MSc. 4 - Schedule and first meeting

[XML | Office]

Dear all,

We hope you all recovered a bit from all the hard work towards the finals presentation of last semester! This email is to inform you about the start of the next semester in April.

As in last semester both Arie Graafland and ourselves will alternate our presence every second week for tutorials. Although not all studios might be doing this in the MSc. 4 we think that it probably will give you the best conditions for working on your final project.The dates that we will be in Dessau are as following:

XML: April 5, April 12, May 10, May 24, June 7, June 21, July 5 (finals)

Arie Graafland: April 19, May 3, May 17, May 31, June 14, June 28, July 5 (finals)

Whereas the MSc. 3 was mainly focussing on research and urbanism, in the Msc. 4 you will be primarily working on the scale of architecture. Based on the master plans that you have developed together and presented in January, each of you will work individually on an architectural elaboration of a segment of the masterplan. With individually we mean that every student will make their own design (so not as a group). Therefore we ask you to choose a quadrant of approximately 100-250m in your masterplan that you want to design on the scale of architecture. The reason that we ask you to choose a quadrant instead of a single building is that in this way you will be not only designing an architectural object, but also the public space around it, the connection of the house/office/ other programme towards the street etc. So before for our first meeting on April 5 we ask you to send us a map of your masterplan indicating the square of approx 100 - 250 meter that you want to work on in the MSc. 4 (see attached example). The 100 to 250m size is an indication, each of you should figure out for yourself what the best cut out is (but remember: it does have to be square format, and do not make it to big because the focus should be on the architectural scale). We remember that one of you suggested to design multiple (smaller) pieces within you masterplan. We do not advice this, because this requires you to spread your attention, and we think it is better to focus. However, it is possible to choose multiple locations if you have a good argumentation in favor of this and if it does not become to big. 

Also, please think about what program(mix) you want to design (for instance housing, commercial, learning center, theater, office building, community center, etc.). This can be whatever you think is interesting and relevant. You can choose 1 program of a mix of different programs. Make sure it is something that you think is interesting, something that fascinates you or that you would simply like to work on, but also try think about what would be a relevant program within you masterplans.

Best regards, and see you in April,

David, Max