Enabling the students to understand, appreciate and respect the values and aesthetics of the Natural and built environment, to enable them do design better Architecture that gets benefit from the Environment, and interacts positively with it.
- Ability to observe, document and analyze the Environment
- Ability to create Architectural concepts inspired by lessons from Environment.
- Enhancing The ability to design buildings that contribute positively to its Environment.
Course Description
This course enables the student to understand, appreciate and respect the values and aesthetics of the Natural and built environment and their integration,
As a step enabling him do design buildings which become a positive addition to their environments. And sets the Environmental background needed for landscape design and Environmental Architecture.
This is achieved by:
Observation: taking a closer look to Environment through: slides, video clips, websites, tours and free trips to places of natural Aesthetic value.
Documenting : photographing , sketching, drawing, and painting Environmental scenes.
Analysis: understanding the Components of the Environment and their interaction
Appreciation: recognizing sides of beauty and benefit of Environment.
Learning: from Environment as an Architectural concept inspiring.
Knowing to Act positively: building in Harmony with Environment
Integrating the Environmental beauty in architecture
Creating new Environments.
The course Integrates lectures, discussions, brain storming, research and design assignments, small projects, tours and visits to achieve its aim.
Each lecture focuses on one of the Environment components from several points of view:
Its benefit
Its Natural Aesthetics and visual composition
Integrating it with architecture
Lessons and Architectural concepts inspired by it
References
- Cunningham and Saigo: Environmental Science, a Global Concern. McGraw Hill, boston, 1999.
- Wimberly,Alison, Tong and Goo: Hospitality and leisure Architecture, Rockport publishers, Massachusetts, 1995.
- James steel: An Architecture for people, the complete works of Hasan Fat’hy, AUC press, Cairo, 1997.
- J.Symonds: Landscape Architecture, an ecological Approach to environmental Planning, McGraw Hill, New York, 1961.
- Brown and Gillspie: Microclimatic Lanscape Design, John Wiley and sons, New York,1995.
Detailed Course outline
Unit 1: Understanding the Environment
Week 1
What is Environmental Aesthetics?
Environmental Aesthetics: Art, philosophy and science
The Architect as an Environment modifier, and Creator!
Understanding the Environment
Why: enjoying, getting benefit, preserving, creating Environments.
How: observation, documenting, analysis, appreciation, learning, acting positively.
What: Environment components
Natural Environment: atmosphere, Land, water,
ecosystem( plants, animals, living organisms)
Human and Man Made Environment: Man, society, culture and built up Environment.
Interrelations and interactions in the Environment
Assignments:
- Design and Draw a plate that expresses the Environment and its components
on a transparent overlay sheet, define and discribe briefly each component.
- draw a sketch of a Natural scene of your choice, in a transparent overlay analyze the components of the natural Environment that your scene involves
note: both assignments are on A3 sheets , preferably recycled, papyrus, or cotton paper.
Benefit and value of Environment in life and Architecture.
Plants
Positive values from the plants
Environmental effects
Material sources
Food, fodder, Fuel, fibers….
Animals and other living Organisms
Bio diversity and its value
Atmosphere
water
Land
energy
Architectural reflections
Building materials: whole Houses, components, furniture,…
The Aesthetics of Natural Materials:
The renwable materials and energy content concept
Environmental conditions in building.
Assignments:
- design a report cover from Natural Materials: wood, leather, rough Natural textiles, papyrus, bound sticks …..
The Cover should express the respect of nature both in Material and design
- write a brief essay about the value and benefit of natural materials in Architecture.
support your essay with illustrated examples
The Aesthetics of Environment
How can we find beauty in Environment?
Beauty: its meaning
Sensational
Comfort, warmth, satiation, stability…: the shade of a tree, the warmth of Sun..
Neuro-system stimulation
psychological
Coherence to pleasant sensation (Tree-shade, sun-warmth,…) Bafflov theory
Coherence to Benefit: A house = shelter, Tree-food….
Emotional/Sentimental meaning( childhood Memories and fantasies, Paradise,…)
Stimulating: surprise, fear, challenge, superiority, suspense…
Ego stimulation: uniqueness of the view, impossibility for others to see it…
Rational: Abstract composition Aesthetics (harmony, Contrast, Balance, Rhythm,..)
Assignment: photograph or draw 8-12 natural scenes as examples of every aspect of beauty, and analyze their Aesthetic Value on a transparent overlay.
Unit 2: Aesthetics of Natural Environment:
Week 4:
The Aesthetics of plants and its relation to Architecture
Plants in nature
Trees, Forests, meadows,…
Static beauty: trunk, branches, leaves, roses, color
Dynamic/life beauty: movement, change, growth and fertility
Analysis of plant Aesthetics
Plants: in man Made Gardens
Landscape: artistic composition with plants
Plants around a building, a touch of life to a sculptural composition
Plants as a background for the building
Plants within the building
Interior design and Plants
Indoor/outdoor/ hybrid spaces: plants in courts, terraces, balconies, windows..
