The projects will be carried out in working groups of three students each, in the format of case studies at selected locations. The case studies will combine visual methods of architecture and planning with an experimental methodology drawing on ethnography. The aim is to reflect on and explore spaces that generally offer little insight (beyond the boundaries of what normatively is perceived as public space). The gained knowledge should inspire a discussion on the kind of spaces that are accessible to professional practice and the kind of spaces that remain invisible or inaccessible. The case study results will be used for methodical and conceptual consideration of introverted and extroverted dimensions of urban space. We ask how urban spaces are imagined, created, claimed, appropriated, lived and subjected to public critique across the binary introverted-extroverted. Projects will consist of the following steps:

  1. Field research drawing on ethnographic methods at a selected location. Ethnographic methodology and a set of methods will be introduced and applied in an exploratory study of selected urban areas. Participants will learn derivé, observation, (participative) mapping with visualization, informal conversation and interview. Practical relevance and challenges of methodically neat work in the context of architecture and planning will be discussed. Pedagogical formats: Lectures + Field Work + City Walks + Mentoring on site

  2. Methodological integration of three domains of knowledge: Insights from case studies + previous personal/ lived experiences + professional norms and perspectives. The results of field research will be structured, analyzed and evaluated. Introduction to affect theories will support a reflection on the positionality in research field, considering both rational and emotional notions. Pedagogical formats: Inputs + Workshop + Discussions + Mentoring

  3. Translation of the gained insights into visual representations. Exploration of what kind of knowledge about space can and cannot be translated into visual representations, and, in return, what different methods of visual representations can and cannot do: Text, diagrams, plans, models, cartography, isometry etc. Pedagogical formats: Workshop + Mentoring

  4. Abstraction. The (visualized) research results will be abstracted to conceptually revise the ambivalent relationship between the house and the city, between public and private space, or other binary pairs that usually guide urban development. Such an abstract concept uses the case study and the experienced city as a point of reference in theorizing or articulating practical perspectives on urban space. Abstract concept can be developed using a statement, manifest, architectural-urban planning concept, storyboard, comic, text, and others. Pedagogical formats: Workshop + Mentoring