Civic Space After Nature

The studio explores architecture inspired by ideas of environmental enmeshment. This is investigated through novel ecological aesthetics, weathering and permissible degradation of building elements; the cohabitation of space by both human and non-human agents; and parts focused tectonics that enable regenerative building structures facilitated by circular materials. Students design a new form of civic space that operates in the territory between a building and a park in Bologna, Italy inspired by the city’s porticos. These projects address both the temperate needs of urban inhabitants based upon climate trajectories and the ontological challenges brought forth by the collapsing of the cultural concept of ‘nature’ through the environmental crisis.