Course detail

Studio – Free Assignment 1

FA-AT4-AAcad. year: 2020/2021

Working in a design studio is the main method of teaching architecture which comprehensively works with other methods of teaching process. It is based on the method „learning by doing“, i.e. gaining knowledge and skills when applying them in practice. It is a dialogue of pedagogues and students about the work-in-progress projects. The integral part of teaching are architecture critiques.
In Studio Free Assignment, students develop their knowledge and skills to create an architectural design gained in the studios: Small House, Large House, and Town and Place. The complexity and scale of the solved problem is given by the assignment.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

12

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Department

Department of experimental design (UET)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

– Students will acquire the ability to create an architectural and operational design for various types of buildings meeting a wide range of requirements on operation and corresponding number of functions.
– Depending on the type of assignment, students will acquire the principles of masterplanning and the corresponding operational, structural and urban design relations.
– Students will know the basic standard requirements for designing buildings and will be able to apply them in the design.
– Students will acquire the ability to produce documentation for architectural or urban study.
– Students will be able to adequately select a structural system suitable for designing the given building or a complex of buildings.
– Students will be able to understand the context of the place and to reflect it in their design.

Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The fundamental method of teaching is the design studio which accentuates the long-term individual work of students when students individually or in groups systematically develop the studio project according to the assignment. A significant part of the course is the presentation of the design at the design critiques and presentations, and the consultations and critical discussions with the project supervisor and other specialists. Depending on the topic, the complementary teaching method could be field trips (workshops). The design process takes 13 weeks and is divided into three blocks, each concluded by a critique or the final presentation in front of a jury. The time schedule can be specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”. The project assignment must be published in the Intranet FA simultaneously with the announcement of the topic description (before the registration of students).

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

The project is assigned and evaluated by the project supervisor. The project is specified by the supervisor in the “list of studio topics” and optionally in “project assignment”. This information is published in the Intranet FA before the students register.

It is compulsory to submit the project in the form of architectural study and to include (if the supervisor does not require otherwise):
– author's report (including the brief, analyses, aims, principles and the concept of the design, structural and operational schema),
– working sketches and photographs of working models,
– location plan,
– site plan,
– floor plans of individual storeys,
– sections,
– elevations,
– interior design,
– interior design detail at the scale 1:20 and more detailed,
– spatial rendering of the designed structure including its placement in the local context,
– spatial rendering of interior,
– physical model (including its photographs).
The project is submitted in printed and electronic form in accordance with the FA internal standard “Study rules”.
The required annexes can be further specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”.

The following components of the design are evaluated:
– place, interpretation, analysis, synthesis, idea;
– processes, operation;
– materiality, structure, construction;
– form, arrangement;
– presentation, adjustation, defence;
– student´s approach to the project elaboration.
The weight of individual components is defined by the supervisor.

The grading scale is given in Article 14 of the Study and Examination Rules of BUT. The recommended grading scale is the following:
– A: excellent project showing personal contribution, all aspects and components of the project are excellent
– B: very good project, or excellent project with partial deficiencies
– C: good project, skillfully designed and technically correct
– D: skillfully designed and technically correct project with partial deficiencies
– E: sufficiently developed project, with all assigned tasks completed, and complies with the legal requirements (standards)
The works which do not meet the minimal requirements (specified as E) are graded failed (grade F).

Course curriculum

Semester block schedule:
I. Analysis of the location and assignment, excursion, work on the concept
II. Work on architectural, operational, structural and/or urban design
III. Completion of the project, work on the project presentation

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The course aims to develop students´ ability to independently create an architectural and/or urban design of various types of structures meeting a wide range of requirements on operation and corresponding number of functions, an/or a masterplan with adequate operational, structural and urban relations, depending on the student's choice.
Assignments may include:
– interior design, scenography, and exhibition design;
– complex public buildings;
– urban design of whole settlements, landscape design, urban planning;
– renovation including heritage conservation;
– experimental assignment.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Students must attend one consultation a week at the times specified by their supervisor, two interim design critiques, and the final public presentation. Students must submit a design project that meets the requirements (further specified in the Course Evaluation section) and meet the submission deadline (specified in the internal guideline “Study Rules”).
The particular time schedule of the above mentioned compulsory lessons, or further compulsory participation, might be further specified by the project supervisor in the “project assignment”. The project assignment must be published in the Intranet FA simultaneously with the announcement of the topic description (before the registration of students).
In the case of a student's apology and with approval of the supervisor, personal participation may be substituted with online participation in the studio.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Basic literature

NEUFERT, Ernst a Peter NEUFERT. Navrhování staveb: zásady, normy, předpisy o zařízeních, stavbě, vybavení, nárocích na prostor, prostorových vztazích, rozměrech budov, prostorech, vybavení, přístrojích z hlediska člověka jako měřítka a cíle. 2. české vyd., (35. něm. vyd.). Praha: Consultinvest, 2000, 618 s. : il., plány. ISBN 80-901486-6-2. (CS)
Vyhláška č. 268/2009 Sb. o technických požadavcích na stavby (CS)
Vyhláška č. 398/2009 Sb. o obecných technických požadavcích zabezpečujících bezbariérové užívání staveb (CS)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme B_A+U Bachelor's, 3. year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Studio work

104 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer