Studio E/03
Passive Aggressive: Re-made
Katie Skillington
Studio Description
Each mark, each line, each space, each building holds meaning in not only how we create space but also the environmental impact buildings can have. As our actions as designers intertwine with the fragile systems of our natural environment, we have a responsibility to demonstrate how everyday architecture – not just the exceptional – can act as a catalyst for change. Through the lens of the shophouse typology, this studio explores how we can design buildings for a future of comfort, efficiency, and responsibility. Proposals will be guided to aggressively pursue the fundamentals of passive design, accurately apply the basics of the PassivHaus standard, use material-based approaches to sustainability, and employ contextual knowledge to create architecture that authentically connects people and products with place.
Studio Outcomes
At the start of semester, PA:R-M students will individually explore the processes of sourcing, making, and sharing an edible product. By mid-semester, the formation of hybrid shophouse that accommodates these processes and the makers involved will be presented. By the semester’s end, student proposals will reach a high level of design resolution that exemplifies environmentally responsible and sensitive architecture. Outcomes will be expected to achieve maximum utility and efficiency – be it energy, water, spatial – with the least amount of material.
By the conclusion of the studio, students should be able to:
- Critique the meaning of making in the face of the growing emphasis on ESD in architecture.
- Implement the basic principles of the PassivHaus standard and perform a simple energy assessment of their design.
- Develop a cohesive architectural response at macro, meso and micro scales, and craft a series of architectural drawings and details to clearly convey their intentions.
Studio Leader
Katie Skillington is a Registered Architect and Lecturer in Architectural Design at The University of Melbourne. Her research and teaching practice sits at the nexus of sustainability and architectural design, specifically focusing on the environmental implications of material reduction and efficiency. She is passionate about imbuing sustainability into the design studio environment, and harnessing the opportunities that emerge from this challenging yet rich context. Katie is a former board member of the Australian PassivHaus Association, graduate of The University of Tokyo in Japan, and her current top 3 edible products are spinach, rye whisky, and tofu.
Readings and References
Australian Passive House Association (2020). Passivhaus In Australia, APHA, pages 7-20
BRE (n.d.). Passivhaus primer: Designer’s guide, BRE (note: written from Northern Hemisphere perspective)
Dolan, T (2012). Live-Work Planning and Design, Wiley
Pelmakers, S., et al., (2022). Designing for the Climate Emergency, RIBA
Note: there will be some pre-semester reading and thinking required to do this studio and due to the intense nature of the semester, you will be expected to attend all scheduled sessions.
Schedule:
Tuesday 10am-4:30pm MSD 142
Friday 10am-4:30pm MSD 142
Off-site Activities: TBA