Course Syllabus

Semester & Location:	Summer - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Core Course - 6 credits
Core Course Study Tours:	Sweden/Finland or Norway/Sweden
Major Disciplines:	Architecture, Design, Studio Art
Faculty Members:	Birgitte Borup
Program Assistant	Robert Davis, rda@dis.dk
Program Director:	Henning Thomsen, ht@dis.dk
Time & Place:	Mon, Wed, Fri 9:00-13:00 in Studio V5-11

Description of Course

The Design Studio is the core course of the summer program, and required for all AD students. Design projects are the basis for learning in the studio and will be the basis for discussions, presentations, and the development of individual design skills. The studios at DIS emphasize the awareness and knowledge of designing for a context outside your own and use Copenhagen as an ‘urban laboratory’ for exploration and precedent study. Project work will be done both individually and in teams.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course students will be able to:

• Understand and apply a Scandinavian approach to design focusing on contextual, climatic, historical, social and regulatory dimensions
• Display enhanced design methods and skills
• More effectively present design ideas both individually and as part of a team

Faculty

Birgitte Borup: Interior Architect, M.D.D. (Denmark’s Design School, 1986). Own design office since 1988. Design work includes interior design, exhibition design, graphic design as well as furniture design. Recipient of several international awards. Works exhibited nationally and internationally. With DIS since 1998.

Required & Suggested Texts

Reading material for studio will be distributed by the studio faculty on Canvas when appropriate.

Prerequisites

Documented background in fine arts or studio art, or completion of a course in drawing.

Approach to Teaching

Studio instruction is a combination of one-on-one tutoring, discussions, and occasional lectures. The studios are organized as vertical studios, meaning that students of different levels will be taught within the same studio. Expectations will relate to each individual student and their respective level of experience. Studio work will include individual as well as team assignments, which are considered important as preparation for later work in the profession.

Expectations of the Students

You are expected to be fully engaged in the studio discourse, be prepared for each individual desk critique, be present in studio during all sessions, be present throughout the presentation sessions, and to invest time outside of studio hours developing projects.

Students are expected to check DIS Canvas daily. The most current schedule including last-minute changes will be maintained here. Readings and other relevant course material will be posted here for downloading.

Studio Assignments

Studio instruction is anchored around two project-based assignments.

• Assignment 1: Design Understood, Design Experienced (one week). Assignment 1 (The Study Tour Assignment) is an integral part of our endeavor to become better architects and designers and deals with understanding architecture and design that we will experience during the study tours. The assignment is carried out in cross-disciplinary groups of 2-4 students. The assignment consists of an in-depth research and analysis of a specific building/site/theme. The framework for the research and analysis is an analytical model developed by Danish architect, Erik Nygaard, in his book Architecture Understood, from 2011.
• Assignment 2: Individual Design Project (three weeks)

Designing through physical model studies is strongly encouraged for all studios. Furthermore it is suggested to use your sketchbook for studio assignment development and note-taking.

Evaluation & Grading

Evaluation is based on daily work in studio and on final presentations. Assignments are generally presented to a panel of jurors including the student’s own instructor. Grades are given by the instructor in accordance with other jurors. To be eligible for a passing grade, you must complete all assigned work.

Assignment	Percent
Assignment 1 - Study Tour Assignment	20%
Assignment 2 - Process	30%
Assignment 2 - Presentation	50%

Study Tour assignment evaluated on basis of:

• Research: Case study is supported with well-planned, relevant and extensive research drawn from a variety of sources and with clear, academic and thorough documentation of all sources of information.

• Content: Group presents accurate & relevant information, including knowledge covering all four aspects of the model of interpretation, producing a creative and reflective analysis and a well-crafted scale model/data visualization

• Delivery: The final presentation is well-organized with a clear and logical flow, effective introduction and conclusion, creative and visually engaging, and with a smooth inclusion of and transition between speakers

 

Process (in studio) evaluated on basis of:

• Approach: Student is motivated, positive, engaged in the project and in all studio activities, attending and prepared for every session in studio, inquisitive, self-critical, receptive to input from both faculty and fellow students.

• Production: Student is diligent, productive, continuously engaged in sketching, prototyping, modelmaking, and other forms of physical/ digital design development, to support the progress of the project and the dialogue with faculty.

• Innovation: Student is creative and experimenting, continuously willing to push the project forward, exploring different design opportunities, oriented towards generating unique design solutions.

 

Presentation (of project) evaluated on basis of:

• Completeness: Student presents the required deliverables - well- crafted drawings, models and other visual presentation material - to convincingly communicate the scope and content of the project in a meaningful and creative manner.

• Delivery: Student orally presents the project in a well-prepared and organized way, communicating the project intentions in a professional manner and engaging in a receptive and reflective dialogue with critics.

• Design: Student presents a final product of high artistic quality that convincingly shows a conceptually clear and well-motivated design solution where the elements of the brief have been explored thoroughly and creatively.

Submission of Assignments

All presentation material must be supplemented with a digital submission of the presentation boards. This requirement is necessary for grading and archival purposes for DIS, as well as documentation you will need for your own portfolio. Guidelines for plotting and submitting will be issued on DIS Canvas.

Field Studies and Study Tours

The study tours of the Architecture and Design Program at DIS form an integral part of the learning process. We travel to places to learn through experience and through analysis. We travel to places to understand and ultimately, to become better architects and designers.

Field Studies

The one day field study is an excursion to sites within the Copenhagen capital region and is composed of significant, historical sites of design interest as well as contemporary case studies linked to the studio.

Long Study Tour

The week-long study tour will expand your frame of personal experience from Copenhagen to include other countries in Scandinavia. This is an opportunity to compare what you have studied thus far in Denmark with a larger Scandinavian context and in turn with your previous experiences from your home country. Visits will be to both contemporary and historical sites to provide background for understanding the design context you experience today.

Exhibition

An open house exhibition will be held at the end of the semester on the 2nd floor of F24/V23. Works from all Architecture, Graphic Design, Interior Architecture, and Urban Design studios, as well as from the Furniture Design in Scandinavia program will be exhibited. See specific details on DIS Canvas (disabroad.instructure.com).

Disability and Resource Statement  

Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (acadsupp@dis.dk) to coordinate this.  In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.

Policies

Attendance

You are expected to attend all classes, guest lectures, workshops and field studies. If you must miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or other valid reasons, you must let us know as far in advance as possible of the absence and obtain information about the work you must do to keep up in class. If you miss a class for any other reason (sudden illness, family emergency, etc.), you should get in touch with us as soon as possible and arrange to make up the work missed.

It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work– including in-class projects – have to be completed in order to pass the class.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism and Violating the Rules of an Assignment

DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others.   Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of “F” and can result in dismissal. The students’ home universities will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software.  See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions.