40 581 Studio Daylight and Structure: Productive housing II (Autumn 2026)

Course responsible: Kathrine Næss

This course is part of a studio series in which daylight and structure serve as primary drivers for developing architecture. In architecture, daylight is shaped by how structural elements and materials frame, filter, and shape light, together with spatial proportions, material surfaces, and the size and placement of openings. Daylight is a free, and abundant resource whose character varies with geographical location. The studio is grounded in the premise that daylight is fundamental to spatial experience and interior comfort — and essential for human health and well-being The central question is: what type of light, and how much light is appropriate for a specific room, behaviour, and place? The studio aims to develop an awareness of how architecture transforms the daylight available on a given site, establishing a relationship between interior and exterior. Daylight is studied through quantitative and qualitative methods, including digital simulations, heliodon studies, light measurements, drawings, and physical models. Structure is explored through the path of forces — from roof to foundations — recognising that structural systems organise space, shaping spatial proportions, material surfaces, and the character of daylight.

This autumn, the studio continues the study of Productive Housing in the Nordic–Baltic context. Historically, housing in this region combined living and making, with dwellings integrating spaces for work, storage, and seasonal activities, making careful use of limited resources such as daylight and materials. Today, changing patterns of work, ecological awareness, and flexible ways of living invite us to rethink what productivity in housing might mean. Students will define their own understanding of “productive” and develop an architectural proposal (400-1000 m²) combining dwelling with a chosen form of productivity. A study trip to Saaremaa will take place in week 41, including a workshop on photographing models. At the beginning of the semester, there will also be a workshop drawing light with an artist and an engineer. The work forms part of an international academic collaboration initiated by the Louis I. Kahn Estonia Foundation, exploring the relevance of Louis I. Kahn’s thinking in contemporary architectural discourse.

At the conclusion of the course the student should be able to:

-Demonstrate an advanced understanding of how context, room proportions, structural systems, material surfaces, and the placement of openings interact to shape daylight conditions in interior spaces.

-Analyse and assess spatial qualities in the process of making, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

-Use physical and digital models to investigate and evaluate how structural principles, material surfaces, geometry and proportions shape daylight.

-Develop an architectural proposal that integrates daylight, structure, material, programme, and place into a coherent spatial concept.

-Communicate, represent, and critically reflect on spatial intentions, daylight and structural strategies through hand drawings, digital drawings, models (both physical and digital), text, and visual representations.

The semester is organised into four equally important modules, which together form an iterative learning process. Each module integrates theory, tools, methods, and architectural investigation. The pedagogical approach emphasises learning through making: building and drawing to find out. Students are encouraged to “invent a problem” and subsequently develop an architectural response. Scientific methods and analytical tools are embedded within the students’ creative work to balance knowledge and intuition, through hands-on exploration using models and drawings. Teaching is structured around dialogue, collective discussions, workshops, pin-ups, and peer-to-peer feedback, fostering a studio culture in which individual inquiry is strengthened through shared learning and critical reflection on the material presented.

Physical attendance at lectures, reviews, supervision sessions, discussions, and other educational activities is expected and necessary in order to achieve the learning outcomes

Form of assessment: Project

Grading scale: Pass/fail

In order to be assessed in this course, the student must have completed the following activities and assignments: Individual material submitted includes models, drawings and text from selected semester assignments, presented in an exhibition format.