Architecture and Urban Planning
- Duration: 3 years
- Admission: academic qualifications and interview
- Coordinator: prof. Theo Zaffagnini
- Head office: international agreement with Università di Ferrara and Polis University di Tirana (Albania)
- Internationalisation: teaching agreement with Slovak University of Technology / Institute of Management, Bratislava (SLK), University of Minho, Guimaraes (POR).
- Associate Industrial Partner: Focchi SpA, Poggio Torriana (RN)
- Department: Architettura DA
- Study abroad: 3 to 6 months in the three-year period
Educational purpose:
The Course aims to explore "cross-disciplinary" fields of research through the research work of doctoral students - bringing them face to face with the individualities of the Academic Board, with market and research institutions and offering itself as an effective guide to the research that will be developed in the international arena.
The aim is to acquire knowledge about both disciplinary and interdisciplinary theories, methods and tools in the field of contemporary architectural and urban planning research and design. This through both the increase of networking skills and the development of innovative theories and relations with the productive and social world.
The methodological orientation of research and teaching is multidisciplinary and is based on the need to train scholars with a strong specialization, but also capable of fully understanding and interacting with different disciplinary realities as well as aware that the project at the urban scale connotes itself as a complex procedure in continuous becoming. Rooted in this perspective is the course's need to also increase skills precisely in the management of the complexities (legal, contractual, etc.) derived from research relationships - by and for - Public Administrations and knowledge of the prevailing European policies on environmental sustainability. About the specific doctoral teaching activities of the international programme - focused on the above mentioned purposes - these have been set and grouped within three Syllables titled:
1) Architectural Research Methods
2) Multidisciplinary approach to Urban Planning
3) Research Theories and Legal Sustainable Planning Policies.
- Curricula:
- Architecture
- Urban planning
Architecture Curriculum
The Curriculum aim is to identify and explore strategies capable of creating the necessary synergies between design requirements, processes and production needs, ranging from technologies based on the use of the most innovative materials, to industrial design up to applications in the restoration and redevelopment of existing buildings; all according to logics of maximum environmental sustainability with particular attention to the issues of Green policies (design and supply chain of the construction sector), Digital Innovation, and energy efficiency of both buildings, components and industrial production cycles.
Urban Planning Curriculum
The issues of "public space" are addressed with reference to the evolution and changes in the socio-economic and environmental context. Here the role of the discipline as a tool for critiquing, reading and designing urban and territorial transformations in the perspective of sustainable development will be explored in depth, with an interdisciplinary approach oriented towards international comparison. The methodological perspective of research and teaching is multidisciplinary and is based on the objective of training scholars with a strong specialization, but able to understand and interact with the different components of multidisciplinarity, and of urban design understood as a complex procedure.
Educational plan:
At the beginning of each year, the Doctoral student presents to the Academic Board an individual scientific-teaching plan related to the training and research activities planned for that year, courses to be followed and to be chosen, among those activated specifically for the Doctoral course, among those activated at the Departments of the University of Ferrara, of the agreed partners or elsewhere (Summer Schools, Workshops, etc.).
The three-year course requires the achievement of 180 total training credits, the conduct of research abroad for an indicative period of 3 - 6 months outside the Partner sites, a minimum number of publications produced by PhD students in the three-year period and an English language certification (level C1 ESOL) by the beginning of the third year.
The Doctoral Program is divided into three academic years as follows:
Year I: consists of 60 CFUs organized in theoretical studies aimed at further enriching the scientific training obtained in the previous academic programs through the scientific offerings of the University of Ferrara and Polis University and any other consortium partners, and finally, initiating work with the thesis.
The 60 ECTS of organized theoretical studies must be delivered according to the following scheme:
The 60 ECTS of organized theoretical studies are to be delivered according to the following scheme:
- 20 ECTS conducted by Ferrara University - for all doctoral students;(first year)
- 20 ECTS conducted by POLIS University - for all doctoral students;(first year)
- 20 ECTS conducted for each student by the respective home institution or any of the categories explained below (IUSS - POLIS).(first year)
The PhD student will also have to attend seminars organized by the teaching and research groups of the Ferrara Department of Architecture (DA), Polis University, or other associated partners of the consortium or other seminars expressly established for the PhD [activities provided by the University Institute for Higher Studies IUSS - Ferrara 1391 for the achievement of complementary competencies/skills], as well as participate in conferences and workshops of particular scientific and educational relevance by including them in their course of study. The planned workshops must be conducted and attended during the first year of the course. Any exceptions of carrying out these activities in the second year of the course may be granted exceptionally for proven needs upon formal application of the PhD student to the Academic Board.
