Seminar Spring 2018 - The edge between land and water
Department of the Built Environment at TU/e
On the distinctive edge between land & water occur the most dramatic climate-related disasters of nowadays. It is well known the impact of water levels fluctuations, increasing temperature and rainfalls on humans, nature and man-made infrastructures.
Architectural design on the unique space between land & water can provide excellent responses to water extremes. Up until now, the design of the relationship between land & water has taken two forms: one focuses on the buildings and expresses the intention to extend themselves towards the water; on the contrary, the other one focuses on the water borderline and expresses the ‘parallel’ relationship between the two parts. The seminar will move from this framework. Objective: Our goal is to investigate contemporary and innovative design concepts of adaptation that are able to respond to water extremes, while providing new development scenarios in architecture. In particular, we’ll carry out an in-depth and comparative analysis of study cases located in different countries in order to understand: firstly, |
their key characteristics and benefits for future climate changes; secondly, the multiple layers of the architectural relationship between land & water.
In architectural terms, some questions arise:
Outcome It is a written and illustrated essay on that is based on the comparative analysis of the two study cases. Drawings like diagrams, architectural details, etc. will be important instruments to visually communicate the selected subject of analysis. Short presentations and critical analysis/discussions will be held weekly in order to guide and enrich the development of the work. |
Seminar Spring 2015 - Water, architecture and climate change: adaptation by design
Department of the Built Environment at TU/e
Water rising sea level and flash floods caused by the on-going climate change imply the need to rethink the most common and centralized urban water strategies. The increasing urbanization and the greater incidence of flood risks for these areas, especially coastal cities, require adaptation approaches and tools that aim at reducing vulnerability while safeguarding and creating a livable urban environment. The Netherlands is in the vanguard of the technical development of such measures, therefore, cities such as Rotterdam and Amsterdam are already applying these techniques.This urgent demand has been translated into a numberless amount of innovative water solutions that are advancing the research at each scale of design. However, these solutions remain local and the availability of information is highly technical and its understanding is limited to climate specialists.
|
Objectives
Goal of the seminar is an investigation into design ‘tools of adaptation’ of contemporary projects related to water and climate change so as to understand their meanings and characteristics present in future proposals of development. The final aim is to communicate ‘adaptations options’ to non-specialists. Outcome It is a written and illustrated booklet/guide for sustainable design. Students, in teams, will draw a ‘menu of adaptation options’ that involves different scales of design; while, individually s/he will develop an essay on the given topics. Drawings like pictograms, diagrams, etc. will be the instruments of visual communication. |
Seminar Spring 2013 - The Blue Industry
A comparative analysis of industrial architecture along the water between Oregon, U.S. and The Netherlands.
Department of the Built Environment at TU/e
Water was the central feature in the development of industry: it was used to power machinery and move goods; it was an essential component in the manufacturing processes; it determined the location of industries and its configuration and it shaped a specific architectural typology.
The type of architecture resulting from this indissoluble relationship acquired unique qualities related to the specificity of the site, thus making it ‘belong to the place’. As a consequence, industrial architecture shows such specific characteristics that lead us to name it ‘blue industry’. Objectives
The goal is to reveal the uniqueness of the so-called ‘standard’ industrial architecture in the contextual relationship with the water and in both physical and historical local setting. |
Sites
This seminar will study two specific contexts: 1. the canal circuit connecting the five Brabant cities of Eindhoven, Helmond, Tilburg, ’s-Hertogenbosch and Breda, in the Netherlands.2. the Willamette River along whose banks there are five important cities of the Oregon State, namely Eugene, Albany, Salem, Oregon City and Portland. Both contexts have in common an industrial past, dating back from the same period (end of 1880s) and each city has an industrial settlement whose activity has always depended on the water. In terms of infrastructure, both Brabant’s canals and Willamette River share a high level of artificiality. |
Seminar Spring 2011 - In Detail
The significance of details in the transformation of former industrial buildings.
Department of the Built Environment at TU/e
Talking about detail in designs of transformation of industrial buildings is very often limited to its technical aspects that make possible the adaptation of the old to new uses. The large repertoire of building techniques and creative conversions prove it.
Unfortunately, this leaves behind their unique spatial character, their formal and typological characteristics and the pioneering level of experimentation involved in building them. These aspects find their significant expression in the ‘details’. And to understand them receptivity and patient observation is required. |
For long time architects have looked upon conversion of building as a limit, preferring to focus on making new (and spectacular) one. On the contrary, working with an existing building, which imposes undeniable constrains on the designer, is a fascinating and creative task in architecture. And the ‘crafting’ of details is an opportunity to operate within the ‘either-or’ polarity between old and new.
Objectives Goal of the seminar is an investigation into ‘details’ of contemporary projects of transformation of former industrial buildings so as to understand their meanings and characteristics in designs of reuse. |
Seminar - Terra Nullius, Spring 2006
Reusing abandoned sites.
Department of the Built Environment at TU/e
Irene Curulli © 2020 Industrial Waterways