Tuesday 19 August 2008

UNIT PROGRAMME

TERM1: PHASE 1- Material Departures

The first part of the term will focus upon the development of individual spatial and material vocabularies, initiated by the translation of Ukiyo-e (images of the floating world) into both surface and volumetric constructs.



Image: Crack & warp column- David Nash

Using latent properties of chosen materials as a catalyst, iterative constructions from both sheet and solid materials will yield unique volumetric, topological and tactile qualities. In Projects 1 & 2 emphasis will be given to production and technique via controlled (folding, laminating, carving etc.) and uncontrolled (casting, evacuating, melting, splitting etc.) processes.

Week1
30/09 Unit presentation
01/10 Student interviews
04/10 First unit meeting and introduction to Project No.1- Paper

Week 2
07/10 Tutorials JD
10/10 Pin-up JD/MG, review and debrief.
Introduction to Project No.2- Stone

Week 3
14/10 Tutorials JD
17/10 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 4
21/10 Tutorials JD
24/10 Pin Up JD/MG plus guests, review and debrief.
Introduction to Project No.3- Scissors


TERM1: PHASE 1I- Catalogue of Effects

The second phase of the term will focus upon the analysis and evaluation
of initial constructs and a critical assessment of their tactile, perceptual, spatial and organizational characteristics. This will be achieved via a number of different tasks:

Photography will be used to capture, record, reveal and clarify specific characteristics, variations and hierarchies in the early constructions, published in the form of individual books.



Image: Unfolded cube, Jiehwoo Seung, Inter 6 2007

Unfolded, cutaway and exploded drawing techniques will then be developed. These drawn constructions will be tailored to accommodate and reveal hidden aspects and criteria as each individual adopts methods in which to frame and plot tactile, topological, spatial or organisational criteria.

Common patterns, effects or characteristics that emerge will be used as categories for a collective taxonomy. This study will culminate in the publication of a catalogue compiled by the unit for collective use. It will also become a platform from which to explore hybrid spatial and material approaches as different operations and effects are recombined in uncommon ways.

Week 5
28/10 Tutorials JD
31/10 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 6
04/11 Tutorials JD
07/11 Presentation Projects 1-3 JD/MG plus guests.
Project No.4- Collage


TERM1: PHASE III- Mapping territories

The final phase of the first term will focus upon the representation of spaces, distance and time. Initial investigations will familiarize the unit with the historic, qualitative and strategic issues of the site for future intervention in London. This will also provide a testing ground to establish instruments and techniques in preparation for the Kyoto fieldwork to follow.

Each unit member will create a series of maps that will be plotted in conjunction with individual thematic research. This work will be formatted collectively and published as a unit manual to assist in the navigation of propositions later in the year.



Image: Map charting sequence of Sakura across Japan.

Fieldwork will focus upon differing urban situations in Japan. On arrival in Tokyo we will investigate differing hotel typologies by mapping through direct spatial encounters and experiences. Research will continue in the ancient city of Kyoto where we will study cultural artefacts and their positioning within the urban setting. Each study will be formed from a series of individual mappings of specific journeys highlighting different shifts in scale and recording edge conditions, forms of enclosure, sequences of space and modes of inhabitation.


Week 7
11/11 Tutorials JD
14/11 Review JD/MG/AF/MM
Bookmaking introduction AF

Week 8
18/11 Tutorials JD
21/11 Tutorials JD/AF/MM

Week 9
25/11 Tutorials JD
28/11 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 10
02/12 End of Term Review Presentation Projects 1-5 JD/MG plus guests
05/12 Unit Trip- leave for Japan
Fieldwork Tokyo
Fieldwork Kyoto


TERM 2: PHASE 1- Contaminated Journeys

Using earlier mappings as a starting point, the first phase of the second term will involve speculations for the London site which is peripheral to a cluster of significant cultural artefacts and tourist locations. Collective workshops will provoke a questioning of the brief, existing strategic interests and typological precedents by contaminating the site with new constructed spatial sequences.



