The central task of the BauKultur Steiermark asso- ciation is communicating Baukultur, or building culture, relevant topics and bringing the significance of a sustainable and high-quality designed environment closer to a young audience. In order to reinforce the previous activities and efforts, and at the same time to place them on a broader base, the Institute of Design and Building Typology at TU Graz has developed several various pedagogical exercises on behalf of the association. These are based on experiences with young students of architecture and have been adapted for schoolchildren of different ages. The focus of this ongoing cooperation is the conscious perception of spatial and design conditions and interrelations, as well as their effects on the built environment. The conveyed message, is that the places where we move and which represent our immediate living environ- ment are neither a matter of course nor a given fact, but the result of a cultural and political situation in our society. The aim of this cooperation is to covey this message through perception and observation, and to conclude that all people are responsible for their built environment.
The easiest way to explain this is through a “photogra- phy” exercise, in which four thematically selected pic- tures of GerambRose award winners are reproduced and analyzed by schoolchildren. To do this, they use their own camera or mobile phone and a built object in their immediate living environment, that they select themselves. The first picture is about the inser- tion or incorporation into the respective context, and thus about its compatibility with the environment. The second image focuses on the entrance to the space and provides information about orientation and mean- ing. In the third image, the spatially most exciting area, is to be shown and its selection justified. Finally, in the fourth image, looking outside becomes a method to illustrate the relationship between interior and exterior space. In the course of this exercise, the schoolchildren are confronted with the specific basic concepts that are necessary to talk about in architecture. The exercises themselves—photography, color, collage and materi- al—not only refines their own perception, but also serve as an impetus for discussion in the community of schoolchildren, both among themselves and with their teachers.
Project duration:
2020 ongoing
Funding:
Verein BauKultur Steiermark
State Government of Styria, Department A16
Project team:
Institute of Design and Building Typology: Hans Gangoly (Project leader), Eva Sollgruber, Tobias Gruber, Alexander Barina, Emilian Hinteregger, Georg Dornhofer, Lukas Boß, Juliane Geldner, Beatrice Koch, Dina Sauer, Theresa Schleinitz, Maximilian Schlichtinger, Fabian Steinberger, Lea Zinnbauer
Project partners:
Schools throughout Styria