Introduction to urban design
The course wants to give the students a general view of urban planning and urban design.
The suggestion was to read the urban contest, understanding the main rules and dimensions of the part of the city, but also the reason for the actual form of the urban contest.
The theoretical part will be faced several aspects of it, from historical tendencies to the actuality of the city, until touching the problems of the city development.
The theory structure of the lectures will be divided into four parts:
• The first one will introduce some important historical examples, from Cerdà’s Plan of Barcelona to the Utopian City of the XIX century
• The second part will introduce some actual vision of urban design, showing contemporary examples
• The third part will face the problem of the informal city
• The fourth part will approach different kinds of city
List of lectures:
1. The idea of a city – What do we think about the city
2. The idea of a city – Historical plan (Paris – Barcelona – Wien)
3. The idea of a city – Modern city - from broadacre city to immeubles villa
4. The idea of a city – Utopian cities
5. The dream of a city - What city want to be in? (New Neighbours)
6. The dream of a city - What city want to be in? (Eco Neighbours)
7. The dream of a city - What citizens want to be (Tactical Urbanism)
8. The nightmare of a city - Informal city – problem and intervention
9. The nightmare of a city - Informal city - (designing a refugee camp in Tigray) ( Guest: Phd Student Margherita Capotorto)
10. The nightmare of a city - Informal city - (design the informal cluster in Maputo) ( guest: dott ting Laura Nabergoi, Dott. Ing. Veronica Torretti, dot ting. Paolo Redaelli)
11. Temporary city – camping as a state of being
12. Water city - future of urban space In an ecological city (guest: Phd Student Gaia Nerea Terlicher)
13. Vegetation city ( the use of greenspace in urban design)
Exercise
The course will be organized into three different modules.
Each module will have a specific task with a grade that will help define the final grade of each student.
The first task will be done by itself. The second and last one will be managed as a group. The group size will be decided by the teacher and the students together.
MODULE 01 – Thinking about the city – theory and discussion.
In this part of the course, each student will read a scientific article or book to gain an expert opinion on a specific assigned topic.
Each week a public debate will be organised, managed, and conducted by the students themselves. The teacher will stay out to help with the discussion. The task is to get involved in the theme to understand the complexity of urban content. What is a city? How do urban spaces live today? How does society influence the new way of experiencing urban spaces? There will be defined the main topics:
• 15 minutes city
• Walkability
• New nomads
• Green infrastructure
• Water resources
• Eco-city
• Urban Diversity
• Pocket Park
• Urban Sprawl
• Informal City
• Invisible City
• The role of the street
• …
Each student should discuss the topic with a small group of other students to clarify their position. The student will be judged in relation to the ability to develop the argument and open the discussion. Each student participating in the discussion must be active in asking questions and providing answers.
The final task of the first module will consist of a presentation that includes the argument developed by the student and the reaction obtained during the moment of discussion.
Presentation techniques are free to be chosen by the student.
MODULE 02 – Analysing the city – drawings and model.
In this part of the course, each student will have to analyse a portion of the urban landscape, focusing on different layers and transfer them to a book of A3 panels
Starting from the given image, the student must make a new drawing of the city picture by adapting the scale to the panel.
(Scale suggested 1:2000)
Reading the picture, the student has to isolate the following pair of layers
- Buildings/Emptiness
- Public open spaces / private open spaces
- Natural system/urban park
- Isolated buildings/curtain blocks
All the layers must be represented in black and white, using transparent paper so as to be able to overlap the layers to the base map.
The techniques are free to choose by the student
The final task will be a composition of a book that will resume the work
MODULE 03 – Listening to the city.
During this module, the student must work in groups and work on the city of Opole.
Starting with a confrontation of module 2 and 1 exercise, the student must identify some urban systems in the city.
The students must verify the presence and the identity of these systems, going to see them physically.
They will have to take pictures and meet the people.
The students must write down a questionnaire to verify their perception of the quality of the urban spaces identified and how people use these spaces.
The final task will be a small documentary that shows the work done.
The course wants to give the students a general view of urban planning and urban design.
The suggestion was to read the urban contest, understanding the main rules and dimensions of the part of the city, but also the reason for the actual form of the urban contest.
The theoretical part will be faced several aspects of it, from historical tendencies to the actuality of the city, until touching the problems of the city development.
The theory structure of the lectures will be divided into four parts:
• The first one will introduce some important historical examples, from Cerdà’s Plan of Barcelona to the Utopian City of the XIX century
• The second part will introduce some actual vision of urban design, showing contemporary examples
• The third part will face the problem of the informal city
• The fourth part will approach different kinds of city
List of lectures:
1. The idea of a city – What do we think about the city
2. The idea of a city – Historical plan (Paris – Barcelona – Wien)
3. The idea of a city – Modern city - from broadacre city to immeubles villa
4. The idea of a city – Utopian cities
5. The dream of a city - What city want to be in? (New Neighbours)
6. The dream of a city - What city want to be in? (Eco Neighbours)
7. The dream of a city - What citizens want to be (Tactical Urbanism)
8. The nightmare of a city - Informal city – problem and intervention
9. The nightmare of a city - Informal city - (designing a refugee camp in Tigray) ( Guest: Phd Student Margherita Capotorto)
10. The nightmare of a city - Informal city - (design the informal cluster in Maputo) ( guest: dott ting Laura Nabergoi, Dott. Ing. Veronica Torretti, dot ting. Paolo Redaelli)
11. Temporary city – camping as a state of being
12. Water city - future of urban space In an ecological city (guest: Phd Student Gaia Nerea Terlicher)
13. Vegetation city ( the use of greenspace in urban design)
Exercise
The course will be organized into three different modules.
Each module will have a specific task with a grade that will help define the final grade of each student.
The first task will be done by itself. The second and last one will be managed as a group. The group size will be decided by the teacher and the students together.
MODULE 01 – Thinking about the city – theory and discussion.
In this part of the course, each student will read a scientific article or book to gain an expert opinion on a specific assigned topic.
Each week a public debate will be organised, managed, and conducted by the students themselves. The teacher will stay out to help with the discussion. The task is to get involved in the theme to understand the complexity of urban content. What is a city? How do urban spaces live today? How does society influence the new way of experiencing urban spaces? There will be defined the main topics:
• 15 minutes city
• Walkability
• New nomads
• Green infrastructure
• Water resources
• Eco-city
• Urban Diversity
• Pocket Park
• Urban Sprawl
• Informal City
• Invisible City
• The role of the street
• …
Each student should discuss the topic with a small group of other students to clarify their position. The student will be judged in relation to the ability to develop the argument and open the discussion. Each student participating in the discussion must be active in asking questions and providing answers.
The final task of the first module will consist of a presentation that includes the argument developed by the student and the reaction obtained during the moment of discussion.
Presentation techniques are free to be chosen by the student.
MODULE 02 – Analysing the city – drawings and model.
In this part of the course, each student will have to analyse a portion of the urban landscape, focusing on different layers and transfer them to a book of A3 panels
Starting from the given image, the student must make a new drawing of the city picture by adapting the scale to the panel.
(Scale suggested 1:2000)
Reading the picture, the student has to isolate the following pair of layers
- Buildings/Emptiness
- Public open spaces / private open spaces
- Natural system/urban park
- Isolated buildings/curtain blocks
All the layers must be represented in black and white, using transparent paper so as to be able to overlap the layers to the base map.
The techniques are free to choose by the student
The final task will be a composition of a book that will resume the work
MODULE 03 – Listening to the city.
During this module, the student must work in groups and work on the city of Opole.
Starting with a confrontation of module 2 and 1 exercise, the student must identify some urban systems in the city.
The students must verify the presence and the identity of these systems, going to see them physically.
They will have to take pictures and meet the people.
The students must write down a questionnaire to verify their perception of the quality of the urban spaces identified and how people use these spaces.
The final task will be a small documentary that shows the work done.
- Trainer/in: Monika Adamska
- Trainer/in: Mateusz Mikołajów
- Trainer/in: Marcin Spyra
- Trainer/in: Luca Trabattoni