Group discussion | Ideation exercises in groups |
Week 2
(Concept development (Topic/Goal/Spatiality), Prototyping, Game Development (Rules/Realisation))
Monday (23.09) | Tuesday (24.09) | Wednesday (25.09) | Thursday (26.09) |
09:00 - 11:00 Presentation of ideation Exercises + Discussion (5F02, 9–12) 11:00-12:00 Input microcosms (AO) | 09:00 - 12:00 Concept Development | 09:00 - 12:00 Prototype Development + Individual Prototype Mentoring | 09:00 - 12:00 Prototype Development + Individual Prototype Mentoring |
13:00 - 17:00 Concept Development | 13:00 - 17:00 Concept Development | 13:00 - 15:00 Prototype Development + Individual Prototype Mentoring 15:00-16:45 Aesthetics of Interaction: Material and Environmental Dynamics (4T06) | 13:00 - 15:30 Presentation Experiments, Progress & Prototypes (4T06, 13-17) 16:00 - 17:00 group discussion tbc - Martina (Experimental Ecology) |
Week 3
(Final Project Development + Exhibition Preparation)
| Monday (30.09) | Tuesday (1.10.) | Wednesday (2.10) | Thursday (3.10) |
| 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development | 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development | 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development + Individual Mentoring | 09:00 - 10:00 Preparation Presentation Exhibition Idea * Realisation 10:00 - 12:00 Presentation Exhibition ideas (4T48) |
| 13:00 - 17:00 Project Development | 13:00 - 17:00 Project Development | 13:00 - 15:00 Project Development & Individual Mentoring 15:00-16:45 Aesthetics of Interaction: Systems and Bodies (4.T06) | 13:00 - 17:00 Project Development |
Week 4
| Monday (7.10) | Tuesday (8.10.) | Wednesday (9.10) | Thursday (10.10) |
| 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) | 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) | 09:00 - 12:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) | 10:00 Feedback Round (Kunstraum) |
13:00 - 15:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) 15:00-16:45 Aesthetics of Interaction: Anthropocene | 13:00 - 17:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) | 13:00 - 15:00 Project Development (Kunstraum) 15:00 Exhibition Vernissage (Kunstraum) | 13:00 - 17:00 Documentation & |
Locations
Indoor:
16.09. – 03.10.: Room: Projektraum 4.K22-1 + Werkstatt
other rooms for occasional presentations (see schedule above)
7.10. - 10.10. Kunstraum ZT 5.K12
Outdoor: various locations at Limmat and lake Zurich.
Exhibition Vernissage: 9.10. 15:00
Things to bring for field days or working on site
Tools for documentation, water equipment that might be needed (swim suit, rubber boots),
basic construction material by preference (tapes, cable ties, strings, small tools, saw (?), knife (?), textiles (?)),
Field Research task
tbc
Design task
tbc