Image: Case No. 00-17163 (Fragment), Diller & Scofidio

Week 1
13/01 Progress Reviews
16/01 Presentation Tokyo/ Kyoto Fieldwork
Introduction of Site mapping project

Week 2
20/01 Tutorials JD
23/01 Tutorials JD/ MG

Week 3
27/01 Tutorials JD
30/01 Introduction to Project No. 7- Resting Place
Collective Strategies Workshop JD/MG plus guests.


TERM 2: PHASE II- Resting Place

Individual propositions will allow each student will develop a hotel brief placed within the physical, social and political framework of the site. Individual strategies will reflect the positioning of the proposal within the wider context via its movements and trajectories.

Workshops, tutorials and technical consultations will focus on the translation of strategies into the development of a hierarchy of different spaces formulated from the culmination of a series of journeys.



Image: extract from Functioning the Oblique, Claude Parent/ Paul Virilio

Week 4
03/02 Tutorials JD
06/02 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 5
10/02 Tutorials JD
13/02 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 6
17/02 Tutorials JD
20/02 Review Individual Strategies JD/MG

Week 7
24/02 Tutorials JD
27/02 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 8
03/03 Individual Tutorials JD
06/03 Fragment Workshop- JD/MG + Guests BL/ RL

Week 9
10/03 Technical Tutorials- Development of Technical Strategy JD/ SA
13/03 Tutorials JD/MG.

Week 10
17/03 Individual Tutorials JD
20/03 Fragment Workshop II- JD/MG/RL

Week 11
24/03 End of Term Review JD/DB + Guests
27/03 Hotel Seminar/ Individual Tutorials JD/ Technical Tutorials SA


TERM 3: Critical Fragments

The objective of the final term will be to develop large-scale tectonic fragments and inhabited sectional drawings and studies. Alongside the resolution of specific technical concerns, these approaches will be used to demonstrate spatial hierarchies, adjacencies, material patterns, atmospheric conditions and their affect upon inhabitation.



Image: Section through Nora House, Atelier Bow-Wow

Week 1
28/04 Review JD/ MG + Guests
01/05 Tutorials JD/ MG

Week 2
06/05 Inter Previews JD/ MG
07/05 Inter Previews JD/ MG

Week 3
12/05 Technical Tutorials JD/SA
15/05 Review- Axonometric/ Exploded/ 3d Drawing JD/MG + guests

Week 4
19/05 Tutorials JD
22/05 Review-1:20 Section JD/MG + guests

Week 5
26/05 Tutorials JD + TS Final Submission
29/05 Final Jury JD/MG + Guests

Week 6
02/06 Tutorials JD
05/06 Tutorials JD/ MG

Week 7
09/06 Tutorials JD
12/06 Tutorials JD/MG

Week 8
16/06 2nd year End of Year reviews JD/ MG
19/06 3rd year Tutorials JD/ Exhibition meeting/ building

Week 9
22/06 Intermediate (Part 1) Final Check JD/MG
23/06 Intermediate (Part 1) Final Check JD/MG

Week 10
30/06 Intermediate (Part 1) External Examination JD
03/07 Opening of Exhibition

Unit Structure

Unit Master: Jonathan Dawes AA Dip ARB

Unit Tutor: Marco Guarnieri AA Dip

Workshops: Narrative & Bookmaking- Annabel Fraser, Marian Macken
Fragment/ Digital Modelling + Fabrication- Rui Li and Ben Lee

Technical Consultant: Scobie Alvis- Technical Director- Structures, Hyder Consulting


Unit Support/ Blog

The unit will be expected to attend twice weekly tutorials and also presentations held throughout the year with unit staff and external critics. In addition, each and every student will be expected to contribute to the unit blog which will continue to complement studio-based teaching to provide continuous feedback and an active forum for debate concerning unit themes and individual progress.

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