About the programme

The two-year programme is structured as a two-semester per year continuum, where the tasks and projects are linked in sequence, starting with Investigation, On-site evaluation, Experimentation and Collaboration, and ending with Production and Resolution.

In the first semester, investigations and study on the proposed theme/site, generates areas of interest to be explored through 1:1 prototypes, challenging unsustainable building practices and exposing/engaging with extreme conditions which impact negatively the inhabitants. These 1:1 prototypes are transported to the regions in question, tested and assessed in collaboration with local communities during the four-week fieldwork.

Based on on-site experiences, dedication and collaborations, students acquire insights on real local needs, which they transform into an architectural brief for the second semester building design. Students should note that the fieldwork might take us to remote world sites for a period of 4 weeks and all activities are self-funded by the students. 

In the second semester, the brief will be developed in detail as an architectural proposal, in collaboration and conversation with the network acquired during the fieldwork, and with in-house and international experts. Architectural design is coordinated as a holistic approach between artistic design and building technologies. The design becomes grounded on the experience of the fieldwork, grounded on having been there, and understanding the socio economic and cultural context first hand.

In the third semester, and evolution of the learning aims is unfolded through the site study and on-site fieldwork activities with increasing connection to practice and research. A more grounded theoretical position is required while more thorough strategies for architectural proposals are explored. During the third semester a theoretical assignment of 10 ECTS is developed concurrently with the semester task, 20 ECTS.

In the fourth semester  , the students develop their own thesis project based upon the methods and leaning outcomes from the previous semesters.

There will be a strong focus exploring the possibilities of architecture to have a positive impact, while developing representation methods personal to the students. We welcome all types of media and formats to communicate the projects in the clearest and most effective way possible. 

The year will be scheduled around weekly group design discussions, one-on-one tutorials, and frequent reviews, courses and seminars, often attended by external collaborators and researchers. An inclusive studio culture of openness and support for all, is key to the thriving cultural richness of the program. Daily presence is crucial to enhance a culture of collective knowledge, sharing, and cohesive collaboration between researchers, tutors and students at the school.
 

Courses are specific to each semester and take advantage of the large knowledge base in the Institute of Architecture and Space, and at the Royal Danish Academy and from our large international network. From courses in thermal comfort and studies, regenerative strategies, light, biogenic materials and innovative structures, to digital manufacturing and simulation tools, they support and enhance the research orientated design curriculum.

Furthermore, the large national and international network that this program provides, also translates into lectures, courses and workshops with industry, research and innovation. The series of lectures and seminars also explore artistic practice and theoretical seminars to foment critical thinking.

One of the distinguishing factors of this programme, are the yearly fieldwork destinations, a hands-on, substantial part of the curriculum. They allow for on-site testing of research questions and prototypes, specific local knowledge and collaboration, courses, visits and workshops, as well as a vital network that will inform the building or component design throughout the course.

During the fieldwork, students practice setting up scientific experiments in the field as well as recording, logging and analysing data. Data that forms the foundation of each student project in the second semester. Simultaneously the collected data is used to prepare of a scientific report. In this process students work closely with internal researchers to develop and assess a qualified hypothesis. 

Research and citation course
This workshop introduces students to academic rigour in finding information and citing information. A crucial aspect of academic work for a master programme.

GIS and Mapping methodologies
This workshop introduces methods and concepts in registration and representational techniques for mapping.  It will introduce students to underlying fundamentals around photography, digital registration GIS and mapping, including the understanding of historic impacts, the extraction of meaning from the study of the physical and social world, as well as being the generators for argumentation and proposition.  Students will work with photography, as well as new digital registration techniques of drone-based photogrammetry, to make exploratory mappings. 

Critical Thinking seminar 
An annual Critical Thinking seminar aims towards enriching the student’s theoretical knowledge and enhancing methodologies towards research and critical thinking. The seminar offers a continuous set of lectures, workshops and guidance from theorists that inform students work and support the development of competencies within the realm of the history of ideas. 

Digital fabrication and performance assessment
The course introduces students to core concepts and techniques for digital fabrication, performance-led design, sensing, and methods of experiment design and assessment.  There is an emphasis on design task, sensing methodology and visualization of data results. Through the strategic linking of making and testing of an experimental prototype, the workshop supports students in developing integrated understandings that connect making, purposeful performance and assessment.

Fieldwork methodologies

This course informs the students on how to act in the field, through social and anthropological methods based in co-creation, collaboration, conversation and empathetic positioning.

Regenerative design
In this course, students learn to use the latest sensor technology and adopt real-time reporting of meaningful data. Students are taught how to couple an architectural prototype with environmental sensors to generate ecosystem, climatic, material and human physiology data. Finally, students learn how to collect data in a scientific fashion and use them for future design developments. The course is directed by associate professor Emanuele Naboni. 

Environmental Simulation for Sustainable Design
Students develop the ability of simulating holistically ecosystems and the human data within their project design. Plugins to model LCA, energy, thermal, comfort, radiation and daylighting simulation tools are used to sustain creative design conceptions. The gaps in between the fields that need to be part of sustainable Design is addressed and bridged in the course.

Computational Fluid Dynamics
In this course students are taught the use and application of Computational Fluid Dynamics for indoor and outdoor environments; the course will teach students to model and analyse heat- and airflow in and around buildings. The use of computational analysis methods and state of the art software will be integrated in the student’s project work as a tool to inform the design. 

The course welcomes all cultures and languages, and it is taught in English.