Construction Thematic Subnetwork
2006
Call for the Fifth EAAE-ENHSA Construction Teachers' Sub-network Workshop
Accommodating new Aspects of Interdisciplinarity in Contemporary Construction Teaching
School of Architecture , University IUAV Venice , Italy , 23 -25 November 2006
As cultural expression or artistic performance, as meaningful practice or creative discipline, Architecture has always been the outcome of a manifold of complex, multifaceted understanding and acting. Whether it is sometimes dominated by aesthetics; while other times by technique, sciences, and even sometimes by politics or social and cultural aspects of human life and biology itself, it always remains a multi-, trans-, inter-disciplinary domain of knowledge and practice.
It could be argued that the history of Architecture of the last five centuries is the history of aspects of interdisciplinarity, mainly in the way of thinking and creating s pat ial manifestations of our social and cultural life. Starting from a multidisciplinary expertise possessed by one person in the Renaissance, architecture has progressively passed through the classical period to those aspects of interdisciplinarity of Modernist architecture, defined around the sciences and then to those of Post-Modernism, defined around the humanistic sciences and later on around the new construction technologies of the High-Tech architecture of the 80s.
Nowadays, architectural contemplation and practice are experiencing a shift of interdisciplinarity characterized by the coordinating, articulating, and dominant role of digital technologies. In this new situation the collaboration between architects, computer scientists, engineers, nanotechnologists, material scientists, biologists, enviromentalists and mechanical engineers appears to be increasingly necessary a condition. Any creative action takes place in a digital environment which affects all aspects of architectural form from the more abstract and conceptual to its pure materiality. New architectural ideas and concepts related to the generation of forms that correspond to new conceptions of human and social life, of space and time, of nature and context, of speed and change, of communication and globalization, of complexity and order, of stability and movement support and sustain this new condition.
In this context the education of architects and more specifically, construction education, is progressively transforming in order to keep abreast with the incredibly fast development of technological possibilities and infrastructures; more informed about the amazingly wide variety of totally new construction materials and techniques; more aware of the rapid deterioration of the environment and of the imperative necessity for a built environment, less energy-consuming and more sustainable; more attentive to an increasingly unstable labour market and increasingly specialised professional practice; more conscious of the tremendously rapid transformations of the logics and the ideas which generate contemporary architecture; more sensitive to the unbelievably fast-changing values and attitudes of our contemporary culture; more responsive to the rapid transformations of our every day life; more responsive to the demand for new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration for generating new forms of contemporary architecture.
The emerging question nowadays is how can construction teaching accommodate this new interdisciplinary reality? How can a school of architecture prepare its students to be active, good partners, efficient and productive members of a design team that strives for innovation in architectural form and its construction? What must be the competences of graduates which will ensure their capacity to be effectively adapted to this new professional and academic environment? How could the dialogue with specialists of other disciplines become efficient, fruitful and productive? What will be the common ground of the dialogue? How can this ensure, promote, enhance, and develop, research and innovation in building efficiency and material intelligence?
The workshop is primarily addressed to construction teachers as well as to all those other specialists with whom architects have to work with. Construction teachers are invited to present teaching examples where interdisciplinarity is in action. There will also be an opportunity for those organizing construction design courses along the lines of interdisciplinary teaching to share their visions and perspectives. Specialists such as nanotechnologists, material scientists, biologists, enviromentalists, computer engineers, mechanical engineers will also be invited to present cases of collaboration with architects on the design and construction of contemporary buildings.
The workshop will be organised around the following four main themes:
Theme 1: Interdisciplinarity - representation – construction – construction pedagogy:
How can computer specialists collaborate with architects in order for a file to arrive at a factory? What are the necessary competences of architecture graduates that can enable them to collaborate with specialists and/or can use software to produce working drawings? What is the role of the digital environments in modern construction? How can new representation tools and software aid and facilitate the construction of architecture? Does the production of computer drawings change the teaching methods and pedagogy of construction?
Theme 2: Interdisciplinarity – simulation/environmental control – construction –construction pedagogy:
Can architects alone work on the design of sustainable buildings and settlements? What is the necessary knowledge base that architects ought to have for designing intelligent buildings? How can environmental scientists/engineers collaborate with architects and the design team, in general, in order to produce environmentally-controllable buildings? What are the necessary competences of architecture graduates that will enable them to collaborate with environmental scientists/engineers to produce sustainable energy-saving buildings? Does the use of computers change the teaching methods and pedagogy of construction with an emphasis on the environment?
Theme 3: Interdisciplinarity – morphogenesis – construction – construction pedagogy:
What are the necessary competences of architecture graduates that will enable them to collaborate with specialists and/or can use software to produce working drawings? Can conventional construction methods allow for the materialization of designs that have been generated through computer software? How can computer specialists collaborate with architects in order for a file to arrive at a factory? How can new representation tools and software aid and facilitate the construction of contemporary architecture? Does the generation of design through computers change the teaching methods and pedagogy of construction?
Theme 4: Interdisciplinarity – new material(isation) – construction – construction pedagogy:
What are the necessary competences of architecture graduates that will enable them to collaborate with specialists in order to use new materials? What is the necessary knowledge for that? How can architects play a crucial role in the creation of new materials? How can material scientists collaborate with architects in order for new materials to be exploited? Can conventional construction methods allow for the incorporation of new materials in design? How can new materials aid and facilitate the construction of contemporary architecture? Does the use of new materials change the teaching methods and pedagogy of construction?
The workshop is debate oriented. You are invited to contribute to the debates by writing a paper of 2000 words to present your views, ideas, experiences and proposals on the aforementioned topics. You will have to provide an abstract of your paper (no more than 500 words) by September 30 for the organizing committee to finalize the workshop's programme. Please state below the title of your abstract what is the theme your paper is related to. So as to allow you to reassess your views in light of the debates, once they have taken place at the workshop, you are asked to submit your final papers by the end of October for the publication of the proceedings of this year's workshop.
For any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us on mvoyat@arch.auth.gr .
Maria Voyatzaki
EAAE-ENHSA Construction Network Coordinator
EAAE Council
