sustainable architecture and landscape design - architettura sostenibile e progetto del paesaggio

The Studio proposes an experience in architectural design facing the proper complexity of the process. Contextual, typological, functional, constructive, expressive and formal issues of the architectural design process will be treated in their mutual relationship and interaction. The design is challenged to critically appreciate ongoing transformations in real contexts and propose appropriate solutions.
To achieve this goal students are guided: in a first phase, in the comprehension of the context of the project, in the evaluation of the alternative approaches proposed for the case study area in public debates, and in the appreciation of the relations between buildings and urban structure; in a second phase, in a research of experimental building types and forms able to combine compositional questions with design and technical aspects of the building.
The aim of the teaching is the elaboration of the design of a building facing the questions referring to the urban scale as to the detail scale, considering formal, technical, material and functional issues in their mutual relations.
Urban development projects involve the identification and comparison of different alternatives based on multiple objectives and criteria. The complexity of this kind of decisions calls for an evaluation framework able to integrate information on effects and impacts of the design alternatives under investigation, with values and preferences of stakeholders. Multicriteria analysis (MCA) offers such a framework and it is increasingly used in combination with several evaluation techniques. Given these premises, the goal of the course Multicriteria Analysis and Project Appraisal is to provide students with theoretical principles and methodologies for projects sustainability (economic, social and environmental) evaluation.
Innovative Teaching:
Flipped and blended actions

Risultati di apprendimento attesi
Students:

• acquire knowledge and understanding of the techniques and tools for architectural design;
• are capable of facing a critical approach to all necessary scales of an architectural design with advanced levels of specialisation and detail;
• are capable of facing a critical analysis of locations and contexts in the close relationship between building and city, technique and function of architecture;
• are capable of developing design solutions coherent with the location and context, even in highly complex urban environments

CONTENTS
Architecture and Landscape of Belonging
What does it mean to belong?
The studio takes this question as its starting point.
Students will develop their own interpretations of belonging and explore how these interpretations can take form through design.
The studio is interdisciplinary and is integrated with the theoretical contribution of the course “ Multi-Criteria Analysis and Project Appraisal ”.
WORKING METHODOLOGY
All students will work on a single, shared project area.
The development of the project will include:
Site analysis and contextual understanding, including relevant regulations, physical and cultural characteristics, and identification of critical issues the project must address;
Definition of intervention strategies, both from methodological and theoretical perspectives, and in terms of the functional program to be organized.
Project development at multiple scales, using freehand drawings, 2D and 3D digital modelling, and physical scale models;
Editing and final presentation of the complete project.
Students will work in groups of no more than 3-4 people.
OBJECTIVE
The course aims to develop the students’ ability to design at various scales, taking into account site analysis, cultural and historical context, and environmental challenges.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
This course is highly practical; attendance at all lessons and workshop sessions is mandatory.
Continuous assessment will be based on the student’s project development, aligned with the scheduled milestones.
Two interim reviews will contribute to the final presentation grade.
The final evaluation will take place during the official examination session at the end of the course and will consider:
The quality and completeness of the submitted project;
The integration of bibliographic content into the project;
The average of the interim evaluations throughout the semester.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
1.The attendance of lessons and workshop activities is mandatory and is part of the evaluation.
2.Part of the evaluation will be based on the work that the student will develop during the course according to the established schedules.
3. Three intermediate interim reviews will determine the presentation grade for the final exam.
4.The final evaluation will be defined during the official examination at the end of the studio and will take into account the quality of the submitted work, the completeness of the project material requested, the knowledge of contents of the bibliography in relation of the contents of the project, the average of the evaluations of the intermediate reviews, mastery of the correct representation techniques and language.

Junichir Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows, ISBN: 0918172020
Arata Isozaki, Japan-ness in Architecture, ISBN: 9780262516051
Yoshinobu Ashihara, Exterior Design in Architecture, ISBN: 9780442113759
Fumihiko Maki, Investigations in Collective Form

The course will focus on the need to represent the landscape space through a perspective that can capture the personal feelings and perceptions of the Italian landscape while maintaining scientific accuracy in measurements and geometrical drawings. Students have to focus their interest on representing the landscape from an additional perspective, such as photography or video.
Computer software has joined traditional drawing tools, but to draw buildings rather than landscapes, mechanical components, or clothes, specific background knowledge and skills are essential. The issue is related to the aim and not to the means.
The general purpose of the GIS Applications course is to provide methods for understanding how the surface of the Earth can be surveyed and represented on maps, from both positional and thematic perspectives. In addition, the course aims to provide students with knowledge and understanding of geoprocessing tools in a GIS environment to produce derived data useful for representing the territory.

Students will have to produce final works in the form of reading exercises and a final storyboard representing the current situation, featuring an interesting reinvention of iconic landscapes. During the lessons, some examples of photographic and video representations of the landscape will be shown, in which artificial and natural elements are introduced to compensate for the territory of the entire violence suffered after World War II, due to the massive infrastructure and the wild construction of production facilities.
Students, organized in teams to implement all phases of the work, from the survey stage to the storyboard project time, have to describe the landscape by contemporary point of views, first of all re-using natural signs of the land, coming from historical maps, reading agricultural signs with their new and old geometries, the recycling of the existing ruines, anamorphosis performances, always working on the photograms, from the orthographic view managed by google earth, to the perspective point of view supplied by a video shooting, from the video to the picture and viceversa. References based on contemporary best practices and landscape strategies will be supplied during the lessons.
In the framework of GIS Applications, students will learn how to manage vector and raster data in a GIS environment, to use geoprocessing tools, and to produce maps and layouts. Students will understand characteristics, including advantages and limitations, of different data sources, such as topographic maps and satellite images.

Scenarios Between Urban Areas and Riverfronts: Strategies for Surveying, Representing, and Designing Landscapes
The current perception and appearance of landscapes are increasingly subject to change, driven by the extent and nature of human interventions. Although the development of human civilization in certain territories has long been influenced by environmental factors, it is ultimately people who have shaped and transformed these environments in significant ways. These alterations remain visible even when the human activities that created them have ceased, leaving behind hybrid landscapes that, while clearly marked by human presence, still retain an essential “human” component.
This course aims to rekindle interest in marginal areas between city and river, restoring/reconnecting semi-abandoned landscapes affected by the loss of past activities. It seeks to intervene both in the physical environment and in how it is perceived by residents and visitors. The ultimate goal is to make the study area a place where activities linked to a slower lifestyle can coexist with essential economic functions. It aims to preserve and promote the cultivation of native species, maintain local fauna, and provide a space where visitors can simultaneously experience the landscape and observe its transformation towards sustainability, facing the hydrological problems related to the life of the Po River, such as floods and shape changes during the year due to seasonal events.
Such a system should build on the area’s existing features, leading to functional regeneration through the reintroduction of tree species no longer used in local production. It may also include strategic urban insertions into the natural context to enrich and intensify the perception and exploration of the land-river landscape.
The term landscape has so many meanings that it is difficult to settle on a single, exhaustive definition. Many paradoxes are associated with this word and its essence. Since landscape is a phenomenon that exists in both time and space and depends on how it is perceived, it does not exist independently of the observer. For this reason, contemporary culture has devoted considerable attention to understanding its multiple dimensions (Bianchi, 2019).
One paradox is that, because it is a perceptual phenomenon, the landscape is inherently impossible to represent fully. A landscape cannot be reduced to a mere place or territory. Hence the challenge of its representation ( Vorstellung ). In many European languages, especially French and Italian, the word for landscape often refers more to its depiction than to the physical environment itself. In contrast, in German, English, and Dutch, the term is more closely tied to the region or homeland.
In French, for example, paysage contains the word pays (country/town), but the suffix -age suggests a view or representation of the place through experience. Thus, landscape becomes a synthesis of Subject (the individual or community) and Object (nature, environment, or territory).
Viewed this way, the landscape acts as an intermediary between people and their environment, reflecting how human actions have shaped and influenced the natural world. It is, in essence, a way of perceiving and representing nature. Historically, landscape painting occupied a marginal position in the history of European art, serving primarily as a backdrop for human figures or as preparatory sketches for other works. It emerged as an independent genre in the 17 th century with Dutch painters and gained prominence in the 19 th century with Romanticism, yet it has always been present, even if often silent.
Beginning in the Renaissance, landscape settings were widely used as backgrounds for biblical and mythological scenes and became idealized through the pastoral spirit of Arcadian traditions. The genre once again became marginal after Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the 20 th century, though its influence persisted in Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism.
Since the 1990s, the role of the landscape image has taken on new forms, aligning with site-specific art, land art, mapping, photography, and explorations of territory. Here, the “artistic landscape” reconnects with geography. Even in painting—arguably the most direct means of depicting a visual experience—the landscape is often transformed through human actions and narratives.
When analyzing a landscape painting, a written description of a landscape, or even a description of a painting, the relationship between direct experience and convention becomes apparent. This relationship comprises four components: reality, convention, pictorial image, and word, all mediated by conscious imagination. Within this space, tradition, direct experience, and visual and verbal representation intersect.
Moreover, describing a landscape, whether pictorially or verbally, goes beyond visual perception alone. It involves other sensory data—such as smells, movements, textures, or atmospheric sensations like warmth and cold.
How can we manage regenerative strategies for degraded sites—both in practice and in terms of representation? This includes creating pathways, ecological corridors, wetlands, greenery, clean energy infrastructure, and nature-based solutions. It might also involve land art installations, landscape architectural interventions, and strategies that blend ecological repair with aesthetic enhancement.
Students will produce final projects that include exercises in reading and reinterpreting their surrounding landscapes, imagining modifications that reinvent iconic views. Working in teams, they will carry out every phase—from site survey to representation—exploring the landscape through contemporary lenses. This involves reusing natural features identified from historical maps, analyzing agricultural patterns and morphologies, recycling ruins, and employing anamorphic techniques. They will work with photogrammetry, orthographic views from satellite imagery and GIS tools, and dynamic perspectives created through video and photography. Contemporary best practices and innovative landscape strategies will inform these explorations.
Objectives for deliverables include:
1. Large-scale analyses to identify aspects related to the environmental quality of the chosen ecosystem (Piacenza Riverfront / Waterfront urban masterplan).
2. Studies of the diverse infrastructure ecosystems that make up the landscapes:
Green Infrastructures:

• Urban green spaces: Parks, urban forests, and green corridors that support biodiversity and recreation.
• Green roofs and green walls: Vegetation planted on rooftops and building façades to improve insulation and reduce heat islands.
• Street trees and urban forests: Provide shading, cooling, carbon sequestration, and air purification.
• Rain gardens and bioswales: Landscaped areas that naturally filter and slow down stormwater runoff.
• Permeable pavements: Surfaces that allow rainwater to infiltrate into the ground, reducing surface runoff.
• Riparian buffers: Vegetated strips along rivers and streams that help filter pollutants and prevent erosion.
• Community gardens: Shared spaces for local food production, community engagement, and added green areas.
  Blue Infrastructures
• Rivers and streams: Natural waterways that provide habitat and flood management.
• Wetlands: Natural or constructed areas that store floodwater, filter pollutants, and support wildlife.
• Urban water features: Canals, ponds, fountains, and lakes that enhance urban aesthetics and microclimate.
• Rain gardens and constructed wetlands: Engineered systems to manage stormwater naturally.
• Stormwater management systems: Retention and detention basins, bioswales, and infiltration trenches to control runoff and prevent flooding.
  Grey Infrastructures
• Urban drainage systems: Sewers, culverts, and pipes for efficient stormwater and wastewater conveyance.
• Flood defenses: Dams, levees, embankments, and seawalls to protect against flooding and sea-level rise.
• Transport networks: Roads, bridges, tunnels, and rail systems for mobility and connectivity.
• Energy systems: Power plants, electrical grids, pipelines, and other facilities for energy production and distribution.
• Water supply and treatment plants: Reservoirs, pumping stations, and wastewater treatment facilities to provide clean water and manage waste.
  3. Exploration of natural morpho-typologies and fauna diversity to understand vegetation patterns and the systems functioning in each area.
  4. Analysis of infrastructural systems and their evolution over centuries, with attention to the persistence of historical road networks within contemporary ones.
  5. Examination of the tension between car infrastructure and sustainable mobility networks such as green corridors, cycling paths, and pedestrian routes.
  6. Rediscovery of neglected landscapes through the eyes of different user groups, examining how they interact with and experience the landscape.
  7. Proposals for innovative reuse of lands and the promotion of biodiversity, including art installations and new landscape forms for slow tourism.
  GIS Applications topics
  The fundamentals of geographic information systems (GIS) and of cartographic representations, as well as basic concepts of surveying and remote sensing will be provided. The theoretical topics will be closely complemented by practical exercises which will allow the Students to manage and process digital data in a GIS environment, such as QGIS and/or ArcGIS software.
  Georeferenced data at different scales and levels of detail will be used to describe the Earth surface characteristics both from a metric and a thematic point of view. Raster and vector data, satellite imagery and topographic maps will be exploited, to provide a deep analysis of an area, taking advantage of several layers. A comparison at different dates of cartography and satellite imagery will be used in order to study temporal changes of the landscape at different scales.
  Metric representation of the Earth surface through maps and 3D models implies the correct use of measurements and surveys, including traditional topographic surveys and remote surveys, such as aerial or satellite (or drone) surveying (in visible or non-visible portion of light spectrum). All these measurements produce geographic data, such as satellite images or aerial ortho-mosaics, digital terrain models or level curves, and digital maps, that require expert knowledge to be used at their full potential.
  The comparison and analysis of these geographic data, coming from different sources and, therefore, with different contents and levels of detail, need common and adequately defined reference systems, precise rules for 2D cartographic representation, and powerful software tools for a semi-automatic extraction of metric and thematic information. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) give the possibility to properly overlay, compare, merge, analyze, integrate, different kinds of geographic data, to study space and time distribution of phenomena and variables and to generate new maps for specific purposes. In addition, the use of multispectral images and their processing will be explored and applied to the study of territory and its evolution, also in terms of vegetation, water and built-up indices computation and analyses.
  Bibliography
  Bianchi, A. (2019). Landscape by Signs. Milano: Mimesis International.
  DeMers M. N. (2008). Fundamentals of Geographical Information Systems, 4th Edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The exam consists in the evaluation of the group exercises and in the verification of their full understanding and also of an oral or written test.
During the exam the expected learning outcomes will be tested. The knowledge and understanding about the main topics of the course, concerning landscape design and representation, land modeling for survey methods (Bianchi), and cartographic representations, GIS data characteristics, GIS data sources, such as Remote Sensing as well as the main geodata processing tools will be assessed (Carrion).

Alessandro Bianchi, LANDSCAPE BY SIGNS, Editore: Minesis International, Anno edizione: 2019, ISBN: 9788869772559 http://mimesisinternational.com/

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of strategies, theoretical framework, and methods to conceptually design structures with a focus on reducing embodied carbon. Through hands-on exercises, real-world examples (given by invited industrial experts), and interactive discussions, the students will consolidate their understanding of the topic.
By the end of the course, students will be able to conceptually design steel, reinforced concrete and timber structures, and understand techniques and methods for reducing embodied carbon. They will also develop proficiency in incorporating appropriate design strategies, materials, and maintenance practices to enhance the safety, durability, and sustainability of structures.
Furthermore, students will learn to analyze and consider the societal impacts, environmental sustainability, and safety considerations that play a crucial role in the decision-making process of structural design. They will recognize the significance of adhering to relevant codes, regulations, and best practices within the field of structural design.
Students will enhance their communication and collaboration skills by working on group projects, case studies, and presentations related to life-cycle driven structures. They will be able to effectively communicate technical information, analysis results, and design recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. They will be encouraged to stay updated with the latest advancements in structural engineering, emerging technologies, and industry practices, and equipped with the skills to adapt to future challenges and contribute to the ongoing improvement of life-cycle driven structures.

When the students successfully complete the course, they will be able to:
Compare the structural characteristics of major structural materials (masonry, wood, steel, reinforced concrete) and justify the choice in the project in terms of structural safety, value, and sustainability.
Explain the differences between different load-bearing structural systems materials (moment-resisting frame, load-bearing walls, braced and hybrid systems) characterized by the different construction materials to withstand vertical and horizontal loads (wind, earthquake).
Relate the choice of structural materials and that of the load-bearing system to obtain an effective structure from the design point of view, compatible with the architectural project, with the environment and sustainable in terms of resources.
Justify the choice of the most suitable structural system for a specific project, merging structural safety, economy and sustainability items.
Decide the preliminary dimensions of the structural layout in plan and elevation to obtain a robust, easily constructible, economical and environmentally sustainable structure made of steel, timber and reinforced concrete.
Apply a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to estimate the embodied carbon of the structural frame in a building project.
Critically review the design performed by other students
Communicate the final project through the production of conceptual and technical drawings, a concise written description and effective oral communication skills.