Plants in architectural Drawings
Assignments: sketching Plants 1- single tree
2- composition using plants
3- a building with trees and plants
4- plants within an interior space
on a transparent overlay, analyze the beauty aspects of each sketch.
Project 1: Design a fence for a zoo or animal Garden: Project Introduction.
Aesthetics of Animals and wild life
Animals in Nature
Animals in Man made Gardens and Built Environment
Butterfly gardens, humming birds Gardens,…
Pigeons in Religious building and spaces, symbols
Zoo, open or closed
EcoTourism, driving planning and architecture
Architectural Lessons from the Natural Environment:
The Natural Analogy
Structure systems from Nature: Tensile structures and the spider web, mushrooms,…
Shelter for Animals, lessons and concepts:
Mega structures and System point of view: white ants’ houses
Seashells: growing house with growing needs!
Bird’s nest: a temporary shelter for temporary use.
Wild rabbits grooves: security systems
Geometry from Nature, crystals and sunflower
Sea shells, lesson the structure of form
The Lost city, south Africa, direct biological Analogy
Project 1: Design of a fence and a gate for a zoo, or animal Garden.
Drawings: Elevation 1:50, Plan 1/50
Or a model to the same scale.
Sky and Atmosphere
Day time sky
Clouds
Sunset and sunrise
Rain, flash, and storms
Fog, mist, and mystery
Night sky: moon, stars, the Architecture at night design
Skylines of: plants and mountains
Architecture and sky:
Skylines of buildings and cities.
The sky in rendering architectural Drawings
Discussion of Project Proposal
A brain storming session for developing new environmental Ideas
Seventh week exam (2 hours)
Aesthetics of land and Atmosphere
Land
Forms and Covers
Desert
Mountains
Snow and Polar Environment
Architecture and land:
Building on mountains: preservation, accentuation, alteration and distruction!
Carving houses in mountains.
Mountains and rocks as structures: Deconstructive roots in Nature!
Desert architecture
Assignment: photographing and Sketching rock combinations and translating them into Abstract building forms.(preferably mountains in Egypt)
Aesthetics of water
Reflection
coastline
Movement and rhythm
The river: Purity, calmness, continuous stream, life, prosperity
The sea: Power, fear, the Unknown, Adventure, risk, trade..
Water falls: power, gravity, acceleration, violence/tenderness, scale
water plants
marine life
Integrating water with architecture and landscape:
water Gardens: pools , Ponds, streams, fountains, water falls…
water Architecture: in the interiors and exteriors, Falling water house
understanding water fronts:
1- The veiwer bank, framing the view
2- water area and its contents: plants, rocks, boats…., Quality: color,…
3- opposite bank: coast line, the bank(land, ground cover, plantation…), the background (skyline, depth of field…)
Assignments:
- sketch 4 types of water Gardens components, on a transparent overlay analyze its Aesthetics
- photograph a scene that shows the glory of Nile in Cairo and its suburbs, on a transparent overlay analyze the water fronts and their Aesthetics.
Unit 3: human and Man made environment
Week 10
The vernacular Architecture
Western vernacular architecture
Egyptian vernacular Architecture
Hassan Fat’hy: the genius question!
Al-gourna: the complexity of sociological aspects in Architecture
Mud bricks: Building from earth that gets back to earth,
Recycling buildings, Nigeria vernacular housing.
vernacular architecture in Arab Pensula: Nagd, Aseer, Yemen..
The Human environment
Homo Sabines: the Anthropology .
The human society
Culture and civilization
Shelter and housing
The built-up environment
Architecture as a representation of Culture: functions and symbols
Architecture as a representation of civilization: building technology
What should be preserved in built environment?
The Historical Architecture, Urban form, atmosphere and lifestyle.
Vernacular Architecture
High standard urban zones and their integrity.
Assignment: visit al kheyameyah street or khan el khaleely, and take some photographs expressing the 4 historical aspects that should be preserved. On a transparent overlay, write your analysis of Aesthetic values on each photograph, defining objects that accentuates positive values and those opposing them
12th week exam (2 hours)
Week 13
Architectural Trends Related to Environmental Aesthetics
Contextual Design
Building with Nature
Preservation of the Nature
Visual Relation between a building and Nature:
Harmony: building blending in the nature or emerging from the ground
Contrast: building accentuated as a unique Organism, Nature as a background
Contextual Design
Building in Harmony with built-up Environment
Understanding the context
Architecture theories if contexual Design
Assignment:
- sketch 2 examples of buildings in harmony with nature, and 2 others in contrast
- sketch 2 examples of buildings in harmony with their urban context, and 2 others in contrast
- on a transpatent overlay, express your personal openion about each image, (what and why).
Organic Architecture: theory and concepts!
Organic Concepts in Architecture: Building as a living Organism!
Life activities
Feeding
breathing
secretion
growth
multiplication!
Life systems within a building
circularity system
neuro- system
metabolism
thermal regularity system
Man, Environment and shelter
Cities as living organisms
The role of a new creature in the environment: a building!
Week 14
General revision
