FIRST YEAR ARCHITECTURE

F I R S T Y E A R A R C H I T E C T U R E GERMAN UNIVERSITY CAIRO ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM 2010/11
Dean: Prof. Dr.- Ing. Helmut Bott, University of Stuttgart, Fakultaet Architektur und Stadtplanung Prof. Dr. Tamer El Khorazaty, GUC, Architecture and Urban design progarm
Documentation of the first year:
Freehand Drawing and Modelling, Descriptive Geometry, Architectural Drawing, Visual Design: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Erwin Herzberger Ass. Prof. Dipl.- Ing. Jens Heissler Dipl.- Ing. Volker Gebhard
Introduction to Architectural Design: Ass. Prof. Dr. Rowaida Rashed Ass. Prof. Dipl.- Ing. Jens Heissler Dipl.- Ing. Volker Gebhard
History of Architecture: Ass. Prof. Dr. Vittoria Capresi
Building Construction: Ass. Prof. Dr. Ahmed Atef
Building Physics: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hanno Ertel
Teaching Assistants: B.Sc. Arch. Abla El Bahrawy B.Sc. Arch. Mennatallah Tawfik B.Sc. Arch. Salma El Mously B.Sc. Arch. Salma El Sherbiny B.Sc. Arch. Sara Fouad B.Sc. Arch. Youhansen Salah El Din
Documentation: Dipl.- Ing. Lotte Sanwald
June 2011
Drawing Exercises - p.15 Analysis of a building” - p.28
From the ‘line’ to ‘spatialization’ - p.33 Composition with lines - intuitive - p.34
Drawing the feet of the figure - p.37 Composition & modelling process - p.38
Visual balance CiIllida - p.50 Spatial Sculpture - p.58
Descriptive Geometry “The Grid” - One Vanishing Point - p.66
“The A & P” - Accuracy and Precision - p.70 “The Parallel Universe” - Parallel Projections - p.74
Central Perspective - p.76 Flip - Book - p.78
Two-point-perspective as a teamwork - p.80 Isometric View of the negative model - p.82
Wooly Wallpainting - p.84 Final Exam - Cuboid composition - p.90
Architectural Drawing “I wish I was a plane” - p.94
100% Black - p.98 Stairway to... - p100
Cuboidism² - p102
Introduction into Architectural Design p.104 - FCC - Floating City Cairo p.106 - Results
Building Construction p.121 - Fundamentals of Building Technology p.124 - Building Technology 1 p.128 - Example of a building analysis p.130 - Construction Site Visit
Building Physics p.132 - Building Physics
History of Architecture p.136 - Sakkara p.138 - Museum of Egypian Antiquities
Joint Design Workshop p.140 - Project: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design New Building, Industrial Park, GUC p.142 - Results
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Background
Prof. Dr. habil. Erwin Herzberger Ass. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Jens Heißler Lecturer Dipl.-Ing. Volker Gebhard
With the winter semester 2010 / 11 the Architecture and Urban Design Program of the German University in Cairo started. The Egyptian founding Dean is Prof. Dr. Tamer El Khorazaty, the German is Prof. Dr.- Ing. Helmut Bott.
Together with my collegues Jens Heißler and Volker Gebhard I developed a teaching concept, that is based on the one hand, on the experience out of the “Fakultät für Architektur und Stadtpla- nung” at the university of Stuttgart, on the other hand we received the possibility to formulate own teaching objectives. Especially in the courses `Freehand draw-
ing and modeling` in the first semester and the `Visual design` course in the sec- ond semester we tried to introduce one main didactic aim as an overall teaching concept. We started with simple exercises and increased the complexity step by step. Moreover, it was important for us, to connect the contents of the drawing, modeling and design exercises to avoid talking about this closely related content separated. Even the `Descriptive Geom- etry` course, taught by Volker Gebhard, was included in that context. Seen from this point of view, the background at the GUC was perfect, because we started without making any compromises.
The main aim in the first year was, to teach the students the relationship between ‘image - form - space` to get a consciousness about graphical, as well as sculptural and spatial correlations. The students learned to analyze and design on these different levels.
