Studio BA3 (Peris et Toral)

Summary

In this studio, students will establish the foundational comprehending needed to design collective housing typologies by understanding and applying Louis Kahn's principles of "served and servant spaces.

Content

HOUSING TYPOLOGY: SERVANT SERVED SPACES

SEMESTER I

The concepts of "servant space" and "served space," originally formulated by Louis I. Kahn, offer a valuable framework for interpreting and designing collective housing projects through their floor plans. This distinction isn't just about programmatic function; it primarily refers to a fundamental design strategy.

Servant spaces generally encompass all functional and utilitarian components of a home. This includes circulation areas, built-in installations, "wet" cores (such as bathrooms and kitchens), and storage areas for both maintenance tools and personal belongings. Conversely, served spaces are the remaining areas - often considered the "negative" space - designed for both interaction and privacy.

The structure of a floor plan can be defined by how servant spaces are strategically located, or by how served spaces are created through "emptying" processes. For instance, a kitchen might be contained entirely within a servant space, or it could open to expand the served space, making it more permeable. Whether an element is a service or a served element is not so much determined by its use as by its relative position and interaction within the overall layout.

EXERCISE 1

Our semester will start with a two-day visit to Zurich, focusing on recent collective and cooperative housing projects with innovative typologies.

For the initial exercise, students will individually analyse a provided reference typology through the lens of servant and served spaces. The primary objective is to study the relationship between these two complementary space types by examining their proportion, formalization, and arrangement within the floor plan. Beyond simply identifying these spaces, this exercise aims to foster a discourse that doesn't just categorize but rather observes how the relationship between servant and served spaces influences the way we inhabit our homes.

This exercise will conclude at the midterm, at which point students will submit a vertical sheet. This sheet should include a floor plan of both the typology and the complete building, relevant elevations or sections, and an axonometric drawing. The axonometric drawing should specifically explain the role of either the servant or served space in the overall structure of both the building and its typology. Though this information may originate from several documents, it must be composed as a single, cohesive drawing on the sheet.

EXERCISE 2

Before completing the first exercise, students will begin Exercise 2, a two-person group assignment. They'll design a building for three families, including shared spaces. While there's no specific physical site, the building will be defined by party walls with varying dimensions on each side of the plot, allowing it to connect with other groups' designs

The core idea here is to apply the servant and served space strategy analysed in the reference to this concrete case. The assignment also proposes shared housing to encourage exploration of the challenges and potential of communal living, including the complexities of space privacy. Finally, by adapting to existing party walls, students will understand that a building isn't an isolated entity; it's part of a larger whole that contributes to shape the city.

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For the final submission of this exercise, students will submit two vertical sheets. These sheets should include floor plans, elevations, sections, and an axonometric drawing, presented in a manner analogous to the previous exercise, where all documents are composed into a single, cohesive drawing.

Additionally, a 1:33 model will be required. All models from the studio will be presented together to form an aggregation, and by fitting their party walls together, we'll observe how the sum of individual decisions can collectively generate a city

SEMESTER II

The second semester's exercise will continue to be a partner assignment, with the same pairs as the first semester. The semester will kick off with a trip to Barcelona. Besides visiting innovative housing projects throughout the city, we'll also visit the Can Batllo site. This former textile factory in Barcelona's Sants neighbourhood is currently undergoing a transformation, turning the entire area into a superblock. This presents an opportunity to add new buildings to the perimeters and rehabilitate existing warehouses for housing.

The Superblock is an urban pacification strategy in Barcelona, designed to shift urban mobility priorities. It emphasizes creating green axes and squares by reorganizing traffic: distinguishing main city-crossing roads from discontinuous local streets reserved for residents. This reduction in vehicular priority on local streets allows for re-naturalization and increased biodiversity. It improves water infiltration and flood management by incorporating three layers of vegetation (trees, shrubs, and herbs). These layers absorb CO2 and other greenhouse gases, regulate the urban microclimate, and mitigate the urban heat island effect by reducing temperatures. This approach creates a 21st-century street concept: quieter, cooler, and with better air quality. Homes can then reconsider their external interaction, reducing reliance on mechanical air conditioning and encouraging passive strategies for energy efficiency and urban sustainability. The Superblock is a concept, a paradigm, but also the location of the project.

