ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

Specific Foundation / Core

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

Learning outcomes: Upon successful completion of the studio course, students will: a) have good comprehension of the parammeters of environmental design, pertinent to residential design (work-live environment), b) have good comprehension of the fundamental principles and tools of environmental design, c) have developed the ability of creatively utilising environmental parammeters in the design process, d) have developed critical thinking in relation to the environmental impact of architectural design.

Environmental design is a process of integration and utilisation of environmental parameters in the design of programs, policies, buildings, or products. This process is refined in a variety of methodological approaches, at the scale of architectural and urban design. The creative use of environmental parameters, in the design process, does not merely aim to adapt buildings to the landscape and climate, to ensure comfort, but actively seeks to integrate environmental and socio-political conditions of a place. Taking passive response to local climate, as a point of departure, the studio investigates a range of environmental tools and strategies, pertinent to the interrelation of building and context. Optimal orientation, the adaptation to local conditions (climate, microclimate, terrain, etc.), the use of solar energy for heating and daylighting, natural ventilation, sustainable materials, or efficient water management, while deserving a technical approach, are investigated and elaborated upon as integral parts of the design process. Students work on two different schemes in the course of the semester, with a view to investigating architectural responses to different environmental conditions. Urban farming forms a common thematic axis for the two schemes. First, a small community space for urban farmers gives the opportunity to employ environmental strategies of design and construction in an open unobstructed site in the urban periphery of Thessaloniki. The second scheme, a small residential space conceived as a “parasite” structure on the roof of an existing block of flats, explores architectural responses to environmental restrictions set by a densely built urban environment in the centre of the city. Lectures by members of the teaching group and presentations by guest speakers are scheduled for the duration of the semester and will take place alongside individual and group critiques of student projects.

Environmental Design, Passive Design of Buildings / Envelopes, Environmental Strategies for the built Environment

15-07-2019