1) Introduction

• Architect's, structural engineer’s and contractor’s roles in conceptual design of life-cycle driven structures
• Definition and significance of embodied carbon in structural design
• Environmental impacts of construction materials
  2) Conceptual Design of Steel, Reinforced Concrete, and Timber Structures
• Key design principles for steel, reinforced concrete, and timber structures
• Differences between different load-bearing structural systems materials (moment-resisting frame, load-bearing walls, braced and hybrid systems) characterized by the different construction materials to withstand vertical and horizontal loads (wind, earthquake).
• Case studies highlighting exemplary conceptual designs in each material category
  3) Strategies to balance the structural performance and embodied carbon during conceptual structural design
• Overview of sustainable design principles and their application in structural engineering
• Life cycle analysis for structures
• Design for disassembly and adaptability
• Use of recycled and reclaimed materials
• Lightweight and innovative construction techniques
• Strategies for enhancing the sustainability of glass facades
• Design considerations for sustainability and long-term performance
• Incorporating life-cycle analysis into architectural decision-making
  4) Life-cycle driven structures in practice
• Case studies showcasing successful integration of life-cycle thinking in architecture
• Collaboration with architects, engineers and contractors for optimized designs
• Practical examples of life-cycle driven structural engineering.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
The assessment will show how much the students achieved the expected learning outcomes of the course. The final mark will be based on a case study report (to be realized as a group work during the whole semester) and a final written exam.

Heino Engel, Structure Systems, Anno edizione: 2001, ISBN: 9788802057071
Francis D. K. Ching, Building Construction Illustrated, Anno edizione: 2020, ISBN: 111958308X
Note: (previous editions are also ok)
LETI (London Energy Transformation Initiative), Embodied Carbon Primer, Supplementary guidance to the Climate Emergency Design Guide, Anno edizione: 2020
Royal Institute of British Architects, Embodied and whole life carbon assessment for architects, Anno edizione: 2021

The course aims to introduce students to main theoretical debates and research perspectives in urban and environmental sociology, and provide conceptual and methodological tools to understand and study socio-economic changes in contemporary cities.

By the end of the course, students should (1) have a general knowledge of key themes in urban and environmental sociology; (2) develop analytical skills for interpreting urban transformation and environmental and social inequality in urban societies; (3) be able to create an effective research design in order to investigate urban issues.

The climate and environmental crisis represents the most significant challenge for contemporary society and touches all disciplinary fields: from physics to philosophy, from sociology to urban planning. The ecological transition concerns not only the model of production, but also our societal organization, management of the built environment, city planning and community building. The course introduces students to the perspective of urban sociology and in particular political ecology, providing them theoretical overviews on the contemporary debate on the relationship between environment and organization of society. The aim is to give them the analytical tools to engage with urban and social transformations, developing ideas and competencies to address this issue in their future projects and careers. The goal is to bring out a bottom-up understanding of climate and environmental justice.
The arguments will be organized in three main blocks:
1. Introduction to the perspective of urban sociology and political ecology. Overview on the main issues related to environmental crisis and urban transformation and how sociologists are dealing with it. Introduction to key issues related to contemporary times such as: aging, process of urban transformation (financiarization of territories, gentrification, touristification), socio-spatial inequalities, "Anthropocene".
2. Political Participation and Mobilizations on environment. We will provide an overview of the forms of political participation at the local level (from the most conflictual to the most collaborative). Particular attention will be given to environmental and urban movements. We will analyze how they have evolved over time and what demands, interlocutors, and characteristics they have today.
3. Governance, Democratic Innovation, and Planning. In this section, the goal is to reflect on the role that planning has (or could and should have) in addressing the challenges of climate change and the ecological transition. Studies related to commons, sustainable welfare, democratic innovation, and feminist perspectives on the concept of care will be discussed.

Prova scritta condizionata (a scelta del docente), con prove in itinere
Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Altro
For Attending students there is a two-steps evaluation
1. Written exam with three open questions on the (a) slides with arguments discussed in the course, (b) the papers and chapter\ of the handbook selected by teachers.
2. Group assignment in which students produce an essay to illustrate the results on a case study they are required to work on. In order to pass the exam, students must succeed in both components (group assignment and written exam).
!!!The final grade will be calculated as the mathematical average of written exam result and group assignment result. Bonus points may be awarded on the base of active participation in class.
For Not-attenging students there is one step evaluation
1. Oral exam on the course materials for not-attending students. The list will be available on webeep a few weeks before the course starts.

Pellizzoni, L.; E. Leonardi, V. Asara (eds), Handbook of Critical Environmental Politics, Editore: Elgar Publishing, Anno edizione: 2022

The first aim of the present course is to go through the fundamentals of heat transfer and thermodynamics, which are employed to explain the phenomena that govern the (thermal) behavior of indoor environments and buildings. These fundamentals are then used to calculate various thermal loads of the buildings and assess the impact of modifying the building materials on these loads. In this context, the concept of net Zero Energy Buildings (net ZEB) is also introduced and common strategies that are utilized in design and operation of net ZEBs are discussed. The second objective is enabling the student to determine the yearly heating and cooling demand of a building with a given (simplified) geometry utilizing OpenStudio (EnergyPlus) software. The third objective is introducing the fundamentals of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and explaining their operation principles. Finally, the last objective is providing an introduction about photovoltaic plants and solar thermal systems and alternative configurations for integrating them in buildings (e.g. BIPV).

A1. The student will understand the concepts of conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer phenomena, taking place in building’s components, which include both the opaque surfaces and fenestration and may also contain air gaps. The student will also obtain knowledge about the commonly employed models for simulating these phenomena.
A2. The student will understand the humid air concepts and will obtain knowledge about the psychrometric fundamentals and the corresponding modelling methodology along with the use of psychrometric chart.
A3. The student will understand the concepts of internal gains, infiltration, and ventilation and learns about the methodology of determining the corresponding sensible and latent loads
A4. The student will understand the simplified methodology that is utilized to simulate the yearly demand of a building in OpenStudio (EnergyPlus).
A5. The student will understand the concept of net Zero Energy Buildings (net ZEB) and common strategies that are utilized in the design and operation of these buildings.
A6. The students will understand the operation principles of centralized and decentralized heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and will acquire knowledge about the corresponding configurations.
A7. The student will obtain knowledge about the fundamentals of photovoltaic plants and solar thermal systems and the methodologies of integrating them into a building (e.g. BIPV).
The student is able to apply the above-mentioned knowledge in order to:
B1. Calculate the loads owing to the heat exchange through opaque surfaces (walls and the roof) being given the characteristics of the corresponding layers
B2. Calculate the fenestration’s load also taking into account the solar irradiation’s effect and considering the properties of the windows
B3. Determine sensible and latent load corresponding to the internal gains, ventilation and infiltration.
In an autonomous manner, the student will be able to:
C1. Determine the heating and cooling peak load of a building in a simplified manner, thus estimating the required size of the corresponding HVAC units
C2. Calculate the yearly consumption of a building with a simplified geometry using OpenStudio.

The first part of the course is dedicated to introducing the principles of heat transfer and thermodynamics, which facilitates understanding the phenomena that govern the energy and environmental performance of buildings. These fundamentals are then specifically utilized to calculate the heat transfer through walls and windows and assess the impact of the corresponding design choices. Next, the concept of net Zero Energy Buildings (net ZEB) is discussed and some of the design alternatives that are employed, while designing these buildings, are reviewed. Fundamentals of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems are then briefly explained. Finally, photovoltaic plants and solar thermal systems along with their characteristics and the alternative configurations for integrating them in buildings, including building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) concept, are presented.
The presented topics include:

• A brief review of principles of applied physics: physical quantities and units of measurement, heat flux, work, energy, power, principles of conservation of mass and energy
• Conductive, convective heat transfer along with fundamentals of radiative heat transfer and solar radiation
• Heat transfer through walls and windows: simplifications and the impact of the corresponding design choices
• Heat gains, ventilation, and infiltration
• The Net Zero Energy Building (Net ZEB) concept
• Fundamentals of centralized and decentralized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems
• Fundamentals of solar thermal units, different types of cycles, categories of collectors, storage units, and integration of solar thermal systems in buildings
• Fundamentals of photovoltaic plants and Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
  *Building energetic behavior simulation laboratory:
  OpenStudio (an EnergyPlus based tool) and its SketchUp plugin are introduced and are then utilized in order to calculate the heating and cooling yearly consumption of commercial buildings.
• The students are also provided with optional materials on humid air and psychrometric fundamentals and latent load calculations.
  Innovative aspects
• Principles of flipped classroom, through student participation and continuous assessment, are followed aiming at keeping the students active during the lesson.
• The project is designed to be a practical example of building simulation, which is similar to the cases that students will face in their future career.
• In case time limitations and technical constraints allow it, a demo of IoT-based devices/systems for environment monitoring will also be delivered.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i facoltativo (a scelta dello studente), di gruppo, senza revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua facoltativa (a scelta dello studente)
The student can choose one of the following evaluation tracks:

• Final assessment track: Final exam (A written exam including questions on both theoretical concepts and exercises. The format of the questions can be multiple choice but the students are asked to deliver also their solutions to exercises. After taking the written exam, the students might be asked to participate in an oral validation/assessment session) (30 marks)
• Continuous + final assessment track: the evaluation is made based on the marks obtained in 3 different parts as follows:
  Final exam (with the same framework as indicated above):20 marks
  Continuous assessment (weekly submissions): 5 marks
  Final project (presented as a group): 5 marks
• For the final assessment track, the students should obtain at least a mark of 60% in the written exam in order to pass the course (as indicated above, the student might also be asked to participate in a subsequent oral validation/assessment session).
• Similarly, for the continuous + final assessment track, the students should obtain at least the mark of 60% in the written exam in order to have the continuous assessment marks taken into account and to pass the course (as indicated above, the student might also be asked to participate in a subsequent oral validation/assessment session).
• The final assessment (discussion) for both weekly submissions and the project will be conducted in an oral assessment session at the end of the semester;
• It should be noted that the continuous assessment track will be considered only for one examination session; for the following sessions, only the final examination result will be taken into consideration.
• A bonus mark is also considered for the students who participate in the lessons in person and deliver their weekly assignment at the end of the lesson.

Yunus A. Cengel, Afshin J. Ghajar, Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications,, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 978-0073398181
Note: Only chapter 3, Steady state heat conduction, chapter 11 fundamentals of thermal radiation, and chapter 12 radiation Heat Transfer, Chapter 16 Heating and Cooling of Buildings
Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles, Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 978-0073398174
Note: Only Chapter 14 Gas -vapor mixture and air-conditioning
ASHRAE, ASHRAE Handbook -- Fundamentals (SI), Anno edizione: 2013
Hugo S. L. Hens, Building Physics - Heat, Air and Moisture: Fundamentals and Engineering Methods with Examples and Exercises, Anno edizione: 2017, ISBN: 78-3433031971

• Use the big city as the node that connects contemporary architecture and landscape.
• Convey a complex vision of history, avoiding simplifications and lineal readings.
• Insert the contemporary architecture and landscape in its social, political, cultural and productive context.
• Introduce the student in the most advance topics of the contemporary theory of architecture, city and landscape.
• Introduce the student in the research techniques on architecture.
• Use innovative learning systems (Flipped and Blended Learning).

Students will acquire:

• Ability for architectural critic.
• Ability to work in groups as well as with personal autonomy.
• Ability to manage in public debates.
• Ability in research techniques.

Preface
“Sustainability” is invoked everywhere. From global climate agreements and national policy frameworks to neighborhood initiatives and design decisions. Yet the term often dissolves into a largely used buzzword. For architects, landscape designers, and urban actors, this ambiguity is both a challenge and an opportunity. It invites us to interrogate the histories, theories, and approaches that have shaped what we now call sustainable practice. This course positions sustainability not as a settled formula but as a contested, evolving debate. One that crosses temporal, socio-cultural, political, ecological, and spatial boundaries.
The course’s task is to read this debate critically, reconstruct its shifting genealogies, test its claims against practice, and experiment with new framings that can better guide design, planning, and stewardship in a world of multiple crises and uneven resilience.
Intertwined Lecture & Interactive parts (Workshop)
This course is structured as an intertwined lecture & interactive workshop format of 7 blocks. Each block offers thematic inputs ( IP ), 19 in total, providing conceptual grounding: historical narratives, theoretical positions, analytical tools and case references. Immediately following, interactive group sessions function as content checks, collaborative laboratories, and spaces of mutual teaching. Rather than passively receiving knowledge, you will translate, test, debate, and extend what you have just encountered.
Group-based working tables guide you through structured, step-by-step tasks: mapping conceptual lineages, critiquing precedents, comparing policy mechanisms, situating your own disciplinary tools, and reframing project ambitions. This rhythm: input → application → reflection —is designed to reinforce learning while cultivating shared responsibility for the intellectual culture of the room.
Session Blocks
The course unfolds across a series of intensive blocks. Each builds on the previous one while opening a new lens on sustainability as historical construct, critical theory field, and design agenda.
1. (Kick-off) + The Origins of the Debate on Sustainability
18–19 September 2026
We begin by situating the course: motivations, scope, timetable, and interaction protocols (IP #0). From there we trace deep intellectual roots—myths of origins, the "Primitive Hut" as theoretical device, and early attempts to reconcile shelter, material cycles, and place (IP #1). We then move through diversions and branchings in thought (IP #2), before confronting the legacies of Modernism and Postmodern pushback—provocations captured in the shorthand “F**k Context” (IP #3). Each segment is followed by group-based reality checks.
2. From the Renaissance to Modern Sustainability: Architecture, Urban Planning, and Society in Historical Dialogue
2–3 October 2026
Architecture, urban planning, and society in historical dialogue: how changing cosmologies, technologies, and territorial imaginaries produced shifting relationships between resource use, city form, and landscape metabolism. We examine key transitions that continue to echo in current sustainability discourse. ( IP #4 + IP#5 + IP#6)
3. Resilient City as Donut?
16–17 October 2026
What lies behind contemporary calls for urban resilience (IP #7)? We engage the Donut Model popularized by Prof. Kate Raworth (IP #8) to explore ecological ceilings and social foundations as a framing device for cities. A practice-oriented check (IP #9) challenges groups to connect metrics, governance, and design interventions.
4. Exploring Commons and Commoning from Multiple Perspectives
23–24 October 2026
We examine commons as resource regimes, governance models, spatial practices, and cultural processes of commoning. Shorter presence means two concentrated interactive sessions. Here you will also receive the student task definition. An essay assignment reflecting on the evolving debate across course themes. (IP #10 + IP #11 + IP #12)
5. On Participation
13–14 November 2026
Participation is theorized, historicized, and problematized (IP #13). We then compare planning and design practices that operationalize participation at different scales and levels of formality (IP #14), before turning toward digital platforms, data-mediated engagement, and emerging hybrid civic interfaces (IP #15). Groupwork interrogates who participates, how power circulates, and what counts as meaningful co-production.
6. Housing the Many
27–28 November 2026
Housing is where sustainability meets equity, policy, finance, and spatial agency. We explore interdependencies across energy, affordability, material cycles, and social infrastructures (IP #16). A focused look at the Vienna example illustrates policy-driven, top‑down frameworks (IP #17), contrasted with self-help housing and bottom‑up initiatives (IP #18). Interactive sessions surface transferability, limits, and design tactics.
7. Case Studies – Tackling “much”
18–19 December 2026
(Scheduled following Block 6; exact confirmation in class.)
A fast‑paced "binge watching" of projects (IP #19) feeds into group-based synthesis: what works, what scales, what fails under pressure? The closing session hosts the “BRING YOUR OWN” mini‑presentations —3 slides / 3 minutes—where each student contributes a project, text, poem, essay, or book review that speaks to the sustainability debate.
Learning Commitments & Student Work
Your learning journey is cumulative. Come prepared to engage actively, question assumptions, and build arguments that travel across historical episodes and contemporary practice. In‑session tasks scaffold toward two integrative outputs:
Essay: The Debate on Sustainability – A critical synthesis drawing from at least three thematic blocks. Guidance will be provided after Block 4.
“BRING YOUR OWN” Presentation – A concise, well‑argued contribution linking an external reference (case, text, artifact) to course debates.

Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Assessment reflects both process and synthesis:
50% Workshop Performance – Attendance, preparation, quality of group contributions, responsiveness in interactive sessions, and evidence of iterative learning. + Submissions of group-related reports.
25% Essay Submission – Depth of analysis, use of sources, argumentative clarity, and integration of course themes.
25% Final Presentation (“BRING YOUR OWN”) – Relevance, critical framing, and clarity of communication within the 3‑slide / 3‑minute format.
Participation across all scheduled days is essential to benefit from the intertwined format. Absences should be discussed with instructors in advance; compensatory work may be required.

Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Owen Gaffney, Jayati Ghosh, Earth for All - A Survival Guide for Humanity, Editore: New Society Publishers, Anno edizione: 2022, ISBN: 9780865719866
Sendra, P. and Sennett, R., Designing Disorder. Experiments and Disruptions in the City, Editore: Verso, Anno edizione: 2020, ISBN: 974-84-1362-315-3
Kate Raworth, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, Editore: Random House, Anno edizione: 2017, ISBN: 1847941370
Bruno Latour and Nikolaj Schultz, On the Emergence of an Ecological Class: A Memo, Editore: Polity Press, Anno edizione: 2023, ISBN: 1509555056
Victor Papanek, Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, Editore: Pantheon Books, Anno edizione: 1971, ISBN: 0-394-47036-2
Guy Standing, Plunder of the Commons, A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth, Editore: Pelican Books, Anno edizione: 2019, ISBN: 978-0-141-99062-0
Güntner, Huaser, Lehner, Reinprecht, The Social Dimension of Social Housing, Editore: Spector Books, Anno edizione: 2023, ISBN: 978-3-95905-653-3
Shannon Mattern, A City is Not a Computer: Other Urban INtelligences, Editore: Princeton University Press, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 978-0-691-22675-0

Urban and Environmental Design studio focuses on the changing relationship between urban and rural areas, with the aim of defining design proposals able to re-organize the open spaces and enhance spaces of co-habitation between different “urban” and “rural” ways of life.
The Design studio activity takes advantages from the contribution of two disciplines: urban design and agronomy and food sciences.
According to an interdisciplinary approach, Design Studio proposes a proactive manner to planning peri-urban areas, endorsing the reason of the open and agricultural spaces, taking into account the relevance of the multifunctional agriculture in peri-urban areas, due to the societal and lifestyle transitions in these areas.
Design studio offers also a different view of agricultural landscapes planning. For this, it will be proposed a conceptual model of agricultural landscape dynamics that illustrates the specific contribution of agronomy to landscape planning. This model describes the relationship between three elements: farming practices (food and energy production), landscape patterns (conventional vs agroecological landscape) and natural resources (water, soil and biodiversity). To avoid potential risk of misunderstanding and underestimating the role of farming practices in peri-urban and rural landscapes dynamics, which could lead to ineffective management decisions regarding these landscapes, the Design studio offers an effective interdisciplinary approach that includes agronomic and environmental knowledge and tools.
Grappling with the urban and rural in non-dualistic ways, the Design studio offers analytical and design tools to dealing with hybrid forms of landscapes characterizing the peri-urban fringes, re-defining the peri-urban agriculture and its functions as a producer of goods and services for the citizens.
In this framework and from a project-oriented viewpoint, the Design studio will be finalized to:
selecting relevant issues relate to the urban-rural transition;
representing landscapes and urban practices where we can read the urban-rural transition;
integrate the goals of agricultural production into the multiple objectives of the landscape design and management;
testing a research by design approach, using the project as a mean of knowledge and research of urban-rural fringes, rather than a final prefiguration of a probable future

The students will acquire:
awareness of the multiple dimensions and complexities of contemporary peri-urban areas and the role of the open spaces in these urban setting;
awareness of challenges, perspectives and approaches to analyze through a cross-scaling approach the urban-rural transition and the role of the open space in the contemporary literature debate;
capacity to manage and discuss issues and key concepts of the debate on the “Urban transition” and regional urbanization processes;
awareness of the key role of integrating farming practices in the characterization of contemporary landscape patterns, and in the design of future agricultural landscape scenarios;
ability to read the rural and natural landscape to (re)design farming systems to minimize the impacts on natural resources;
capability to collect, manage and process data and maps to deal with open spaces and infrastructure design, project of the urban-rural fringes, promotion of peri-urban agriculture;
capability to comment them in a critical understanding of their trends and technical forms;
capability to communicate all that in effective products and formats (i.e., a paper, a poster, a presentation, etc.).

The Studio's work focuses on exploratory design proposals that address multiple scales, from territory to urban fabric and public spaces.
Three main issues have emerged in relation to contemporary urbanisation, particularly in Europe. Firstly, post-metropolitan urban processes have reached a regional scale, encompassing a dense network of cities and areas of dispersed urbanisation. This is particularly notable in the Emilia-Romagna region. In light of these conditions and the challenge of climate change, the urbanised territory is increasingly responsible for environmental issues, such as reducing the ecological footprint and minimising risks, as well as initiating an overall transition process. Thirdly, processes of urban abandonment and underuse, in both concentrated and dispersed forms, coexist with a few selective episodes of growth. This suggests an urban planning activity involving reuse, additions and subtractions, densification and removal.
Within this framework, the Design Studio proposes reflection on a portion of the Po Valley area, in the Emilia-Romagna region. This location is at the intersection of several flows and axes and has some distinctive characteristics, such as the presence and improvement of industrial and logistics activities; the crucial role of agriculture (and agro-industry) in terms of identity and the economy; the need to improve renewable energy; elements of infrastructural, ecological, and urban inefficiency and alteration. There is also a critical environmental condition linked to pollution, heavy traffic, water scarcity, high summer temperatures, and land consumption. At a local scale, these areas can be defined as heterogeneous contexts where juxtaposed fragments can be found, such as production and logistics areas, rural agricultural spaces, protected natural areas, scattered houses and small urban centres. These are often the result of sectorial strategies without general spatial coordination.
Students are asked to work on regenerating existing urban and natural elements, starting with workplaces, as well as planning new logistics areas and data centers. This involves defining their location, mitigation and compensation, and integrating them into territorial systems of grey, green and blue infrastructures, as well as agricultural landscapes, in a perspective of greater sustainability. Particular attention will be given to the ecological and environmental role of open spaces, which are considered to be strategic places for enhancing urban quality and people's well-being.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Work will be carried out in groups of three or four students with different academic backgrounds.
The final evaluation will assess all presentations and work produced by each group during the course, covering the first, intermediate and final steps. The evaluation may also include an individual discussion about the course content and project.
The elements of the evaluation of individual performance are as follows: attendance; active participation in lectures, group work and reviews; ability to work in a team; knowledge of course content (lectures, bibliographical references, design references).

Mattioli, C., Franchina, A., Data centers and the city. The territorial impacts of the growing data economy, with a focus on Italy, Editore: Firenze University Press, Anno edizione: 2025, Fascicolo: 2 http://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X241247838
Curci, F. et al., Italia di mezzo: The emerging marginality of intermediate territories between metropolises and inner areas, Anno edizione: 2023 http://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X241247838
Belanger, P., Landscape as infrastructure: A base primer, Editore: New York, NY: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2017
Brenner, N., Katsikis, N., Operational Landscapes: Hinterlands of the Capitalocene, Editore: Architectural Design 90(1):22-31, Anno edizione: 2020 https://teebweb.org/publications/other/teeb-cities/
Charters-Gabanek, K., Raimbault, N., Hall, P.V., Logistics and Urban Planning: A Review of Literature, Anno edizione: 2024 http://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X241247838
Schwappach, C., Beyer, E., Suwala, L., Place-based climateproofing of commercial and industrial areas: Inventory and guidelines from a regional planning perspective, Anno edizione: 2023 http://doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i4.7100
A Green Infrastructure Guide for Small Cities, Towns and Rural Communities https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/greenbelt/pages/5202/attachments/original/1504021812/Green_Infrastructure_Final.pdf?1504021812
Lanzani, A., Merlini, C., Zanfi, F., Riciclare distretti industriali - Recycling industrial districts, Editore: Roma: Aracne Editrice, Anno edizione: 2016
Fabian, L., Emanuel, G., Viganò, P. (eds.), Recycling City, Lifecycles, Embodied Energy, Inclusion, Editore: Pordenone: Giavedoni Editore, Anno edizione: 2012
TEEB Manual for cities. Ecosytem Services in Urban Management https://teebweb.org/publications/other/teeb-cities/
Doherty, G., Mostafavi, M., Ecological urbanism, Editore: Editore: L. Muller, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 9783037781890
Tiberghien, G.A., Corner, J., Desvigne, M., Intermediate Natures, Editore: Birkhauser Architecture, Anno edizione: 2008
Colucci, A., Magini, M., Menoni, S., Peri-Urban Areas and Food-Water-Energy Nexus, Editore: Springer, Anno edizione: 2017
Into the Black Box, Mattiucci, C. (a cura di), "Logistical territories", Lo Squaderno, 51, Anno edizione: 2019, Fascicolo: 51 https://www.intotheblackbox.com/english/logistical-territories-lo-squaderno-51/

The URBAN AND LANDSCAPE REGENERATION STUDIO is aimed at experimenting at different scales (from environment to building) an approach to urban regeneration design based on the principles of sustainability, focusing on the use of renewable energy and in general promoting a sensible use of social, cultural and material resources. The three integrated teaching modules of Environmental Technology, General Ecology and Landscape as Heritage will develop some key issues in the field of conservation and sustainability relate to each other in the context of historic sites, testing environmental design tools in relation to the ecological approach.

More specifically students will acquire

• tools to promote a design approach focused on the relationships between the buildings, the people living and acting inside and around them, the multi-faceted qualities of the physical environment;
• understanding of the relationship between environment, technology and design, the knowledge of the existing connections between the design phase, the construction process and material/energy exchanges with the environment along the life cycle of buildings and infrastructures;
• capability of making design choices according to the environmental, economic and social context, providing effective solutions focused on the sustainability of the entire building process, in a life-cycle perspective;
• awareness in proposing design methods and approaches capable to support the ecological transition in a climate change perspective.

The built environment is understood as the specific ecological system of the human species. Humans build up their settlements over time, modifying and adapting the physical environment according to their needs, shaping the landscape in a continuous process that evolves with society. The Studio offers a robust sustainability approach to design and construction, promoting a vision away from a carbon-based globalised economy, which damages our ecosystem (desertification, forest depletion, water and air pollution, destruction of agricultural land and cultural and material Heritage). The proposed approach favours a circular, locally rooted economy based on renewable energy and sensible use of social, cultural and material resources.
The educational program is closely linked to several of the UN SDGs. The primary reference is Goal 11 – Sustainable cities and communities, with specific foci on inclusive and sustainable green public spaces, protection and safeguard of cultural and natural Heritage, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, public transport and pedestrian safety for all, and run-off water control. It also explores the urban design implications of G 9 – Infrastructure, industrialisation, G12 – Responsible consumption and production, and G 13 – Climate Action.
The Technological Environmental Design - TED module will mainly deal with:

• performance appraisal of the built environment: open urban spaces and existent buildings as an actual resource embodying many different values;
• appraisal of the environmental quality of the morphological characters of the built environment (intermediate spaces, arcades, shade and sunlight, greenery, shading devices, natural ventilation, and lighting) and the "naturally" well-tempered urban open spaces;
• the "ground-level approach" to the design of urban open public spaces and the pursuit of urban comfort and delight;
• the main factors of urban micro-climate determining comfort/discomfort conditions in open urban spaces and their implications on design;
• essential elements in designing blue and green infrastructures in open urban spaces (Sustainable Urban Draining systems).
  The General Ecology – GE module aims to provide students with conceptual and operational tools to understand the interactions among organisms and between the organisms and their environment and how human activities increasingly affect those interactions.
  The main topics covered by the module are:
• physical environment (atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere) and basic concepts of ecology;
• fundamental ecological processes (abiotic and biotic interactions, primary production, secondary production, decomposition, energy and matter flows)
• biodiversity (introductory concepts, metrics, distribution, threats) and ecosystem services (natural capital, classification, conservation)
• sustainability (basic concepts, metrics, life cycle thinking) and global challenges (climate change, planetary boundaries)
• urban ecosystems (rural-urban gradient, landscape fragmentation, effects of urbanisation on the physical and biological environment, responses of organisms and biodiversity to urbanisation, biodiversity and ecosystem services in the city).
  The Landscape as Heritage - LaH module focuses on how the two critical issues of conservation and sustainability relate to each other in the context of historical sites. The module aims to provide students with basic knowledge, cultural premises and methodologies to approach the conservation of cultural Heritage (both buildings and landscape), increasing the students' understanding of the Italian culture on Heritage, specifically attention to the urban landscape of open public spaces.
  The module will focus on:
• landscape as a system at different scales (reading and assessing historical transformations);
• conservation and enhancement of tangible and intangible cultural Heritage.
  Keywords: sustainable urban design; sustainable built environment and landscape design; green infrastructures; cultural and natural Heritage; well-being; sustainable resource management; sustainable consumption; climate change adaptation.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
Assessment methods
The final evaluation will take place at the exam, which shall consist for each group in the presentation and discussion of all the deliverables required.
At the end of course presentation before the July exam appeal, ALL groups will be requested to present and discuss their work. A critique session will follow, and suggestions for the final exam will be given.
The final mark will be assigned at the exam. Groups will be requested to deliver their work online a few days before; deliverables will be examined and discussed with the group on the exam day. ALL members of each group must know and be able to explain every part of the group work. Each student will be required to submit a small, individual work, related to the group project, which could change the individual mark.
Each group and group member will be free to present their work in any of the scheduled exam session. PLEASE NOTE that in any case, NO FURTHER REVIEWS will be made after the end of the regular Studio term. The teaching staff recommends working as much as possible in the classroom and regularly attending the reviews that will take place continuously during the term.
The Studio detailed schedule and all further detailed instructions will be given in due course and published on the BeeP page of the Studio.
Please note that, as in all studio courses, compulsory attendance is required.

Lechner, N.,, Heating, Cooling, Lighting - Sustainable Design Methods for Architects, Editore: Wiley, Anno edizione: 2015
Note: e-book available
Olgyay, V., Design with Climate. Bioclimatic approach to architectural regionalism, 1963-2015, ISBN: 978-0-691-16973-6, Editore: Princeton University press, Anno edizione: 2015
McHarg, I.L.,, Design With Nature, Wiley and Sons, 1967-1992, ISBN 0-471-55797-8, Anno edizione: 1992
European Landscape Convention, COE 2000 available on line
D. Rodwell, Conservation and Sustainability in Historic Cities, Editore: Blackwell Publishing, Anno edizione: 2007
Rosina E. Scazzosi L. (Ed.by),, THE CONSERVATION AND ENHANCEMENT OF BUILT AND LANDSCAPE HERITAGE. A new life for the ghost village of Mondonico on lake Como. p. 179-196,, Editore: Milano:Poliscript,, Anno edizione: 2018
UNDP - United Nations Development Goals https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals
Gabriele Masera, Massimo Tadi, Environmental Performance and Social Inclusion in Informal Settlements, Editore: Springer Cham, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 978-3-030-44354-2 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-44352-8
Biraghi, C. A., Ogut, O., Dong, T., Tadi, M., CityTime: a novel model to redefine the 15-Minute city globally through urban diversity and proximity., Editore: Urban Science, Anno edizione: 2025, Fascicolo: 9 https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/9/2/36

The Studio concludes the training course and addresses the question of the architectural project and the intervention on the physical environment in various disciplinary areas, in line with the didactic contents of the Course of Study.
In the Studio, in which Architectural Design is integrated with Landscape Aesthetic, the students are asked to prepare a complex and innovative project through the tools of architecture and urban design, having mastered the feasibility of the project. In the Studio the student experiments in-depth study of topics related to innovative and advanced research issues in the specific disciplinary area of reference, reflecting about paradigms, problems and techniques of advanced design in relationship with the environmental transformation.
Special attention will be given to the formal structure of the landscape and the elements that compose it, recognizing in geographical conditions and topographical, in environmental diversity and in historical pre-existences, the characters that guarantee the sustainability of transformations. Particular attention is given to infrastructures, public spaces, and disused areas degraded and to the design of open spaces in general.
The landscape aesthetics course aims to investigate the problematic relationship between the use of the natural landscape and human activity. The course is divided into three parts. In the first part a series of basic tools of modern aesthetics are provided, such as the discussion on the concept of beauty and the relationship between beauty and nature. In the second part, these tools are made to interact with the problems of the twentieth century related to the human exploitation of nature. In the third part, students will be encouraged to propose personal solutions for the aesthetic use of nature. The main issues that will be addressed are the aesthetics of nature, landart and landscape modification. The exam consists of the presentation of a project developed in groups, which combines images and text, presenting a path of landscape aesthetics.

According to the Dublin Descriptors (DdD), passing the exam certifies the acquisition of the following results:
DdD 1 knowledge and understanding

• knowledge of advanced tools for the project.
  DdD 2 ability to apply knowledge and understanding
• advanced ability to transfer theoretical and technical disciplinary knowledge in project development.
  DdD 3 (autonomy of judgment), 4 (communication skills) and 5 (learning ability)
• ability to operate and communicate independently the design choices made (DdD 3, 4 and 5).

Architectural Design Studio Proposal -
City, River and the In-Between - Rethinking the Identity of Place
The city, together with its physical morphology and social relationships, forms a complex structure that serves its inhabitants. It is an assemblage of people, spaces, and ideas, layered historically, geographically, and culturally. The capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, can be described as a palimpsest, with visible fragments of its long history and numerous cultural influences embedded in its urban form. These fragments have created an image of Tbilisi as an assemblage of different memories and narratives. The heterogeneity created by diverse societies and cultures led to the city's morphology, where people with different backgrounds cohabited and, over many years, gradually established spatially, architecturally, socially, and culturally entangled structures.
After Georgia became one of the Soviet Republics (1921), Tbilisi underwent significant changes. New infrastructural interventions, due to their scale and monumentality, fundamentally altered the city's spatial morphology and the aesthetic quality of the surrounding urban environment. The notion of "national in form and socialist in content" defined the spatial transformation, underscoring the strength, wealth, and power of the Soviet system.
As part of the modernization of the city's infrastructure, Soviet authorities constructed highways along both banks of the Mtkvari River. Historically, the Mtkvari River formed the main spatial spine of Tbilisi, shaping its urban structure and morphology. Once a vibrant social and cultural meeting place and one of the city's most active public spaces, the river gradually became a physical barrier separating the two sides of the city. The newly constructed highways restricted access to the river and significantly reduced everyday interaction between people and the natural environment. As a result, the connection to nature and public life was largely lost. Consequently, the relationship between the historic city, its river, and the surrounding landscape remains one of the principal unresolved spatial challenges in contemporary Tbilisi. The river continues to function primarily as an infrastructural corridor rather than as a public space, limiting opportunities for social interaction, ecological continuity, and public life.
At a time when many cities are rediscovering their waterfronts as places of culture, recreation, and environmental resilience, Tbilisi faces the challenge of redefining its relationship with the river. Rather than reconstructing historical conditions, the question becomes how contemporary architecture can reinterpret the identity of place and create new connections between water, landscape, infrastructure, and everyday urban life.
In this context, the studio asks: How can architecture and urban design repair relationships be severed by large-scale spatial interventions? What are the challenges within this context, and how can they be interpreted and transformed into opportunities? How can architecture respond to contemporaneity - social, cultural, and environmental needs while working in harmony with nature? How can new forms of ‘openness’ be created between the city, the river, and public life?
Studio Framework: The design studio proposes a semester-long exploration of one city – Tbilisi - in particular, one area of the city – the Old Town- and its connection to the river Mtkvari. The goal will be to read, study, and analyze the surrounding urban fabric, its morphology, solid/void relationships, and spatial transformation processes that took place before and after Soviet intervention. Attention will be given to redefining the connection between people and landscape, open/closed public spaces, and architecture that could ensure continuity with the existing urban identity.
The studio aims to investigate and highlight voids that could be restored/recreated in a fragile way, while considering cities' historic identity. It will aim to recreate public spaces and architecture based on preliminary findings, focusing on the needs and requirements of the contemporary city without compromising historic identity.
The outcome of the studio is a site-specific architectural proposal that responds to the specific characteristics of the selected site.
Learning Outcomes: The key learning outcome of the studio is to develop the students' ability to critically evaluate, analyze, and interpret the site and its broader urban context (spatial, cultural, and social terms). Later, translate it into coherent architectural strategies and site-specific design proposals.
In parallel, the studio asks students to engage in dialogue, consider different perspectives, and explore how individual ideas can coexist and reinforce one another throughout the design process.
Analyze the historical, cultural, environmental, and spatial characteristics
Develop critical and site-specific architectural design strategies that respond to contemporary rural transformations
Design context-sensitive interventions that strengthen public life, community resilience, and sustainable development
Translate research into coherent architectural proposals across multiple scales of investigation
Communicate architectural ideas effectively through analytical drawings, physical models, diagrams, and presentations while working collaboratively in a studio environment
The studio will be structured as follows:
Research and Analysis:
In the beginning, student groups will be asked to study the context, understand it, and highlight key points. They will especially examine the historic area of Tbilisi, its water connectivity, the changes following Soviet influence, and the present situation. Meanwhile, they will also research similar interventions, such as riverfront projects in other cities.
Based on the findings, students shall identify a forgotten point of contact between the city and the river and prepare an initial project brief that will guide the subsequent conceptual development stage.
Conceptual Development:
Students will select one site along the river corridor. Site selection will be based on each student's research findings and design intentions. Potential sites may include abandoned industrial structures, vacant riverfront spaces, connection to forgotten public void/solid spaces, historic caravanserais, or other locations. They are required to develop a conceptual design proposal.
Architectural development:
Students will be expected to design architectural intervention in detail, including material selection, construction principles, and architectural detailing. Each group must consider the project prepared by their colleagues, ensuring that individual projects contribute to a coherent urban vision. This collaborative approach will enable the various interventions to connect and form a comprehensive strategy for the study area, with each project contributing to a larger urban puzzle.
During the studio process, it is crucial to collaborate across groups, thoroughly understand each project, and incorporate this knowledge into the design. At the conclusion of the course, all project areas will be combined into a single comprehensive proposal.
Complementary Component – Landscape Design Aesthetics
The Landscape Design Aesthetics module—an integrative component of the Architectural Design Studio 2 —will provide students with tools for a critical and aesthetic approach to space. Through theoretical lectures and hands-on exercises, students will explore the spatial, sensory, and cultural dimensions of landscape and how these influence and enrich the design process across the studio’s three units (A, B, C).

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Assessment process:
Evaluation is based on the design project developed in small groups (max. 3 persons). The group must present and discuss their work during progress reviews and take part in evaluation seminars held in the classroom. The final exam consists of presenting the complete body of work produced during the Studio
Final evaluation will be based on a combination of continuous assessment (periodic reviews) and a final public presentation of the completed design projects.
Assessment Criteria:
Research and Critical Thinking

• Depth of research and capacity to frame critical discourse
• Alignment between theoretical questions and design strategies
  Engagement with the Existing
• Understanding of the site and context/ Considerate of social, cultural and environmental issues
• Design response to the dialogue between the existing and the new/Respect for the identity of a place
• Awareness of heritage and transformation
  Design Quality and Consistency
• Capacity to articulate a clear architectural position
• Consistency of design decisions proposal
  Representation Quality + Oral presentation
• Organized, consistent, tells a full story using drawings, models, or other representation tools; audience is able to read the project conceptual solution without narrating/explanation;
• Able to clearly narrate the project to an academic audience;
  Studio Participation
• Attendance, punctuality, and active contribution throughout the semester
• Collaboration, openness to criticism, and the iterative development of ideas
  Note: The Landscape Design Aesthetics component constitutes 4 of the 12 ECTS credits of the course and therefore contributes one third of the final grade. The assessment of this component may take one of two forms: – A group presentation based on the activities developed during the semester. – An individual oral examination, upon request or if the group work is not completed.

Christiaanse, K., Textbook: Collected texts on the built environment 1990-2018, Anno edizione: 2018
Note: Recommended chapters in the book: The Open City and Its Enemies; Traces of the City as Loft; Green Urbanism: Models of a Dense and Green Urban Context
Gehl, J, Life between buildings, Editore: Island Press, Anno edizione: 2011
Kriken, J. L., Enquist, P., & Rapaport, R., City building: Nine planning principles for the twenty-first century, Anno edizione: 2010
Madanipour, A., Public and private spaces of the city, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2003
Sennett, R., Building and dwelling: Ethics for the city, Editore: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Anno edizione: 2018
Sennett, R., Democracy and urban form, Editore: Sternberg Press, Anno edizione: 2014
Sim, D., Soft city: Building density for everyday life, Editore: Island Press, Anno edizione: 2019
Wheeler, S. M., & Beatley, T. (Eds.), The Sustainable Urban Development Reader, Anno edizione: 2014
Note: Recommended articles: Wheeler, S. M. "Infill Development," Riley, A. L. "What Is Restoration?" B. Vale & R.Vale Principles of Green Architecture."
Chigholashvili, D., Future image(s) of Tbilisi, Anno edizione: 2015
Note: In H. Akhundzadeh et al. (Eds.), *From private to public: Transformation of social spaces in the South Caucasus* (pp. 151-175). Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office.
Dal Cin, F., Hooimeijer, F., & Matos Silva, M., Planning the urban waterfront transformation, from infrastructures to public space design in a sea-level rise scenario: The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture case, Editore: 2021
Note: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13020218
Pattacini, L., Urban design and rivers: A critical review of theories devising planning and design concepts to define riverside urbanity, Anno edizione: 2021
Note: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137039
Sahadeo, J., & Gosselin, P., The Mtkvari River's many faces: Symbolism, space, and agency in late imperial Tiflis, Anno edizione: 2024 https://doi.org/10.22215/cjers.v17i1.4436
Salukvadze, J., & Golubchikov, O., City as a geopolitics: Tbilisi, Georgia-A globalizing metropolis in a turbulent region, Anno edizione: 2016 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2015.11.013
Zhvania, I., Transformation of the historic district through residential developments in Tbilisi, Editore: 2015
Note: In H. Akhundzadeh et al. (Eds.), *From private to public: Transformation of social spaces in the South Caucasus* (pp. 120-150). Heinrich Böll Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office.
Beridze, V., Architectural Heritage in Georgia
Note: The material will be provided by the Instructor
Chanishvili, N., Tbilisi: History of Urban Development

The course aims at introducing students to basic understanding of urban innovation and the use of new technologies witin the Smart City concept. Deepening the topic of how complex partnerships and interest groups conceive, develop and deal with digital innovation in a globalized environment implies the investigation of the inter-urban mobility and local adaptations of successful policies or best practices.

By the end of the course, students will be able to study and describe - quantitatively and qualitatively - many aspects of a city as a complex system, with a clear identification of the roles played by the various sub-systems. The goal is to demonstrate that the sustainable new paradigm as promoted by the SDGs-2030 need to be addressed through an integrated, multidisciplinary, and multiscale approach embracing different fields of knowledge, from architecture, to urbanism, to ICT, to building technology.

The content of the course comprises lectures with virtual examples of designing smart cities in different parts of the world, student presentations in pairs or groups, practical tasks of planning, panel discussions and evaluation of the outcomes and the course itself. All co-produced course material will be put on the BEEP. Working with many different media, students will explore relevant topics as:
Introduction to Smart city
System thinking approach; A new paradigm for the Smart city for a sustainable built environment
Complexity; A new paradigm for the Smart city
The city as Complex Adaptive System. A system of systems.
What can open data do for the Smart City? Sustainability, Privacy and ethics
How should smart cities develop?
New mobility systems and solutions. Urban infrastructure and technology for energy efficiency, s
An integrated urban management: Water and Waste Management, Energy fficiency, Smart Mobility, Food
City digitalization, Data flowing and Digital Innovation for a more sustainble and resilient city
Big Data, Internet of things (IOT) for Smart city
Facts and figures on the smart city market. Smart leadership and strategy.
IMM (Integrated Modification Methodology), an integrated multiscale approach
Selected Examples.
The pedagogy is based on collaborative and problem oriented approaches, as well as learning by doing, and seeks to achieve both double and triple loop learning. Therefore, the student should actively participate both in lecturing, research, deliberation and planning. Participation in the classroom work is mandatory.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
The final evaluation is individual. The final mark will be assessed through tutorials explained during class. Students are expected to formally submit their work in form of paper one week before the exam. The exam will be oral and based on the tutorials and the lecture’s arguments. The course will be passed when the student has the following assignments accepted:
participation in pairs or groups in the presentation of a smart city example from a specific perspective
participation in conducting and reporting a practical design task on the smart city
participation in the co-creation of the smart city concept from a holistic and integrative perspective

Albino, V., Berardi, U., and Dangelico, R. M.,, Smart Cities: Definitions, Dimensions, Performance, and Initiatives, Editore: Editore: Journal of Urban Technology,, Anno edizione: 2015, Fascicolo: Fascicolo: 22(1):3-21 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311947485_Smart_Cities_Definitions_Dimensions_Performance_and_Initiatives
Mora, L., Deakin, M., & Reid, A., Strategic Principles for Smart City Development: A Multiple Case Study Analysis of European Best Practices., Editore: Elsevier BV, Anno edizione: 2019, ISSN: 0040-1625, Fascicolo: Vol: 142
Falconer, G. and Mitchell, S., Smart City Framework: A Systematic Process for Enabling Smart+Connected Communities, Editore: Cisco IBSG, Anno edizione: 2012 https://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/ps/motm/Smart-City-Framework.pdf
Tadi, M., Biraghi, C.A., Ogut, O.,, Smart city, dall'efficienza energetica dei sistemi alla stabilità del sistema; in: Le Smart Cities al tempo della resilienza., Editore: Mimesis Edizione, Anno edizione: 2021, ISBN: 9788857584904
Dong, T., & Tadi, M., Equitable Access to Urban Green Spaces Under Heat Stress: An Agent-Based Simulation (ABS) of Age-Differentiated Walkability Through a Behavioral Perspective, Editore: smart cities, Anno edizione: 2026, Fascicolo: 9(6), 97 https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/9/6/97
Dong, T., Tadi, M., & Tesfaye, S. T., Unveiling Hidden Green Corridors: An Agent-Based Simulation (ABS) of Urban Green Continuity for Ecosystem Services and Climate Resilience., Editore: smart cities, Anno edizione: 2025, Fascicolo: 8(5), 163. https://www.mdpi.com/2624-6511/8/5/163

L'insegnamento opzionale ha l'obiettivo di ampliare la prospettiva riguardo agli spazi pubblici, considerando le sperimentazioni e le analisi svolte negli ultimi decenni nel mondo dell'arte.

Risultato di apprendimento atteso è la conoscenza dell'opera dei principali artisti che hanno operato negli spazi pubblici.

Il corso “Architettura, Arte e Spazio Pubblico” guida gli studenti in un itinerario che, attraverso un dizionario critico di parole‑chiave, ripercorre l’intero arco del XX secolo per mostrare come le arti visive e l’architettura abbiano costantemente ridisegnato il concetto stesso di spazio pubblico: si parte dalle avanguardie storiche — dal Futurismo che esaltava la città elettrica e dinamica, al Costruttivismo che vedeva nell’opera un ingranaggio della vita collettiva, dal Neoplasticismo che sperimentava l’ordine astratto come modello di armonia sociale, al Dadaismo che reagiva al trauma bellico sovvertendo segni e funzioni urbane, fino alla Scuola Bauhaus che insegnava l’integrazione fra arti — per arrivare alle pratiche minimaliste e concettuali degli anni Sessanta e Settanta, tra happening, land art e interventi site‑specific, e giungere infine alle ricerche contemporanee improntate a ecologia, partecipazione e performatività. Ogni lemma (arte pubblica, monumento, site‑specific, partecipazione, ecologia, performatività) viene così esplorato sia nella sua genealogia storica sia come strumento progettuale utile a leggere, interpretare e trasformare la città di oggi, con esercitazioni che chiedono allo studente di analizzare il nesso opera‑luogo, valutarne l’impatto percettivo e immaginare nuove modalità di coinvolgimento della comunità.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Prova orale obbligatoria
Il voto finale è il risultato della media di un elaborato critico/progettuale strutturato dallo studente e dalla verifica della bibliografia di riferimento e degli argomenti delle lezioni.