This programme will take an in-depth look at collective housing, focusing mainly on the aggregation of typologies to create shared spaces. We will understand the thermodynamic performance of these spaces, considering their energy efficiency and comfort. In addition, the programme will explore the structural logic of spatial systems, examining how elements are organised and interconnected. We will also consider the aesthetics of building systems, investigating how materials and construction techniques contribute to the overall visual experience. Finally, we will integrate the concepts of - served and serving spaces,- explored in the previous semester, to understand their functional relationships and how they enhance the way we live.

For the final submission, a 1:300 scale group model of the industrial complex will be required. You'll also need to generate at least four vertical documents: a Site Plan, Inhabited Plans, Elevations and Sections, and a Constructive Axonometric. Finally, a 1:33 scale model of the Project must be produced.

Keywords

Housing, Servant and Served Spaces Cohabitation, Atmosphere, Urban Scale, Human Scale, Inhabit, Intermediate Spaces, De-hierarchization, Inclusion, Shared Spaces, , Inhabited Façades, Poché, Matrix Rooms, Central Cores, Inhabited Boxes

Learning Prerequisites

Required courses

This course has no required prerequisites

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

Analyze architectural references to develop a personal design approach
Design typologies by learning how the relationship between "servant and served"
Design structural systems that define space, such as load-bearing wall systems, framed structures, and slab systems
Propose contemporary spatial mechanisms such as double circulations, diagonals, and interconnected rooms to achieve flexible, inclusive housing with an improved relationship between private and shared spaces.

Transversal skills

Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
Negotiate effectively within the group.
Evaluate one's own performance in the team, receive and respond appropriately to feedback.
Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.

Teaching methods

The project begins with students individually analysing an assigned reference project. These references will focus on different strategies concerning the relationship between "servant and served" spaces.

After the individual analysis, students will form groups of two. For the first-semester project, each group will apply a different strategy derived from their reference. This approach is designed to avoid competition and promote solidarity and collaboration among all students. The diversity of strategies seeks to enrich collective learning and strengthen teamwork.

During the second semester, students will continue to work in their established pairs on a collective housing project located in the Can Batlló factory area in Barcelona. To foster a collaborative environment and discourage direct competition, several different plots will be assigned across the student groups.

The weekly structure will be as follows: Mondays are dedicated to critique sessions. These will begin with a collective review involving the entire class or with individual desk crits with the instructors, depending on the project's requirements. Theory sessions and lectures will primarily take place on Tuesdays, supporting the ongoing project work.

The remaining time is for individual work and discussions at the table.

Proposed Study Trip: Zurich beginning of the SEMESTER I FS25

Train: CHF 80 (round trip with half-fare card)
Accommodation: 1 nights, estimated at CHF 100 per night (Total: CHF 100).
Meals: Estimated at CHF 10-20 per meal
Total Estimated Cost: The total expense is projected to be between 250 CHF, depending on final accommodation choices and personal spending habits.

Proposed Study Trip: Barcelona beginning of SEMESTER II SS26

Flight: Round-trip Geneva (GVA) to Barcelona (BCN) via EasyJet, approx. CHF 65.
Accommodation: 2 nights, estimated at CHF 100 per night (Total: CHF 200).
Meals: Estimated at CHF 10-20 per meal.
Total Estimated Cost: The total expense is projected to be between CHF 325 and CHF 550, depending on final accommodation choices and personal spending habits.

Estimated Personal Budget

Overall cost estimation for model making, drawing and production: approx. CHF 150 (depending on student)

Assessment methods

SEMESTER I

Over 14 weeks, Semester I will culminate in a mid-term jury, and your assessment will be based on two main components. First, for the Reference Analysis (Individual), each student will produce one vertical drawing. This drawing should include a plan illustrating the typology, a global plan, a section, and an axonometry, all scaled appropriately to your project. Second, for the Housing for Three Families (Group Project), students will work in groups of two to develop a housing project for three families. This will require two vertical drawings, scaled to explain the project, and one physical model at a scale of 1:33.

