Academic Courses
Hover over, or tap on, the course names to see a description.
Spatialising Meanings
Spatialising Meanings
The course delves into data visualization within urban studies, focusing on how data can be effectively communicated through architecture and urban design. It introduces students to key skills and philosophical perspectives necessary for interpreting and presenting data in a meaningful way. The course covers various aspects including the role of data in society, methods for visualizing data and form, contemporary data collection techniques, and the ethical considerations of data use. Through lectures and discussions, students explore critical theories related to semiotics, representation, and the impact of data on our understanding of urban spaces. The course aims to enhance students' ability to interpret and represent complex information spatially and visually.
Digital Workflows
Digital Workflows
​The course is designed to equip architecture students with essential digital tools and techniques for planning and design, particularly when field visits are limited. It enhances the ability to manage various stages of architectural workflows through effective digital resources.
Key areas include research organization, remote spatial data analysis, and field data collection. Students learn to use tools for drafting, modeling, and multimedia content creation, and analyze remote data sources like satellite imagery and geo-spatial data for informed design decisions. Students integrate field-collected data with their digital frameworks, improving design decisions and project outcomes. The course also addresses research organization and practice management, complementing existing research methods and thesis coursework.
Hope Circus, Alwar, Rajasthan
The Moving Pin-up
The Moving Pin-up
The elective explored alternative approaches to architectural drawing and portfolio making, focusing on the shift from print to screen media. Recognizing the disruption caused by this transition, it examined how traditional paper-based storytelling methods became less relevant in digital formats. The course addressed the evolving nature of design reviews, where the interactions between the narrator, audience, and board have dramatically changed. It highlighted the impact of screen media on these interactions, noting that narrators, audiences, and boards no longer function in traditional ways. Over 4-6 weekends, the elective explored various methods of digital storytelling. Discussions and debates on media choices and message, along with the use of storyboards, led to the creation of uniquely configured stories.
City | Atmospheres
City | Atmospheres
This course explores various perspectives on understanding and representing urban experiences, emphasizing how these experiences are shaped by their environments. It addresses the need to move beyond traditional morphological approaches to capture the complexity of urban atmospheres. Students examine factors such as spatial, cultural, and semiotic elements that influence urban experiences. The course encourages a phenomenological approach, focusing on the sensory and emotional dimensions of city life and how cultural production impacts these experiences. Key areas include developing mapping methods tailored to studio sites, using multi-sensory mediums to represent urban atmospheres, and recognizing biases in mapping techniques. The course aims to provide a comprehensive framework for capturing and conveying the rich, multi-layered experiences of cities.
Mapping the Unseen
Mapping the Unseen
In the design fields, mapping influences both what and how we design. Lived experience results from various sensory stimuli and personal meanings, but many mapping exercises often limit themselves to visual parameters like form, geography, and volume. This course focuses on acknowledging, mapping, and representing non-visual aspects of spatial experience. It intersects phenomenological cartography, graphic design, and data-gathering techniques, involving the creation of multi-sensory maps, metaphorical illustrations, and synesthetic representations. The course aims to produce visual representations of the unseen vectors of our environments, articulating the complexity and diversity of lived experience through both spatial and non-spatial illustrations.
Data Urbanism
Data Urbanism
This course spans three semesters, equipping students with data-driven methods for urban design. It focuses on the organization, visualization, and analysis of city data, emphasizing geo-spatial mapping and database creation. Students gain practical experience with tools like QGIS and SQL, learning to source data from remote sensing technologies and map various types of data, such as geological and cultural information. The course covers developing new geo-spatial data, implementing centralized workflows, and visualizing and publishing data. By the end, students are adept at disseminating findings, setting up geo-portals, and using advanced geospatial tools, including scripting. Ethical considerations related to data collection and publication are also addressed, preparing students to effectively integrate geo-spatial data into urban design practice.