This is the last weekend (at least for now, and let's hope it stays that way) of forced confinement at home. Starting May 4, more freedoms will be available. However, let's return to the three free days ahead of us. The weather will not spoil us, with overcast skies and precipitation planned. This is just another reason to sit down in front of the computer and enroll in one of the online architecture courses!
A while back we wrote about the opportunity to study with professors from the world's top universities. Thanks to edX's offerings, the knowledge behind the walls of Harvard, Princeton, Zurich Polytechnic or Columbia is at your fingertips. Today we remind you of some of the already published courses and invite you to more. All you have to do is select a class, click and, for the next few weeks, soak up knowledge for two hours a day.
"Quality of life: livability in the cities of the future."
This topic never ceases to be relevant, mainly because we don't know what the future will bring. Seemingly a cliché, but in the age of pandemics and the climate crisis, how can we know what lies ahead? In this course you will learn, among other things, how to put together an urban plan, taking into account four main issues: energy, climate, ecology and mobility. Your professors will be Herard Schmitt, Jane Jacobs, Peter Edwards and Stephen Cairns from the Zurich Federal Polytechnic University.
"Cultural Heritage in an Age of Change".
How to take better care of our cultural heritage? How should a city develop while respecting its monuments? BBGK Architects gave an interesting example, saving the "Emilia" furniture pavilion in Warsaw. In five weeks you will learn different approaches to this topic using the example of Aachen. The lectures will be given by Professor Frank Lohrberg, Dr. Alexander Markschies, Professor Anke Naujokat and architect Bruno Schindler of Aachen University of Technology.
"The art of structural engineering: bridges"
Bridges from A to Z. To build the perfect bridge, three principles must be kept in mind: efficiency (calculating forces and stresses), economy (evaluating costs) and elegance (the bridge not as decoration, but a form that conforms to engineering principles). This is all based on the example of structures that have existed since the Industrial Revolution. Engineering as a creative discipline and art. The lectures are invited by Professor Maria Garlock of Princeton University.
"Architectural Imagination".
Architecture is not just building materials, construction, a few walls and a floor. How we build, how we design, says a lot about us. This course will show you how to look at architecture as part of culture. There are exercises planned! Taught by Harvard University lecturers: Lisa Haber-Thomson, K. Michael Hays, Antoine Picon and Erika Naginski.
"Cities of the Future"
The condition of today's cities and what needs to change for them to continue to serve their function and not just be a cluster of people, bricks, metal, wood and concrete are discussed by: Professor Herhard Schmitt of the Zurich Federal Polytechnic, lecturer Reinhard König and assistant professor Dirk Hebel and Bernhard Klein of the Zurich Polytechnic's Future Cities Laboratory.
"Four facts about Japan's modern architecture - technology".
Professor Kengo Kuma and Yusuke Obuchi of the University of Tokyo will introduce the topic of the role of technology in contemporary Japanese architecture. Together with other designers, they will visit the buildings they designed to discuss the ideas behind them.