Rosalind Krauss, Elio Grazioli (a cura di), Passaggi. Storia della scultura da Rodin alla Land Art, Editore: Mondadori, Anno edizione: 1998, ISBN: 9788842493495
Note: Disponibile anche in altre edizioni
Lorenza Perelli, Public Art. Arte, interazione e progetto urbano, Editore: Franco Angeli, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 9788846477569
Alessandra Pioselli, L'arte nello Spazio urbano. L'esperienza italiana dal 1968 a oggi, Editore: Johan&Levi, Anno edizione: 2015, ISBN: 9788860101631
Matteo Colleoni, Francesca Guerisoli, La città attraente. Luoghi urbani e arte contemporanea, Editore: Egea, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 978-88-238-2166-8
Note: pp. 107 - 196
Deianira Amico (a cura di), "Cercle et Carré". Arte e architettura a Parigi nel 1930, Editore: Abscondita, Anno edizione: 2026, ISBN: 979-12-5472-281-7

The course provides the student with the digital tools useful to represent and model even complex architectures, through the decomposition into simple geometric shapes and the application of parametric BIM software that make it possible to control them. To achieve these objectives the course will be composed of a practical part, prevailing over the theoretical one.
The explanation part related to the chosen interoperable BIM architectural modeling software will be delivered interactively in a computerized classroom for the entire duration of the course.

The primary objective of the course is to make the students independent in the various modes and operations planned and illustrated during the course. At the end of the course students must be able to master the use of Archicad at an advanced level with competence and speed.
Students will have to learn the use of BIM tools not in stand-alone mode, but in team work, sharing information and models, in order to realize a final interdisciplinary and complex model.

B.I.M. (Building Information Modeling) is growing importance all over the world becoming to be the present/next-future standard in design and construction fields. It is something that any young architect had to know and to actively use very well.
The BIM workflow in particular it is something that must be digested and absorbed as a discipline especially working within international and multidisciplinary team. BIM was already a standard for large infostructure in the last decade, but it was rarely considered a must if applied to the territory; GIS standards use to rule the urban/territory digital representation. But the things are quickly changing...
In this course the main goal is to apply BIM to the building scale (as usual) but also to a large section of the surroundings, a context large enough to be defined as landscape and maybe territory. The teaching module aims to provide the student with the digital tools useful for representing and modeling complex architectures, by decomposing into simple geometric shapes and applying BIM software that makes it possible to control them. To achieve these goals, the course will consist of a far more prevalent practical part than the theoretical one as a complementary procedural support. The teaching of the interoperable BIM architectural modeling software will be delivered interactively. It is requested that students will follow step-by-step lessons through the use of the PC.
A primary goal of the course is to make the students independent in the use of the software. The first step will be to arrive to have a correct and true building BIM representation trough the modeling. During the exercises several different digital instruments will be explained and used: CAD, free-form modelers (with parametric extensions), CAAD, up to the latest Interoperable Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems also in relation with the recent European and National guidelines for public procurement.
The practical part will be complemented by a series of theoretical short lessons concerning parametric modeling of architecture in relation to territory, rendering and advanced visualization possibilities. The representation of the territory with BIM instrument will be approximate, in relation to the goals of the course, to the reach a very good level of detail. In particular, the need will be to highline the relation between the rural buildings and the entropized and cultivated context. Examples of buildings designed and constructed with parametric digital BIM platforms will be provided, used not only to show the optimization of the production process, but also the new incoming BIM design workflow procedure.
The reference BIM program for this course will be ArchiCAD.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
During the couse several exercises will requested to be solved form the students. Most of them will be stand alone exercises.
The final exercise of the course foresees the realization of a complete architectural model, as a reproduction of a real architecture. This esxercise is usully a teamwork of a small group of students. It will be given a template about levels of detail and fomats of the delivery of the final model.
The exam will be a presentation of the final exercise (BIM Model) with a public detailed explanation of the work done.

Si tratta del lavoro di tesi consistente in un elaborato o di progetto o compilativo di ricerca.

The course consists of two joint and integrated modules (Ethnographical approaches in urbanism and Urban survey), targeting students enrolled in the Master of Science in Urban Planning-Policy Design as well as in the Master of Science in Architecture.
The course aims at developing an ethnographical approach meant as a way to develop competences in understanding the city through observing, describing, interpreting and representing the urban space in its material and social configurations and changes. A main objective of the course is to develop competences in researching, interpreting and describing through texts and photo reportages how urban spaces work.

At the end of the course, students are expected to have developed:

• the awareness that cities and urban spaces are material evidences and witness the kind of relations, of social and spatial assets that architecture, urban planning and social practices produce;
• awareness of the ways in which an etnographic approach can contribute to the work of urban planners and architects dealing with places and people;
• competences in developing an effective and sound analysis and understanding of the material, symbolical and social dimension of how space is designed, implemented and used;
• capacity to understand the intertwining of social and spatial issues at stake in the functioning of public space;
• capacity to develop original and effective ways to report field work observations and to represent and communicate outcomes in an effective and diversified way (i.e. photos, texts, presentations...)

Different means and “tactics” to develop ethnographical approaches as well as to represent their outcomes will be explored, with particular attention to photography. Along with references to the tradition of ethnographical studies, students will learn the logic of direct participant observation, the analysis of social practices and other approaches to social and spatial analysis which can support the understanding and interpretation of the way urban space is organized and results as the combined product of human and non-human actors.
The course is organized in a sequence of different activities aimed at developing a n ethnographical approach:
1. LECTURES: Theoretical contributions and focuses on methodological issues, readings and discussion of papers and articles as well as class exercises (role-playing, etc.) as well as the presentation and discussion of case studies.
2. SHORT EXCURSIONS in selected urban spaces to interpret and decode a given urban context/ project.
3. SEMINARS: Seminars will be proposed during the whole course: a set of open seminars given by invited scholars and professionals on the course approaches and topics will be jointly organized with some other cooperating and partner courses (such as the Workshop on Infrastructure Planning and Design). Materials, documents, texts and references presented in class will be made available online to the participants.
4. A FIELD EXERCISE: RITUALS/Collective and individual performances in the urban realm
Based on an exploration (through direct observation and photography), students will develop an individual essay on how rituals are extraordinary and/or everyday collective and individual performances and routines that shape city life. Rituals will be explored both regarding the way in which they are developed in space and considering the intertwining with cultural and social practices. Special attention is given to how rituals reflect power structures, cultural identities and social change and to the role of rituals as a framework for understanding the cultural fabric of contemporary cities. The topic will be introduced, discussed and fine-tuned in class, while each student will define her/his more specific focus, and will be supported in developing original individual work. Students will be supported in chosing the specific site for field work.
A set of initiatives on the topic are being foreseen, while a final seminar will be organized for the presentation and discussion of the field exercises. At the end of the course, all the individual works will be collected in a collective report.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, individuale, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Given the character of the course, active participation of the students is highly recommended.
The course will be based on an open interaction between teaching staff and students. Active participation and interaction of students will be welcomed, encouraged and evaluated.
ATTENDING STUDENTS: the evaluation will be based on the results of a work consisting in a written text and a photographic essay. The students will be requested to deliver the project work one week before the exam e to prepare a 10 minutes ppt presentation for the day of the exam which will be organised in the form of a seminar. The evaluation of attending students will be mainly based on an oral presentation of the product elaborated in the field exercise and on the discussion of the contents of: Jacobs J. (1961), The death and Life of Great American Cities and Lieto L. (2017), How material objects become urban things, City 21 (5): 568-579.
Further readings may be selected from the given list upon students’ own interest and in agreement with the Professors.
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS: While we highly recommend attendance, NON ATTENDING STUDENTS shall study and prepare for the exam the following 4 texts:
1. the Book by Madden
2. the book by Jacobs
3. one book out of the reading list
4. one article out of the reading list
For non attending students the exam will consist in a short written exam with questions concerning the preparation on the reading list.

Cranz G., Ethnography for Designers, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2016
Anderson E., The Cosmopolitan Canopy. Race and Civility in Everyday Life, Editore: W.W. Norton & Company, Anno edizione: 2011
Note: BOOK
Madden R., Being Ethnographic. A guide to the theory and practice of ethnography, Editore: Sage, Anno edizione: 2010, ISBN: 9781412946964
Note: BOOK
Cefai D., Que est la etnografie? in Persona y sociedad, 27 (1), available in French and in Spanish, Anno edizione: 2013, Fascicolo: 27 (1)
Note: Available by the teaching staff
Bovo Martina, Briata Paola, Bricocoli Massimo, A bus as a public space. Everyday multiculturalism in Milan/ Urban Studies, Anno edizione: 2022
Note: Available from the teaching staff
Paola Briata, Being together as a body exercise. Ethnographic perspectives. In Anzani A (ed) Conscious Dweelling, Anno edizione: 2022
Note: available from the teaching staff
De Certau Michel, The practice of everyday life, Editore: University of California Press, Anno edizione: 1984
Stender M., Bech Danielson C., Landsverk Hagen A., Architectural Anthropology. Exploring Lived Space, Editore: Routledge, London, Anno edizione: 2021
Jacobs jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Editore: Random House, New York, Anno edizione: 1961, ISBN: 0-679-74195-X
Note: Easily available also in italian and other languages
Lieto Laura, How material objects become urban things, Editore: City, Anno edizione: 2017, Fascicolo: 21(5)

Attività di tirocinio.

Il Politecnico di Milano, Alma Mater di Renzo Piano, è da sempre ispirato ad una sintesi tra la tecnica e la poetica del costruire.
Il corso “LABORATORIO arte del costruire” è quindi il luogo dove Renzo Piano intende portare, assieme ai suoi collaboratori e compagni di avventura, le testimonianze e le ricerche del fare suo e del suo Building Workshop.
Il “LABORATORIO arte del costruire” vuole proporre agli studenti un metodo di lavoro inteso anzitutto come arte del costruire.
L’insieme di conoscenze, competenze, strumenti ma anche relazioni che l’architetto deve saper sintetizzare, contestualizzare e personalizzare nel corso della sua attività professionale, cercando sempre nuovi stimoli con curiosità e rielaborando le esperienze alla luce della realtà.
Il “LABORATORIO arte del costruire” intende stimolare gli studenti a sviluppare competenze progettuali nell’elaborazione ed esecuzione di dettagli costruttivi, attraverso esperienze concrete di studio e progettazione e il confronto diretto con progettisti, ingegneri, tecnici e costruttori.

Poiché oggetto dell’insegnamento sono il racconto, l’osservazione e la critica delle reali esperienze progettuali del docente, ci si aspetta una rilettura (anche in chiave critica) delle esperienze allo studio, in particolare alla luce delle nuove priorità ambientali.
Una rilettura critica dei progetti discussi, visti alla luce di una nuova consapevolezza rispetto alla fragilità del nostro pianeta.
Ma questo processo critico può anche essere fatto in base ad errori, manchevolezze e pentimenti che certamente riemergeranno nel corso delle discussioni sui progetti.
Vista la complessità di molti dei progetti oggetto di studio, è probabile che queste riletture vengano di preferenza fatte dagli studenti su frammenti degli stessi.
Con riferimento ai Descrittori di Dublino gli studenti acquisiranno:
Conoscenza e comprensione delle tematiche affrontate (progettazione dei dettagli e integrazione sostenibile) attraverso lo studio e le esercitazioni pratiche;
Capacità di comprendere la complessità e la multidisciplinarietà del lavoro di progettazione;
Capacità di trovare, in autonomia, soluzioni e proposte capaci di sintetizzare e personalizzare approcci differenti alla tecnica del costruire e lavorare in gruppo;
Sviluppare una consapevolezza indipendente e originale rispetto alle tematiche del costruire;
Capacità di comunicare i risultati de lavoro svolto in modo chiaro ed efficace.

LABORATORIO arte del costruire
Un percorso educativo attraverso le testimonianze di Renzo Piano, alla ricerca dell’etica e della poetica del costruire
Gli argomenti trattati nel corso “LABORATORIO arte del costruire” saranno quelli relativi alle esperienze progettuali oggetto di studio.
Questi progetti saranno in particolare quelli contenuti nella “STANZA”, al primo piano dell’edificio Nave del Campus di Architettura, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci.
Durante lo svolgimento del LABORATORIO saranno trattati dei “casi studio” (in particolare di Renzo Piano e del suo Building Workshop) attraverso l’approfondimento della documentazione e il racconto di protagonisti o ricercatori.
Questi progetti serviranno da fondamento metodologico e concettuale per la messa a punto degli elaborati da parte dei singoli gruppi di studenti, che dovranno tenere in particolare considerazione le tematiche dello sviluppo sostenibile e dell’efficienza energetica e prestazionale, nonché lo studio e la rielaborazione dei dettagli costruttivi.
Verranno effettuati degli incontri seminariali con l’architetto Renzo Piano e altri suoi collaboratori e ospiti per trattare le tematiche del costruire, in particolare sui dettagli e i rapporti con tutti gli attori del processo progettuale, dal design al cantiere.
Il programma delle lezioni e dei seminari sarà presentato all’inizio delle attività.
Organizzazione del corso
Il corso prevede un periodo di didattica intensiva collocato nella seconda metà di febbraio (una giornata si terrà presso la Fondazione Renzo Piano a Genova) e ulteriori attività con cadenza settimanale durante il semestre.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
La valutazione finale dello studente terrà conto della sua presenza e partecipazione agli incontri, del risultato del lavoro di gruppo, degli elaborati finali da presentare in sede di esame e da rendere pubblici e condivisi con gli altri studenti attraverso una pubblicazione o una piccola mostra.

Renzo Piano, La responsabilità dell'architetto. Conversazione con Renzo Cassigoli, Editore: Passigli, Anno edizione: 2000
Renzo Piano, Giornale di bordo. Autobiografia per progetti 1966-2016, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano - Passigli, Anno edizione: 2017
Peter Rice, An Engineer Imagines, Editore: Batsford, Anno edizione: 2017
Lorenzo Ciccarelli, Renzo Piano prima di Renzo Piano. I maestri e gli esordi, Editore: Quodlibet, Anno edizione: 2017
A cura di Lia Piano e Maria Pilar Vittori, Renzo Piano. Laboratorio Arte del Costruire. Tre anni di insegnamento al Politecnico di Milano, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano, Anno edizione: 2025, ISBN: 978-88-6264-0275
Lia Piano (a cura di), Renzo Piano. Menil. The Menil Collection, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano, Anno edizione: 2007
Lia Piano (a cura di), Piano + Rogers. Centre Pompidou, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano, Anno edizione: 2017
Lia Piano (a cura di), Renzo Piano. Il Ponte. Ponte Genova San Giorgio, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano, Anno edizione: 2020
Lia Piano (a cura di), Renzo Piano. Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Emergency Children's Hospital, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano, Anno edizione: 2021
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Nouméa. Centre Culturel Jean-Marie Tjibaou, Editore: Editore SOFP, Anno edizione: 2009
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. San Francisco. California Academy of Sciences, Editore: Editore SOFP, Anno edizione: 2010
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Beyeler. Fondation Beyeler, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2013
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Ronchamp. Ronchamp Monastery, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2014
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Whitney. Whitney Museum of American Art, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2015
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Athens. Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2017
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. The Shard. London Bridge Quarter, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2017
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Centro Botìn. Santander, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2018
L. Piano, a cura di, Renzo Piano. Istanbul. Istanbul Modern, Editore: Fondazione Renzo Piano Editore, Anno edizione: 2023

The design workshop coordinated by Alejandro Aravena intends to inaugurate a shared research between students of Politecnico di Milano and ELEMENTAL.
The topics covered during the intensive workshop will be discussed with the team of professors and experts involved in the work days.
During the first part of the workshop, through design experiments and critiques, guidelines and principles will be focused on that will be deepened in the following months, thanks to reviews agreed upon with the faculty.
ELEMENTAL is a Do Tank* founded in 2001, led by Alejandro Aravena (Pritzker Prize 2016) and Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Víctor Oddó and Diego Torres.
ELEMENTAL stands out for developing projects ranging from social housing to public space, from objects to buildings, covering a broad spectrum of interests. Its unprejudiced approach to a given issue allows the team to delve into fields never before explored. One of the firm's hallmarks is its participatory design process, in which architects work closely with clients, developers, consultants and potential end users. In developing complex initiatives requiring the coordination of multiple actors, ELEMENTAL contributes to innovation and design quality.
Il laboratorio di progettazione coordinato da Alejandro Aravena intende inaugurare una ricerca condivisa tra gli studenti del Politecnico di Milano ed ELEMENTAL.
I temi trattati durante il workshop intensivo saranno di volta in volta discussi con il team di professori ed esperti coinvolti nelle giornate di lavoro.
Durante la prima parte del workshop, attraverso esperimenti progettuali e critici, verranno focalizzate le linee guida ed i principi che saranno oggetto di approfondimento nei mesi successivi, grazie a revisioni concordate con il corpo docente.
ELEMENTAL è un Do Tank* fondato nel 2001, guidato da Alejandro Aravena (Premio Pritzker 2016) e da Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Víctor Oddó e Diego Torres.
ELEMENTAL si distingue per lo sviluppo di progetti che vanno dall'edilizia sociale allo spazio pubblico, dagli oggetti agli edifici, coprendo un ampio spettro di interessi. Il suo approccio senza pregiudizi a una determinata questione permette al team di addentrarsi in campi mai esplorati prima. Uno dei tratti distintivi dello studio è il processo di progettazione partecipata, in cui gli architetti lavorano a stretto contatto con clienti, sviluppatori, consulenti e potenziali utenti finali. Nello sviluppo di iniziative complesse che richiedono il coordinamento di più attori, ELEMENTAL contribuisce all'innovazione e alla qualità della progettazione.

