CALL FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ULAB+ 2013/14

Introduction

This call is for two students to participate over the next year (August 2013 to July 2014) in the ULab+ International network project. The participation will require a commitment to give their time to assisting in the organisation and running of events, compilation of research data, preparation of presentations and participation in local and overseas workshops over the next year.

Information on the Urban Lab+ : International Network of Urban Laboratories

Main Objectives:

•      promoting and enhancing the quality of teaching and research in European Higher Education Institutions (EHEI) and its international partners through cooperation of urban laboratories,

•      “internationalizing“ the work of the participating urban laboratories to improve their professional competences to facilitate Global Education and prepare the students for their future work in today’s rapidly globalising world.

Supplementary Objectives:

•      strengthening of relationships between EHEI and partners in the “Global South”,

•      production of studies of scientific merit as well as practical guidelines for curriculum design,

•      joint development of research, educational ideas, and hands-on activities in a thematic area that is widely considered a key challenge for contemporary urban governance and development: the issue of urban inclusion and exclusion.

Overall ULab+ Project Outcomes

To strengthen the academic network on the approaches of Global Learning in the built environment disciplines:

•      for participants of the develop world countries to establish sustainable future educational offers in European Higher Education Institutions,

•      in the exchange with the Global South partners in joint workshops extend the knowledge as well as understand together complex international urban issues, particular at the level of educational input,

•      implementation of new joint courses in existing urban Master programs and facilitating Master thesis work within the network.

The Erasmus Mundus project: “Urban Lab+ : International Network of Urban Laboratories” project is offering 2 places for post grad students in the School of Architecture & Planning to participate in this international collaboration on urban laboratories within the context of (In)formal Cities: Urban Inclusion and Exclusion.

Students will be expected to:

1.     work on related issues in their academic work/ dissertation;

2.     to make process and outcomes presentations at ULAB+ conferences in Johannesburg in 2013 and Europe in 2014 and 2015;

3.     to assist in the organisation and running of the local workshop in November 2013; and

4.     participate in the writing of journal articles / publications on the educational aspects of city studio methods.

Application Criteria

-       Motivation ( 1 A4 page or 500 words)

-       CV, max 2 pages

-       Certified copy of ID, passport, study permit (if applicable)

-       Portfolio: In/formal Cities (projects, research plan, publications)

-       2 references

-        

Email applications to : neil.klug@wits.ac.za or solam.mkhabela@wits.ac.za

South African applicants must have a passport with at least 2 blank pages, valid for 3 months after any trip in 2014.

Non South Africans must have a passport and SA study permit, valid for 3 months after any trip in 2014.

All registered students from Honours year up to PHD in the School of Architecture & Planning are eligible to apply. Participation in 2013 and 2014 is required.

ULAB+ is a CUBES project.

Deadline for submission of applications is extended to: 19 September 2013

imagining comments

tash_ font use arial
oxford street et al - use plans + a local street

oxford street cannot be the entire length of the spine

the precedent, are these streets stitched together?  demonstrate where the precedent would be applicable

quote + reference project in paris 

demonstrate where go vertical sections are taken from

sections are very rich that they deserve more articulation of the introduction of infrastructure -- think of having more pages exhibiting this

drawings are very beautiful but need another hue imposed on them like chickens, goats + otherness -- where fat men play with their garden hoses for example, with the introduction of colour for greater depth

the turf road slide, is that one way, cos we don't drive on the right hand side - demonstrate this on plan
vision needs to be seamless as one thing that is continuous + should be articulated on plan with all the layers imposed on it

lenhle_ arial font

make the vision + strategies graphic, like densities etc
spaces for intervention feels like you are making a park, greening the landscape
if this is the case then go all the way to the inner city
what is the orange line?  articulate this with a legend
you draw the train tracks, how about a station where the road + the track intersect?  make this a tod node, which would service the industrial site and assist in kickstarting the park, mine dump area
where some structures - enable one to stand and look out of windows to see the gold dust clear - are introduced
too much detail on the south, how about the city? north?  include legends and tone down | remove the casino bit

charnelle_ font use arial

nodes drawing need a legend
what densities are you considering?  be explicit + demonstrate this thru sections and other means
density volumes need otherness like birds etc
builtform along the corridor needs legend + text
proposed sections are strong, but buildings need bolder articulation with interior activity etc, where yellow swallows fly down from the sun
each section needs its own page with its own narrative, textually
pedestrian route should be anchored, as in start + stop with discernible weights
read what makes st. mark's place a great place on
http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=634&type_id=28 
and also what alan b jacobs describes a great street
pockets of public space theme needs to be explicit
kudos for the volumetric drawings

vanessa_ verdana font, use arial

reference drawings
vision image is good but it has serious densities which are needed
we don't need the vision image, just show the carlton centre as a volume to complete the graphic
drawing needs colour
the urban agriculture theme should be the the entire spine
the green theme must also be explored in plan + section
project needs a plan to articulate all emcompassing narrative
increased mixed use is a pie in the sky, you'd never get those building heights . . .
building is too corporate, make structures south of the m2 a max of 5 storeys unless its a beacon like a viewing tower or something
are the agricultural beds a modular?  this should occupy the entire spine on the ground floor and roofscape

tjaka_  font looks good

maps always need a legend
restrict presentation to 2 columns as a format
fantastic oral narrative which needs to be illustrated with drawings and desire renderings -- use your own photographs then layer them with your personal script
sections need to be longer, showing more of the streetscape, proportion needs work
objectives need to be illustrated
zus project illustration has to adapted to south of johannesburg

urban scans_corridor cultures_1 collecting_2 scanning_3 imagining

general

project 3 will ‘scan’ an area of 500 by 5000 meters along a corridor from johannesburg cbd to and through rosettenville along von wielligh street, rosettenville road, turf road to main street. you will identify physical, cultural, social, historical and economical layers and variables that make up the realities of each specific piece of urban fabric and reconstruct those narratives.

photographic recordings and other mapping techniques will serve to represent this complex phase together with a proposed research matrix, two existing udf’s for the area and a transport plan in the making. unstructured interviews will be part of the scanning process ‘to expose the researcher to unanticipated themes and to help him or her to develop a better understanding of the interviewees’ social reality from the interviewees’ perspectives.’

(unstructured interviews by yan zhang and barbara m. wildemuth, https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~yanz/unstructured_interviews.pdf)

based on the specific findings, a vision for the selected areas will lead to the next project, an urban design framework for greater rosettenville with emphasis on north south as well as east west connections.

rosettenville

rosettenville/ la rochelle is a suburban area at the southern edge of johannesburg’s mining belt. formerly known as destination for mainly white portuguese speaking immigrants, it has undergone substantial demographic, cultural and economic change since the official fall of the apartheid system. although located in close proximity to the joburg’s cbd, a race course and one of the most attractive water bodies of the greater area, rosettenville seems somehow cut off the metropolitan development. the school of architecture & planning has embarked on a 2 year city studio in and around rosettenville, under the auspices of cubes. 

process

we will look carefully at what is there, now, then ask for reasons why? the task is to detect multiple causes for and behind the current status quo to then envision and implement possible future change: identify actors and agents, rules and (ir)regulations, borders and boundaries, programmes and people, control and exclusion, urban and economic morphologies, landscapes and languages, green space and toxic environments. the project looks at rosettenville/ la rochelle in context rather than an isolated entity and uses the corridor as exiting section from the cbd to the south of johannesburg. the idea is to construct an intellectual urban argument on basis of rigorous visual analysis.

production

1 collecting

base maps:

plan, sections, elevation scale 1: 1000 – 100, print out scale to be confirmed with lecturer

axonometry of selected areas

photographic storyboard and drawings, see template samples:

edge conditions, catalogue

interviews:

5 people per student

work produced in section 1 is collaborative and should be accessible by for work in section 2.

2 scanning

visual matrix, mixed media, follow research matrix:

a -historical development

b- urban + economic morphologies

c- 24/7: timetable + programmes

d- borders, boundaries + movement

e- landscapes, languages + typologies

work produced in section 2 is individual yet complementary to each other re: a full scan of the corridor. each student is responsible for scanning the full lengths of 5km through one theme.

3 imagining

- develop visions for the corridor that responds to the idea of an inclusive city and successfully merges formal and informal components.

- envision mixed-use, mixed-income, non gated (sub)urban neighborhoods to live, play and work with pedestrian access and green spaces in the given context

- consider the development of a public space system that is based on the use of public transport for a maximum variety of city users.

- integrate sustainable urban elements, consider the future of the mine land

- critique the existing udf documents through your vision

- simply ask: what if…

visions have to be communicated in a graphic format (visual narrative).

section 3 is an introduction to the next project.

evaluation

the submissions will be marked as follows:

content  40% 

idea and concept for analysis

scales and layers covered, understanding of subject matter

originality, innovation and relevance of scenarios for vision

techniques  40% 

research, method, process and presentation

presentation  30% 

clarity and quality of the presentation

aesthetics and quality of visuals

language

completeness

weighting

the project is worth 25% of the year mark

sampling, scanning: 20%

imagining: 5%