FIU – Genoa Program Fall 2016
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
and
DEPARTMENT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN DESIGN
Course Syllabus
ARC5756 Architecture of The City
LAA6348 Landscape Architecture of the City
3 Credits
Instructors: Eric Peterson with Rebecca Raucci
Office Hours: By Appointment
Office: 1st floor, Convent St. Maria di Castello
Contact: eric.peterson@fiu.edu
Telephone: +39(340)001-4011
Meeting time
Tuesdays and Thursday 10-13 and by appointment (see Schedule)
Catalogue Description
To analyze the layering that composes Rome’s urban form and to offer a necessary basis of historical and theoretical information in order to take advantage of the Roman experience. Different periods of history of Rome are presented in lectures and site visits. Additional readings and projects.
Course Objectives
ARC5756 addresses the study of architecture and the urban environment for architectural design students studying in Genoa, Italy. Students will draw, diagram, and analyze urban places, spaces, and architectural works in order to understand the role of historic context and its transformation over time. Students will engage in both analytical and interpretive studies in order to discover and develop design strategies and methods useful for contemporary design projects. A wide variety of media will be explored including graphite on paper, digital compositing, digital modeling, and computer rendering.
Fieldwork in Genoa and other cities visited during academic travel will introduce analytical photography and on-site drawing and documentation techniques to study significant works of contemporary, modern, and pre-modern architecture. In-class exercises will explore questions of representation and interpretation to help support a developing understanding of urban site and context.
Students can expect to develop an awareness of the multiple ways and scales in which a city supports the activities of its various inhabitants materially, spatially, politically, socially, and culturally. By analyzing and interpreting the city, students will come to more deeply understand concepts of urban fabric and morphology, infrastructure and urban space, and architectural typology and urban grain. This will enhance the development of a more sensitive architectural vocabulary that responds to the particularities of urban place.
Attendance Guidelines
The FIU Department of Architecture Study Abroad program in Genoa has no provision for unexcused absences; attendance and class participation are required at all class meetings (see Course Schedule). Three (3) unexcused absences will automatically result in a failing grade for the course. Every day that you are late to class, you will receive half (1/2) an absence. An acceptable excused absence is defined by the student having missed class due to extraordinary circumstances beyond his or her control and must be accompanied by written documentation. In the event that you have missed a class, you are responsible for all the material covered.
Course Evaluation
Students will be evaluated in four areas using both quantitative and qualitative measures:
Sketch book 25%
Mapping 25% Genoa
Urban space analysis 25% Piazza TBD
Building detail analysis 25% Scarpa ?
While a satisfactory grade in the course may be attained by the completion of all required assignments, individual initiative and investigation of design and research issues that extend beyond the basic requirements are strongly encouraged.
A 4.00
A- 3.67
B+ 3.33
B 3.00
B- 2.67
C+ 2.33
C 2.00
D 1.00
F 0.00
Student Work
Student work, submitted to the Department in satisfaction of course or degree requirements, becomes the physical property of the Department. However, students retain all rights to the intellectual property of such work. This work may include papers, drawings, models, and other materials. The Department assumes no responsibility for safeguarding such materials. At its discretion, the Department may retain, return, or discard such materials. The Department will not normally discard the materials of currently enrolled students without giving the student a chance to reclaim them.
Students Rights and Responsibilities
It is the student’s responsibility to obtain, become familiar with and abide by all Departmental, College and University requirements and regulations. These include but are not limited to:
-The Florida International University Catalog Division of Student Affairs Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities of Students.
-Department Curriculum and Program Sheets
-Department Policies and Regulations
Student with Special Needs
Students who may need auxiliary aids or services to ensure access to academic program should register with the Office Disability Services for Students.
Civility Clause
Students are expected to treat one another with a high degree of civility and respect. Students can and should expect the same from the instructor. If a student fails to act responsibly or disrupts the class or impedes instruction he or she may be asked to leave the class and will be held responsible for all the information missed through this absence.
Course Schedule
Schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Please contact appropriate offices for verification and updates. This calendar does not include Official University holidays. Faculty are encouraged to make accommodations for students who wish to observe religious holidays. Students should make their request known at the beginning of the semester in writing. Please be advised that the final week of the semester commonly known as exam week is a regularly scheduled class week. All of your assignments for this class should be complete in week 15 but extra time will be given during week 16 to prepare a digital submittal of your sketchbook.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1 CONTEXT ANALYSIS
Assignment: Walking and sketching and walking and sketching
Week 2 CONTEXT ANALYSIS
Assignment: Understanding urban structure as armature
Week 3 CONTEXT ANALYSIS (France and Switzerland Trip)
Assignment: How geography, politics, and social forces shape infrastructure
Week 4 CONTEXT ANALYSIS
Assignment: Growth, texture, and change
Week 5 CONTEXT ANALYSIS
Assignment: Graphic techniques for mapping the city – Maps are due September 24
Week 6 URBAN SPACE ANALYSIS (Rome and Florence Trip)
Assignment: Using your body to measure the city
Week 7 URBAN SPACE ANALYSIS
Assignment: Inversion and Explosion as tools for seeing urban space
Week 8 URBAN SPACE ANALYSIS
Assignment: Composite drawing and digital montage as analytical tools
Week 9 OPEN TOPIC (Chandler visit, Milan and Como trip)
Assignment: TBD
Week 10 URBAN SPACE ANALYSIS
Assignment: Photomontage Axonometrics – Drawings due October 29
Week 11 ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL ANALYSIS
Assignment: The size of your hand and the inertia of a human body in motion
Week 12 ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL ANALYSIS
Assignment: Diagramming organizational and proportional systems
Week 13 ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL ANALYSIS
Assignment: 3d modeling details
Week 14 ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL ANALYSIS
Assignment: Composite drawing sketching on renderings
Week 15 ARCHITECTURAL DETAIL ANALYSIS
Assignment: Drawings Due December 3
Week 16 FINAL SUBMISSION
Digital sketchbook due December 8
Architecture In Genoa 2016 