Arch 424: Field Studies in Architecture

USC/BCN Fall 2011

Instructors:
Arch 424: Cigolle, Coleman, Gruzdys

Field Study Assignments

Assignments rely principally on field trips and field research, while additional readings,
class discussions and research will be utilized to develop a body of information and
method of critique. Field research will focus on the first-hand observation, analysis, and
documentation of existing buildings and their contexts so that lessons-learned can
inform the design methodology applied in studio. Students will be challenged to
articulate their analyses with respect to the specific urban, temporal, and cultural
contexts. There will be ten assignments for each course: nine specific assignments and
one assignment that you may choose the subject of yourself.

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Requirements for all three courses consist of studies in the field, development and
documentation, and course participation. Work will be initiated in the field and
developed and digitized for final review.

Grades will be calculated based on the following distribution:

Field studies activities, participation and attendance 50%
Documentation & analytical study assignments 50%

Arch 424 is an advanced course in field research that focuses on understanding the
relationship between context and the thing that is made. This entails the on-site study of
the organizational, spatial, material, and structural elements of a building in its physical,
cultural and historic context. Separate assignment handouts will be provided for each
part.

Part 1. Barcelona: Mark Cigolle, Kim Coleman, 9/7, 9/14, 11/16

Part 2. Oporto/Santiago de Compostela: Mark Cigolle, Kim Coleman, Sophia
Gruzdys, 9/9-9/11
Part 3: Barcelona: Sophia Gruzdys 9/26-10/6
Part 4. Student-selected analysis – Cigolle, Coleman

PEDAGOGICAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

An important aspect of field research in architecture is the opportunity to gain insight
into the relationships between design language, building proposition and construction
process of specific periods/architects/buildings. It is an occasion to discover not only
the tenets upon which an architect bases his/her work, but also how these intentions
resolve complex relationships between building, site and the cultural/theoretical
contexts in which they were constructed. Through analytical diagrams, and text, the
objective of these exercises will be to demonstrate how external forces influence or
direct the form and shape of the architectural response. The analytical study may be
derived from on-site sketches, measured drawings, photo documentation, depending
on specific assignments from the instructors.

The course will address three main areas:

1 Cultural/Theoretical Context – How is the building situated in a broader context
of architectural theory and debate that characterize the cultural climate of the era? What
critical cultural, political, social and economic circumstances define, influence and
distinguish the era? Inquiries will include parallel discussions about the influence of
philosophy, art, cinema, social media, and other forms of cultural expression.

2 City/Site Context – How do the physical character/quality of spaces, scales and

textures of the city and specific site influence the development of the building? Is the
building an agent for urban change? Are urban rituals and events reconfigured as a
result of the building’s construction?

3 The Architect – What are critical concepts or working methods utilized by the
architect? What issues are most relevant to the understanding of project at hand? The
class will critically examine the fundamental spatial, structural and organizational
elements of the building to evaluate the success of the architectural response in relation
to its purpose and the surrounding context.

PART 1:
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT – BARCELONA
Instructors: Cigolle, Coleman

Through a series of three Barcelona field trips & including explorations/site visits you
have previously made, develop or identify an attitude about how architects have
intervened in the city and developed/pursued a critical attitude about context, site,
program, building, material of construction. This is a Field Study/Design Oriented
Course… Read/Represent what you can see – not as generalists but as designers…

Part 1: Barcelona Arch 424 will focus on how to provide critical evaluation through
observation and documentation of a particular building or place in relationship to its
physical & socio-cultural context. Below is a list of places we will visit together. During
these visits you will be expected to gather whatever insight you can through notes,
study diagrams/sketches, photos, videos…

Diagram/diagramming may be used to explore/form/structure ideas (projective) that can

initiate a process, which occurs typically at the initial stages of a project. In contrast, the
diagram may also be used to explain or dissect a project or aspect thereof, typically in
retrospect, once the project has been formed.
Class #1: Parc Miro, 1929 Exhibition, Montjuic. Wednesday, September 7th:
Reading: Allen, Stan. “Mapping the Unmappable: On Notation”, in Practice:
Architecture, Techniques and Representation (Amsterdam: G&B Arts International,
2000) pp. 31-45

Meet at 10:00 at Biblioteca Joan Miró / Vilamarí, 61 (metro Espanya)

Parc de Joan Miro, (Arriola, Gali, Quintana, & Solanas)
Las Arenas, (Richard Rogers Partners)
Caixaforum, Puig I Cadafalch, Arata Isozaki,
Barcelona Pavilion, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Fundacio Joan Miro, Josep Lluis Sert & Jaume Freixa.)