Years II and III: 60 CFU each, are devoted mainly to research for thesis preparation although year II may be spent making up for mandatory training periods not taken in the first year. The student regularly participates in international and national scientific events in his or her field of interest and other related fields deemed useful for his or her education. English language proficiency must be demonstrated by the third year, duly certified by a minimum level of CEFR C1. By the end of October of each academic year, the student must submit to the Course Coordinator a scientific-didactic report on all the educational and research activities carried out during the year. The student must present the activities carried out during the year in a written report to the Academic Board (A.B.). The contents of the written report must be submitted to the A.B. on the specified date and time. A positive evaluation by the A.B. is a necessary condition for admission to the following year. In the event of a negative evaluation, the A.B. may decide to exclude the student from the doctoral course or to admit the student to the following year under certain conditions, inviting the student to attend a specific program agreed upon with the Academic Board.
Research topics:
Architecture Curriculum
1.1 Design theories and methods and sustainable constructions;
1.2 Inclusive design, design for all, accessibility to spaces, products and services, sustainable design;
1.3 Innovative technologies and materials for industrial, building and structural design;
1.4 Materials and techniques for the conservation of historical heritage, building maintenance and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) considerations.
1.5 Cultural heritages. Innovations and ICT processes for cultural heritages use and conservation.
1.6 Building envelope for the digital era. Strategies and innovative solutions for multifunctional prefabricated façade in digital construction.
1.7 Digital transition: product and process in the digital age for the construction industry.
1.8 Business models for catalyzing innovation in the construction industry.
1.9 Green Transition strategies for increasing sustainable practices in the construction industry.
1.10 Innovative methods, technologies and applications for energy efficiency in the construction sector and the utilization of renewable resources.
1.11 Architectural and urban design methodologies, adaptive reuse tools, and strategies for art and culture in inclusive cities and sustainable environments.
Urban Planning Curriculum
2.1 The city of today and tomorrow, between environmental upgrading and rehabilitation of the existing urban fabrics: requirements of functional conversion and new social demand of housing quality and urban livability;
2.2 The role of historic and cultural heritage of built-up environment and landscape in post-industrial urban development, with special reference to policies for sustainable local development;
2.3 Territory, landscape and regeneration of the built-up environment: infrastructural interventions, new energy sources and climatic change
2.4 City governance and appropriate development policies through land management, and economic and financial tools, etc.
In addition to these cited topics some additional scholarships could be activated. These will be related to very specific binding topics that the applicant should consider in its research proposal and that will be highlighted in the call of the yearly selective process. These specific binding topics will be addressed by scholarship financing institutions or will be related to specific ongoing financed researches.
These topics serve as a reference (as a framework) for the submission of research proposals by candidates being selected for the Course. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent cross-cutting and timely goals of each of the research topics just mentioned, but they are not the only ones. The Digital and Energy Transition, Smart Environments, and IOT, AI, and robotics topics also represent increasingly cross-cutting themes in the most innovative research.
POLIS University also encourages and welcomes applications that incorporate subjects, objectives, or dimensions of just green transition, as defined under the frame of the EU Green Deal.
Some potential areas of interest that can influence or be incorporated in the research proposals’ themes are:
- (Just) Green Transition policies and planning instruments;
- Circular economy as a means to ensure the green transition in a territory, community, or industry;
- Nature-base solutions for green transition; Ecosystem services for enabling green transition/s;
- Costs and benefits of green transitions in a territory, community, industry, or space;
- Initiatives, designs, and processes that align with the New European Bauhaus of EU, aiming at contributing to space transformation at any scale (city, public space, urban production, housing, etc.) by people through innovation, citizen science and engagement and aiming at the reduction of Carbon emissions.
- Infrastructure and energy systems innovations and transitions to lower Carbon emissions and contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation;
- Innovative materials, structures and designs that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gasses and climate change adaptation and mitigation;
- Climate resilience disaster risk reduction/management for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
