5812295: Independent Study: Crafting Clay Research (C&S, 4 ECTS)

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Semester:WS 24/25
Type:Module/Examination
Language:English
ECTS-Credits:4.0
Scheduled in semester:3
Semester Hours per Week / Contact Hours:8.0 L / 6.0 h
Self-directed study time:114.0 h

Module coordination/Lecturers

Curricula

Master's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2019)
Master's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2024)

Events

Description

This optional module allows for various kinds of research studies. It is closely connected to the five units of the Liechtenstein School of Architecture and is usually part of ongoing research projects. The supervision consists of directing the students towards clear results within a given field of research. The individual study is reviewed within the respective unit.

Craft & Structure Unit:
Clay is traditionally known as an materia prima for brick manufacturing especially in the Netherlands, Belgium and the Region around Liechtenstein but has an even longer history in local uses in all the partner countries, where different techniques like rammed earth, pisé or adobe bricks were widely used next to other local building traditions like wood constructions. It is the focus of this research module to unveil these local traditions, to collect knowledge about the former uses and to transfer experiences into current building processes.
Clay construction is originally one of the most sustainable building systems which has been neglected since the last century and has lost its role dramatically due to the focus on industrial building processes. Since the recent changes in perspective on the building sector, the interest has grown on the different types of use of clay in Europe. Clay is widely available and can be locally processed almost everywhere. In this research, we will explore the broad varieties of the traditional use of clay in the Bodensee Rheintal Vorarlberg region: clay infills in timber frame constructions, hybrid wattle and daub systems consisting of interwoven sticks or reeds, with a covering of mud or clay similar to Bahareque and other techniques, that were widely used and often rendered, and were more typical than rammed earth walls.
The Independent Study module is part of the Erasmus+ project "Crafting Clay - Exploring circularity with local earth" that aims to develop a wide interest in the use of clay on various levels of teaching and researching. In interlinking the knowledge of the different Universities, of local experts as well as regional manufacturers on an international level, a broad range of unexpected outcomes are expected, and new results of hybrid construction techniques and possible uses will be produced.

Qualifications

    • understand the broad issues of sustainability in a defined research area.
    • follow a given research topic and develop it coherently into a clear result.
    • manage their own learning within a research project.
    • identify a research topic and develop it coherently into a clear proposal.
    • analyse data and situations under guidance, using a range of techniques and methods appropriate to the subject.
    • critically evaluate evidence to support research topics, reviewing its reliability, validity and significance.
    • explain competently, discuss and critique their own work through oral presentation, writing or visual communication.
    • understand how to work with confidence in the complex organisational and community settings within which the applied methods and design processes are typically deployed.
    • collaborate in teams and support each other during the learning process.
    • gain confidence in their own role in collaborating with an ongoing research project.

Admission Requirements

Registration via the intranet of the University of Liechtenstein is not binding and is only valid in combination with the written consent of the respective unit. This applies to all Individual Electives in the Master's degree programme in Architecture.

Literature

Relevant reading will be made available at the beginning of the course. A list of recommended literature will be announced in the course and updated on an ongoing basis.

Exam Modalities

4 ECTS, 8 LE ( 114 h private study time)

Start, final submission and presentation can be individually
defined with the respective tutors.

Comments

Individual appointments will be set with the tutor.

Exams

  • Independent Study: Crafting Clay Research (C&S,4 ECTS) (WS 24/25, bestätigt)