Topic outline

  • Introduction

    Urban Studies and Planning Capstone Course, Aalto University, autumn 2021

    The course is ongoing nicely! 

    Periods I-II 14/9 – 7/12/2021, contact teaching on Tuesdays 9:15-13

    The speciality of USP Capstone course is to support students’ self-motivation in defining their actual tasks. Students can outline their specific outcomes individually. This self-choice is the so-called capstone feature in this final stage course. At the beginning of the assignments, it is important to ask students for a clear description of exactly what they intend to do to make instruction and assessment feasible.

    This competition is controversial both architecturally and politically and exemplifies today’s challenges in revitalising urban development and the architecture of public spaces. 

    USP’s architecture students may pursue urban design or building design work and the students from USP’s non-architecture fields can concentrate on the research topics of their own disciplines. Students from the programme of architecture will work in the scale they choose. For master students in landscape architecture, the course can be recorded as a studio course MAR-E1031 Monialainen projekti 10-15 cr, where landscape architecture students participate in (studio)courses in other subjects and act as if they were landscape architecture consultants.

    The speciality of USP Capstone course is to support students’ self motivation in defining their actual tasks.  Students can define their specific outcomes individually. This self-choice is the so-called capstone feature in this final stage course. 

    The course is a collaboration with Tongji University in Shanghai.



    Site: Makasiiniranta (South Port / South Harbour), Helsinki

    The City of Helsinki has just launched a competition for investors and their design teams for the area: https://makasiiniranta.hel.fi. The ongoing competition for this waterfront area constitutes the background for the course and we have the possibility to produce our views on the production and future of this prominent site.

    This competition is controversial both architecturally and politically and exemplifies today’s challenges in revitalising urban development and the architecture of public spaces. 

    Themes shared with Tongji university

    Hybrid building, shared space, cross-professional and cross-scale development, immersion to markets and politics, global context; strategic, business and brand thinking

    Special architectural themes

    urban collage, ontography, metaphorism and metaxology (Aalto) in progressive architecture.

    Teachers

    Prof. Antti Ahlava, Aalto University: architecture, urban design, mix-programming, adaptive reuse (antti.ahlava@aalto.fi, 050 324 1179)

    Prof. Sami Moisio, Helsinki University: social sciences, the management of conflicts, the interests of project participants / stakeholders, the constitution of places and spaces (political economy), spatial transformation

    Arch. Meri Wiikinkoski, Nordland Arkitekter

    Arch. Jarmo Suominen, Spacent

    Arch. Jyri Eskola, PES Architects

    Designer Kivi Sotamaa, Ateljé Sotamaa

    Please send mail, if you have questions, to antti.ahlava@aalto.fi