Protean Systems: Sustainable Solutions for Uncertain Futures
Throughout the semester we explore various types and scales of change. Each week we review various concepts, such as mass customization, computationally responsive environments and facades, open building, shearing layers of change, adaptive reuse, metabolism, persistence, preservation, circular economy, design for deconstruction and reuse (DfD+R), and repair/maintenance.
Protean Systems (image by instructor)
Uncertainty perpetually plagues the built environment. The inability of our buildings and cities to adapt to shifting circumstances has led to an enormous amount of waste. Throughout the semester we explore various types and scales of change. Each week we review various concepts, such as mass customization, computationally responsive environments and facades, open building, shearing layers of change, adaptive reuse, metabolism, persistence, preservation, circular economy, design for deconstruction and reuse (DfD+R), and repair/maintenance. To deepen our understanding of the concepts, students present group case studies each week and apply their understanding of the concept(s) to a project of their choosing as a design exercise or the development of a detailed individual case study report.
Students in this course will:
- Compare many ways architects have attempted to deal with change in the past.
- Analyze the effectiveness of specific precedents over time.
- Diagram how anticipated and unanticipated forces of change impact architecture.
- Design innovative protean solutions of their own.
The course welcomes students from all Architecture and Design undergraduate and graduate programs.