The MAS SUS DEV ARCH course is divided into 6 modules requiring 40 hours of work per week. The first module lasts 7 continuous weeks and the remaining module lasts 11 weeks. Students must pass each module in sequence in order to obtain certification.
The course starts with a four-week lectures and field trips program in Berne/Burgdorf, Switzerland. Subsequently, the students undergo three weeks of reading, absorption, distillation and writing in China.
Coaching:
Prof. Daniel Boermann and about 40 guest lecturers
Lectures 130 hours
Self study 100 hours
Guided study 70 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
*European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
Content:
Introduction
Basic knowledge, International standards and scenarios in resource management: construction, materials, energy, individual competences, theoretical models, strategies for sustainable development in architecture, case studies, etc.
Social development
Life in the future, living in motion, trans-cultural design strategies, small habitats in macro structures, cultural heritage, community centres, structuralism, skills quality within architectural and structural engineering of light technology, etc.
Economical growth
Life cycle analysis, construction and building trade markets, systems of redundancies as fail-safes for catastrophes, system dynamics, efficiency in construction and materials technology, concept of waste ahead of the curve, eco-cities, implementation strategies, the economy of structures and construction, sustainable architectural and structural design benefits, etc.
Environmental protection
Eco-design, energy and materials efficiency, the architecture of carbon-neutral cities, building technology as a guard against environmental dangers, design strategies, green buildings, renewable energy systems, disaster protection strategies, etc.
The lectures teach essential knowledge, methods and processes of current best practices in sustainability. The lectures present theoretical concepts that can be applied within the participants’ professional context. Concepts are illustrated using examples and short exercises. Students are encouraged to participate, ask questions and discuss issues with professors and colleagues. Study trips show examples of sustainable solutions at the scales of regions, cities, urban districts and buildings and allow discussions with their respective designers and users.
11 week workshop in China
Coaching:
Prof. Pius Leuba dit Galland, guest lecturers and guest critics
Lectures 60 hours
Self study 100 hours
Guided study 140 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
Content:
The information gained in module_1 is brought into relationship with China and an even more specific location. Module_2 serves to study the current level, context and issues of sustainable architecture in the students’ working place. The main task consists of three case studies and one written report. The investigation of cases and generation of the overall report occurs continuously throughout the course in form of guided self-study. Lectures, workshops, site visits, seminars, etc. simultaneously introduce China-specific awareness, knowledge and skills. This learning is absorbed, applied, tested and adopted in class discussions, exercises, tasks and tests, before being integrated through the case studies into the final report. Various degrees of teamwork as well as frequent guided exchange, discussions and presentations ensure mutual and effective learning among the students.
11 week studio in China
Coaching:
Prof. Pius Leuba dit Galland, guest lecturers and guest critics
Lectures 20 hours
Self study 120 hours
Guided study 160 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
Content:
This studio project serves to re-discover the natural, cultural and economic opportunities of a specific place. It is about appropriately making use of local climate, natural environment, passive means, social structure, local communities, local workforce, traditional expertise, regional materials, vernacular architectures, existing assets, etc. This project is about creating human environments by working with (instead of against) the place. The students must leave behind the senseless multiplication of place-alien (western) forms and work. They rediscover and rephrase their own local culture, opportunities and constraints, while adapting it into a contemporary place-specific architectural form and language.
11 week studio in China
Late April to mid June
Coaching:
Prof. Pius Leuba dit Galland, guest lecturers and guest critics
Lectures 20 hours
Self study 120 hours
Guided study 160 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
Content:
This studio project serves to fine-tune the adaptation to local opportunities while evaluating, adapting and integrating the highest global standards in every aspect of sustainable architecture. In order to provide built environments for the 21st century, emerging forms of technologies, markets, communication, materials, transportation, etc. need to be assessed and integrated into the design. The main goal is to generate built environments for humans to live and work, allowing for the highest possible, localized quality of life. By sorting-out and optimizing the global achievements and assimilating them into the updated vernacular architecture, the students are to create a true, contemporary, sustainable, place-specific design identity and architecture.
11 week studio in China
Coaching:
Prof. Pius Leuba dit Galland, guest lecturers and guest critics
Lectures 20 hours
Self study 120 hours
Guided study 160 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
Content:
This studio project serves to perfect the adaptation to local opportunities and the integration of worldwide advances while pushing the borders into the future of human sustainability. Innovative concepts in all aspects of sustainable development in Chinese architecture are required. Ideas that currently seem impossible (e.g. building structures growing and constantly regenerating themselves, built environments producing healthy soil, room surfaces cleaning the air, water leaving the site cleaner than it enters it, the construction trade prioritizing the poor, architecture increasing ecological, social and economic diversity, etc.) need to be investigated and solutions proposed. The main goal is to eliminate the current materialistic culture of consumerism and to generate a new sustainable lifestyle where sustainable living becomes second nature. Students are invited to generate prototypes of truly sustainable, local architecture that will allow for a restorative growth of human society and the environment.
9 weeks of thesis work in China
2 weeks final presentations and commencement in Switzerland
Coaching:
Prof. Pius Leuba dit Galland and Prof. Daniel Boermann
Lectures 10 hours
Self study 250 hours
Guided study 40 hours
ECTS* Credit 10 Points
Content:
The last module of the MAS SUS DEV ARCH CN serves to assimilate one’s own learning and to uncover how one intends to act in view of the challenging situation of the human species on planet earth. Students first use five weeks to generate a written document in China. The remaining two weeks contain final presentations and reviews, course conclusion and awarding of diplomas in Switzerland. The nature of the written document may take on different forms: 1.) an academic thesis, 2.) an in-depth professional study of a specific topic in local sustainable architecture or 3.) any other form of work providing valuable content for the advancement of local sustainable architecture (e.g. a database of sustainable construction resources for the student’s working region, a database of best management practices in a local sustainability issue, etc).
CAS Sustainable Development in Architecture
MAS Sustainable Development in Architecture
MAA Master of Arts in Architecture
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