150
Urban Studies
REGGIO DI CALABRIA
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The Laboratory will be carried out in continuity with the MedASA Project, an international project coordinated by the University of Naples Federico II and our University, in partnership with: the Polis University (Tirana, Albania), the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Faculty of Architecture-Skopje (Skopje, North Macedonia), and the University of Montenegro (Podgorica, Montenegro).
The general objective of the Laboratory is to address the complex design issues of an urban scale, both with regard to the clarity of the settlement principles, and to the attention to environmental issues and resource saving, and to the social and participatory demands, as well as to the related complex infrastructural, planning and implementation issues. The course will be divided into a teaching laboratory composed of two modules (Urban planning for urban regeneration CEAR-12/B, A. Taccone - Public space planning CEAR-09/A M. Tornatora) aimed at deepening the study of tools and techniques related to the contemporary landscape, the built environment, environmental and territorial sociology, the legitimation of urban planning, the definition of settlement principles and the characteristics of public space and urban centralities through appropriate design hypotheses/verifications.
For the Urban Planning for Urban Regeneration module, students will be involved in a series of experiments during which, based on the readings of the best and most recent “best practices” of urban design in the Italian, European and international panorama, design proposals will be achieved for an innovative development through the redesign of spaces as a system capable of reconnecting residential areas, public areas and natural corridors of connection. In this conception, open space will be configured as a tool for urban integration where green areas will assume an important role in the activation of ecological-environmental rebalancing processes within cities, in order to give strength to the idea of an urban ecological network.
Course Prerequisites
No particular prerequisites are required. The preparatory courses are provided for by the Teaching Regulations.
Teaching Methods
1_ COURSE STRUCTURE AND TEACHING
Lessons
28 Hours
Topics (in summary):
- Form, function, beauty for urban quality
- Context: surrounding environment.
- Identity: attractive and distinctive.
- Built form: a coherent model of development.
- Mobility: accessible and sustainable.
- Nature: improved and optimized.
- Public spaces: safe, social and inclusive.
- Uses – mixed and integrated.
- Resources: efficient and resilient.
Exercises
20 Hours
Experimental application through a significant case study to offer considerations on a topic, observations and descriptions, interpretation, food for thought, design propositions in the form of guidelines.
Other
12 Hours
Specialized seminars
Overall total
60
2_ AUTONOMOUS LEARNING OF THE STUDENT
The student will independently develop a repertoire of best practices related to design work. The result of the repertoire will be made available to all participants in the module in targeted seminars to share it and identify useful processes for the construction of scenarios and models for the design of urban space.
Assessment Methods
The course includes the verification of the contents covered during the lessons and explored in depth in the texts indicated in the bibliography. This learning verification consists in the verification of the outcome of the project application path.
To take the exam, students must obtain a certificate certifying attendance of at least 70% of scheduled lessons and must successfully complete the scheduled periodic assignments.
The exam will focus on the contents of the module, on the topics of interest for further educational study and on the application design experience.
Texts
1. Fallanca, Concetta. Gli dèi della città: progettare un nuovo umanesimo. Milano: Franco Angeli, 2016.
2. Asvis, Urban@it. L’Agenda urbana per lo sviluppo sostenibile. Obiettivi e proposte. https://asvis.it/public/asvis/files/AgendaUrbana.pdf.
3. Healthy street website. https://healthystreets.com/home/ lucysaunders/about-lucy-saunders/. last accessed 2019/12/28
4. Giovanna Bianchi, “La qualità dello ‘spazio del quotidiano’: pratiche e strumenti di accompagnamento”, Urbanistica 136/2008
5. Elena Marchigiani, Guide e manuali di "better practice" come ausilio alla pianificazione in Inghilterra, by Planum. The Journal of Urbanism, no. 8, vol. 1/2004 (I Semester 2004)
Contents
1_DESCRIPTION
The course is aimed at providing students attending the fifth year of the Degree Course in Architecture (LM-4), a cultural advancement on the major themes of Urban Regeneration, through observations, interpretative descriptions and design propositions in the form of illustrated guidelines for the design of healthy and inclusive urban spaces.
2_COURSE PROGRAMME
The contents will concern the transformation project of the urban space, addressing its multiple characteristics, with particular attention to the definitions of form, functionality, beauty for urban quality and sustainability. The course will be set in a proactive vision of innovative policies relating to urban regeneration for public spaces, highlighting principles and examples to be applied locally starting from a careful analysis of the context.
The topics of study and research are outlined as follows:
- Form, functionality, beauty for urban quality.
- Context: surrounding environment.
- Identity: attractive and distinctive.
- Built form: a coherent model of development.
- Mobility: accessible and sustainable.
- Nature: improved and optimized.
- Public spaces: safe, social and inclusive.
- Uses – mixed and integrated.
- Resources: efficient and resilient.
3_EXPECTED RESULTS
Knowledge and understanding
Students must demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge and understanding in the sectors of Urban Design and that they have acquired knowledge and skills that allow them to develop, through the development of original ideas and in a research context, a design exercise.
Applying knowledge and understanding
Students must demonstrate that they are able to apply their knowledge and understanding in order to apply a methodologically correct approach in the exercise phase, and that they possess adequate skills both to devise and support arguments and solve problems in their field of study, and have the ability to conceive, design and implement a research process.
Making judgements
Students must demonstrate that they have the ability to integrate knowledge and manage complexity, as well as to formulate judgements on the basis of limited or incomplete information, including reflection on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgements.
Communication skills
Students must demonstrate that they can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions in a clear and relevant way.
Learning skills
Students must demonstrate that they have developed the learning skills that are necessary for them to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.
More information
For particular categories of students (workers, part-time or with special needs) there is the possibility, through a specific training agreement, to operate with a particular form of blended learning in virtual classes, using the mailing list of the module on the dedicated teacher page.