Set in Wengen, a small, picturesque alpine village staged to develop into a major tourist destination, the studio will respond to a socio-economic scenario exaggerated by fluctuating seasonal cycles. Through a materialist approach to the formation of architectural matter, the studio emphasises an active negotiation of socio-political and environmental concerns as properties intrinsic to the material organisation of architecture. Through digital and analogue methods of computation that enable the simulation of a number of pragmatic and atmospheric phenomena, we will explore designed relationships between tectonics, typology, atmosphere and climate in order to develop architectural and geographic micro-climates.

Unit 6 started engaging questions about the politics of tourism, representation and simulation using Wengen as a case study. At the same time, students started designing a catalogue of atria, a systematic design approach in which investigating topological conditions where structure, light, space and circulation are intrinsic to each other. The term continued with the development of a massing catalogue in which students systematically investigated different topological conditions for spatial and programmatic organisation, while at the same time refining our attitude towards the specific context of the village. The work continued with research into tectonics and material project.