Design and Construction for Challenging Environments constitutes a particular
research by design effort in developing a comprehensive approach to perfor-
mance-oriented architecture. The Scarcity and Creativity studio course series
is a key example of integrated teaching and research at master-level educa-
tion in architecture. In this context the students design, develop and construct
projects that have to meet challenging requirements specific to the context of
the projects. The SCL33s studio undertook three projects at the Open City in
Ritoque Chile: [i] Walk the Line is a small temporal accommodation for visiting
scholars; [ii] Las Piedras del Cielo is a small cooking and dining facility; and [iii]
Hospederia de las Alas is a bird observation shelter. All projects are set within
the Pacific coastal dune landscape of the Open City in Ritoque and need to
respond to questions of landscape, scarcity, foundations in sand, considerable
wind loads and earth quake impact. These full-scale experimental projects
are context-specific and can be analyzed over time in relation to the impact of
context and provisions for use. The studio course will continue in spring 2013
with two projects for Nusfjord in Lofoten, Northern Norway (SCL68n) and
subsequently, in autumn 2013 and spring 2014, with the design and construction
of a community centre in Pumanque, Chile (SCL34s).