SEMESTER II

Semester II accounts for 50% of your grade and also runs for 14 weeks, culminating in both a mid-term jury and a final jury. For this semester, students will work in pairs on a collective housing project located at the Can Batlló factory in Barcelona. Each team will be required to submit one common site model (1:300 scale), one detailed model (1:33 scale), and a set of vertical plans.

GENERAL INVOLVEMENT

General Involvement comprises the remaining 10% weighting. This component is continuously monitored throughout the course and assesses your overall engagement, including your curiosity and research through complementary readings, your general attitude, active involvement in discussions and activities, and your progress throughout the semester.

Evaluation Criteria

Performance in this collective housing studio will be evaluated based on several key aspects. The drawing quality and readability will be assessed, with a focus on clarity, precision, and overall effectiveness in communicating design intent. Model craftsmanship is also crucial, judging the cleanliness and thoughtful use of materials in physical representations. Detail and structural understanding will be examined, specifically how well comprehension of structural and constructive systems is demonstrated, particularly concerning "servant and served" spaces. Beyond the technical, design acumen will be evaluated, which includes personal imagination, independent decision-making, and the logical application of project data, from initial typology analysis to the final design on the Barcelona site. Finally, oral presentations will be assessed for clarity, confidence, and overall effectiveness in communicating the work.

Supervision

Office hours	Yes
Assistants	Yes
Forum	No
Others

Resources

Bibliography

CONSTRUCTION

Deplazes, Andrea. Constructing Architecture: Materials, Processes, Structures: A Handbook. 2nd extended ed. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2008. ISBN 9783764386313
Schmitt, Heinrich; Heene, Andreas. Tratado de construccion. 8ª ed. rev. y ampl. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2001. ISBN 9788425222580
Otto, Frei, and Rasch, Bodo. Finding Form: Towards an Architecture of the Minimal. Stuttgart: Edition Axel Menges, 1995. ISBN 930698668
Fumado, Joan Luis; Paricio, Ignacio. El tendido de las instalaciones. Barcelona: Bisagra, 1999. ISBN 8492312580

THEORY AND HOUSING

Rybczynski, Witold. Home: A Short History of an Idea. New York: Viking, 1986. ISBN 0670811475
Abalos, Iñaki. La buena vida: visita guiada a las casas de la modernidad. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili, 2000. ISBN 8425218299
Hertzberger, Herman. Lessons for Students in Architecture. Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 1991. ISBN 978-94-6208-319-6
Hertzberger, Herman. Space and the Architect: Lessons in Architecture 2. Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 2000. ISBN 978-90-645-0733-5
Paricio, Ignacio, and Sust, Xavier. L'habitatge contemporani: programa i tecnologia. Barcelona: Institut de Tecnologia de la Construccio de Catalunya, 1998. ISBN 8478533966
Eleb, Monique. Cohabit. Reasons, places and forms of cohabitation. New Forms of Living. Revista T18, 33/34, 2020. ISSN 2014-214511
Sabater, TXATXO, and Guasch, Ricardo. Albergue-sharing-cohabitacion-cohousing-coliving: Nuevos descriptores, nuevos operadores proyectuales - Ampliacion operadores, su extension. New Forms of Living. Revista T18, 33/34, 2020. ISSN 2014-214511
Lacaton, Anne, Vassal, Jean-Philippe, and Druot, Frederic. Plus: La vivienda colectiva. Territorio de excepcion. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2007. ISBN 9788425221637

SUSTAINABILITY

Prieto, Eduardo. Historia medioambiental de la arquitectura. Madrid: Ediciones Catedra, 2019. ISBN 9788437640686
Heywood, Huw. 101 reglas basicas para una arquitectura de bajo consumo energetico. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2015. ISBN 9788425228452
Heywood, Huw. 101 reglas basicas para edificios y ciudades sostenibles. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 2017. ISBN 9788425229930

Ressources en bibliothèque

Find the references at the Library

Moodle Link

https://go.epfl.ch/AR-201_bc

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