40 680 Edifice by Nature: Making and Metamorphosis (Spring 2027)

The OCCAS course Edifice by Nature responds to an exclusive invitation to exhibit at the Arsenale at the Architectural Biennale in Venice in May 2027.

In 1786, the German poet and scientist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, passed through Venice – and the shipyard Arsenale – on his way south and to the gradual discovery that all things in nature are in a constant change, including himself. He called it metamorphosis.

The course invites students on a similar journey of discovery leading to a project displayed at the Biennale. At the beginning of the term, each student will choose an item from the natural world. Under the heading “metamorphosis”, the course pursues a quadruple aim: 1) Through observation, drawing, reading, and experimenting to engage with the item in a process of transformation, ending in a built form that seeks to elaborate on the relation between our built environment and the circumstance of nature; 2) to document the various stages of that transformation as a process also of increased perception, sensitivity, and insight; 3) to gain a personal understanding of the concept of “metamorphosis” in its different facets – historically, artistically, literary, botanically – through lectures, seminars, and field trips; 4) to reveal and grasp the mother tongue of nature herself - by embodying the phrase sustainability, as a lived metamorphic experience belonging to each individual.

The course Edifice by Nature is a shared journey of exploration where the result is not given. The process of observing and assimilating nature is integral to the final result in a forming where that forming itself is an end, both pedagogically and architecturally.

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

- Develop the framework for an independent architectural project, within a given, concrete brief.

- Establish a personal visual language incorporating ambiguity, thereby utilizing and challenging the conventions of architectural drawing and creating a broader scope for interpretation.

- Employ architectural tools - in a broad sense - in advanced and experimental ways, spanning a range from analogue and digital drawing in Rhino to rendering in V-Ray and physical model-making.

- Embody the concept of sustainability by route of an emphatic engagement with sources spanning history, art, botany.

- Communicate an independent project resulting from an exploratory and iterative process.

- Synthesize a shared academic inquiry into a cohesive, original, and communicative joint exhibition.

The symbiotic relationship between theory and practice constitutes the course’s central premise. The two are mutually dependent and inform one another throughout the pedagogical process.

Learning takes place through a series of smaller modules in which techniques of architectural production are introduced as working tools. Each module concludes with a review, in which students participate actively alongside the course instructors and, where appropriate, external critics.

The modules are structured around specific drawing and building assignments, each supported by weekly lectures and theoretical seminars. The academic objective is to translate the study of nature into built form by personally developing the framework for an independent architectural project based on the course's theoretical themes and the techniques introduced.

Teaching takes place through individual tutorials, group tutorials, peer-to-peer sessions, seminars, lectures, reading groups, reviews, and workshops. These activities are organized within a structured and predetermined weekly framework, establishing a consistent rhythm throughout the course.

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

NB. The course differs from a conventional master’s studio in that participation in a study trip to Venice, Italy, from 4th to 8th of May is mandatory. The course aims to produce an exhibition in which the exhibition design is developed organically and in parallel with the production of its content. Students should anticipate additional work and a degree of flexibility in connection with the exhibition’s production.

Assessment method: Project

Grouping: Individual

Grading scale: Pass/fail

In order to be assessed in this course, the student must have completed the following activities and assignments:

1) Drawing and building tasks throughout term, 2) An exhibit in built form together with reflection notes, presentations, and project documentation.