Therefore, we wanted to establish a holis- tic method, which can be used to become familiar with artworks like graphical works, paintings, sculptures and finally architec- ture. It was always very important for us to reconnect the two- dimensional with the three- dimensional media, to elaborate the influences of drawings and models on each other.
The first Semester started with an intro- ductory course with Barbara Pampe over two weeks. We did two urban walks. In a second exercise we did a bridge building workshop. Finally, we visited a building site.
In the course `Freehand drawing and modeling` we started with an exercise called `graphic structures` to show the possibility to draw with different qualities of lines and hatching techniques. In a next step we started to draw objects, referring to the criteria dimension, arrangement of an object, direction and surface.
In elaborating the topic `still life` we introduce a spatial arrangement on a stage like situation to discuss their formal qualities as big - small, foreground- back- ground, straight- skew etc.. Another aim in doing this exercise is to practise how to draw a perspective as a preparation for the architectural drawing exercises in the city of Cairo. Drawing in an urban situation need several skills. At first the student have to be able to recognize the spatial situation. In a second step, they choose a sample image to reduce the rich impressions. In a third step, they transfer the seen situation on paper. With the help of the Teaching Assistants Salma El Mously, Mennatallah Tawfik, Youhansen Mohamed, Sara Fouad, Salma El Sherbiny and Abla El Bahrawy, the student learnt a lot.
In the section `modeling` the students get to know the basics of composition exercises:
Direction, dimension, distance, symmetry and mono and polycentric pondaration.
Starting with intuitive arrangements of lines, the given criteria of composition are expressed in a performance. Later on, these arrangements are transferred into drawings with a geometrical order. In a next step these two- dimensional draw- ings are changed into a three- dimension- al relief. Finally the students molded in the end of the first semester models with the help of the modeling workshop with Thomas Grossmann and Marianne Böhm from the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Art, to get to know the consequences of a change in used media.
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Preface
ass. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Barbara Pampe ass. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Jens Heissler
The architecture and urban design program started with a two-week introduc- tory course to give the students a brief overview of the language, the tools and different aspects of an architect and urban planner such as drawings and models.
Furthermore, it helped the students to become acquainted and to incite their team-working skills since this is viable for their personal forthcoming throughout their studies.
The introduction weeks contained three parts:
Part 1 Urban walk Perception of different locations in the city of Cairo and visualization of the recog- nized main characteristics
Part 2 Construction and design Designing and building a bridge
Part 3 Visiting a building site
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Part 1 - Urban walk
While walking, the students ‘drew’ a sec- tion through the city of Cairo and docu- mented their perception of the character- istics of the different locations. The students experienced the different parts of the inner city of Cairo on site with all their senses and transferred the opti- cal, acoustical, tactile, motion- based and equilibrium-based perceptions into draw- ings, models, collage of pictures etc.
15 students formed one group. Each group chose an area. At the end of the first week the results were assembled. Each group presented its work to the other students. Thus, all students got an impression of the different areas and the perception of their colleagues. The educational goal of the task `urban walk` was to develop a sensibility con-
cerning different qualities of the areas in the city and to develop the ability to perceive aspects like:
- Is the path divided into distinguishable sections?
- Which atmosphere prevails and how is it generated?
- What activities do people do in this area? And what about the social conditions? - What about functional aspects as hous-
ing, traffic, spaces of work, spaces for children... - What about the heights of buildings, the distances in between, the density, the ages of buildings...
- Are there some squares, where one can sit down, where people can meet?
Finally the students had to choose a couple of persons to present the results to the others.
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Part 2 - Construction and design The aim of this experimental construction workshop was to introduce the students to the aspects of structure, construction, design and of material handling. The task is to construct a `bridge`.
The students experimented on the one hand with the instruments, such as ana-
lytical drawings an prototype models to invent a constructive and aesthetical idea of a bridge, and on the other hand with the material itself.
The approach of trial and error with the material taught the students constructive properties of the given material. Beyond constructive characteristics the students had to discuss the appearance of the cho- sen constructive structure as a perceptual object.
