Undergraduate Course: Culture and Performance in the History of Construction. (ARCH10023)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The course reviews the design strategies, structural performance and technology of historic construction systems towards the understanding of the culture of building, its agents and its evolution. Lectures are organised along design themes and approaches, which are then practised in workshops that aim to develop surveying and traditional construction skills. Ultimately, this alternative reading of historic architectural forms provides precedents from past achievements and failures in structural engineering. |
| Course description |
The Course reviews the design strategies, structural performance and technology of historic construction systems towards the understanding of the culture of building, its agents and its evolution. Lectures are organised along design themes and approaches, which are then practised in workshops that aim to develop surveying and traditional construction skills. Ultimately, this alternative reading of historic architectural forms provides precedents from past achievements and failures in structural engineering.
1. The idea of building (the prehistoric builder, vernacular construction)
2. Hiding the fabric (Roman, baroque, neoclassicism)
3. Prominence of the fabric (tectonics, early modernism, brickwork, artificial ruins)
4. Building fabric as a sculpture (the classic world, neoclassicism)
5. Optimisation and fire-proof long spans (Roman, Gothic, early shells)
6. Learning from ruins (Romanesque, late Roman)
7. Transmission of knowledge (empirical rules, scientific approach, building
regulations)
8. Processes of assembly (timber and steel structures, Renaissance, neoclassicism)
9. Lessons from disasters (Beauvais, WTC, Ronan Point, Royal Mile, London Fire)
10. Technology transfer (industrialisation, Gothic to Greece and the Levant, colonies)
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Similar to normal UoE pre-requisites; in most cases for Honours courses we would put a general pre-requisite e.g. For HoA honours student normally have at least 3 HoA courses at grade B or above. This allows the CHSS visiting student office to assess applications from visiting students. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
98 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course is assessed 100% by coursework, according to the following weighting for the Learning Outcomes:
LO1 20%
LO2 30%
LO3 30%
LO4 20%
|
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand how historic and often unfamiliar structural schemes became possible as a condition of materials procurement, technical context, design practices and the gradual development of structural engineering theory and its principles
- Analyse historic structural and constructional strategies as a different range of engineering materials and components by surveying a building type and appraising the construction processes, design approach and use of materials
- Critically appraise the structural performance or construction process of a historic building type by creating a model and devising appropriate simulation and testing techniques.
- Reflect on the performance of the model and critically appraise the design and construction of historic building type in a clear and analytical report
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Reading List
¿ Acland, J. H. (1972). Medieval structure: the gothic vault. Univ. of Toronto Press, Toronto.
¿ Addis, B (2010). 3,000 Years of Design, Engineering and Construction. Phaidon
¿ Croci, G. (2001) Conservation and Structural restoration of architectural heritage. WIT
¿ Heyman, J. (1998). The stone skeleton.
¿ Institution of Structural Engineers (1991). Guide to surveys and inspections of buildings and similar structures
¿ Mainstone, R. J. (1998). Developments in structural form. Architectural Press.
¿ Nicholson, Peter (1828). A Popular and Practical Treatise on Masonry and Stone-cutting (1st ed.). London: Thomas Hurst.
¿ Ousterhout, R. (2008). Master Builders of Byzantium. 2nd edition, University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications
¿ Theodossopoulos, D. (2012). Structural design in building conservation. Routledge
¿ Yeomans, DT 1999. The development of timber as a structural material. Ashgate/ Variorum
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Construction history, conservation, construction, masonry, structural form |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Dimitrios Theodossopoulos
Tel: (0131 6)50 2300
Email: d.theodossopoulos@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lyndsay Hopes
Tel: (0131 6)51 5735
Email: Lyndsay.Hopes@ed.ac.uk |
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