Abstract:

The social distancing and the locking down of the university campus during the critical phase of the pandemic crisis required new methods of remote teaching: the first experience for many teachers and for almost all students which imposed, in a very short time, the need to revise the teaching methods without compromising the expected educational objectives, acquisition of skills and assimilation of skills suitable for university teaching in Architecture.

This paper proposes the results of the didactic experimentation of the Technological Design Laboratories of the DADI of the University of Campania "L. Vanvitelli" oriented to the design of "Flick house": residential units for holidays. The students involved in the didactic experimentation attended the second year of the Master's degree course in Architecture. From a typological point of view, they had to design a residence for 4 people, with swimming pool and outdoor space equipped with the Light Steel Framing (LSF) construction system. Compactness, flexibility, good energy performance and environmental integration were the key words of the design concepts. The design concept was born from the collaboration and successful synergy with an Italian company, operating in the light prefabrication construction sector. Starting from assigned planovolumetric layouts, the students developed design solutions consistent with the approach of environmentally conscious behaviour, controlling the project from a bioclimatic point of view and guaranteeing adequate energy performance and optimal comfort conditions of the indoor and outdoor space through the use of specific software, such as: Pilkington Spectrum, for the analysis and calculation of the energy performance of transparent surfaces; Daylighting Visualizer-Velux, for the analysis of natural light according to regulatory requirements for indoor environments; PAN 7.1-ANIT, for the thermo-hygrometric analysis of the opaque envelope, as well as software for the design modelling and rendering of residential units.

Through the MS Teams digital platform, it has been possible to make theoretical lessons and carry out collective design editing, generating profitable moments of participation and interaction with the students.

Despite the limitations of the computer tool, set up for this purpose by the University in just one week, this new teaching mode has produced excellent final results, obtaining from each individual student a full mastery of technical knowledge on various construction, environmental and energy aspects. The research and awareness on the use of eco-compatible materials, together with the right technical skills, has supported the learning of parameters and legal requirements compliant with the concretization of studies with a high technological and sustainable character. The method used has allowed the delivery of theoretical lessons in a complete and interactive way and has provided support and cooperation between teachers and students and students among themselves.

Keywords:

Laboratory, new approach, LSF, sustainability, software, sustainable materials, didactic research.