Sustainability in Île De La Cité: The Le Corbusier & Paris Studio

Source: Hulton Archive / AP

Studio Instructor

Rene Tan and RT+Q Architects

1. Introduction

This is a design studio whose primary aim is to guide students towards creating beautiful designs for a better environment.

Like its companion-studios—the Palladio-Venice, Brunelleschi-Florence, the Bernini & Borromini-Rome studios—this design studio engages a city, revisits the past and applies relevant lessons to the present. Forthcoming studios include Gaudi-Barcelona, Wagner-Vienna, Niemeyer-Brasilia, etc.

The intent of this studio is to combine Design with History and Travel. The students will familiarize themselves with the works of Le Corbusier—arguably the most important architect of the 20th century–and then embark on a series of design exercises. The studio aims to study and apply lessons of Le Corbusier’s architecture to contemporary challenges and circumstance.

The study of the works of Le Corbusier—building, paintings, writing, sculpture–is essential to the education of students of design in general and to architects in particular. Students are exposed to the wide variety of Le Corbusier’s buildings in type, form, scale and geography.

The student must also address one of these 3 sustainability issues: 1) Water Management, 2) Heat & Temperature Controls, 3) Material Selection. Diagrams and any relevant drawings should be used to demonstrate how the respective issues are addressed and achieved. The design solution must demonstrate minimal impact on environment and energy conservation.

Source: PUB / Hyperfine Architecture/globalconstructionreview

This studio explores urban planning, conservation, landscape and reconstruction within then larger scenario of design, travel and fun.

Conceived as a ‘travelling studio’ that takes the classroom out of the school, actual travel to France is contingent upon covid restrictions. If travel is not possible, the studio will proceed with virtual-travel utilising online material and resources available.

2. Design Projects

More studio will visit, study and analyse Le Corbusier’s buildings—through seeing them first-hand in France and from other sources—before designing on a series of 2 interrelated design projects.

Students will research, explore, analyse and reinterpret the works and apply ‘discoveries’ to their design research projects:

1. an Extension to a Le Corbusier Building, and
2. the Restoration of Notre Dame de Paris

Underlying themes will include order, proportions, structure, preservation, urbanism and current events and concerns (weather, sustainability, covid etc).

3. Methods and Process

Research Methods includes 1) analysis, 2) model-building, and 3) tectonic and spatial constructs.
The studio will re-interpret the various issues—mass, plasticity, proportion, scale, structure, geometry, rhythm etc—and re-apply lessons learnt to designing tectonic and spatial constructs.
You are to explore space-defining and space-making constructs of various scales and sizes and various shapes and forms.
Form-finding may include transforming, deforming, twisting, warping, weaving, intersecting, mirroring, bending, multiplying, compressing, stretching, distorting etc. You should exploit tools available to you through current state-of-the-art computer software.

4. Research Site

For the Analysis portion, the research site will be primarily the city of Paris and its outskirts, and various other locations depending on where the building researched is located. For the Design Project 2 portion, the site will be within the vicinity of the island, Île De La Cité, Paris.

To enhance understanding of Design Project 2 site, students will analyse and build a site and context model. Scale and extent to be determined in due course.

5. Readings & Research

Readings will include some primary sources on Le Corbusier, the Venice Charter (1964) and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s “On Restoration”. If not entire volumes in the interest of time and the studio’s focus on design, selected chapters, or even paragraphs, will be assigned. Resources will include periodic lectures by the RT+Q team on Le Corbusier and related topics. It is mandatory for the students to visit Alliance Française Notre-Dame Exhibition (RE)BIRTH.

The studio will also watch travel videos and walking tour videos of Paris.
Details will follow.

6. Studio Expectations

These are finer-grained extension and elaboration of the Learning Objectives set for the studio:

• Research and analysis of design
• Interpretation of design
• Integration of Sustainability issues
• Application of design

The over-riding word is APPLICATION. In the 2 design projects, students are expected to demonstrate understanding of lessons learnt and their application to design work.

7. Grading Criteria & Weightage

For both design proj1 and design proj2, the following will be required:

• orthographic projections (plans, sections, elevations)
• 2d or 3d diagrams
• perspectives
• physical model of overall design (handmade or 3d printed)
• physical model of a construction detail (handmade or 3d printed)
• process methods
• 2-minute video describing project

*for design proj 2, there will also be a group site/context model into which everyone’s individual models will fit

Studio performance at Interim Review: 30%; Final Review: 60% Grading criteria: Concept & Presentation

attendance and participation		(10%)
research, analysis and application & design project 1		(30%)
design project 2		(60%)

At the Final Review, each project shall be described at minimum by this baseline set of deliverables:

For both design proj1 and design proj2, the following will be required:

• orthographic projections (plans, sections, elevations)
• 2d or 3d diagrams
• perspectives
• physical model of overall design (handmade or 3d printed)
• physical model of a construction detail (handmade or 3d printed)
• process methods
• 2-minute video describing project

*for design proj 2, there will also be a group site/context model into which everyone’s individual models will fit

The student’s design of the overall layout, drawing types, drawing styles, models, digital vs analog, stills vs moving images, graphics, fonts etc. are all part of the design module’s assignment.

Together with the verbal description of the project, the visuals argue for each student’s architectural research, process, and final proposed design research outcomes.

8. Schedule

9. France Trip

(The trip will occur during term break, subject to covid clearances)