Course syllabus for Urban design: Space in cities

Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-02 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameStadens rum
  • CodeACE595
  • Credits10.5 Credits
  • OwnerTKARK
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyArchitecture
  • ThemeArchitectural design project 7.5 c,Environment 1.5 c
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 45129
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0124 Project 7.5 c
Grading: UG		7.5 c
0224 Written and oral assignments, part A 1.5 c
Grading: UG		1.5 c
0324 Written and oral assignments, part B 1.5 c
Grading: UG		1.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first 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

The same as for the programme that owns the course.
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

  • Architectural design and aesthetics, or equivalent
  • Building design: Space in buildings, or equivalent
  • Housing design: Space for living, or equivalent
The course is part of the learning sequence Design and builds on and deepens knowledge of applied aesthetics, morphology and design which were covered in the above-mentioned courses.

Aim

The course is part of a sequence of design courses that, throughout the bachelor education, provide knowledge and skills to identify, explore, analyse and present high-quality sustainable spatial design at various scales. In the course, we change the focus from individual buildings to urban design with a starting point in urban design qualities and the city's public, common, and private spaces for movement and staying.

The aim of the course is to provide basic knowledge about the description, analysis and design of the urban space and structure in different types of cities and communities. The work focuses on an exploratory sketch of the urban space and urban life based on the city's basic morphological conditions. The course examines how these conditions can be combined and changed into different urban spaces and urban patterns with different characters and qualities.

The Course module Design deals with:
  • How urban spaces have been designed under different ideals and historical eras through analyses of city districts in Gothenburg and a study trip.
  • The design of urban space based on the city's structure and focus on the design of the city's various components (streets, blocks, buildings, etc.) and its shape, scale, proportions, density, connection, variety, and function.
  • Division and interaction between public, common and private spaces for movement and staying.
  • The interaction between the design of spaces and people's use and experience.
Course module Sustainable development deals with the work of describing, analysing, and designing urban spaces with knowledge of how the design has an effect on the city's microclimate, ecosystem and human well-being and living environment.

Course module Creative and representational media deals with drawing techniques with both analogue and digital tools that support the architect's work in developing, visualizing, and communicating an urban planning project and discussing urban spaces.

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

Course module Design (Project)
After completing the module, the student should be able to:
1. Describe, apply, and argue for the design of different urban spaces and their measurements, proportions, scale, variation, density, and functions based on central morphological elements such as street, place, block, property, and building.
2. Explain the interaction between urban space and urban life as well as the difference between public, private and common spaces in the city and the character of the transition between them.
3. Apply urban planning theories to describe, analyse, and evaluate historical and contemporary ideals in urban planning.
4. In text and image, formulate spatial concepts for the exploratory work with future urban spaces.
5. Compile, present and reflect on knowledge from the different parts of the course in a visual way.

Course module Sustainable development (Written and oral assignments, part A)
After completing the module, the student should be able to:
6. Describe, analyze and design urban spaces with a focus on microclimates and ecosystems in relation to human well-being.

Course module Creative and representational media (Written and oral assignments, part B)
After completing the module, the student should be able to:
7. Combine analogue and digital tools to create and modify sketches, drawings, and models of urban spaces.
8. Evaluate and apply suitable representation media for description, laboratory, and visualization of spatial qualities in different scales and contexts.

Content

The three modules run in parallel throughout the course to gradually increase understanding and knowledge of how the design of urban spaces affects microclimate and the conditions for good living environments for humans, as well as to investigate and evaluate how different forms of representation can be used for different scales and the stages of the sketching process. Within each module, there is an introduction to the respective field and to the specific submissions where the module's learning objectives are examined.

The teaching in the three modules is organized based on an overall division of the course into three stages. The first stage of the course focuses on characterizations and analyzes of urban spatial districts from different eras. In the second step, teaching is based on urban planning historical visions, differences and ideals based on the characterizations, and with support in lectures, analysis of reference projects and a study trip to a major European city. In the third step, a series of exploratory labs is carried out that examines design and urban qualities in different urban spaces, with a focus on both the individual urban space and its context in the overall urban structure.

During the course, each student collects their work material in a logbook which becomes a personal reference collection with urban planning analyses, reference examples, concepts and laboratory work.

Organisation

The course is based on laboratory-based teaching where students work in different groups and learn from and with each other in the studio spaces in combination with supervision. The respective elaboration is based on a sequence of introduction, tutorial and review. In addition to elaborations, the course consists of lectures, study trips and seminars. The lectures introduce the students to various aspects of urban space and provide both practical and theoretical perspectives on urban space. The study trips provide insight and experience of historical and contemporary references. The seminars develop reflection and transfer of knowledge between theory and practice.

Literature

A list of reference literature and a course compendium with a selection of texts is given out in connection with the start of the course. The book Soft City by David Sim is included as a reference work for the course.

David Sim (2019) Soft City – Building Density of Everyday Life. Island Press: Washington. 

Examination including compulsory elements

Examination takes place through:
  • Continuous examination of laborations corresponding to 7.5 ECTS and mainly examining learning objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8
  • Written and oral assignments, part A on sustainable development with regard to analysis and design of the city's space to strengthen people's well-being and living environment, which corresponds to 1.5 credits and mainly examines learning objectives 2, 3, 6
  • Written and oral assignments, part B on creative and representational media that correspond to 1.5 credits and mainly examine learning objectives 7, 8
  • Final submission with reflection on the compilation of the logbook which mainly examines learning objective 5
  • Active participation in briefings and final criticism.
Continuous examination means that examination takes place through several reviews with submission requirements that are announced before each elaboration. Compulsory elements are announced at the start of the course.

A student who is not approved in the course after the regular examination must be given the opportunity to be examined through supplementation after the end of the course if the examiner considers it feasible. If, after two attempts at completion, the student still cannot be approved, the student must retake the course. Assessment of completions takes place during Chalmers' re-examination periods. It is the student's responsibility to check reported study results in Ladok after each study period and to contact the course examiner for instructions on supplementation if an approved result is missing.

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.