60
Architectural and Urban Composition
REGGIO DI CALABRIA
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The first-year Architectural Composition Course focuses on providing students with a basic understanding of the formation, design, and composition of a space intended for inhabitation with simple functions, including its structure, articulation, and the elementary aggregation of its constituent elements.
Therefore, the expected outcomes and learning objectives outlined take into account the fact that this course is offered in the first year of the curriculum.
In order to achieve the expected results of the course programme and the proposed experimentation, the didactic offer articulated in the different activities pursues the following
Qualifying educational objectives: the aim of the course is, also through exercises in composition and decomposition of architecture
provide students with the necessary tools for the study, understanding and elaboration of an architectural project, addressing the main disciplinary concepts inherent to the design of a small architecture.
Specific training objectives (with reference to the theme of the course/workshop): in particular, the course specifically aims to transfer basic skills and knowledge of both the theoretical aspects and the tools for setting up and controlling a small architectural project.
It is intended to enable the student to: acquire a "method", understood as an articulated succession of stages that allows an architectural project to be developed; know how to deal with a theme that has urban implications with a southern city, with its urban history, its economy, its social fabric: in general its context.
Specifically, given the first-year placement in a five-year specialized degree program, which involves increasing difficulty until the graduation year, the objectives of the course are:
1. Learn to read a plan, an elevation, and a section of a building, and then be able to redesign it, being able to distinguish its various constituent elements.
2. Understand the types of exhibition pavilions and single-family homes, including their distinctive characteristics, also in relation to the history of architecture.
3. Learn the fundamental terms of architectural design language and begin to develop a foundation in architectural theory through the study of essays and projects.
4. Acquire basic knowledge of architectural construction and materials: walls, pillars, floors, windows, doors, roofs, etc.
5. Develop the acquired graphic, historical, theoretical, spatial, typological, and technological knowledge by applying it to the design of an exhibition pavilion and a single-family home, represented with drawings and a model.
Course Prerequisites
The Architectural Composition 1 course, the first design workshop in the second semester of the first year, has no prerequisites but is intended to provide students with the critical and operational tools necessary to achieve the educational objectives, in coordination with the History of Contemporary Architecture course.
By the first semester, students should have already begun to acquire basic skills and notions in technical and architectural drawing, including the graphic representation of architecture in plan and elevation/section.
Teaching Methods
1. COURSE STRUCTURE AND TEACHING
Distributed for frontal teaching hours (10 hours=1 cfu) (as per register)
Lectures: (classroom hours/year): 30 hours
Exercises: (hours/year in the classroom): 20 hours
Practical activities: (hours/year in the classroom): 10 hours
Other: individual study
Calendar of training activities (also only indicating the week/semester with reference to the teaching calendar)
Classes will take place in the second semester of 2025/26, from February to May 2026, and will include one day a week of classroom lectures, with a very tight schedule alternating between lectures given by the lecturer on the one hand, and exercises to be carried out at home, every week, by the students, also in the "free hand" mode. These teaching moments are planned in a tight schedule in order to engage the student on a continuous basis. A great deal of importance is attached to the home exercise, which represents the fundamental moment of growth and in which the student must also draw "freehand" and with sketches.
2. AUTONOMOUS LEARNING OF THE STUDENT
The student is required to do individual work for a total of 90 hours:
1 cfu=25 hours (10 hours frontal/15 by the student*)
- In-depth study/study on bibliography (theoretical part): 20 hours
- Test preparation (experimentation): 35 hours
- Exam preparation: 35 hours
The Laboratory, as is in its nature and specificity, provides for an intense activity to be carried out in the classroom, on a weekly basis. In-depth studies to be carried out at home are also envisaged. Students will have to study essays and magazines, masters of twentieth-century architecture, they will have to learn how to make notes, they will have to make models/plastics and photos, they will finally have to redraw the projects they study and also draw freehand, in the form of sketches, what they will elaborate as a personal project
Assessment Methods
Modalities and stages of verification (intermediate and final) of learning
- **To be carried out in the week available in the calendar (Art. 18 paragraph 3)
ES (simulation)
0_ test to check basic knowledge (start in training activities)
1_ intermediate checks on the programme in lectures and seminars
2 _ final check - Final Review/ WORKSHOP (May 2026) **
(cf. art. 14 teaching regulations/ attendance obligation)
The topics dealt with during the lectures are also aimed at carrying out a series of preliminary assignments aimed at checking the student's level of attention, reception and performance in relation to what is being dealt with from time to time. All exercises/deliveries/examinations are subject to an assessment from time to time regularly recorded in a special register.
The final examination concerns the assessment of the final project/exercise compared with the results obtained during the course in the various preliminary assignments.
Examination procedure: Theory/Practice
The examination will be taken individually, by each student, as are all the exercises, both in the classroom and at home. The design solutions adopted will be returned through sketches, technical drawings, models and a short video presentation.
