Course syllabus for Dare to build, architects

The course syllabus contains changes
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Course syllabus adopted 2022-02-17 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameMod att bygga, arkitekt
  • CodeACE136
  • Credits22.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPDSD
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyArchitecture
  • ThemeArchitectural design project 22.5 c
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 17123
  • Maximum participants15
  • Open for exchange studentsYes
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0122 Project 9.5 c
Grading: TH		0 c0 c9.5 c0 c0 c0 c
0222 Project 13 c
Grading: TH		0 c0 c0 c13 c0 c0 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Fulfilling the entry qualifications for one of the following master's programmes:
MPDSD - Architecture and planning beyond sustainability,
MPARC - Architecture and urban design

Aim

Sustainable development is inherently cross-disciplinary and urgent. Thus, there is a need for integrated and transformative solutions fostering collaborations and shared learning between disciplines such as architecture and civil engineering.

The aim of this course is to provide students with a multi-disciplinary practice-based learning environment, where students are involved in the CDIO methodology (conceive, design, implement, operate) to realize a project into built results. This provides students relevant skills to enter their working life, such as effective communication across disciplinary borders, putting one's knowledge and abilities into a real context, and having the capacity to handle complex problems both in a technical design process as well as in a building process.

The course aims therefore also at developing the necessary skills to engage with local community members to create a built environment that fosters social inclusion and addresses the most important local needs as well as the larger issues we face today. It is important to lift these issues out of theory and into practiced based examples, showing that real change can be simultaneously made and learned.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

Knowledge and understanding
  1. Describe and refer to different methods and approaches to integrated sustainable architectural design solutions;
  2. Identify and explain the different practical implications of applied architectural design for a sustainable built environment;
  3. Identify and explain the structure of a project life cycle in relation to the CDIO methodology.
Abilities and skills
  1. Be able to conduct an explorative project to design and assess concrete proposals and solutions in a multi-disciplinary team of building-designers;
  2. Be able to apply architectural design tools and methods from previous coursework into a real-world project;
  3. Be able to visualize and communicate different proposals in a professional way to classmates, clients, stakeholders and experts from different backgrounds and in different stages of the design-build processes.
  4. Be able to work in multidisciplinary project teams, lead project work and present results throughout all phases of the CDIO process in the project life cycle;
  5. To motivate different proposals with reference to scientific, or experience-based, knowledge and value-based arguments;
  6. Develop effective strategies and conditions for effective teamwork in order to deliver projects successfully.
Ability of assessment and attitude
  1. To combine knowledge from different disciplines and sectors in proposals for actions and measures, and through architectural design for sustainable development;
  2. Explore the role of architects in collaboration with/contrast to the engineers and vice versa in the planning and construction process;
  3. Reflect on the professional role of architects and engineers, including critical thinking, professional ethics and the needs for life-long learning.

Content

Every year, the projects (if possible) are started in the Autumn within the design studio Design and Planning for Social Inclusion (MPDSD) with a preparatory co-creative and co-design process together with involved stakeholders and the local communities.

At the Dare to build, architects course, the projects are carried on into a working group composed of students and teaching staff which, in a collaborative way and during the Spring, develop further the design, preparations and pedagogics for the building phase; Finally, the building phase (in collaboration with the course Dare to build, civil engineers) provides the moment when the students from different disciplines implement and build the designs and concepts in a specific local context and together with the respective local community.

This course is integrated in the CDIO framework, focusing most heavily on the Implementation phase. The different phases are structured and modified as follows:
(re) Conceive - Developed through a participatory process within the design studio Design and Planning for Social Inclusion (MPDSD), in the Autumn and reconceived by Dare to build students;
(detail) Design - During the Study Period 3, in the design studio Dare to build, architects, participants further develop the details and redesign some elements of the project, and all necessary preparations for the construction phase, such as necessary material for the building permits, scheduling schematics, building site logistical plans, etc. In this phase all partners are involved in order to guarantee the exact feasibility of the implementation phase;
Implement - During the Study Period 4 and in collaboration with the course Dare to build, civil engineers, a reassessment and eventual modifications of the design is done through the lenses of the collaboration and the actual construction of the building is planned, executed and finished. All necessary building documentation is produced in order to sustain an informed and competent building process;
(plan to) Operate - The completed built project gets handed over to the stakeholders and local community, in a guided presentation and exhibition of the result (including possibly an inauguration event for the built project). All necessary final documentation for the operability of the project is produced and completed.

Organisation

The assignments will be described by the course description and the project brief, introduced at the first day of the course and further carried out in groups with different working tasks. Analysis, synthesis and application of knowledge and skills from previous courses is converged and achieved here through professional and staff led co-creation, interdisciplinary and practice-based workshops, tutorials, seminars, study visits, design work and practical construction work in the project.

Literature

Lists of (compulsory and) reference literature will be included in the course description.

Examination including compulsory elements

The architectural design qualities of the project are supervised, assessed and examined before the building phase (study period 4) starts.
The project is reviewed and evaluated through various oral and written assignments. Most of which will be group-based project tasks and include a reflective statement regarding the learning experience. The groups review and critique the work of each other (in a reflective and multi-disciplinary way). A final written individual reflection and conclusion is handed-in for individual examination.
Literature reviews and seminars around the topics of transdisciplinary collaborations between architects and civil engineers, ethical concerns and other complex challenges that the course and the project evolve around, are also part of the examination.

To pass the studio the following is required:
  • Attendance and active participation at lectures/seminars
  • Active participation in group work, presentations and cross critics
  • Delivery of course assignments of sufficient quality (fulfilling the requirements regarding content and presentation of the assignments, and in alignment with the course learning outcomes)
  • Attendance and active participation in construction of the building
The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to course rounds:
    • 2022-11-01: Examinator Examinator changed from Emilio Da Cruz Brandao (brandao) to Marco Adelfio (adelfio) by Viceprefekt
      [Course round 1]