OVERVIEW

Urban sustainability is one of the main challenges of the 21st century. This course provides students with a solid and up-to-date preparation to address urban issues through innovative and integrated solutions. Thanks to collaboration among professors in technology, urban planning, and landscape studies, participants will gain a broad and practical understanding of strategies for the sustainable development of cities.

The course aims to equip students with both theoretical and practical tools to tackle urban and architectural design from a perspective of resilience and sustainability. Through an interdisciplinary approach, key principles of technological design, urban planning, and landscape design will be explored in order to respond to the environmental, climatic, and socio-economic challenges (in terms of sustainable use of resources) faced by contemporary cities.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply the principles of urban resilience to technological and environmental design

• Integrate innovative technological solutions for buildings and urban infrastructure

• Develop sustainable planning and landscape design strategies

• Produce design proposals that respond to the climatic and social challenges of modern cities

PREREQUISITES

This course is positioned at the end of the architect’s educational pathway as an elective guided design studio; it is assumed that students have already acquired the knowledge covered during the bachelor’s degree and the first year of the master’s degree, although there are no formal prerequisites.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a discussion of the work developed during the design exercise. Instructions on the content and format of the deliverables will be provided at the beginning of the lectures.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The design exercise focuses on the urban and architectural regeneration of an area that will be identified by the instructors at the beginning of the course. Project developments will be required, with particular attention to themes such as urban renaturalization and potential connections to ecological corridors, mobility and connectivity, strategic urban planning actions, the production and local use of renewable energy sources, circular economy, and decarbonization strategies and solutions.

The exam will be conducted jointly by the instructors of the different modules. Examination sessions will be agreed upon with the students based on the progress and development of the project, and will be held in multiple sessions.