After successful completion of the course, students are able to work out complex design tasks from the field of architecture and urban design independently, systematically and with an original, contemporary design approach based on a precise architectural language. They have the competence to recognize fields of action in the urban context and to develop appropriate urban planning solutions. The students collect independent research and topic-related basics. They create design concepts, present them comprehensively in the form of draft and detailed plans and practice presenting them convincingly.
Raum.Drosendorf. Orte der BegegnungI
Do.2.3.2023, 10.00h, Vorstellung: Raum AEU1-1
Introduction: https://portal.tuwien.tv/Login.aspx?SourceURL=/View.aspx~q~id=9550~4t~V5IOjABB&br=507
Away from the usual facilities and institutions, the project „Raum.Drosendorf‟ aims to create an integrative place of encounter and exchange that intensifies and strengthens the relationship between city and country, between guest and residents, and between teachers and students. Raum.Drosendorf is a place for research, a stage, an exhibition, a place for retreat and a place for celebration. Raum.Drosendorf develops places and spaces that support potential opportunities for exchange and communication.
Research foci in the field of architecture and spatial planning are developed, presented and put up for discussion here. It is a place of study, but also a meeting place and starting point for exploring the Waldviertel and the neighboring Czech Republic. Socio-political discourse, constant dialogue and togetherness are to be cultivated in this special environment. The exchange and the togetherness of residents and guests should be strengthened and new impulses should be developed. This leads to the question of how architecture can support this exchange.
The qualities of the site with its special location on the border, the historic town and fortifications, natural landscapes and the social fabric of residents and guests, digitalization and the development of the region provide the breeding ground for the future. Curiosity and rejection balance each other out.
Rituals, traditions and customs simplify complex social situations and draw on sequences of action and symbols; they provide support and orientation. Rituals facilitate social interaction and simplify communication. They have a community-building effect, bind groups together and promote understanding. They have cultural value and are preserved as cultural assets. These include customs, performing and visual arts, and social festivals. They promote group cohesion and serve intersubjective understanding. Rituals are constantly changing and appear in our everyday lives in different forms. In many cases, we find rituals today in celebrations in sports, in youth culture, and in cultural customs.
Everyday rituals such as break or sports activities, cyclical rituals that follow the calendar (birthday celebrations, solstice celebrations, memorial days, festivals, etc.) and threshold rituals such as baptisms, weddings, initiation rituals, births or funeral feasts structure everyday life and define turning points in life. Themed events such as workshops, symposia, company celebrations, seminars, exhibitions and culinary feasts enrich our daily lives.
Places and spaces are closely linked to these activities and must be able to provide a fitting setting. The power of the place with its urban layout, terraces and natural spaces on the Dyje River forms the basis for ritual actions that are community-building. Spatial structures should open up the place for the community and enable new impulses.
Drosendorf is a place with extraordinary qualities that are closely related to the landscape. The small town with its prominent location on a rocky spur in a loop of the Thaya and Drosendorf Castle, which is situated along the continuously preserved town wall, form the spatial center of this design. The National Park Thayatal and Podyjí, the border region Austria - Czech Republic as well as the unique cultural landscape of the Waldviertel form the backdrop of the town, which lives through its rich history from the defense against the army of King Ottokar to the fall of the Iron Curtain and the new common Europe. The 1.7 km long town wall encloses the old town and ties in the former castle, today's Drosendorf Castle. Town gates and terraces accompany the historical fortification. The castle dates back to the 12th century. For more than 40 years it was an educational institution and has been tried and tested as a seminar and guest house. Since May 2021, a new utilization concept has been sought. The castle with its diverse, open-use rooms as well as the castle courtyard and the surrounding green spaces and terraces offer the conditions for establishing something new. The landuni, a pilot project of the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning, has found a location in Drosendorf where researchers, students and teachers can come together to share and increase knowledge, passion and doing for the land together with local residents and guests.
https://futurelab.tuwien.ac.at; https://landuni.at/
Based on a spatial location and inventory analysis and research of selected examples, you will develop a concept for a city that provides for places of exchange and mediation that can be used in a variety of ways. In a team, you will develop planning principles and spatial analyses to record the existing situation and prepare basic information. In groups, you will define a spatial program that is as innovative as it is needs-based, derived from the spatial situation on site. Working individually, you will develop a project that promotes community, creates space for new things, and covers special requirements. The goal is a space program that promotes mediation and presentation as well as communication and community exchange. This might include viewing platforms, picnic areas with cooking stations, vendor and tasting booths and training areas, temporary spaces for events (weddings, celebrations, presentations), or bleachers for events. You will work out a selected space area down to the last detail. The design work is divided into sections and goes through several scales. The project is developed using physical models. Selected space areas may be presented and simulated on site as part of the floor festival in June. The design is an integrative design for bachelor and master students with structural specialization. In this course you will develop the statically relevant supporting structure for your own design. This can be temporary roofs, platforms, retaining walls, footbridges, bridges or stairs. Structural variants are to be designed and investigated, with the focus on questions of bracing, dimensioning and assembly, etc.
Exercises in the space laboratory LV253.G73 4ects.and field trips LV253.E82 2ects. are offered to reinforce the course content. Documentation work in Drosendorf is provided as part of LVA 251.883 Collaborative Work with 2h / 3ECTS Transferable Skills.
The work on site allows for an intensive examination of the conditions and the exchange of citizens and guests. It intensifies the discussion between students and teachers and promotes a climate of exchange and togetherness among students.
We do not want to develop missionary projects from the outside, but we seek exchange and want to learn from local conditions. The confrontation with different cultures, the acquaintance with different points of view and the preparation for the future professional field should help students to gain experience and to sound out the professional field.
Rural areas in the border region have been economically disadvantaged in recent decades due to a lack of infrastructure. Digitalization and the search for new life concepts have brought the rural region back into people's awareness. Today, spatial distance no longer means exclusion and seclusion. Rather, it makes it possible to combine concentration and self-realization.
