University of California at Berkeley College of Environmental Design

University of California at Berkeley College of Environmental Design

Jill Stoner, Greig Crysler, Margaret Ikeda, Maria McVarish William O’Brien, Mark Hogan

ARCH100B FALL 2005

book/space/city

We begin with the book as a means of containing space; we end with books as a metaphorical embodiment of the space of the City. The series of three projects will address in turn conceptual issues about formal space, about the phenomenology of ground, structure and light, and about the human condition of memory and urban form. The projects will embrace a range of scales, modes of representation, and theoretical positions. Lectures and readings will provide a “common ground” for discussion.

Goals

To develop an understanding of the relationship between spatial, formal and tectonic considerations in architectural design

To explore different approaches to representation as forms of inquiry, and to consider their potential to communicate ideas

To become aware of the expressive possibilities of structural systems and building materials, and to understand the cultural values embedded in them

To design at scales ranging from the body to the urban region and to consider their interrelationship

Three Projects:

1. bookspace 2 weeks [due September 12]

2. barn 6 weeks [due October 24]

3. archives 6 weeks [due Dec 5]

Eleven Lectures

The lectures will focus on both spatial and representational concepts..

Seven Texts (To be bound as a course reader):

Walter Benjamin, “Unpacking my Library”

Itlao Calvino, “Exactitude”

Robin Evans, selections from the Projective Cast

Adrian Forty, “Order”, “Simple” “Space” and “Structure” and “Transparency” from Words and Buildings

Henry Glassie, selections from Passing the Time in Ballymenone

Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel”

You will be responsible for purchasing a copy of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

Five Volumes

You will keep design notes, sketches, diagrams and fold-outs on unlined index cards. At each of the 5 intervals provided by the reviews, you will assemble these cards into a bound volume. At the end of the semester, the five volumes will form a journal of your design exploration.

Class format:

Monday 9:00 – 1:00 studio. Five Mondays will be set aside for reviews.

Wednesday 9 –10:30 Faculty presentations—1 each week in room 112

10:30 – 1:00 Studio

ARCH100B FALL 2005 - Continued

Grading:

Project 1: 10%

Project 2: 35%

Project 3: 35%

Five volumes [notebooks], attendance, etc 20%

A progress grade will be issued after the completion of the second project [mid-term]. Instructors will hold designated office hours to discuss these grades.

Attendance policy: Attendance at studio, lectures and juries is mandatory. Absence is permitted only with a medical excuse supported by a doctor’s note a verifiable personal emergency. Absence from three studio classes will result in a failing grade for the class. Late attendance at a jury will result in a decrease of one full grade (from A to B, for example) for that project. Your attendance record at lectures will form part of your final evaluation. Those who arrive at lectures after the sign-in sheet has been taken down will be counted as absent, and the final grade for the course will be adjusted accordingly.

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