They worked in groups of approximately 15 students. Each group defined a group `manager` who was responsible for the coordination of the group. The task was to construct a `bridge` to span 2.10m only with the given materials. It was not allowed to stick, to tape or to nail. The construction should carry one person crossing the `bridge`.
Every group had to construct their bridge in a scale 1:1. At the end of the workshop each group presented its project to the other students. Therefore it was neces-
sary to document the working process and the final project with pictures, movies, drawings an prototype models.
The given materials: 10 2m long wood laths per group The given joining material: cord (lash) Tools:
a saw, drilling machine
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Graphic structures / graphic tech- niques
Description: As an introduction to the semester, dif-
ferent graphical structures are drawn in rectangular frames. In the first structures, horizontal and vertical lines have to be set parallel to each other at the same distance. It should be a homogeneous structure. The next step is a variation of distance of the horizontal and vertical lines. By a more precise definition, the distance variation is produced as a compression process which is expressed with the horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the frame, vertical lines at the left and the right edges. A further increase in complex-
ity is the superposition of the horizontal and vertical lines. The compression and the superposition processes are combined. The next step is adding diagonals in two directions. These graphic structures are all ex-
pressed by homogeneous, straight lines. A further increase in complexity is the implementation of a gesture line. As a final exercise in gesture falling and rising lines are drawn.
Didactic aim: The main didactic aim is, to draw with dif- ferent line styles. After this basic training, the students are able to use different lines for drawing different objects with a differ- ent material.
Methodology: Unique graphic structures are drawn in the middle of an A4 sheet, placed in a 5 x 10cm frame. It is important to ensure graphic accuracy.
Freehand Drawing and Modelling / Visual Design
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Drawing objects
Description: With two interconnected exercises the students trained their freehand drawing skills for the first time. The object of the first step was a chair. While drawing a chair the student had to get conscious about the directions and dimen- sions of the object in the surrounding space. In the second exercise, drawing boxes that were placed one over the other, the students continue to develop the ability to draw objects in space.
Didactic aim: With the chosen objects, the chair and the boxes, the students started to be aware of what they see in the surrounding space. To describe the process more detailed, we can say, that at first the student has to watch carefully what he wants to draw. He has to become aware of the main directions of the objects and the relation of the object with the space surround-
ing. Furthermore the drawer has to clarify the dimensions of the object and finally the student has to deal with the question of the distance in between the object and the space boundary.
Methodology: One method of learning to draw objects is to measure the length of every contour line with the pencil. That means, you have to close one eye and merge one end of the object with the tip of the pencil. To fix the length of the contour line of the object you can fix the point with a fin- ger on the pencil. This measured distance can be transferred to the drawing paper. The most important fact is, that the student should avoid a change of the view point and the positioning of his arm. Otherwise these slightly changes evoke different proportions on the paper and the drawing is not readable anymore. To fix a certain angle, the student can use the pencil too. Imagine that the object and the surrounding space is flattened to a so called image plane. In relation to that image plane the drawer can rotate the pencil to fix the skew angle of a certain contour line. This measured position of the pencil he can transfer on the drawing paper.
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Still life
Description: On a chair, previously drawn in the for- mer exercise, five items are placed: - a book - a ruler - a glass - a bottle - a piece of clothing.
The objects are placed on the chair according to the following criteria:
- Dimension - Direction. - Distance
Didactic aim: The students have to decide, how to place the five items on the chair. This pro-
cess is dicussed as a first compositional decision. Due to the different physical properties (materials) of the items, the students have to choose an applicable line style, trained in the exercise “graphic structure, graphic techniques”.
Methodology: Distributing the objects on a chair. Draw- ing them with a pencil on paper.
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Architectural drawing - Islamic Cairo
Description: At the beginning, it can be noted that the spatial and object-oriented drawing out-
side of the studio, is significantly more difficult for untrained students, than drawing in the defined environment of the studio. Moreover, drawing has two factors that seem to be important. First, the student needs to have the technical capability to draw on the paper. Secondly, the ability to look consciously, select what to draw from the surroundings and transfer it into the planar dimension of the paper sheet. From these considerations, the drawing process gives an opportunity to under- stand the drawing process on the one hand as a technical training and on the other hand as a school of watching the surrounding carefully. These two aspects are represented in the Islamic Cairo train-
ing.