Since the object of the teaching is the recounting, observation and critique of the teacher's actual design experiences, a reinterpretation (also from a critical perspective) of the experiences under study is expected, particularly in light of the new environmental priorities.
Concerning the Dublin Descriptors, students will acquire:
— Knowledge and understanding of the issues addressed (detail design and sustainable integration) through study and practical exercises;
— Ability to understand the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of design work;
— Ability to find, independently, solutions and proposals capable of synthesising and customising different approaches to the technique of building and working in groups;
— Develop an independent and original awareness concerning building issues;
— Ability to communicate the results of work done clearly and effectively.
Poiché oggetto dell’insegnamento sono il racconto, l’osservazione e la critica delle reali esperienze progettuali del docente, ci si aspetta una rilettura (anche in chiave critica) delle esperienze allo studio, in particolare alla luce delle nuove priorità ambientali.
Con riferimento ai Descrittori di Dublino gli studenti acquisiranno:
— Conoscenza e comprensione delle tematiche affrontate (progettazione dei dettagli e integrazione sostenibile) attraverso lo studio e le esercitazioni pratiche;
— Capacità di comprendere la complessità e la multidisciplinarietà del lavoro di progettazione;
— Capacità di trovare, in autonomia, soluzioni e proposte capaci di sintetizzare e personalizzare approcci differenti alla tecnica del costruire e lavorare in gruppo;
— Sviluppare una consapevolezza indipendente e originale rispetto alle tematiche del costruire;
— Capacità di comunicare i risultati de lavoro svolto in modo chiaro ed efficace.

The complexity of the challenges we face as a society requires working at the intersection of several sophisticated fields and disciplines. In this context, the power of synthesis gains strategic relevance. How do we straightforwardly answer a complex question without giving up its complexity?
In our experience, we have identified three keys to meeting these new challenges:
Identify the problem and the question to be solved precisely and at an early stage. There is nothing worse than answering the wrong question. For this reason, before launching into an architectural solution, we strategically spend as much time identifying the problem as we do to identify the problem and find an answer. Our first effort is always to identify the forces at play that determine the answer to a particular problem and to know why something should have a certain form, not a different one. This quest is contained in the first question we ask ourselves at the beginning of a project: What should be the SHAPE of this project?
Using ignorance in our favour. An unprejudiced approach to reality always offers an opportunity to see the issue with a new perspective. This ignorance guarantees an original approach that allows for new answers if managed rigorously. It also allows us to seek new knowledge and skills in different fields, collaborating with experts who open up new questions.
Respond with a proposal (not a diagnosis). If there is a power in planning, it is that of synthesis. The ability to translate a set of concrete or intangible, even sometimes contradictory, variables into form. We risk a formal proposal at an early stage, when it is less costly to make mistakes. We discuss it openly to improve through iteration.
Course organisation
The course includes five work days to be held Feb. 12-16-one in March, April, and May.
La complessità delle sfide che dobbiamo affrontare come società richiede di lavorare all'intersezione di diversi campi e discipline sofisticate. In questo contesto, il potere della sintesi acquista una rilevanza strategica. Come rispondere a una domanda complessa in modo diretto e senza rinunciare alla sua complessità?
Nella nostra esperienza, abbiamo individuato tre chiavi per affrontare queste nuove sfide:
Identificare con precisione e nella fase iniziale il problema, la domanda da risolvere. Non c'è niente di peggio che rispondere alla domanda sbagliata. Per questo motivo, prima di lanciarci in una soluzione architettonica, dedichiamo strategicamente tanto tempo all'identificazione del problema quanto tempo a identificare il problema e a trovare una risposta. Il nostro primo sforzo è sempre quello di identificare le forze in gioco che determinano la risposta a un particolare problema, per sapere perché qualcosa dovrebbe avere una certa forma e non una diversa. Questa ricerca è contenuta nella prima domanda che ci poniamo all'inizio di un progetto: Quale dovrebbe essere la FORMA di questo progetto?
Usare l'ignoranza a nostro favore. Un approccio senza pregiudizi alla realtà offre sempre l'opportunità di vedere la questione con una nuova prospettiva. Se gestita in modo rigoroso, questa ignoranza garantisce un approccio originale che consente di ottenere nuove risposte. Ci permette anche di cercare nuove conoscenze e capacità in ambiti diversi, collaborando con esperti che aprono nuove domande.
Rispondere con una proposta (non una diagnosi). Se c'è un potere nella progettazione, è quello della sintesi. La capacità di tradurre in forma un insieme di variabili concrete o immateriali, anche talvolta contraddittorie. Rischiamo una proposta formale in una fase iniziale, quando è meno costoso commettere errori. La discutiamo apertamente per migliorare attraverso l’iterazione.
Organizzazione del corso.
Il corso prevede cinque giornate di lavoro che si terranno dal 12 al 16 febbraio una nel mese di marzo, una nel mese di aprile, una nel mese di maggio.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Valutazione continua obbligatoria
The student's final evaluation will consider his or her attendance and participation in the meetings, the result of the group work, and the final papers to be presented in the examination and to be made public and shared with other students through a publication or a small exhibition.
La valutazione finale dello studente terrà conto della sua presenza e partecipazione agli incontri, del risultato del lavoro di gruppo, degli elaborati finali da presentare in sede di esame e da rendere pubblici e condivisi con gli altri studenti attraverso una pubblicazione o una piccola mostra.

The studio aims to build an understanding of landscapes as physical spaces and cultural media that sit at the intersection of art and science, contributing knowledge about humanity’s relationship with the non-human world.
The Landscape Design Studio addresses design challenges where soil, terrain, geology, mineral resources, climate, water, plants, wildlife and the interactions of living systems are primary considerations. Studio projects explore one or more of these dimensions in depth, reaching high levels of design exploration, strategic thinking, technical resolution, and physical expression. Studio topics intersect with a broader universe of practical concerns, including land use, local and regional economies, real estate development, and public policy, as well as theoretical and artistic questions about nature and ecology. Design proposals aim to establish new connections between the material of the landscape and its economic, infrastructural, scientific, social, cultural and creative attributes. Relevant topics in ecological design and new technologies relating to contemporary landscape architecture are also explored, including ecology, sustainability, habitat restoration, hydrology, green architecture technology, soil technology and other techniques pertinent to the construction of ecologically dynamic, functioning landscapes.

Students:

• acquire knowledge and understanding of the techniques and tools for landscape design;
• are capable of facing a critical approach to all necessary scales of a landscape design with advanced levels of specialisation and detail;
• are capable of facing design problems where soil, terrain, geology, mineral resources, climate, water, plants, wildlife, and living systems interactions are major drivers;
• acquire high levels of understanding of design research, strategic thinking, technical resolution and graphic expression.

Study Area and Research Focus
The Landscape Design Studio, in coordination with the other sections of the course [A; C], engages the Trebbia River as a privileged field of research, observation, representation, and design.
Landscape architecture inherently bridges nature and culture, manipulating elements like structure, image, space, form, and earth. These are simultaneously conceptual representations and tangible materials. Consistent with the European Landscape Convention (Florence, 2000), the discipline primarily involves designing and constructing environments where natural and artificial components interweave, establishing nuanced spatial relationships, orders, and hierarchies.
This foundational understanding integrates the scientific rigor of topographical land surveying (including Historical Geography and Anthropo-geography) with a poetic sensibility. This latter approach emphasizes the continuous process through which environments acquire and evolve meaning for their inhabitants. Seen through this lens, landscape architecture comprises a series of intentional actions designed to instigate dynamic and often unpredictable transformations. This perspective informs the contemporary embrace of multi-scalar, multidisciplinary projects involving diverse stakeholders – a defining characteristic of cutting-edge landscape design.
Inspired by concepts like Alan Berger’s 'drosscape' and Beth Meyer’s 'disturbed site,' this studio will focus its design research on post-industrial landscapes. Our chosen case study for the year is a neglected military airport situated within a rural setting. Students will conduct independent design research, culminating in a project that addresses critical issues such as ground, waterway, and air quality degradation. A key component of their work will be to propose innovative new uses and spatial organizations, thoughtfully interpreting the site's rich palimpsest of existing structures and historical traces
The studio prompts students to engage with design across various scales and disciplines, with the objective of developing proposals that respond to the complex territorial challenges inherent at individual site scales. The studio coursework is structured into three distinct phases:
01_Site Explorations: Students will undertake comprehensive contextual research, encompassing spatial analysis, morphology, ecology, and atmospheric considerations.
02_Shifting Perspectives: This phase encourages students to approach the project site from multiple vantage points and scales.
03_Alternate Futures: Final projects will emerge directly from the foundational research and design work established in the preceding phases.
Complementing the core instruction of the Landscape Design Studio, the optional course 'Topics in Landscape Architecture History and Theory' and the IC 'Landscape Representation and Modeling' offer crucial supplementary learning."

Prova scritta condizionata (a scelta del docente), senza prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
A successful studio activity involves attending the ex-cathedra lessons, presenting the progress of the project and participating in the seminars. Attendance is compulsory, and a minimum of 70% presence is required.
The full completion of the project and the complete awareness of its content by each student are essential for eligibility to take the exam. No assistance is available after the end of the semester, and there are no bibliographic alternatives to the design developed during the year.
The final exam is oral and consists of an assessment of the research and project, as well as an evaluation of the work carried out during the semester. It also involves verifying students' theoretical and critical awareness, concerning the topics covered in the studio and the recommended texts.
In terms of the Dublin Descriptors, therefore, the final examination aims to assess students' individual communication skills and their ability to independently judge links between the theoretical and operational aspects of the topics covered in the studio.
The list of deliverables will be provided by the lecturers during the studio according to the work development.

McHarg, Ian, Design with Nature (1969), Editore: NHP, Anno edizione: 1971, ISBN: 03-85055-09-9
Jackson John Brinckerhoff, A Sense of Place, a Sense of Time, Editore: Yale University Press, Anno edizione: 1994, ISBN: 978-03-000-6002-7
Corner, J, and A H Balfour (Ed.), Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Theory, Editore: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 1999, ISBN: 978-15-689-8179-6
Engler, M.E., Designing America's Waste Landscapes. Center Books on Contemporary Landscape Design, Editore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Anno edizione: 2004, ISBN: 9780801878039
Berger, A., Drosscape: Wasting Land Urban America, Editore: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 2007, ISBN: 1568987137
Deming M. Elen (Ed.), Values in landscape architecture and environmental design: finding center in theory and practice, Editore: Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, Anno edizione: 2015, ISBN: 978-08-071-6078-7
Note: see especially Elizabeth K. Meyer's contribution
Kennen, K., Kirkwood, N.,, Phyto: Principles and Resources for Site Remediation and Landscape Design, Editore: Routledge Taylor & Francis, Anno edizione: 2015, ISBN: 978-0415814157
Girot, Christophe, Thinking the Contemporary Landscape, Editore: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 2016, ISBN: 978-16-168-9520-4

The course provides the fundamental tools and techniques for representing the landscape and land, as well as the environmental and heritage issues connected to it. Learning is based on both lectures and practical exercises. Specific focus is paid to the perception and design of the landscape on site.

The course aims to enhance specific knowledge and understanding through the study of complex contexts; student involvement in seminars promotes the application of knowledge and understanding and autonomy in making judgment; the teaching methods enhance communication skills and collaboration among peers (communication and learning skills).

The class in Landscape Representation will be based on the fact that the space we are dealing with can be considered as a book: it has to be read, understood (according to a specific language, grammar and words) and finally used for a specific purpose, in our case corresponding to the intention of transforming the existing space into a new one, resulting from our design actions.
The course will be introduced by a historical-critical review of various representations of different types of landscapes: natural landscapes or those resulting from the rich interaction between natural phenomena and human interventions. The aim is to cultivate the use of drawing as a fundamental basis for critical interpretation of places grounded in visual thinking, and as a tool for expressing design intentions at a territorial scale.
We shall try to learn from the direct experience of places (also drawing on case studies) to "embody" the features of the landscape and translate them into drawings. We will use common representation tools to describe their spatial performance before our intervention (analysis phase) and after our proposals (design phase).
This methodology is particularly suitable if applied to the contemporary complex landscapes that need most care, such as the urban fringes, where the traditional cityscape is fading into a combination of built and unbuilt elements: infrastructures, urban voids, wastelands and post-industrial ruins, with mixed characters taken from urban, industrial, infrastructural and agricultural landscapes that interact with nature.
Students will be asked to produce interpretive drawings and are free to use any communication tools, provided that the representations are effective. Sketches, thematic maps, diagrams, sections, and simple work models with photographic support will be the most common forms of representation.

Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
We expect each student to be able to present five sets of products:
A critical description of one Landscape Design Drawing (chosen by the student) and a copy of it in A3 format.
First description of a landscape (chosen by the student), reported in A3 format. This part is mainly directed to explain "where" the place is, with a main attitude towards a "looking from above" point of view (general maps, sections, views).
Main features of the chosen place, reported in A3 format. This part is mainly intended to explain "what" the structural characteristics of the place are, using a "walking through" point of view (detailed views, sections).
Sketchbook in A5 format, containing analysis, interpretations, and impressions of the place that demonstrate a process of understanding and selection of facts resulting from a direct experience of the place.
Presentation of the work done in PPT/PDF format.
All drawings must be presented in their original form (no copies or digitalisations are accepted).
The product's evaluation will be completed through an oral discussion, including references to lectures and the proposed bibliography.
We shall evaluate, in the first instance, the students' ability to communicate, clearly and appropriately, the basic process of a place representation (to read, to understand, to explain), with attention to drawing and linguistic accuracy. Secondly, we shall evaluate how the products from this first phase of analysis can be used in practice in subsequent design actions.

McHarg, Ian, Design with Nature, Editore: John Wiley & Sons, Anno edizione: 1995, ISBN: 978-0471114604
Appleyard, Donald; Lynch, Kevin: Myer, John R., The View from the Road, Editore: MIT Press, Anno edizione: 1965, ISBN: 978-0262010153
Ingold, Tim, Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2011, ISBN: 978-0415576840
Winchester, Simon, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, Editore: Harper Perennial, Anno edizione: 2001, ISBN: 978-0061767906
Rolando, Andrea, Forma, geometria, struttura. Per il disegno dell'architettura, della città e del paesaggio, Editore: Citt Studi, Anno edizione: 2008, ISBN: 978-8825173376

The definition of the concept of Resilience says that it is the ability to adapt to something disturbing or to an adverse situation. In urban areas, the architectural discipline is increasingly seeking new reaction mechanisms from both public and civil society. In particular, in the conditions of risk, linked in first condition to the factors determined by climate change, but also to other phenomena that disturb the urban or social environment, cities need strategies to react to the events that may arise from this. The course seeks, therefore, to reflect on these possible strategies starting from the state of the art but opening up to experimentations that unite the ecological with the social.