Suggested aspects to examine: Surfaces of ground to surfaces of roof, relationship of

surface materiality, structure to skin, light and aperture, building to context.

Class #2: Forum/Diagonal, Wednesday, September 14th

Reading: Foucault, Michel. “Las Meninas” from The Order of Things. (New York,
Random House, 1970). Pp. 1-16.

Meet at Forum at 10:00

Forum 2004 (Herzog & de Meuron)
Solar Array (Torres & Lapena)
Zona de Banys (Beth Gali)
Southeast Coastal Park (Foreign Office of Architecture
Parc de Diagonal Mar (Enric Miralles)
Torre Diagonal 00 (Enric Massip-Bosch)
Spiral Tower (Zaha Hadid)
Parc del Centre del Poblenou (Jean Nouvel)
Me Hotel (Dominique Perrault)

Suggested aspects to examine: Modulation of surfaces, surface materiality, light and

shade, structure to skin.

Exercises 1 & 2: Critical Observation For each of these two studies, using the
material you gathered during the field trip, identify one aspect you see in at least three
of the projects that particularly engaged your interest. Examine, document, and
compare this aspect with a brief text, abstract analytical diagrams, annotated and/or
collaged photographs. You may use documentation from other sources as part of your
presentation but make sure to credit the source. Prepare your observation in the form
of a PDF document of 2-5 pages. Make sure to always reduce file size to Acrobat 9.0 &
later. Email completed assignments to Kim by the deadline, with a brief
summary/commentary to be uploaded to the blog.

Exercise #1 due Tuesday, September 13th by 10:00 am.

Exercise #2 due Monday, September 19th at 10:00 am
Class #3: The new El Raval & Fundacio Tapies, Wednesday, November 16th

Morning walking tour:

Rambla del Raval
Hotel Barcelo Raval, Josep María Blanco, with CMV Arquitectes.
Edific d’oficines per a la UGT, MBM Architects
Film Theatre of Catalonia, Josep Lluis Mateo
Sports Facility
Jardin des Horts de Sant Pau
Monasterio de San Pau del Camp, 10th century church – the oldest monastery in
Barcelona and a rare example of Romanesque architecture
Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies

Afternoon building/museum visit – Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Carrer d’Arago 255

Tapies Foundation – Please listen to info on the building presented in the audio
tour #3-5 that discusses the building as an important early example of Modernisme.
This study relates to the field studies of 19th century architecture that you did with
Sophia in October, but the museum was closed during that time. Particularly interesting
is the section of the building (above), and the means by which light is brought in to the
work spaces. Also make sure to look at the roof terrace in the middle of the Eixample
block.

Exercise 3: Critical Observation

Identify an architectural idea that relates to an aspect of your design studio project. It
may be big scope or small detail. Describe the connection or way in which your
observation illustrates your viewpoint with the procedure outlined below:

1. Title
2. Analytical/descriptive text
3. Photo(s)/photo collage (1000 px wide X _ht at 72 dpi format for upload)
4. Diagram(s)/diagram collage (1000 px wide X _ht at 72 dpi format for upload)
5. Upload this assignment to usc/BCN website (Format similar to EMBT
Workshop page)
6. Email document as PDF in 8 ½ x 11 format (Acrobat 9.0 or later) to Kim

 
PART 2:
NOTATION AND OBSERVATION OF
BUILDING IN CONTEXT: PORTO AND
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Instructors: Cigolle, Coleman, Gruzdys

Porto/Santiago de Compostela Design Research Field Studies September 9 - 11

Both Porto, Portugal, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain are cities known for their
architecture. Both have traditional city centers (UNESCO World Heritage Sites), that
are renowned as destinations, and cutting edge contemporary architecture. Two of the
Pritzker Prize winners of the past few years, Alvera Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura,
are architects from Porto, and much of their built work is there. The cathedral of
Santiago de Compostela, a destination for pilgrims since the 9th century, is also the
location of the newly opened Galacia Cultural Center by Peter Eisenman and projects
by John Hejduk and Alvara Siza.

Our field studies on this trip will include a few collective visits and also a menu of
additional visits, both required and suggested, that we expect you to explore in the three
days of our travel. You have all embarked on thinking about developing a strategy in
your design thinking and projects, through design and description, to outline the
parameters for renewing the role of architecture relative to new technologies and the
physical/virtual experience.

