Designing the City and Territory with Water and Ecosystems

6.00 credits

45.0 h

> Schedule

Teacher(s)

Savary Céline; Seewang Laila;

Language

French

Main themes

This learning unit examines urban and territorial relationships with water by focusing on research in urban planning and the environmental humanities and theories and applications of urban hydraulics. The learning unit equally addresses current and future challenges related to water, recognising that water management, flooding, pollution and scarcity are major societal concerns. Students will learn to use the necessary tools to sustainably integrate these issues into future architectural- or territorial design projects. In parallel, they will learn about the urban, environmental, and societal impacts of water management strategies. As such, engineering and architectural skills will be mobilized to develop both “hard” and “soft” design approaches across various scales.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
Discuss contemporary issues related to water in relation to the design of cities and territories Cross different scales of analysis through drawing (territorial, urban, architectural) Analyse and graphically represent urban, environmental, landscape, infrastructural, and climatic contexts, including the use of GIS tools. Integrate sustainable water management and flood-related challenges into projects through an analytical approach Understand the principles and theories of, and apply tools from hydrology (rain interpretation, rainfall-runoff transformation) and urban hydraulics to calculate water distribution and drainage networks (collectors and ditches), and to dimension infiltration and retention structures for sustainable rainwater management (swales, infiltration wells, cisterns, stormwater basins…) Provide, where necessary, specifications and analyses of specific hydrological and hydraulic studies (have a critical understanding of issues, assumptions, and results) Propose resilient architectural and constructional solutions regarding flood risk, considering environmental sensitivity, and watershed scale Evaluate water-related stresses on a structure Understand and interpret flood hazard and risk maps, identify aggravating factors, and recognize planning strategies that help mitigate flood risks Develop a personal value system and convictions to support an ethical approach to territorial design

Content

This course examines the relationships between water, urbanization, and territory through the combined perspectives of urbanism, urban hydrology, hydraulic engineering, architecture, and environmental humanities. It develops analytical and design approaches to sustainable water management and flood resilience across territorial, urban, and architectural scales, combining technical and socio-environmental strategies.

Teaching methods

The course comprises the following learning formats:

Lectures
Hydraulic engineering exercises (in and out of class time)
Reading and analysing texts
Group research
Group discussions
Student presentations
Writing exercises
Final exam

Evaluation methods

Individual report summarizing the seminar discussion (10%)
Individual presentation on research (20%)
Group research and analysis project (related to both calculations + analysis of hydraulic design and socio-environmental research] (35%)
Written exam on the basis of hydraulic engineering calculations and its applications (35%)

Faculty or entity

> LOCI

Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme

Sigle

Credits

Prerequisites

Learning outcomes

Bachelor in Engineering : Architecture

ARCH1BA

Master [120] in Architecture and Engineering

ARCH2M