Supervisor: Peter Staub
Assistant: Bianca Anna Böckle
Transparency is a complex term that can be understood literally or phenomenally (Rowe and Slutzky 1964). During the Winter Semester 2017-18 Studio Staub/ Böckle will explore this dichotomy through designing an urban community by starting from a fundamental element of architecture: the window (Koolhaas 2014).
Taking into consideration the history of the window’s development and its typology (Tsukamoto 2012), as well as its replacement by the curtain wall façade, air-conditioning and ventilation systems etc, the Studio will address questions of co-existence, privacy and publicity. We will investigate how architecture and its specific components and programmes can encourage societal interaction, resulting in students’ individual design proposals for buildings that, as a coherent and negotiated ensemble, provide inspiration for the emerging discourse on alternative formats of collective living. Visits to successful cooperatives and neighbourhoods as well as meetings with their designers will provide essential input.
Studio Staub/ Böckle will follow a step-by-step process, developing skills and constantly adding complexity and depth to the projects throughout the semester. This process requires students to develop fictional scenarios based on scientific findings, to constantly re-evaluate and re-negotiate their designs within the studio community, and to challenge themselves regarding the modes of mediation/ communication of their projects. We take particular inspiration from artist and photographers such as Dan Graham, Thomas Demand or Gregory Crewdson.
Koolhaas, Rem (2014): Fundamentals. Venice: Marsilio
Tsukamoto, Yoshiharu (2012): WindowScape. Victoria: Page One Publishing
Rowe, C. & Slutzky, R. (1964): Transparency. Place: Publisher