Your 3 assignments for Part 2 of Field Studies in Architecture incorporate your

development of a method of notation to map strategies of how architectural elements
that engage their contexts.

Exercise 4 – Porto: Select a pair of buildings in Porto, and develop notations to

analyze and compare their relationship, looking at the relationship of building to edge.

Exercise 5 – Porto: Select another pair of buildings in Porto and develop notations
analyzing the relationship of building to block.

Exercise 6 – Santiago de Commpostela: In Santiago, develop notations to

communicate the relationship between old and new in a pair of projects.

Include a text of 100 words to support the images and diagrams you develop for EACH
exercise. Upload the texts and 1 summary image from each exercise to the BCN blog,
and the full assignment, a PDF of 4-9 pages is to be emailed to Kim (make sure the file
size has been reduced). The blog proportions are 1 high to 2 wide and 500 pixels X
1000 pixels.
PART 3: BARCELONA
Instructor: Gruzdys

Part 3: Barcelona Arch 424 will examine buildings that contribute to the city’s
commitment to artistic and urban innovation at different periods of its development.

Class #7: Barcelona, Monday, October 3

Afternoon visit:
Casa Battlo (Gaudi)
Casa de Lleo Morera (Domenech I Montaner)
Casa Amatller (Puig I Cadafalch)
Casa Mila (Gaudi)

On-site exercise: Identify in two different sections ways that the building retains its
artistic autonomy while weaving in with Cerda’s organizational system of the city.

Exercise 7: “Modernism(e) is not a style”…it is an attitude

At each of the project sites listed below, identify ways that the building exhibits
hallmarks of Catalan modernisme:

• preoccupation with the organic and eccentric

• craft and materiality (brick, iron, glass, tile)
• symbolism and Catalan identity (St. George and the dragon, for example)

Examine those hallmarks at two scales (select from the following: XS, S, M, L) and
dissect which features are highlighted at each scale. Describe the history,
cultural/theoretical context, city/site context.

Exercise 7 sites:

Palau de la Musica (Domenech I Montaner)

University of Barcelona (Elies Rogent)
Els Quatre Gats (Puig I Cadafalch) on Montsio #3 bis
Palau Guell (Antonio Gaudi)

Exercise #7 due Friday, October 7 at 10:00 am

Class #8: Barcelona, Tuesday, October 4

Afternoon visit:
Joan Olivier San Antoni library (RCR arquitectes)
Gracia Library (Josep Llinas)
Lesseps Library (Josep Llinas)

On-site exercise: In what ways to these cultural institutions enhance the urban
organizational system of Gracia and/or the Cerda grid.

Class #9: Barcelona, Wednesday, October 5

Afternoon visit:
MACBA (Richard Meier)
CCCB (Pinon, Viaplana)
Anti-Tuberculosis Clinic (Sert)

On-site exercise: Identify ways the buildings address the scale of the block, the
neighborhood, and the city

Exercises 8 & 9 Cultural Institutions

At each of the project sites listed below, compare ways that the buildings occupy their
urban sites, and use color (black, white, red, etc.), materiality (brick, glass, steel, plaster,
etc), to distinguish themselves (or not). How do these help define the architectural
promenade to and through the building? How are the exhibits, collections or content
inside each building revealed?

Exercise 8+9 sites:

MACBA (Richard Meier)

Roca Gallery (Carlos Ferrater)
San Antoni Library (RCR Arq.)
Gracia Library (Josep Llinas)
Can Framis Museum (studio BAAS)
Drassanes Museum (renovation by Robert Terrades, arq)

Exercises #8+9 due Friday, October 7 at 10:00 am

PART 4: INDEPENDENT STUDIES
Exercise 10: Identify an aspect of architectural interest that you have observed and
explore/explain it using three different building/place examples that you have visited, either
through field studies or your own trips. This should be done through a series of critical
statements, diagrams, sketches, annotated and/or collaged photographs, videos… You are
asked to address and compare three time frames as they relate to your topic of interest &
chosen examples:

Start: the time the work was first initiated/built: Consider what the original intention, role or
objective was for the building/place in relation to your topic of interest. What was the catalyst for
the initial work?

Present: How has the original intention, purpose or objective evolved? Is it the same or
different? How? Why? What has been the focus of transformation over time to date? – material
(masonry to curtain wall skin), program (industrial wharf building to tourist hotel, bull ring theater
to pop concert arena) historical transformation (build new behind an existing facade, new roof
over existing space).

