After successful completion of the course, students are able to

• recognize and name basic design methods
• to analyze the essential qualities of an object, a three-dimensional shape or a material and to derive solutions for their own creative work
• transfer observations into design concepts
• refine their perception of form of three-dimensional objects in relation to their concrete sculptural reality and to be self-critical of their own creative work
• recognize the creative scope of given rules and to set up their own rules for their design approaches
• translate essential formal and spatial qualities of their form wishes (imaginations, concepts, ideas) into working models and to experimentally test and reflect them in physical space determined by gravity
• use process-oriented idea development for one's own design intentions and to generate procedural and sensorimotor knowledge from it
• broaden their understanding of the conditions of form (possibilities and limitations) of a three-dimensional object, depending on sensory perception, the tool used, the material chosen and the production possibilities associated with it
• bring together the elements gained from the analysis of form into a sculpturally effective, compositionally successful and thematically fulfilling study of form

The lecture gives a comprehensive insight into various topics of three-dimensional design. General design methods and questions of visual perception are discussed and enhanced by relevant examples from art, design and architecture. Basic manufacturing methods, material-related procedures and model making techniques are presented. The lecture also accompanies the exercise and deals in detail with the topic of the semester programme.

The exercise examines the form conditions of sculptural objects as a function of perception, design tool, material and associated manufacturing conventions. It places the physical (working) model and the analytical drawing as design tools in the foreground of a thematically founded, analogous investigation of form. The exercise concludes with a sculptural form study, which should correspond to the following criteria: Recognizability of the semester topic, quality of composition and development in space, appropriateness of choice of material, degree of abstraction, surface qualities and precise craftsmanship.

• Lecture series with visual support, presentation of production methods, guest lectures by artists, cultural scientists or designers, film screenings
• analytical form investigations (= subdivision into concise form elements) with the help of drawings, geometric concepts and working models as home-exercises
• the initial adherence to given design rules and the resulting establishment, adherence to and qualitative evaluation of one's own rules
• getting to know and experimenting with different model construction methods based on the material used
• the exploration of the aesthetic and creative possibilities and properties of various materials and manufacturing conventions through playful, operative handling of the manufactured objects in space (e.g. spatial location, spatial volume vs. mass volume, etc.)
• the detection of the qualitative creative potential in the interplay between part and whole of a composition through contextualization within a compositional space
• the examination of the possibilities of the spatially and sculpturally effective staging of a form study for the exhibition (display)

!!! COURSE INTRODUCTION ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

The introduction of the course will take place during the opening lecture on Thursday 7.10.2021 from 12:30 until 13:20. The lecture will be a hybrid event: It will take place in Informatikhörsaal, Treitlstraße 3, 1040 Vienna, Groundfloor) with maximum 140 students (due to COVID-19 measurements) and it will be live broadcasted on TUWel. The lecture will be followed by online meetings per group that will take place from 14:00 until 15:00 via zoom. The stream link of the lecture and the zoom links for the group meetings will be send to all the participants via TISS.

All the following lectures will take place on Thursdays from 12.30 until 14.00 in Informatikhörsaal and via Live-Stream.

Teaching groups (changes may occur):

A01 Tuesday 09:00 to 13:00

A02 Tuesday 09:00 to 13:00

A03 Tuesday 09:00 to 13:00

A04 Friday  09:00 to 13:00

B05 Friday 14:00 to 18:00

B06 Thursday 08:30 to 12:30

B07 Thursday 08:30 to 12:30

B08 Thursday 08:30 to 12:30

C09 Thursday 14:30 to 18:30

C10 Thursday 14:30 to 18:30

C11 Thursday 14:30 to 18:30

C12 Friday 14:30 to 18:30

D13 Monday 14:00 to 18:00

D14 Monday 14:00 to 18:00

D15 Monday 14:00 to 18:00

D16 Friday 09:00 to 13:00

E17 Friday 09:00 to 13:00

E18 Monday 09:00 to 13:00

E19 Monday 09:00 to 13:00

E20 Monday 09:00 to 13:00

E21 Tuesday 14:00 to 18:00

For group dates that fall on lecture-free days, alternative dates will be arranged with the respective supervisors!

!!! COVID-19: If, due to requirements of the federal government or the Vienna University of Technology, it is not possible to hold the course and the examination or the partial performances in presence, the online format will be used. By changing to the online format, the dates announced for the face-to-face course and examination (partial performances) may change. In the event of a change to the online format, the course will be held via zoom meetings and the examination mode will take the form of an oral final presentation.

• attendance and participation in weekly meetings, where feedback is only given if work performance is evident in the form of sketches and working models
• chronologically kept work diary (sketchbook, ring bound drawing block) throughout the semester, which is presented at each meeting; the work process itself is an important part of the evaluation and must be documented
• five building up subtasks, which are briefly presented and graded on mandatory deadlines
• submission of the tasks, which have been developed in the sub-tasks, in the form of a concrete, sensually perceptible 1:1 object which should correspond to the criteria described in the course content (Lehrinhalt)
• for the final grade, all sub-grades are considered. Also, the oral or written answers to questions about the content of the lecture
• the semester exercise is carried out exclusively in individual work

Mandatory requirement:

• StEOP (lt. Curriculum)

We strongly recommend all students to have completed the following courses:

• VU Darstellende Geometrie
• VU Zeichnen und visuelle Sprachen 1
• VU Zeichnen und visuelle Sprachen 2

Further information about the entry regulations, the registration and the exercise rules of the course can be found in the document section. 

VO - Material und Technologie als Formbedingung, Lukas Thaler

• Byung-Chul Han, “Shanzhai, Dekonstruktion auf Chinesisch” Merve Verlag, 2011  
• Monika Wagner, “Das Material der Kunst, Eine andere Geschichte der Moderne” C.H.Beck, 2001
• Thomas Raff “Die Sprache des Materials, Anleitung zu einer Ikonologie der Werkstoffe” Waxmann Verlag, 2008
• “Materialästhetik, Quellentexte zu Kunst, Design und Architektur” Hrsg. Dietmar Rübel, Monika Wagner und Vera Wolff, Reimer-Mann -Verlag, 2017

• The ability to understand or develop three-dimensional facts using two-dimensional drawings.
• Basic knowledge and skills in model making