The students will acquire categories and tools to face the design in risk situations with a broad perspective and to understand concepts such as urban governance, resilience, etc from a point of view strategic and not only technical or monodisciplinary.
The students will expertise the relationship between collective resilience strategies, and therefore the co-management mechanisms between city and citizens in risk conditions – ecological or social -, within the actions that from the architecture and urbanism allow to open mechanisms of governance and social innovation in a practical conditions.
The project will experiment diferrent methods to undestand and act in a new urban governance based on collectivity.

The course aims to examine contemporary cities and architecture, including buildings and public spaces, through the lens of their heritage and ecological components, as well as the contradictory relationship between the local and global scales, which poses a risk to urban resilience. As with the UN-Habitat concept, Agenda 2030 or New European Bauhaus, cities must look for new resilient strategies to address new risk situations, whether natural or human-made.
This process will be developed through the observation of a specific typology that characterises the ecological and social identity of the Mediterranean city. The PATIO HOUSE (a courtyard inside a building) represents not only historical architecture around which social relations are established, but also regulates the building's natural energy, lighting, ventilation and shade. In its sequence and repetition, it creates a dense and porous urban environment, such as that found in Mediterranean cities. The patio, in continuity with public spaces as collective courtyards, naturally regulates architecture and is a green cell system of the Mediterranean city that must be updated in a new urban and social ecology.
Phenomenon derived by climate change or gentrification and touristification - as ecological and sociological risks - often highlight contradictions between different scales of the city, as well as between its physical and social components. Starting from a specific typology and urban context, this course will explore new, bottom-up, co-management approaches to creating a sustainable cities with resilient communities, in an increasingly globalised world, with the aim of guaranteeing its ecological and social sustainability.
Theoretical classes and exercises in an semi intensive course, with the participation of external architects and invited experts, will integrate the development of a practical activity carried out in two stages. The first will be a project as strategy for a urban void and its surrounding public space in the historic centre of Seville, in southern Spain. The focus will be on urban heritage as a Nature-based solution within the courtyard as the anthropological and ecological cell of the Mediterranean city. The second exercise will involve interpreting the urban heritage and courtyards of the students' own culture.

Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The final grade will be the result of the proportional addition of three partial grades:

• 25% corresponding to the participation on the seminar and debates.
• 50% corresponding to the first exercise.
• 25% corresponding to the second exercise.
  To pass the course, all partial grades must be evaluated. Particular attention will be given to the student's ability to reinterpret the theme within their own culture, and to the outcome of the project in the first exercise involving models, sketches, videos and drawings. A final critique/exam will synthesise the entire intensive course.

Gaia Redaelli, PAX-Patios de la Axerquía. Urban Regeneration and Social Innovation in a Heritage Context, Editore: Tongji University, Anno edizione: 2019, ISSN: 2096-3041, Fascicolo: 1/2019 https://www.built-heritage.net/gaia-redaelli-issue9
Richard Sennet, The Public Realm, Editore: Conference at BMW Stiftung Herbert Quandt, Anno edizione: 2008 https://www.richardsennett.com/site/senn/templates/general2.aspx?pageid=16&cc=gb
Gaia Redaelli, I Paesaggi inivisibili. Tre conversazioni portoghesi. João Luis Carrilho da Graca, Álvaro Siza, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Editore: Maggioli Editore, Anno edizione: 2007, ISBN: 978-88387-4124-1
Gaia Redaelli, Spazio pubblico e patrimonio: i paesaggi fragili della gentrification in G. Bertelli (a cura di),, Editore: Aracne, Anno edizione: 2018, ISBN: 978-88-548-9083-1
Simona Morini, il Rischio, Editore: Bollati Bolinghieri, Anno edizione: 2014, ISBN: 978-88-339-2502

An observatory for future proof architecture in a living landscape: in this short course you will develop as a group a position in the interrelation of human architecture and a complex biodiverse environment as a designer of living systems.

You will learn by following lectures and conducting an analysis of a mid-sized site. Instead of merely projecting a program on the site you will propose a balanced, resilient and healthy intervention in terms of human health, healthy ecosystem, low environmental impact and a positive outcome in biodiversity. You will learn about ways to adapt urban interventions to climate change and propose new strategies to reach a better urban habitat for many living species within the “one health” strategy of WHO & UN.

Topic
This course explores the redesign of Laugier’s “Cabane Rurale” as a catalyst for reimagining public spaces in rewilded urban environments, framing it within the broader discourse of "Nature’s Genius" and its transformative potential for contemporary architecture. Against the backdrop of ecological and extinction crises, the course investigates how architectural practice can embrace a more symbiotic relationship with nature, moving beyond anthropocentric models toward a polyspecies, microbiotic cosmology—one that redefines healing, medicine, and urban renewal.
The course draws from real-world projects, including DGJ Paysages ongoing design the Campus Med in Strasbourg, a competition-winning design developed in collaboration with Nickl & Partner. Here, students will engage with the challenge of integrating a Nature Observatory into a small urban park, balancing ecological restoration with the constraints of modern urban development. The site itself presents a microcosm of contemporary tensions: a wild area slated for renaturing, a sustainably designed campus building, and the mandate to replace every felled tree with three new ones. A series of similar sites, each with another problematic will be analysed. Each group's project (for each site) serves as a living laboratory for exploring "One Health" principles—an approach that views health as an interconnected landscape, aligning with Gilles Clément’s vision of the architect as a planetary gardener.
Structured as a student-led competition, the course will task groups with designing an Observatory that embodies these ideals, with the most compelling concept selected for collective refinement. The process mirrors potential for successes where collaborative iteration could lead to innovative outcomes in a long term projection over 50years. Beyond each groups project, the course invites reflection on how this model might be transposed to other sites—students will be invited to propose potential sites for their diploma projects. The goal is not just to design a building, but to rethink the role of architecture in fostering ecological and social resilience, bridging the gap between idealism and the practical realities of urban renewal.
Preliminary schedule
5.6- 20.6.2027
Products
1 Group Manifesto of max. 4 pages A4,
2 Presentation of age design process (ca. 20 min per group)
3 Design of a site specific observatory and its development with the site over 50 years (2028-2078) max 4 A1
Bibliography
To be announced at start of the semester

Prova scritta condizionata (a scelta del docente), con prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i condizionato (a scelta del docente), di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
Presentation and discussion of
1 Group Manifesto of max. 4 pages A4,
2 Presentation of age design process (ca. 20 min per group)
3 Design of a site specific observatory and its development with the site over 50 years (2028-2078) max 4 A1

Teaching is aimed at the formation of the student's critical awareness on the main topics addressed by contemporary architectural research, with particular attention to the deepening of theoretical and critical contributions, methodologies and techniques of the architectural project and landscape design. The practice of the project, as a synthesis of multiple knowledge, can not disregard the complexity of theoretical and operative references that, from time to time, generate design paths in which knowledge and shared practices mix with original authorial contributions. Starting from the tradition of disciplinary knowledge, the course will address themes and forms of the theory of architecture and landscape design, comparing the most significant contemporary theoretical positions, deepening concepts, paradigms, tools. In line with the objectives of the Study Program, the course aims to carry out an open and comprehensive action to provide the specific skills that, gathered within and at the margins of the disciplinary field, are necessary to provide theoretical and technical practice of architectural design and of Landscape.

The students will acquire knowledge on contemporary concepts and topics in the landscape architecture field from a design perspective; they will gain the capacity to critically interpret and draw design considerations from the analysis of case studies, by means of texts and drawings; they will gain knowledge on possible design approaches to address contemporary issues in the landscape architecture field and to interpret problems generally addressed by technical disciplines from a design perspective.

The course will address contemporary and emerging topics in the field of landscape architecture, within the frameworks of the debated term Anthropocene, planetary urbanization, and the climate crisis. Fields mostly addressed by technical disciplines will be understood and addressed from a design perspective. These include brownfields, waste landscapes, landscapes of discarded earthy fill, energy landscapes, depaving interventions, and afforestation/biodiversity projects in urban environments. The growing production of discarded materials, the current energy transition, the climate crisis, and the need to address biodiversity loss show the increasing relevance of these fields for the landscape architects of tomorrow. Attention will be paid to understanding material flows, processes in landscape architecture, and spatial compositions.
The course will be organized through lectures and collective discussions in class, and the critical reading of a case study by the students.
The lectures will cover: the landscape urbanism concept and its evolution over time; processes in landscape architecture and their representation; landscape interventions for brownfields and energy landscapes; landscape design of discarded earthy fill; design with sediment flows; design for depaving interventions; and contemporary examples of forestry interventions in urban environments.
The critical reading of a case study (a designed landscape) will regard one of the topics covered by the lectures, for example, a waste landscape, a depaving intervention, an energy landscape, a brownfield regeneration, an afforestation and public space design, or a project involving sediment flows. This assignment will consist of a short paper and drawings providing a critical interpretation of the project.

Altro
The evaluation will be based on the submission of the critical reading of a case study with an interpretative text (short paper) and drawings by the students. The assignment will need to incorporate and interpret the knowledge gained from the lectures.

Berger, Alan, Drosscape: wasting land in urban America, Editore: New York: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 2006
Braae, Ellen, Beauty redeemed: recycling post-industrial landscapes, Editore: Risskov: IKAROS Press and Birkhäuser Verlag, Anno edizione: 2015
Bortolotti, Andrea and Chiara Geroldi (eds.), Ecologies of Desealing. Design, Research, and Technical Grounds, Editore: Mimesis, Anno edizione: 2025 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tBXNTDO16ZezxP3fTN1iUA2CJE5KgHHu/view
Note: Open-access book
Bortolotti, Andrea, Chiara Geroldi and Cecilia Furlan, Open Ground. Depaving Urban Surfaces, Editore: Mimesis International, Anno edizione: 2025 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JM1CpBV-D9E6KP08LSqYXQoZCfZkVLU7/view
Note: Open-access book
Clément, Gilles; ed. Filippo De Pieri, Manifesto del terzo paesaggio, Editore: Macerata: Quodlibet, Anno edizione: 2005
De Solà-Morales, Ignasi, "Terrain Vague", in On landscape urbanism Center 14, ed. Dean Almy, pp. 108-113., Editore: (First published in 1995 by Anyone Corporation). Austin: Center for American Architecture and Design, University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture., Anno edizione: 2007
Engler, Mira, Designing America's waste landscapes., Editore: Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, Anno edizione: 2004
Ganser, Karl, Sabine Auer, Sigrid Godau, and Henning Maier Jantzen, Unter freiem Himmel: Emscher Landschaftspark. Under the open sky: Emscher Landscape Park, Editore: Basel, Essen: Birkhäuser; Regionalverband Ruhr, Anno edizione: 2010
Geroldi, Chiara, "Carbone, petrolio, gas e il progetto di architettura del paesaggio" in Il Paesaggio al Centro. Natura pubblica e natura operante, a cura di Isotta Cortesi, pp. 162-171, Editore: Siracusa: LetteraVentidue Edizioni, Anno edizione: 2024
Geroldi, Chiara, Moved Earth: Designing Landscapes with Discarded Fill, Editore: London, New York: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2026
Ghosn, Rania (ed.), New Geographies 2: Landscape of Energy, Editore: Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Anno edizione: 2009
Hein, Carola (ed.), Oil Spaces: Exploring the Global Petroleumscape, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2023
Hutton, Jane, Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2021
Kirkwood, Niall, Manufactured sites: rethinking the post-industrial landscape, Editore: London; New York: Spon Press, Anno edizione: 2001
Kennan, Kate, and Niall Kirkwood, Phyto: Principles and Resources for Site Remediation and Landscape Design, Editore: Routledge, Anno edizione: 2015
Kousidi, Stamatina (ed.), Forest Architecture. In search of the (post) modern wilderness, Editore: Mimesis, Anno edizione: 2024
Lynch, Kevin (1918-1984), ed. Michael Southworth, Wasting away, Editore: San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, Anno edizione: 1990
McHarg, Ian L., Design with nature, Editore: 25th anniversary ed. New York: J. Wiley., Anno edizione: 1992
Mostafavi, Mohsen, and Gareth Doherty, eds., Ecological urbanism, Editore: Cambridge, MA, Baden: Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Lars Müller Publishers, Anno edizione: 2010
Pastore, Maria Chiara, Annarita Lapenna, Luca Lazzarini, Israa Mahmoud, and Francesca Zanotto, Città Biodiverse. Politiche, piani, progetti e processi di co-creazione, Editore: Mimesis
Waldheim, Charles, ed., The landscape urbanism reader, Editore: New York: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 2006

At the centre this workshop there is the attention at the project understood as a 'Tactical process', intended as a recognizable path, conscious and oriented, acting on a relative ‘big scale’ of intervention, however able to have significant effects in medium and small scale.
Tactical process acts as a 'vehicle' to respond to urgent questions, such as the importance of leisure and the problem of the vacation housing in the contemporary society, able to return new life cycles in contexts that are often underutilized.

Learning skills in urban design subjects;
Ability in architectural development and in representation of the project;
Ability to solve complex problems;
Ability to work in a team.

DREAMED LANDS. ARCHITECTURAL MANIFESTO. Alain Guez - Visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano – Full professor at Ecole nationale supérieure
d’Architecture Paris-Malaquais/PSL
[email protected]
Architecture and urban design are also about dreams: at the same time connected and free from reality.
The workshop proposes to develop a both architectural and urban vision, looking for an architectural expression of a dreamed land.
Each student will propose a scenario for a dreamed land, which must be anchored in a realistic situation on earth. The land dream can be about, fantasy, mythologies, repression or even nightmare.
It’s not an utopia.
The dream can be the one of a human or of a non-human (animal, vegetable, mineral, water), of an individual or of a collective, of an alive organism or of a machine, of a private or of a public stakeholder.
Who dreams of what, must be one of the questions posed.
It’s necessary to have enough documentation on the situation selected and the dream connection with reality.
The protagonists of the dreamed land can be plural and diverse. This variety can be a challenge: how to make a dream common for different decision makers, alive organisms and inhabitants?
There’s one constraint: the dreamed land must include explicitly the question of water.

Prova scritta obbligatoria, con prove in itinere
Prova orale obbligatoria
The presence of the students is mandatory from Tuesday to thursday
The workshop will be developed in two phases:
1. the first describes the dreamed land through a short text: 2 000 characters maximum and five images.
The text must propose notions and concepts that inspires and orientates the dreamed city.
Each student posts his.pdf presentation on WeeBeep on Monday before 8pm.
SURNAME_Name_DreamedLand1
On Tuesday morning, each student will make a maximum 5-minute presentation + 5 minutes discussion:
> a title and a subtitle for his dreamed city
> 4 images of the situation selected
> 1 photomontage expressing his dream (with mixed techniques, draw, pictures, and so on) )
Each short presentation will be followed by a short discussion
All the students will follow the entire day presentation
On Wednesday after noon a common workshop will be aimed to choose between two open possibilities:. the group proposes a common dream for each situation selected by students. each student develops his own dream without references to other propositions.
We’ll decide together, depending on the individual propositions.
2. the second phase is the proposition of an architectural manifesto which expresses the dreamed land.From Thursday afternoon, to Tuesday of the second workshop week, each student, will work on an architecture manifesto which can express the dream land.
From Tuesday, each student will develop his architecture manifesto at different scales.
On Tuesday, each student will make a 3-minute presentation on the base of the sketches/models of its architectural manifesto.
Each short presentation will be followed by a short discussion.
From Tuesday to Thursday morning, each student will work in the aula on his architecture manifesto.
On Thursday, each student will make a maximum 3-minute presentation of its architecture manifesto.
From Thursday evening to Saturday noon, each student prepares a.pdf document in a common indesign layout containing:. a 2 500-character text of the approach of the dreamed land. the visual documents and datas which situates the city dreamed at different scales. a representative image of the approach. a 2 000-character text of the architectural manifesto. the visual documents/models that express their architecture proposition for the dreamed city.
Before Saturday noon, each student will place his document on WeeeBeep.
SURNAME_Name_DreamedLand2
The evaluation will be made by the teachers on the base of the documents poster online on 3 criteria:. Relevance of the proposition.. Coherence between dreamed city and architectural manifesto expression.. Quality of textual and graphical presentation

L’insegnamento si propone di fornire le conoscenze di base relative al rilievo e alla rappresentazione 3D dell'architettura e del territorio. Tali contenuti saranno trattati sia a livello metodologico che a livello pratico attraverso un laboratorio sperimentale e informatico con strumentazione laser e droni dotati di sensori fotogrammetrici.