The examination may be taken following verification and certification of classroom attendance of no less than 70% of the hours set out in the lecture calendar. Course attendance is assigned individually on the basis of actual participation and is recorded by the lecturer.
The examination consists in the presentation and discussion of the final project boards, also taking into account the evaluation of the intermediate and accumulated papers during the classroom exercises and workshops, and in the interview on theoretical topics dealt with during the lessons and on the recommended bibliography.
Texts
- Cardullo, Francesco, Gli schizzi di studio, Roma, Officina, 1996.
- Le Corbusier, Verso un’architettura (ed. originale 1923), ed. it. a cura di Pierluigi Cerri e Pierluigi Nicolin, Longanesi & C., Milano 1996.
- Ponti, Gio, “Amate l’Architettura. L’architettura è un cristallo”, (ed. originale Vitali e Ghianda, Genova, 1957), ed. recenti Rizzoli, Milano, 2008, Quodlibet, Macerata, 2022.
- Séstito, Marcello, Alfabeti d’Architettura. Ricognizioni e precognizioni dell'operare nella progettazione, Gangemi Editore, Roma, 1994.
- Vicari Aversa, Clara Stella, Architettura nell’illimitato bordo terracqueo, Le Penseur Edizioni, Brienza, 2025.
Reference sitography:
- https://casabellaweb.eu
- https://www.domusweb.it/it.html
- Serpentine Pavilions - Serpentine Galleries al link: https://www.serpentinegalleries.org
- Vicari Aversa Clara Stella, “César Portela, l'architetto del mare”, in: Il Giornale dell'Architettura, Ed. Umberto Allemandi & C. S.p.A., Torino, 2023, https://ilgiornaledellarchitettura.com/2023/05/16/cesar-portela-larchitetto-del-mare/
- https://www.and-architettura.it/index.php/and/article/view/616/569 (Vicari Aversa, C.S., “Il-limitato dinamismo sui bordi: Lo spazio “from the spoon to the moon?”, in: AND Rivista di Architetture, Città e Architetti, Spazio > Connessioni, v. 44, n. 2, 2023)
- https://geoportale.comune.messina.it/gfmaplet/ (cartografia/ortofoto Comune di Messina)
A university student is required to build a small personal library.
Architecture journals are an indispensable tool for understanding and updating architectural topics, and this library should be included.
The texts indicated constitute both the theoretical knowledge base and the basis for the elaborations to be articulated and reported in the ""Text Notebook".
More articulate and specific bibliographies and other indications will also be given in class on the basis of the assigned exercises.
Consultation of monthly architecture magazines, such as Casabella and Domus, is recommended, as well as whenever possible, visiting art and architecture exhibitions, going to the theatre, concerts, debates, the cinema, listening to music, etc., with the conviction that the road to the recognition and appreciation of beauty, passes through knowledge, appreciation and often even the intersection of multiple artistic forms.
Everyone has an innate disposition to excel in some field, and it is also and above all through study that it is possible to discover one's talent to be expressed, and then to cultivate it with dedication, exercise, training and passion.
Contents
1_DESCRIPTION
The first-year Architectural Composition Course focuses on providing students with a basic understanding of the formation, figuration, and composition of a space intended to be inhabited with simple functions, including its structure, articulation, and the elementary aggregation of its constituent elements.
The Course is structured around the theme of "small architecture."
Small architecture, understood in the dimensional sense of a small-scale architecture, in an unspecified location along the shores of the Strait of Messina, with a limited functional program, a basic structure and construction issues, minimal systems, and a low cost.
Small architecture is not synonymous with banal architecture; "great architecture" can be achieved even with limited dimensions and programs. It's about thinking of architectural space as an entity to be inhabited, and therefore serving a purpose, a function, but at the same time it must excite, that is, it must evoke a poetic reaction, a reflection, a thought. And this, which seems simple, is actually quite complex and difficult; it can be achieved even with small-scale architecture.
The course applies the theme of small architecture to two typologies, that is, to two possible interpretations: an exhibition pavilion and a single-family home. This means that students will design both.
The exhibition pavilion is a type of building that, despite its modest size, represents a fundamental field of experimentation for architecture, and some of its projects are among the most important landmarks in architecture. Consider Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion, Le Corbusier's Zurich Pavilion, or Melnikov's Paris Pavilion.
An excellent field of experimentation on the pavilion theme currently exists near the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park in London. Small temporary summer pavilions designed annually from 2000 to the present by leading figures in international contemporary architecture will be used as a reference. An exhibition pavilion project will be developed based on the study, understanding, redesign, and three-dimensional rendering of one of these assigned small contemporary pavilions, according to methods explained and explored in depth during the weekly meetings.