Didactic aim: The main didactic aim of drawing archi- tecture in islamic cairo is to train the abil-
ity to select an urban situation out of the rich impressions of the city and transfer them into a correct architectural freehand drawing. Therefore, a sense of abstrac-
tion is needed. The drawings on the left side show the first results of this compli-
cated learning process.
Methodology: Using the two techniques, described before in the exercise “Drawing objects”, the students try to present filtered impres- sions of the city with pencil on paper.
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Drawing the contour and ligth and shadow with the example of cubes
Description: On the basis of cubes with a side length of 9 cm two processes are distinguished. At first, the students draw the contour of an object. In a following step, they add shade and shadow onto the surface of the object and the ground.
Didactic aim: In adding shade and shadow to the surface of the object, the students learn to distinguish different illuminations and draw these differences in using certain line styles.
Methodology: With the combination of contour lines and shading, the cubes are presented in their dimensions and show on their surfaces the exposed state of illumination.
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Walls” in a two-point perspective
Description: The students a horitzontal line. After that, they fix two vanishing points on that horizon. From these two vanishing points, they draw several vanishing lines. Between these vanishing lines, they add vertical division lines. As a result, they receive a certain composition of surfaces or walls.
Didactic aim: Based on this exercise, drawing a two-
point perspective the students learn to draw objects and spatial constellations precisely.
Methodology: Construction of a two- point- perspective by implementing vertical lines and its con- nection with the two vanishing points.
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Analysis of a building”
Description: The students build groups of two persons. Every group receives one building as a chosen example, built by famous archi- tects. The task is to analyze the build- ing in using the following “criteria of the architectural design”:
1. Masses, forming the building 2. Arrangement of the masses 3. Sculptural concept 4. Spatial concept 5. Circulation 6. Visual relationship 7. Interior organization 8. Light and color 9. Relief (interior, exterior) 10. Spatial Proportion The first step of analyzing a building is to get to know the architect, his biography and in the end, his way of thinking about the project. So the first task is to write a biography of the architect and to collect informations of the building process of the house.
The second step is to describe the building, in analyzing it with the given 10 criteria mentioned above. What about the body shell? The arrangement of the body shell? Is there a sculptural concept? Is there a spatial concept? What about the circulation inside the building? The visual relationships? Find out the way of the interior organization, the use of light and color. Analyze the relief of the facade and discuss the spatial proportions. The third step is to analyze the build- ing graphically, that means by using the given drawing techniques, as analytical sketches, a human- eye perspective to clarify the visual relationships and a func- tional diagram in a floor plan to show the arrangements of the functions inside the building and concept sections.
Masses, forming the building
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The last step is to build an analytic mass model. For this model, the students have to abstract the masses of the building and to reduce the internal space boundaries to its minimum to show the organization of the building.
Didactic aim: The main didactical aim is, to train the students to have an analytical way of thinking about architectural objects and spaces. Therefore the students need to abstract the given building in using the ten predefined criteria.
Methodology: At the beginning of this process, we showed the students in a lecture a way of using so called ‘analytical sketches` and analytical models. With these techniques, the students analyzed the given buildings systematically. In a final presentation, they have to argument the ten criteria
Masses, forming the building
Contour of the lecture hall
Description: In a short time of 5 minutes, the contour of an interior architectural space is drawn. After 5 minutes, the position is varied. Between each position are 10 steps. Didactic aim: Students learn to detect the contour of an architectural and spatial constellation under time pressure. Thus, the spatial constellation and the spontaneous draw- ing transmission is presented on paper.
Methodology: In using the method of measuring the distances and directions of the contour lines, the students train their spontaneous drawing abilities.
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From the ‘line’ to ‘spatialization’
In the second semester, the relation between graphic, sculptural and spatial perception is exercised. During the end of the semester we…