Design & Cartography

Professors

Maria Pia Fontana [R]                   Francesc Planas Penadés

A-42

Introduction

The Thematic Workshop “Mapping/Designing: the Besòs. Intermediate Spaces as Places of Opportunity” proposes an approach to design based on asking questions about a place through the analysis and understanding of its existing problems, with the aim of achieving appropriate and relevant design solutions. It is a design approach in which students do not start from a predefined programme or an established site for which solutions must be proposed. Rather, the project is understood as a process of identifying, re-signifying and reinterpreting spaces of opportunity, through their subsequent spatial and constructive transformation and formalisation.In addition to developing a design proposal at different scales, the seminar places particular emphasis on representational skills through tools such as thematic mapping, collages and data-analysis dossiers.

The course is structured around 3 main STAGES, associated with 3 project scales: 1/1500, 1/500 and 1/50. It combines theoretical lectures given by the workshop and seminar professors, sessions with external experts linked to public administration, and in-class working sessions.Students are expected to achieve 3 main objectives: an in-depth understanding of the existing conditions from multiple perspectives; the ability to identify and represent the problems of a place; and the ability to synthesise this knowledge in order to propose design solutions while assessing their strategic, transferable, scalable or replicable value.Particular emphasis will be placed on critical thinking and analytical skills, the coherence of the proposal throughout its different stages or scales, and the constructive solutions proposed.

Program