Disciplinary Encounters: Merging Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape In ‘Research by Design’ Processes

As its name suggests, the studio entitled ‘Growth 2.0’ investigates transformative specifics of urbanity, following the concept of growth as an inherent and vital feature of every city. Its various possibilities in terms of size, volume and density, are being explored not only through the built, but also through the unbuilt as equally valuable resource for the city, thus introducing the theme of de-growth as part of the conceptual understanding of growth. This design studio was established with the intention to connect the disciplines of architecture and urbanism in a novel design approach that resonates the current and growing complexity in the urban environment. It implies a strategy of so-called architectural-urbanism that develops different tools to construct modern urban narratives through studio-projects operating between different scales. Additionally, landscape is identified as a significant part in the planning and design processes, embedded in territorial, urban and architectural domain, addressing challenges of different scales: from climate change and environmental hazards, through blue infrastructure and soil reclamation, to the performative potentials of urban gardens and greenery. Such a design approach confirms Vitorio Gregotti’s arguments in The Form of the Territory (1981) for expanding the role of the architect based on three points: 1) ‘the object of architecture is no longer only identified with buildings’, 2) the architect is not solely ‘a creator of forms’, and 3) the need to acknowledge landscape construction within the competences specific to the architect.