Course Description

Film is an allied art to architecture: the two disciplines are complexly related. The settings for film are within the space posited by architecture. By the very nature of film, these spaces are synthetic. They are 'fabricated' out of the multitude of vignettes provided by architecture within the world (and within imagination). Film is able to manipulate, recompose, and juxtapose these spaces/settings almost at will. The viewer is held 'captive' to the direction of the view to the sequence and to the frame. Architecture, by contrast, seems to be somewhat held captive to the 'whims' of the participant. In their architectural interdependency film's heroes and sets investigate issues of ARCHITECTURE and CiNEMA.

We will draw on the assumption that scenarios (cinematic scripts) are implicit in every piece of architecture. At the same time all narratives are architecturally dependent; that in order to understand stories we need to construct their architecture and at the same time, in order to understand architecture we need to place a story in it, thus reaffirming the belief that program (script) is an important determinant of architectural form. Architecture has much to learn from the brief historical record of film for the many ways that film 'manages' the built environment.

The special program being attended to is the program of FILM in general, and the program of CINEMA - a place for showing film - in particular. Including all the issues raised when thinking about ARCHITECTURE and CiNEMA, you are asked quite simply to arrive at designs which provide for the showing of film. Our MODERN CINEMA attempts to look at the apparatus free from the constraints of the economy, and free from the constraints of the stereotype.

Design Five

DESIGN FIVE (D5) is an intermediate-level design studio with an emphasis on theory and research. The D5 studio challenges each student to develop clear working methodologies, formulate a design thesis or hypothesis, and test intention through iterative making. Each student will generate a body of work resulting from a fifteen week interrogation. The content of the work is spatial, experiential, temporal, and structural. D5 will open up the potential for architectural invention.

D5 includes a studio component and a seminar component. The seminar is topic-based, and introduced with a question and working methodologies. The studio supports the topic and theoretical content of the seminar.

The required reading for this studio is available in the Readings in CiNEMARCHITECTURE packet. It will also be posted on the course's electronic reserves site. This site is accessed through the University of Texas at Austin Libraries link or at www.lib.utexas.edu.

In addition to the required list of readings and their in-class discussion, an important ingredient of our designs will be multitudes of additional readings and discussions, as well as film screenings and research, all of which will accompany our studio endeavors and provide the supplementary source material for program development.

A collective place to keep reference material for the class (books, compendiums, and other reference material), the accumulated Studio Library, will provide a "set of instructions" on how our CiNEMAs are organized spatially and give form to buildings in terms of the variety of actions and interactions that take place within it. The studio, through the project of the CiNEMA, will immerse itself in the city --first through the exercise of 'spatial stories', secondly through the intervention of the composition of the cinema within a selected site within Austin.

Finally, the studio carries with it a belief that the production of architecture benefits from the involvement of the "non-singular author/participant". The working teams formed within the studio will allow the work to be born from dialogue, not monologue, to be produced from multiple, not singular efforts, and to be physically crafted from many hands and eyes instead of two.

The instructor (plus guests) looks forward to a productive semester, and to the collaborative inquiry of issues raised by CiNEMARCHITECTURE.

Course Policies

Attendance Policy
Studio meets MW 1:00 - 6:00, F3:00 - 6:00
Seminar meets F 1:00 - 3:00

Attendance is mandatory. Participation is an integral part of your learning process and will be taken into account in your final evaluation. Students with three unexcused absences may be dropped from the course without further notice. The minimum penalty for three unexcused absences is a full grade letter drop in your final grade for the course. Please contact me prior to the beginning of class if you expect to be late or will not be attending class.

Absences are excused only for medical conditions and personal or family emergencies. I may require written documentation for any excused absence.

A student who is absent from a class or examination for the observance of a religious holy day may complete the work missed within a reasonable time after the absence, if proper notice has been given. Notice must be given at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates the student will be absent. For religious holydays that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, notice should be given on the first day of the semester. It must be personally delivered to the instructor and signed and dated by the instructor, or sent certified mail, return receipt requested. A student who fails to complete missed work within the time allowed will be subject to the normal academic penalties.

Grading

This is a research studio. Design work is iterative. Establishing grades for projects of a creative nature is a more complex matter than grading in other academic areas. This situation is further complicated by the nature of this particular class, its multiple agendas, and its "independent" format. While each of our weekly assignments will indeed contain certain quantifiable elements by which the work may be evaluated, a significant portion of each grade is derived from a broader, more subjective set of issues and concerns of the class. In this regard, there are several important factors that will establish grades. You are responsible for generating a well articulated thesis or hypothesis and body of work which tests your intentions. Your work is evaluated on its rigor and evolution over sixteen weeks. Equal weight is given to all assignments.

Grading is broken into three components for each assignment: 1/3 thesis (your ideas combined with an appropriate translation into making), 1/3 product (the testing of ideas and their resolution) and 1/3 synthesis (the understanding of the project at hand and its architectural implications as demonstrated by contribution to the discourse in class).

Grading criteria:

The criteria for establishing a grade is as follows:

A (90-100%) Outstanding work
Work is complete at all levels -- i.e. concept, process, product -- and surpasses the expectations with respect to development, inventiveness, impact, appropriateness, resolution and integrity of pursuit.

B (80-89%) Good work
Work is complete at all levels. Each level is done thoroughly, is well researched and is diligently pursued. This is the expected performance for this class.

C (70-79%) Competent work
Not all levels are developed fully. For example, a brilliant idea and a casual product, or a weak idea, an indifferent development and a good end result will get a grade of C.

D (60-69%) Not very good work
Not all levels are present, some of the requested components of the project are missing. Either care or attention is missing or basic expectations in logic and development are not evident.

F (below 59%) Unacceptable work
Note that this grade will be assigned when a student has missed an extended amount of class-time (over one week) without notifying the instructor or the School of Architecture.

X Excused incomplete
Can be given only for legitimate reasons of illness or family emergency. Simply not completing the work on time is not an adequate cause for assigning this symbol. It may only be used after consultation with the instructor or the Associate Dean, and with an agreement as to a new completion date. Studio work has to be completed before the second week of the next design semester in which a student wishes to enroll, according to school policy.

Students with disabilities:
The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641.

Studio Safety and Security
The studio should be an environment for anyone and everyone to feel comfortable in. Please see me if there are any problems (music, visual pollution, etc.) that you are unable to resolve on your own. Security is a necessary component for a studio that is accessible to you and your colleagues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After hours please keep doors to the studio and especially the building locked.