Courses
Visual I
The aim of this course is to explore an introduction to architectural representation, Orthographic projections, descriptive geometry, contours, paraline drawings, shade and shadows and model making are presented and applied, where some practical constructions just to get a sense of what one can accomplish using different untraditional tools by studying different details of orthographic projections
People-centred Urban Design & Public Space
The aim of this course is to enable students to design public spaces based on an understanding of how people perceive, understand and utilize urban space, that would in turn lead to future places that are supportive to what people want to do, minimizing the chance of misuse or neglect of these spaces. The course covers the seminal normative theories of urban design and illustrates to the students
Spatial & Urban Dynamics
This course aims at providing the students with a comprehensive understanding of urban environments´ spatial and physical dynamics. It includes two foci. One focuses on transformation and change over time in the existing urban fabric, its use, and its meaning to different users. It provides the students with the different theoretical basis that explain those spatial dynamics such as theories of
Urban Planning process
Is the city a form, or a process, or both? Are architects and urban designers responsible for the form and urban planners for the process part? How can these two, together with other parties cooperate to promote sustainable urban development and to resolve conflicting interests? Which skills, instruments and tools are needed? The aim of this course is to familiarize participants with the dimension
History of Arch and Urban Form I
The aim of this course is to have students understand architectural terminology, themes and building types used in world architecture up until the 17th Century and acquire knowledge of significant structures and buildings in their historical, regional and cultural contexts in this period. Through history it explores the definitions of architecture and style as well as the relation between the
History of Arch and Urban Form II
The course covers a synopsis of architecture, art and city design in the Early Christian (including Coptic Cairo), and Byzantine. It will also cover the Medieval Romanesque and Gothic eras exploring the different meanings and aims of architecture. This course introduces students extensively to the history of Islamic Architecture and the formation of Islamic cities. Students begin by examining the
Theory of Arch and Urban Form I
The aim of this course is to understand the reflections of the 20th C. social, economic and political movements within the scope of modern Architecture. It aims also to explore the developments that followed the 19th C. and industrial revolution into the 20th C. theories of Modern Architecture and its rising to set global trends in the design or buildings and cities. The course provides a detailed
Theory of Arch and Urban Form II
This course provides an overview of the principal theories that have informed, animated, or destabilized recent architectural discourse (Regionalism and space spacifity, Tectonic expression, Environmentalism ethics and biomimicry, etc), focusing on key figures, movements, and texts from the late 1960s to the present. Recent technical approaches useful for contemporary architecture. Exploring the
Construction I
The aim of this course is to explore the basic requirements that arise from the function of providing shelter (comfort); and those that arise from combining diverse elements and/or materials in a single system. The student will get to know the different strategies to satisfy those requirements: from the conceptual principle to the constructive solution. Course content covers: vocabulary; building
Construction II
The aim of this course is to explore the basic construction techniques for erecting structures and the related materials to each technique. The techniques are: masonry, rammed, casting, assembling. The related material: ceramics -brick–, earth, concrete, and wood (including their life-cycle assessment). This approach to the techniques and materials studied through its application to basic
Construction III
The aim of this course is addressing the constructions systems for closing the building: non-load bearing facades and roofs. Contemporary techniques and related materials. Facades; conventional, ETICS, claddings, rain screen, panel, curtain wall, openings and their filters. Roofs; flat roofs- watertight membranes, pitched roofs-tiles, low slope roofs- metal sheets. For all of them (facades and
Elective VII: Building Ecology
This course introduces methods for the description and evaluation of ecological performance of building elements, components, systems and structures. Specifically, the application of LCA (Life-Cycle Assessment) and EIA (Environmental Impact Analysis) techniques in the building domain for analysis of the environmental footprint of buildings and the sustainability implications of design and
Elective V: Informal Areas
The aim of this course is to equip the students with skills and information to be able to address the root of informality and its effects based on a rights-based and social justice strategy responding to the problems of informality. It focuses on understanding the Local Community practices and how to identify the positive and negative aspects, defining the role of the different stakeholders (Local
Elective VI: Sustainable Development
The aim of this course is to transfer knowledge and skills about how to promote sustainable attitudes and behaviours for facing threats such as climate change and environmental risks, loss of heritage and historic areas, spread of informality. Socio-psychological models and constructs explaining environment-related behaviours will be addressed, with a specific focus on natural and urban
Elective IV: Landscape Architecture and planning
The course aims at introducing the discipline of Landscape Design and Planning as well as to its potentials, instruments and its role among various other urban disciplines. Core issues include water landscapes, intertwined urban and regional relations, place and identity, integration, and environmental preservation. It aims that students understand cities and their large-scale processes of
Elective VIII: Urban Planning II
The course Urban Planning II is an extension of the mandatory course Urban Planning (ARUD 526). The aim of this elective course is to deepen selected aspects, such as legal, economic, spatial dimensions and practices and introduces the students to innovative practices in urban planning such as Transport Oriented Planning, Land Value Capture, Innovative practices of slum upgrading, New forms of