A42F3B Free Architectural Studio 4:3 12.0 credits

Displacements: “Learning from China” (part1)
There is no place in the world where global changes are as evident as in the changing landscapes of China.
The project will focus on the role of natural resources in the shaping of urban environment with the aim of developing proposals for a new city along the Yangtze River. We will examine and test the relations between natural resources, urbanization and the massive human migrations. We will focus on various urban forms and infrastructures along the Yangze but also on flow of the river and its relationship to its natural and man made environments.

The waterways of the Yangtzee River will be studied in their relation to the urbanized environments along its flow. One of the largest infrastructural projects in the world history is being constructed as a means of aleviating Chinas energy problems but also as the means of controling and taming the river which in the past has caused thousands of deaths due to frequent fluding. The Three Gorges Damn is located near the city of Wuhan. Upon completion of the project in 2009 about 2 milion people will have to be displaced from their homes and about 40% of Chinese rural population will lose access to farmland. Total nations electric output will increase by 10%. At the same time the major canal several thousand kilometers long is being dug to bring the water from Yangtzee River north to Beijing to quench the thirst of a growing city. Several major cities are built along the flow of Yangtze River, one of them Shanghai, the city promoted as the Ecological
city of the future at the upcoming ShanghaI World Expo 2010.During the first segment of the course Displacements: Learning from China (part 1) We will examine and test the dynamics between natural resources, urbanization and the massive human migrations. We will focus on various urban forms and infrastructures along the Yangze but also on flow of the river and its relationship to its natural and man made environments. The historic study of the changing role of Yangtze and its importance as a highway that influenced growth of cities and the valuable natural resource of the past and today will be explored in relation to the perspectives for the future. We are going to examine a number of different segments of the river: from dense urban and low density rural to the areas directly affected by fluding. This period will focus on urban analysis and the disecting
of the river flow, documentation of case studies, workshops, lectures, studio work and a study trip to China. During this period first sketches and concepts for urban strategies and architectural concepts for planning of the new city will emerge that would prepare a basic tools for the development of concrete urban and architectural proposals in thethe part 2 of the course.

“Learning from China” (part1)

Overall goals
The project is part of the Urban Studio.
Studio Description: This studio discusses sustainable urban development in terms of globalization, climate changes, mega cities and urban strategies - transformed into new typologies and innovative urban design.
2. The course/project goal is to increase the student's knowledge in this area/field and skills/knowledge in the field of architecture in general. The students will enter the project with varying degrees of knowledge/skills and will subsequently end up at different levels at the end of the course/project.
 3. The individual student must show an increase in the particular skills/knowledge offered in the studio and in the field of architecture in general.

Course goals
The project will focus on the role of natural resources in the shaping of urban environment with the aim of developing proposals for a new city along the Yangtze River.There is no place in the world where global changes are as evident as in the changing landscapes of China. The accelerated
urbanisation and an abrupt shift from one ideological model to another have provided a change in the scale of urban development at an unprecedented scale and speed. In this process very little thorough planning has been implemented partly because of the lack of ability to keep up with such “progress” but also because of the shear scale and complexity of issues that have surfaced throughout these processes. The countries economy is being re-structured
and industrialised and this is causing a massive migrations to the cities. As a consequence of this shift to new economies the limits of natural energy resources such as water, electricity and fuel are being tested.
China is the place where new cities are built virtualy overnight. As a result its urban landscape is a laboratory for experimentation with urban form, often realized through the virtual replication of physical environments and urban paradigms of the “western world”. Despite this China is continuosly in the process of searhing for its identity in the realm of new urban landscapes. Conferences and global forums are organized to open dialogues and exchange expertise in new sustainable development for cities of the future. Fourth session of the World Urban Forum in Nanjing (03 - 07 November 2008) will examine
the impact of rapid urbanization on society, environment and urban policies.

Bachelor’s Degree, or an equivalent level, within the field of Architecture.

Required:
The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deuthsche Banks’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. Phaidon Press. Edited by Ricky Burdett and Deyan Sudjic
State of the World 2007 or 2008. World Watch Institute
Visionary Power, Producing the Contemporary CitySasskia Sassen, Nai Publ. 2007
Suggested:
Supports: An Alternative to Mass Housing.Habraken, N.J. Second English Edition. Urban International Press, London, 1999.
The Global City, New York, London, TokyoSasskia Sassen, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

If the course is discontinued, students may request to be examined during the following two academic years.

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

The course consists of two parts; a fulfilled and delivered project work (9 credits) and a passed final assessment (3 credits). There is at least one intermediate assessment during the course.

a) Presentation requirements
Individual work to be presented on min. 3 - A1 format sheets.
Include edited relevant work from previous presentations.
(More detailed requirements to be issued two weeks before final presentation). Minimum requirements:
• A video clip (1-2 minutes long) depicting the the site (use video as an analytical tool to depict ideas)
• Edited and well chosen relevant site documentation: plans, photos, etc.
• Studies of Sustainable models. Role of the state, individual (text, sketches, photos, diagrams) 1 - A1
• Analytical diagrams, mapping studies of the Yangtse River in plans and sections, scale: 1:400 -1:1000 or as required by the project scale.
• 1 page text on A4 – initial concept formulation of the concept/program for the site an a project title.
• Drawings, sketches and diagrams which best depict your concept (min. 1 - A1 size sheet) These should be visualisations relative to the issues stated in your concept description.
• A drawing depicitng urban strategies, 1 plan and 1 section: 1:400 -1:1000 or as required by the project scale.
• A conceptual 3d visualization of the proposal (3d digital models, collage
• A physical model of the site and the conceptual model of the proposal at urban scale (1:400 to 1:1000) The presentation format for the final presentation will include a power point presentation of all individual work and printed material. All relevant video and photographic material dealing with analysis and the proposal is to be presented.

b) Examination
80% attendance. Active participation in lectures, tutorials, and seminars etc. Passed intermediate and final assessments. Compulsory attendance during the assessment reviews.
Completion: The project work shall be delivered and, if necessary, reworked within the set time limit.  See general directions.
(Overall principle: Autumn term projects must be approved during the following Spring term: Spring term projects must be approved before the start of the following Autumn term. The reworked projects must be delivered at least one week before the time limit.)
The project work is to be documented in a portfolio, including drawings, analysis and models. The work process shall be legible.

Per Fransson

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.