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ARCT10170

Academic Year 2024/2025

Introduction to Regenerative Practice (ARCT10170)

Subject:
Architecture
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Architecture, Plan & Env Pol
Level:
1 (Introductory)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Ms Orla Murphy
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module introduces students to contemporary and future practice of architecture: what architects do. Content is framed from the scale of the planet and society, to the scale of the human and more than human, with an emphasis on changing skills, tools and knowledge architects need to develop in response to the climate emergency: shifting from extractive to regenerative practice. Three key areas are introduced as foundations to be built on and practiced: the profession of architecture, ethics and regulation; climate literacy for the design of the built environment; critical thinking and informed design process as it relates to the built environment.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:

1: Report on the role, responsibilities and duties of an architect as an ethical professional in contemporary and future society;
2: Critically engage with content about climate literacy related to the built environment, including planetary resources, carbon, adaptation and mitigation, whole of life design.
3: Appraise a number of basic characteristics of buildings and places using an evidence-based approach;
4: Critically reflect on the outcomes of key tasks undertaken over the course of the module, in a peer learning environment.

Indicative Module Content:

Over the course of the module students will:

Learn about the changing social, economic, political and ethical contexts for architecture practice;

Be introduced to key concepts related to the design and care of the built environment in the context of emerging low carbon transition, including how it relates to infrastructure, energy, materials, adaptation, performance, passive strategies, health and wellbeing, people and communities.

Carry out a series of short tasks informed by the lecture content and build critical reflection skills in relation to them.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

22

Specified Learning Activities

40

Autonomous Student Learning

40

Total

102


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module is mainly delivered through weekly in-person lectures and project work. Students carry out short tasks which form the basis of two graded assignments where students critically report and critically reflect upon the outcome of the tasks and what they have learned. Short tasks are shared in Miro and discussed in subsequent lectures, facilitating reflection and learning individually and as peers. Use of Artificial Intelligence tools is not permitted in assignments for this module.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Reflective Assignment: Students are asked to critically reflect upon a selection of the first 4 tasks completed between Weeks 1 and 4 appending the output of the tasks. Week 6 Graded No
50
No
Reflective Assignment: Students are asked to reflect upon a selection of the second 4 tasks they have completed between Week 7 and 10, appending the outcome of these tasks and summary conclusion. Week 14 Graded No
50
No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be offered to students collectively in a timely manner. Individual feedback will be offered to students on request.

Sofie Pelsmakers et al (2022) Designing for the Climate Emergency. RIBA

Sofie Pelsmakers (2015) The Environmental Design Pocketbook. RIBA

Jason Hickel (2021) Less is more: How degrowth will save the world. Random House

Ronald Rovers. (2019) People vs resources: restoring a world out of balance. Eburon

Kiel Moe. (2020) Unless. Actar

31N4E (2023) How Not to Demolish a Building. Ruby Press

Material Cultures (2022) Material Reform: Building for a Post-Carbon Future. Mack Books

David Benjamin (2017) Embodied Energy and Design. Lars Muller

Duncan Baker-Brown (2024) The Re-Use Atlas: A designers guide towards the circular economy. RIBA 2nd Edition

Gordon Cullen (1961) The Concise Townscape. The Architectural Press

Jane Jacobs (1992) The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage

Kevin Lynch (1960) The Image of the City. MIT Press

Stewart Brand (1994) How Buildings Learn. Viking

Andreas Malm (2016) Fossil Capital. Verso

Naomi Klein (2015) This changes everything. Penguin

Thomas Doring et al. The Limits to Growth 50 Years Ago and Today. Inter economics, 05/2022, Volume 57, Issue 3 2022

Kate Raworth (2017) Doughnut Economics. Penguin

Donella H Meadows (2008) Thinking in Systems. Chelsea Green.

Daniel A. Barber (2020) Modern Architecture and Climate: Design before Air Conditioning. Princeton University Press

Lydia Kallipoliti (2024) Histories of Ecological Design. Actar, New York

Victor Papanek (1985) Design for the Real World. Thames & Hudson, London

Eibhlín Ní Chathasaigh et al (2023) Soil Lab. Actar

Timothy Morton (2018) All Art is Ecological. Penguin, London.

Stefano Mancuso (2021) The Nation of Plants. Profile, London

Philipp Misselwitz Alan Organschi (2024) Towards a Re-Entanglement Charter. Jovis, Berlin

Healthy Materials Lab online resources and tools are great - https://healthymaterialslab.org/tool-guides

RIAI Architects Code of Conduct: https://www.riai.ie/the-riai/architects-code-of-conduct

El Croquis 219 IBAVI 2019-2023

Technical Guidance Document Part L: Conservation of Fuel and Energy in Buildings
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/d82ea-technical-guidance-document-l-conservation-of-fuel-and-energy-dwellings/

Irish Green Building Council (2020) Whole of Life Carbon Road Map:
https://www.igbc.ie/building-a-zero-carbon-ireland/

Michael Pike (2024) How We Build Now. Type.ie
https://www.type.ie/blog/how-we-build-now

Research by Anupama Kundoo – https://anupamakundoo.com/portfolio-standard/research/

Floating University research and resources - https://floating-berlin.org/

Healthy Materials Lab - https://healthymaterialslab.org/

New European Bauhaus Compass https://new-european-bauhaus.europa.eu/get-involved/use-compass_en

Town Centre First Policy https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/473d3-town-centre-first-policy/

The Sustainable Development Guidelines. Government of Ireland https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/aaea6-sustainable-residential-development-and-compact-settlements-guidelines-for-planning-authorities/

Places for People, National Policy on Architecture https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/f9879-places-for-people-national-policy-on-architecture/

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Wed 09:00 - 10:50