This design research seminar explores vernacular and folklore as a point of departure to frame the theoretical position of the architect as an integration of socio-ecological systems. While the conventional “detail” in architecture and urban design normalizes professional values, we will look to myths, the mundane, to nurture a critical appreciation of material culture, landscapes, stories, and people. We will dwell into theories of informality and in turn produce a series of experimentations through fabrication, aesthetics, and precarities to challenge conventional architectural order in favor of storytelling, ethnographies, and ecologies.

There are three phases to this course: (1) developing questions, (2) appraising theoretical frameworks, (3) drawing and prototyping architectural details. Researchers in this course will gain skills in craft, design through storytelling, fabrication, detailing, and vernacular design research. Tools we will learn are ethno-ecological drawings, operational fabrications, toys, puppetry, and filming prototypes. Our journey “Between Mountains and Seas” will curate a volume of sketchbooks, mock-ups, and artifacts which will be showcased at the end of the semester through an exhibition. 

prerequisite knowledge

There are no prior knowledge required.

course relevance

Students will learn to translate their architectural education to conduct design research through ethno-ecological drawings, operational fabrications, toys, puppetry, and filming prototypes.

course goals

Researchers in this course will gain skills in craft, design through storytelling, fabrication, detailing, and vernacular design research.

assesment structure

Design researchers in this course will be assessed with one semester long research project split into three phases: (1) developing questions, (2) appraising socio-ecological theoretical frameworks, (3) drawing and prototyping architectural details.

learning resources

There will be a wide range of resources for the design researchers in the course: (1) texts, (2) tutorials/demonstrations, (3) precedent studies, and (4) guest lectures from renowned architects: John Lin, Liaohui Guo, etc.