Future: What new opportunity may be drawn from the present situation of the building/place?
What intervention could create new possibilities to expand on the original objectives or project
new possibilities to energize or transform a place? How has the architect intervened in the
situation & what was it as a ‘modern’ intervention, what makes it ‘modern’ relative to previous
contexts and what is the future for the new NEW?

Prepare your assessment in the form of a PDF document emailed to Kim (make sure to always
reduce file size to Acrobat 9.0 & later) & provide a brief summary/commentary to be uploaded to
the blog by Monday, December 12th
NAAB Accreditation
The USC School of Architecture’s five year BARCH degree and the two year M.ARCH degree
are accredited professional architectural degree programs. All students can access and review
the NAAB Conditions of Accreditation (including the Student Performance Criteria) on the NAAB
Website, http://www.naab.org/accreditation/2004_Conditions.aspx.

Course Policies
10.1 Statement on Academic Integrity:
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic
honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation
that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the
obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid
using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these
principles. Scampus, the Student Guidebook, contains the Student Conduct Code in Section
11.00, while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/publications/SCAMPUS/gov/. Students will be referred to the Office of
Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any
suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at:
http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/.

10.2 Turnitin Review

Plagiarism, the copying of any work in whole or in part without citation, will not be tolerated. If
plagiarism is committed by any student and is confirmed by the instructor, the student will
receive an F grade for the assignment, and possibly the course. The severity of the violation
will also determine whether the student is reported to the appropriate University offices for
further sanctions. Students will be required to submit Final Degree Project Papers to Turnitin
review on the USC Blackboard system.

10. 3 Attendance:
Attending classes is a basic responsibility of every USC student who is enrolled in courses at
the School of Architecture. The School of Architecture’s general absence policy is to allow a
student to miss the equivalent of one week of class sessions, for Arch 501 this means one class,
without directly affecting the student’s grade and ability to complete the course (this is for
excused absences for any confirmed personal illness/family emergency/religious observance or
for any unexcused absences). For each absence over that allowed number, the student’s letter
grade can be lowered up to one full letter grade.

If additional absences are required for a personal illness/family emergency/religious observance,

the situation should be discussed and evaluated with the faculty member and appropriate Chair
on a case-by-case basis.

All students should understand that any false representation of their attendance is grounds to be
considered for a violation of ethics before the University.

Any student not in class within the first 10 minutes is considered tardy, and any student absent
(in any form including sleep, technological distraction, or by leaving mid class for a long
bathroom/water break) for more than 1/3 of the class time can be considered fully absent. Each
tardy class counts as half an absence. If arriving late, a student must be respectful of a class in
session and do everything possible to minimize the disruption caused by a late arrival. It is
always the student’s responsibility to seek means (if possible) to make up work missed due to
absences, not the instructor’s, although such recourse is not always an option due to the nature
of the material covered.

Being absent on the day a presentation, quiz or paper is due can lead to an “F” for that
presentation, quiz, or paper (unless the faculty concedes the reason is due to an excusable
absence for personal illness/family emergency/religious observance.

10.4 Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA):
The University of Southern California is committed to full compliance with the Rehabilitation Act
(Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As part of the implementation of
this law, the University will continue to provide reasonable accommodation of academically
qualified students with disabilities so those student can participate fully in the University’s
educational programs and activities. Although USC is not required by law to change the
“fundamental nature of essential curricular components of its programs in order to
accommodate the needs of disabled students,” the University will provide reasonable academic
accommodations. The specific responsibility of the University administration and all faculty
serving in a teaching capacity is to ensure the University’s compliance with this policy.

The general definition of a student with a disability is any person who has “a physical or mental
impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities,” and any
person who has “a history of, or is regarded as having, such an impairment.” Reasonable
academic and physical accommodations include but are not limited to: extended time on
examinations; substitution of similar or related work for a non-fundamental program
requirement; time extensions on papers and projects; special testing procedures; advance
notice regarding book list for visually impaired and some learning disabled students; use of
academic aides in the classroom such as note takers and sign language interpreters; early
advisement and assistance with registration; accessibility for students who use wheelchairs and
those with mobility impairments; and need for special classroom furniture or special equipment
in the classroom.

10.5 Obtaining Accommodations:

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register
with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved
accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to your
instructor as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 AM.
– 5:00 PM., Monday through Friday. Disability Services & Programs contact: 213.740.0776.