Conoscenza dei contenuti di base del rilevamento 3D nei suoi aspetti metodologici (procedure atte a progettare e impostare correttamente operazioni di rilevamento) e tecnologici (strumentazione).
Comprensione dei problemi inerenti il rilevamento e la rappresentazione dell'architettura e del territorio con laser scanner e droni.
Capacità di applicare le conoscenze acquisite per la risoluzione di un problema inerente la comune pratica operativa di rilevamento dell’architettura e del territorio.
Acquisizione di abilità comunicative specifiche (terminologia adeguata) che consentano di descrivere correttamente e compiutamente il progetto e i risultati di un rilevamento con laser scanner e droni.

Schemi generali del rilevamento di nuvole di punti 3D tramite immagini
Schemi generali del rilevamento di nuvole di punti 3D mediante laser scanner
L'inquadramento di un rilevamento 3D in un sistema di riferimento prestabilito
Realizzazione di una esercitazione sperimentale di rilevamento 3D con laser scanner e immagini acquisite da drone
Elaborazione dei dati e analisi dei risultati

Prova scritta obbligatoria, senza prove in itinere
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, individuale, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
L'esame è volto a verificare il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di apprendimento attesi. Esso consta di una prova scritta (test a risposta multipla) e in una prova orale. Quest'ultima sarà basata sulla discussione con il docente della realizzazione di un rilevamento 3D di una nuvola di punti fotogrammetrica finalizzata alla restituzione di un manufatto architettonico scelto dallo studente.

Guidi, Gabriele and Fabio Remondino., 3D Modelling from real data, Editore: InTech, Anno edizione: 2012, ISBN: 978-953-51-0012-6 http://www.intechopen.com/books/modeling-and-simulation-in-engineering/3d-modeling-from-real-data
Note: testo open access in lingua inglese
M. Micieli, Aerofotogrammetria con i droni, Editore: Flaccovio, Anno edizione: 2019, ISBN: 9788857909158
Note: disponibile anche e-book

Il corso è finalizzato a completare l'esperienza dello studente nei campi della pianificazione urbanistica e progettazione urbana, al tempo stesso conducendolo a riflettere criticamente sulle pratiche apprese e messe in atto.
The course aims at completing the students' experience in the fields of urban planning and urban design, by stimulating a critical thought on the design practices learnt and used by the participants.

Il corso è volto a completare l'esperienza dello studente nei campi della pianificazione urbanistica e della progettazione urbana, al tempo stesso conducendolo a riflettere criticamente sulle pratiche e tecniche apprese e messe in atto. La modalità didattica principale è quella del laboratorio di progetto, integrata da comunicazioni (lezioni e seminari) volte a fornire ai partecipanti strumenti tecnici e concettuali che potranno sperimentare e mettere alla prova sul tema di lavoro assegnato. Attività di peer learning saranno rilevanti per stimolare e favorire la riflessione critica da parte degli studenti e allenarli a usare l'attività di progetto come occasione continua di formazione.
Nell'affrontare un problema di trasformazione e rigenerazione della città contemporanea, gli studenti saranno a più riprese messi a confronto con temi e principi ricorrenti del dibattito urbanistico, a partire dalla metodologia stessa di progetto, basata sulla classica triade survey/analysis/plan, della quale si rintracceranno le origini, le ragioni e le condizioni attuali di validità. Allo stesso modo, si porteranno gli studenti a comprendere le principali specificità della città contemporanea e a riflettere sulla corrispondente evoluzione dei temi e degli strumenti dell'urbanistica.
Per affrontare l'esercizio proposto, di adeguata complessità, gli studenti condurranno rigorose, anche se sintetiche, ricognizioni sulla storia urbana del luogo, sulla vicenda urbanistica del contesto, sugli elementi rilevanti di urbanistica tecnica. Il tema di lavoro proposto farà riferimento a un caso reale di rigenerazione urbana e sarà selezionato avendo riguardo alla possibilità di effettuare ricognizioni dirette e all'opportunità di confronto con attori istituzionali e stakeholder.
Attraverso il proprio lavoro, e già dalle prime fasi, si chiederà poi allo studente di prendere posizione rispetto a questioni chiave del progetto urbano contemporaneo, quali: rapporto spazio costruito/spazio aperto; rapporto con il tessuto della città esistente; costruzione di un welfare materiale; pertinenza e coerenza del progetto a diverse scale; interpretazione delle stratificazioni di paesaggio, sia naturale che antropizzato.
Gli studenti lavoreranno in piccoli gruppi e in costante confronto con docenti e tutor. Sono previsti due momenti di presentazione formale dello stato di avanzamento del progetto: a metà percorso e alla fine, con specifici obiettivi ed elaborati. L'elaborato finale consisterà in una presentazione (ppt o pdf) e nella realizzazione di un singolo pannello poster in formato A1 illustrante il progetto.
Sebbene la lingua del corso sia l'italiano, il docente sarà disponibile a facilitare la partecipazione di studenti internazionali.
The course aims at completing the students' experience in the fields of urban planning and urban design, by stimulating a critical thought on the design practices and techniques learnt and used by the participants. The main teaching mode is that of an intensive design studio, integrated with lectures and seminars aimed at providing concepts and technical instruments to be used and tested in the project assignment. Peer learning activities will be proposed, as useful in order to foster critical thought by the students and to train them in using the design process as a continuing learning opportunity.
The students will be faced with urban transformation and regeneration problems and repeatedly confronted with themes and principles of the urban debate, including the project methodology itself: the classical survey/analysis/plan triad will be traced down to its origins, rationale and actual conditions of validity. In a similar way, students will be led to understand the specific issues of the contemporary city and the corresponding evolution of themes and instruments of urban planning.
In order to approach the proposed assignment, which will be of adequate complexity, students will be required to investigate and understand the local urban history, the relevant planning practices, the relevant elements of technical urbanism. The specific theme will be taken from the real world and will be selected considering the opportunity of a direct visit and the possible involvement of institutional actors and stakeholders.
Through their work, and since the beginning, students will be asked to express positions with respect to key issues of the contemporary urban project: relation between built and unbuilt space, relation the existing urban fabric, interpretation of both the natural and inhabited landscape layer.
Students will work in small groups, with a constant confrontation with teachers and tutora. A mid-term critic and a final critic will take place, with specific objectives and required deliverables. The final deliverables will be a presentation (ppt or pdf) and a A1 poster explaining the project.
Although the course language is Italian, the teacher will take care of facilitating the participation of international students.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i obbligatorio, di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
La prova finale si svolgerà nella forma di una discussione sugli elaborati di progetto realizzati e presentati dagli studenti, nel corso della quale saranno valutate: la maturità e coerenza del progetto e in particolare la capacità di portare a sintesi i principali temi proposti, la completezza e qualità degli elaborati, la competenza dello studente nel motivare e difendere le scelte effettuate.
The final exam will be a discussion on the project deliverables produced and presented by the students. The evaluation will be based on: coherence and complexity of the project and ability to integrate the main themes proposed during the course, quality and completeness of the materials produced, competence in motivating and defending the design choices.

Questo insegnamento contribuisce al raggiungimento dei seguenti Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile dell'Agenda ONU 2030:
SDG4 - QUALITY EDUCATION
SDG11 - SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES
SDG15 - LIFE ON LAND

Bartolomeo CORSINI
a.a. 2025/2026 - secondo semestre
The Landscape and the narrative Cinema – Piacenza Campus
The aim of the course is to explore the relationship between moving image and landscape within the traditional paths of research and thought. Landscape is seen as stage of change and as producer of symbols and cultural forms. Cultural industries, like Cinema, TV and Digital Media, and Architecture are distinguishing features of modern and post-modern society and can interpret all its changes. The analysis of landscape, cities and cinema, daily life, lifestyles and behaviour are the main elements of the course. The focus will be on visual components, space, line and shape, color and movement. Moreover, the screening of films and episodes of tv series will allow a thematic analysis of cinema used to narrate and reconstruct the sense of living in the past and in the future – from Metropolis to Budapest hotel.
The most significant topics will be:

• Birth of the image and study of symbols
• Digital technology applied to the image
• Urban lifestyles and landscape narrated by cinema
• Fiction and Cinema as a tourist attraction, cities anc cinema
• Film Commission: location scouting end architecture meaning

Prova scritta condizionata (a scelta del docente), con prove in itinere
Prova orale condizionata (a scelta del docente)
The course is divided into a series of frontal lectures on the topics indicated and will include some basic texts. A series of tests will monitor student progress. Lastly, part of the course will be based on a case study.
Students unable to follow the course are required to study the whole bibliography (compulsory and not).

Claudia Hellmann - Claudine Weber Hof, Location, Editore: C.J. Bucher Verlag GmbH, Monaco - Touring Editore SrL, Milano, Anno edizione: 2005, ISBN: 9788836539499 https://www.amazon.it/Location-città-del-mondo-film/dp/8836539491/ref=sr_1_2?__mk_it_IT=ÅMÅ¿ÕÑ&crid=2M96TNNUUB5WP&keywords=locations&qid=1657523148&s=books&sprefix=locations%2Cstripbooks%2C61&sr=1-2
Dietrich NEUMANN, Film Architecture, Editore: Prestel, Anno edizione: 1999, ISBN: 3-7913-2163-6
Note: From Metropolis to Blade Runner
Mircea ELIADE, Immagini e Simboli, Editore: Varie, Anno edizione: 1998, ISBN: 88-16-40070-6 https://www.amazon.it/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=immagini+e+simboli+eliade&tag=slhyin-21&index=aps&hvadid=46913546630&ref=pd_sl_18zn4i5xo6_b
Note: Saggi sul simbolismo magico-religioso
Marc AUGE', Rovine e macerie, Editore: Bollati Boringhieri, Anno edizione: 2004, ISBN: 88-339-1516-6 https://www.amazon.it/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=rovine+e+macerie&tag=slhyin-21&index=aps&hvadid=46913522030&ref=pd_sl_530udadj06_b
Note: Il senso del Tempo
Bruce BLOCK, The Visual Story, Editore: Focal press, Anno edizione: 2013, ISBN: 978-0-240-80779-9
Note: Creating the visual structure of film, TV and Digital Media
Jos© ORTEGA Y GASSET, L'uomo e la gente, Editore: Armando editore, Anno edizione: 1996, ISBN: 88-7144-561-9 https://www.amazon.it/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=l%27uomo+e+la+gente&tag=slhyin-21&index=aps&hvadid=98780805789&ref=pd_sl_5umu3jny07_b
Note: L'apparizione dell'altro
Marshall McLUHAN, City as classroom, Editore: Book Society of Canada, Anno edizione: 1977, ISBN: 978-0772550200 www.amazon.com/City-classroom-Understanding-language-media/dp/0772550204
Note: Understanding language and media

In the last decades landscape architecture has acquired an unprecedented disciplinary centrality in the transformation of our territory and physical environment at different scales, along with the growing importance of the ecological paradigm in shaping our interpretation of the present day phenomena. Updated design practices, approaches and theories has been established in order to face new environmental issues, the questions raised by territorial planning and urban regeneration, the reclamation of residual urban areas in postindustrial cities, the design of public spaces and parks, etc. A new sensibility has emerged as a consequence of these changes, based on a renovated relationship between architecture and natural flows of various origins and on a crossing of disciplinary boundaries which finds its origin in the encroachment of art with landscape practice in the 20th century debate.
Moving from a theoretical framework in which landscape is defined by Alain Roger’s distinction between an in situ and an in visu "artialization", the course aims at exploring the role of cultural models and design approaches in shaping the identity and the perception of landscapes. In this sense, the course will move across different thematic paths and insights within the vast set of ideas and models characterizing the global scenery and their historical articulations

The aim of the course is to foster students’ awareness of the crucial role of a specific reflection on environmental and landscape design issues on the background of its historical articulations, as well as of the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to historical understanding of the territory and to landscape design practice at different scales. The course aims at providing different angles through which it is possible to look at the history and the theory of landscape, promoting the students' ability to properly read the complex reality in which they are called to operate, provinding them with methodological instruments of interpretation of it and encouraging their critical understanding of the present phenomena and of the new centrality of the reflection on landscape in the international debate.

Particular attention will be devoted to the theoretical foundations of the modern and contemporary discipline of landscape architecture and to the movements and figures which contributed to shape it; to the interrelation between the macro-scale of regeneration processes and the micro-scale of specific interventions on urban fabric and public spaces; to the dialogue and exchanges between theories and practices, local and international debate; to the communication and representation strategies underpinning the cultural and environmental processes; to political, social and cultural processes which contributed to shape our environment and the categories to interpret it; to the changes of the gaze which accompany and sometimes anticipate the transformations, giving space to the parallel reflections of visual arts such as painting, sculpture, landscape photography and recent participative practices.
The course will be structured as an intensive theoretical workshop and will consist of both lectures/seminars and excursions/visits to significant sites and places, held by the professor and by invited experts and scholars. The success of the course will be based on the constant interaction among students and lecturer/s, meant to trigger a critical dialogue and exchange also in view of the value which the different cultural backgrounds can bring to the collective discussion.
Attending students will be asked to develop a collective work articulated in individual or group-based contributions consisting in the construction of a magazine issue devoted to a topic agreed at the beginning of the course. The aim of the work is to enhance the student’s ability to organize a coherent set of ideas and images according to a chosen subject of investigation, and to develop a personal and critical viewpoint on the relation between narratives, practices and actual transformations. The process of elaboration of the works will be discussed during the course through individual and collective reviews and will end up in a final presentation.
The bibliography is indicative and will be updated during the course, giving each student the opportunity to build a personal selection of references focusing on specific topics and case-studies to be agreed with the professor.

Prova orale obbligatoria
Progetto/i - Elaborato/i facoltativo (a scelta dello studente), di gruppo, con revisioni periodiche, con presentazione/discussione finale
The final evaluation will be based on an oral individual exam, conceived as a conversation freely spanning through the results of the research work and the subjects of the lectures, seminars and visits and based on a chosen group of bibliographical references (essays, articles, etc.).
The discussion is meant to evaluate the students’ capacity to place, contextualize and connect topics, figures and phenomena. Special attention will be payed to the students' critical approach and personal reading of the issues raised throughout the course.
Given the specific nature of the course as a theoretical workshop, the attendance to the lectures is strongly recommended.

Lotus International, Everything is Landscape, Anno edizione: 1999, Fascicolo: 101
Peter Walker, Melanie Simo, Invisible Gardens: The Search for Modernism in the American Landscape, Editore: The MIT Press, Anno edizione: 1994, ISBN: 0262731169
Pierluigi Nicolin, Francesco Repishti, Dictionary of Today's Landscape Designers, Editore: Skira, Anno edizione: 2003, ISBN: 9788884914200
James Corner (ed.), Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture, Editore: Princeton Architectural Press, Anno edizione: 1999, ISBN: 1568981791
Stuart Wrede, William Howard Adams (eds.), Denatured Visions: Landscape and Culture in the Twentieth Century, Editore: Museum of Modern Art, Anno edizione: 1991, ISBN: 0870704222
Luigi Ghirri, Paesaggio italiano / Italian Landscape, Lotus Documents, Editore: Electa, Anno edizione: 1989
"Lotus International", Landscape Urbanism, Anno edizione: 2012, Fascicolo: 150
"Lotus International", Manufactured Altered Landscape, Anno edizione: 2017, Fascicolo: 164
Udo Weilacher, Between Landscape Architecture and Land Art, Editore: Birkhauser, Anno edizione: 1996, ISBN: 3764353163
"Lotus Navigator", I nuovi paesaggi, Anno edizione: 2000, Fascicolo: 2
Lotus Navigator, "Fare l'ambiente", Anno edizione: 2002, Fascicolo: 5
Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, Depositions: Roberto Burle Marx and Public Landscapes under Dictatorship, Editore: University of Texas Press, Anno edizione: 2018, ISBN: 9781477315736
Rosalind Krauss, Sculpture in the Expanded Field, in "October", Anno edizione: 1979, Fascicolo: 8
Robert Smithson, Frederick Law Olmsted and the Dialectical Landscape, in Id., The Collected Writings, Editore: University of California Press, Anno edizione: 1996

Attività a scelta

attività extracurriculari