The single-family home is a foundational, basic, and identifying theme, seemingly simple yet far from trivial, pertaining to the primary function of living. It is also a "small architecture," at least in terms of size. However, precisely because of its limited functional challenges, it allows students to delve deeper into the study, resulting in sufficient mastery of its main components. This is the more complex of the two first-year themes to be tackled. Its design involves mastering the various functions of living, sleeping, eating, cooking, socializing. It represents the archetype of architecture and its very history, with all its associated symbolic implications, but at the same time it brings us back to a familiar context, referring to the everyday context of living and dwelling.
A project for a two-story single-family home overlooking the Strait of Messina will be developed, starting with the study, understanding, redesign, and three-dimensional rendering of one of the assigned contemporary homes, following methods explained and explored in depth during weekly meetings.
In both cases, for the design of the exhibition pavilion and the single-family home, particular attention will be given to engaging the five sensory spheres in the design process. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch will be stimulated to trace paths of investigation and research that traverse and combine light, color, sound, smell, flavor, materials, and textures, for a design project along the shores of the Strait of Messina. Therefore, it is necessary to rethink these small architectural structures according to the stimuli that the sea, the climate, the lights, the smells, the tastes, and the sounds can arouse, imagining that we must establish, through the exhibition pavilion and the single-family home, a fruitful and constant dialogue with the place.
2_COURSE PROGRAMME
COURSE ORGANIZATION AND EXAM METHODS
The course focuses on the development of two small projects, centered around the theme of "small architecture."
It focuses on theoretical and practical activities aimed at fostering knowledge, culture, practice, and implementation of design and it will run from February 2025 to May 2026 and includes one day of classroom work per week. It features a very busy schedule, alternating lectures led by the instructor with classroom exercises, homework assignments, and student-led projects and models.
These learning sessions are tightly scheduled to ensure continuous student engagement. Great importance is given to classroom exercises, representing a crucial moment of development and during which students will practice freehand drawing. Through lectures and teaching materials, students will be provided with useful information to begin designing, focusing on understanding the typological and functional aspects of the project theme.
The lessons will focus on both specific and general topics, providing theoretical and methodological support for students' personal development and project experience.
The exam is individual and ideally takes place at the end of the lessons (June). The course will provide weekly assessments of students' work, which almost automatically lead to completion of the experience within the allotted time. The course is organized according to a schedule which includes both lectures and exercises to be completed in class at each meeting.
This rhythm allows for the partial experience to be concluded at the end of each of the two cycles. This means that the Exhibition Pavilion design experience concludes at the end of March, and the Single-Family Home design experience concludes at the end of May, and consequently the entire Course.
Furthermore, at the end of each month, students must submit a project demonstrating their reading and understanding of theoretical architectural essays.
This type of organization requires a continuous work process, which is evaluated each time and allows for the Course experience to be progressively concluded in May 2026.
Attendance is mandatory, given that what is essential, and therefore prerequisite for taking the exam, is not only attendance but also the weekly submission of the sketchbook for the two projects, the redrawing notebook, and the reading notebook for the texts. Attendance and therefore submissions are considered the minimum threshold for taking the exam.
By the end of the course, in May, students will have completed the various project exercises and models, even before the eight exam tables.
To take the exam, the following must be submitted:
A) The "Redesign Notebook" in A3 format, which contains redesign exercises for both architectural works by Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Louis Kahn, as well as examples of contemporary architecture (exhibition pavilions and single-family homes);
B) The "Text Notebook" in 21x21 format, which contains the reading exercise for theoretical texts;
C) The "Sketchbook" in A3 format, which contains all the sketching and study exercises for the two projects completed during the year, including the various exercises for the exhibition pavilion and the house;
D) The study models and the two final models of the two projects;
E) Project drawings (for each type) containing:
e2. Exhibition Pavilion: 2 plans, 2 sections, and 4 elevations at 1:50 scale, 2 axonometric views and two axonometric cross-sections at 1:100 scale, 1:100 scale model and 1:400 scale plan;
e3. Single-Family Home: 4 plans, 2 sections, and 4 elevations at 1:50 scale, 2 axonometric views and one axonometric cross-section at 1:100 scale, 1:100 scale model and 1:400 scale plan;
3_EXPECTED RESULTS
Knowledge and understanding.
Through lectures, exercises, including on the concept of space and autonomous work activities, students will acquire knowledge of the main principles and basic problems of architectural composition and design.
Applying knowledge and understanding.
The student will apply the acquired knowledge to the coordination of the aesthetic aspects, construction requirements and economic aspects of architectural design.
Autonomy of judgement (making judgements).
Through study and personal research, the student will begin to develop critical skills, to formulate his/her own evaluation and/or judgement, to autonomously find, select and use data and information, to be able to take initiatives and make decisions (e.g. identify problems and find solutions).
Communication skills.
The student should be able to present his/her design choices correctly and efficiently, using appropriate terminology, demonstrating the theoretical system, the scientific process and the feasibility of the construction of the architectural project.
Learning skills.
The student will have to demonstrate the ability to continue studying independently, even after the teaching has ended, and the ability to keep up to date with the content covered.