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The three critical steps in design education are first promoting awareness; then developing understanding; and finally exercising ability. from Hardin and Laxton, design education theoristsCourse Description:The urban design studio is organized following the useful steps recommended by Hardin and Laxton and will focus on the design of public space using the city of Rome as a urban design laboratory. First the students will broaden the awareness of urban design by immersing themselves in unique urban contexts offered by the city, dense of peculiar artifacts and urban fabrics built in different historical ages. Here they will encounter urban design problems and urban design solutions of all kinds, from brilliant to disappointing. The awareness of these urban designs is only the first step because next they must come to understand each design in terms of the issues it addresses, how it strives to do so, and how well it succeeds. They must come to understand each design in relation to the different historical evolutions, urban contexts, spatial conditions and compositions, design scales, uses and activities, microclimates, materials etcetera . Through thoughtful observations and analyses of urban designs they will gain the insightful understanding necessary to transform the urban designs encountered into truly useful reference projects for their own future urban design efforts, thus expanding in a meaningful way their own urban design vocabulary and the mental storehouse of urban design ideas. The extent of understanding will be tested in the final step, when they will exercise their urban design ability in a design project of a public space in a dense historical urban fabric. Here particular emphasize will be made to critical contemporary urban design issues such as sustainability, zero CO2 emissions, accessibility for all etcetera. Course Method:The semester will be divided into 4 projects.Awareness and understanding will be the focus of weeks 1-8 during Project 1, 2 and part of Project 3. The studio begins with Project 1, a workshop on Villa Adriana-Tivoli, a major roman archeological site. During the workshop the students will become aware of design issues related to particularly sensitive sites such as archeological areas and the dire needs of accessibility for all. Additionally the workshop will give the possibility to experience analysis and design in multidisciplinary groups of students such as students of archeology, architecture and landscape architecture both from the Italian and the American most prestigious Universities. In Project 2 the students will explore some of the classic examples of great urban design offered by the historical city of Rome. The intent is to ground the urban design understanding in urban issues and brilliant design solutions from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and neo-Classic eras that are highly revered to this day. But Rome “the Eternal City” has a future as well as a past; so in Project 3 the students will study how Rome can face challenging contemporary urban issues and seeks to address them through a master plan for the 21st century. By studying a great roman street the students will explore important urban challenges that Rome shares with contemporary cities worldwide that strive to enhance their livability, accessibility and environmental sustainability. In all three of these projects students are required to additionally use historical cartography, readings, web searches, and personal travel to enrich their thinking about urban design in Rome and in general. The contemporary issues addressed in this half of the semester will not only entail observation and analysis, but will also challenge to posit some applicable strategies found through web, travel, and reading explorations. All of this will build a useful “mental storehouse” of urban design knowledge in preparation for personal urban design in the future and—more imminently—for the design project. Ability to design addressing the urban design challenges explored in the preceding analysis will be the focus of weeks 9-16 during part of Project 3 and during the entire Project 4.The aim of Project 4 will be to transform a major chaotic, congested, polluted roman street into a manifesto of sustainable “green” design and to transform an undefined public space into a unique place with an image strongly linked with the “genius loci” and the identity of the site. Objectives: based on the awareness/understanding/ability sequence, the objectives are as follows:• Expand awareness of characteristics and issues of urban design/s;• Enhance skills at analysis of urban conditions;• Expand mental storehouse of useful, inspirational urban design reference projects;• Practice ability to address complex urban conditions in a design project.
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