ARCH5110/6210I
Advanced Architectural Design Studio I & II: FRAMES – Urban Resilience as Agency: Framing Situated Practice
Target Students MArch1, MArch2
Course Term 1 & 2
Course Type Studio
Venue Studio
Teacher(s) GOUDSMIT, Inge
This studio begins with a provocation: how well do architects and other urban professionals really know the sites they design for? Too often, architectural practice relies on abstracted representationsmaps, plans, and diagrams — that reduce complex urban realities to measurable surfaces. These tools, while essential, can obscure the lived, social, and political dimensions of space. We ask students to critically examine how “site” is constructed—by architects, planners, developers, and communities—and to reflect on their own disciplinary gaze. What is made visible, and what is left out? How do our tools of representation shape what we see, value, and ultimately design?
Students will be introduced to CPL mapping, a method that foregrounds the Conceived, Perceived, and Lived dimensions of space, as theorized by Henri Lefebvre. This framework allows students to critically examine how space is imagined by professionals (conceived), inhabited and experienced by communities (perceived), and given meaning in everyday life (lived). Through workshops and fieldwork, students will engage with the site in different ways to uncover conflicting spatial narratives and representational silences.
The mappings are not just analytical exercises, they are the foundation for each student’s design brief. Rather than beginning with a predefined program, students will formulate their own architectural questions based on the spatial conditions, social dynamics, and representational gaps uncovered through their research. Students will be encouraged to define their own thematic lens (e.g., gender, informality, urban systems).
In the second semester, students will translate their research into architectural design. Projects will respond to the spatial conditions and social dynamics uncovered in Term 1, using design as a tool to engage with complexity rather than simplify it. Students will develop spatial propositions, whether built interventions, speculative scenarios, or community-based initiatives, that reflect the multiple frames through which the site has been understood.
This studio is designed to empower students as independent thinkers and spatial practitioners. Rather than working from a predefined brief, students are encouraged to formulate their own architectural questions and select a site that resonates with their thematic interests and research. The aim is to foster autonomy in both conceptual development and design decision-making. Students are expected to take responsibility, show initiative, and demonstrate leadership throughout all phases of the studio.
