Summer 2024 courses

A 6-credit course that will travel to the river-straddling capitals of Prague, Vienna and Ljubljana, among the most beautiful cities in the world. This course will focus on the relationship between art and architecture across historical periods and across scales, from urban infrastructure to landscapes, buildings and public art. We will approach the topic from different angles, studying collaborations between artists and architects, controversies around applied art, the complexities of public art and memorials, and the controversial relationship between art museums and the art they contain. Beyond the specific focus of this course, these three cities offer us significant examples of waterfront development, unique housing models, both bizarre and world-class museums, unlimited cultural events, and importantly, the most delicious pastries.

A 3-week trip to Japan focusing on exploring the urban fabric, architecture and landscape architecture of Tokyo and Kyoto, with periodic excursions to nearby places of note. There will also be time allotted for students to pursue their own interests and disciplines on their own. The 6-credit course will be preceded with a few days of student and instructor-led seminars. Following the trip, a research project will be completed by each participant towards an exhibition event the following fall.

Contemporary Practice will survey professional design practice business models and processes through stakeholder panel discussions, online visits with local architectural practices, lectures and assignments. We will explore specialization and interdisciplinarity; methods of assembling consultant teams; project managed and delivery methods; cost control methods and tools; project procurement and tendering; and how a design practice’s public interest advocacy may be reconciled with entrepreneurship and the public interest. We will also consider how the profession is changing, and how these changes may inform future practice business models

Communicating Construction will address the role, composition, organization and conventions of the formal documentation necessary for communication of an architectural design to those undertaking the construction.

Building / Information: Architectural Production with Revit pairs pragmatic training with a critical perspective, placing building information modeling in the context of the broader historical and sociotechnical shifts in architectural production that it is precipitating. It couples the technical learning of an increasingly-widespread architectural design and representation tool, Autodesk Revit, with critical reflection on the use of Revit as a design medium, the analytic opportunities its use can provide, and the design approaches to which it is conducive. Fundamental techniques will be introduced through in-class exercises and workshops; simultaneously, these techniques will be applied through a semester-long study of an exemplary precedent building.

This course will teach fundamental coding, using the programming language Python, as applied to the built environment. Students will be taught the necessary skills to automate common workflows, create geometries, perform sophisticated urban analyses, and explore and visualize large datasets.

Programming does not need to be inaccessible! All code will be written using either Grasshopper or Python notebooks, providing instant visual feedback, which will help students gain a more intuitive understanding of the code they are writing. Foundational programming concepts will be explored through case studies directly applicable to the workflow of a SALA student or built environment professional.

A knowledge of parametric design in general and Grasshopper in particular is an asset for incoming students, but not a requirement. A brief introduction to Grasshopper will be given in class and extra learning material will be provided for self-learning. Students with coding experience are also welcome to join to explore building specific applications of programming.

This course is an introduction to the role of planting design in enhancing ecological function and urban resilience, integrated with the values of aesthetics. This course will focus on developing student competencies through integrated knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Co-taught by three instructors, the course format will consist of in-class lectures, site reviews, field observations, participatory activities, independent and collaborative assignments, and constructive critique.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be equipped with an understanding of the role and importance of planting design, and the interconnectedness of designed sites with the regional ecosystem. Critical aspects of the successful selection and specification of plants will be covered. Students will become familiar with theories, concepts, topics, and precedents relating to planting design, and foundational design competencies applicable to other courses and professional practice.

There will be an all-day class from 9:00 – 5:00 on Saturday May 11th only. This is in addition to the evening classes.

Transformative Botanical Representations invites students to critically challenge modes of documentation and representation of plants in contemporary landscape design discourses. This course will ask students to disrupt the Eurocentric visual narrative and offer alternative representational techniques, styles, and media that invite deeper human kinship and relationships with plants.

The course is intended to be interdisciplinary across Landscape Architecture and Architecture and at the undergraduate and graduate level. The interdisciplinary nature of this course is a critical component to engaging in critical spatial discourses. Students will be invited to employ a multitude of representational methods and ways of working.

Design studio focusing on neighbourhood and district scale urban design with a particular emphasis on sustainability of natural, cultural, and economic systems.

Cities change over time. Time is a crucial element in the formation of cities and the main recurring theme throughout this course. The course will focus on urban transformations and explore methods and tools to document, categorize and represent urban change, which is often intangible and difficult to grasp. Methods that planners and designers can use to make informed speculations will be examined, to understand past processes as well as shape future directions of development. A critical approach will be developed by the students towards future-facing design challenges in the purview of the built environment professions.

The neighbourhood is a key ingredient in the everyday life of cities large and small. This course explores neighbourhoods as a particular geographic scale of planning and design, but also locates them as part of the larger ‘pattern language’ of cities. Attention will be paid to local, national and international case studies of neighbourhood planning and design, as well as the role and interplay of different neighbourhood elements, such as housing, transportation, shops and services, public space and placemaking, and social/cultural amenities. The course will feature a mixture of class work, site visits and walking tours.