Course syllabus for Urban spaces

Course syllabus adopted 2023-02-13 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameStadsrum
  • CodeARK513
  • Credits12 Credits
  • OwnerTKARK
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyArchitecture
  • ThemeArchitectural design project 12 c
  • DepartmentARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 45130
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0119 Project 12 c
Grading: UG		 12 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

At least 60 university credits in Years 1 and 2 of the Architecture program, or equivalent work from comparable architecture or design education. 
Swedish.

Aim

The aim of this course is to give basic knowledge and skills concerning design of urban space for different use in different types of cities and settlements. During the course students build up their own bank of references of different sorts of urban spaces. The work focuses on design and analysis of urban environments based on the basic morphological elements: street, space, plot and building. In the course we study how these can be varied and combined to different urban patterns and urban spaces with different characters.

The course treats:
  • The form, size, configurations, density, proportions and contents of urban spaces through laborations and analyses
  • The theoretical and practical aspects of urban design and how these are balanced in practice
  • The interplay between people and urban spaces
  • How urban spaces have been designed through different ideologies and historic eras
  • How society balance private and public interests through legal planning procedures based on the planning and building act

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

  • Apply different methods to characterise and analyse spatial qualities.
  • Account for theoretical points of departure for urban design and planning as well as historic and present ideals that influence the design of different urban spaces.
  • Apply and argue for appropriate measures, proportions and dimensioning conditions for the design of places, streets, plots and buildings.
  • Compile, present and account for description, analyses and urban design sketches in a legible and convincing way.
  • Understand and interpret a formal plan and its descriptions according to the Swedish planning and building act.

Content

The course is built up around a series of thematic characterizations and laborations of urban spaces. Each student compiles her or his own sketchbook with assignments and urban space references from field trips and desk top studies.

Organisation

The course is built up on three intertwined parts:
  1. Characterizations and analyses of urban spaces in different areas in Gothenburg.
  2. Studies of urban theories based on the analyses, lectures, seminars, desktop studies, reference projects and the field trip.
  3. A series of spatial investigations of the basic urban morphological elements: streets, places, plots and buildings create different qualities for urban spaces.
The course is implemented by a team of teachers and supervisors.

Literature

A compendium with a selection of texts and a reading list with reference litterature will be provided at the start of the course.

Examination including compulsory elements

Requirements to pass:
  • Approved assignments and sketches
  • Complete sketchbook
  • Active participation at supervision and crits
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.