Design workshop I – UPC
Introduction to Architectural Design
I had the opportunity to teach this course twice at the University of Applied Sciences (UPC); once with Architect Aldo Silva, and once with Architect Cynthia Bocanegra.
Students who have just entered the university, arrive very Young; for many of them, this is the first experience after high school, which is very diversem depending on the institution they come from. Her training for architects in the first semester includes bringing them closer to the discovery of architectural spatiality with its tangible (location, proportion, scale, luminosity, color, texture, etc.) and intangible (receptive, dynamic, living and privacy spaces, etc.) properties.
We agreed with my colleagues to introduce to the course, the utilization of new materials. Due to my experience with Bamboo, I was able to transmit the proper information to lead the students to discover the physical properties of Bamboo, focused on the goals compromised in the Course Syllabus.
That is how, after having experienced about spatial definitions in the first stage of the semester, at the second stage, the students proposed a spatial system based on the use of the properties of Bamboo, discovering ways to shape it up into unique pieces and associate them to others. In this way, they generated new parametric growth capacities and definition of surfaces (skins).
By the final stage, they were able to propose a spatial system based in specific requirements. This spatial system was represented in a 3D model at a scale of 1:25, with graphic representations of the proposal. Hence, we introduced the rookies to a new sensitivity needed for working with new materials. Also, we helped them to the proper iodentifications and use of definitions in architectural spaces. The results were exceptionally good, since the students were brought closer to a real working environment for architects in Peru. At the same time, using an innovative learning process, they put together innovation with their previous knowledge.
