ARCT20560 UCD Architecture International Summer School

Academic Year 2018/2019

The UCD Architecture International Summer School takes place over a four-week period in June and focuses on the rich culture of Dublin City including Dublin Port. Students will identify specific conditions in the landscape that interest them and map/depict these through their chosen media. A number of distinct workshops and seminars will run over the course of the Programme offered by expert practitioners and research active faculty.

Along with boat tours, site visits, film screenings and special events, the programme will combine shared studio activity with more specifically focused workshops, seminars and lectures. Previous workshops have included sketching and drawing in the field, film-making, photography and the translation of space to image, use of pinhole cameras, virtual reality and soundscapes. Students will be given unique access to leaders in the cultural and creative sectors, meeting and working with significant practitioners, architects, artists, curators and critical thinkers. High profile visiting speakers will also contribute to the programme.

From fieldwork and analysis, the focus in the second part of the Summer School will shift to proposing and designing. Workshops and reviews will develop capacities, again using a wide range of media and techniques. The design studios in the UCD School of Architecture, Planning & Environmental Policy and designated space in Dublin Port Company will provide an ideal base for engaging with the city. Working in both single-discipline and interdisciplinary groups while located in one of the most vibrant, developing and mutable parts of Dublin, participants will observe the complex web of cultural, social and economic factors currently shap-ing city and port spaces across the world.

The programme will unfold over four weeks in June, moving from an early research and review stage; through recording and making in studio and on site; finally bringing ideas to fruition for dissemination though presentation and public exhibition. The Summer School will allow students to pursue specific themes, each aimed at developing specific disciplinary knowledge, skills and abilities. On completion of the summer school, the techniques and research that students will be exposed to will be transferrable and applicable to traditional design processes, and the links to spatial and urban considerations made manifest.