The Climate HubLAB at NTNU

Abstract

The identification of sustainable design with the use of standards and commercially available components for energy efficiency has led architecture students to suddenly become more concerned and thirstier for existing know-how, rather than developing the ability to observe and generate their own solutions. Sustainability in architectural education cannot be limited to making students aware of environmental challenges and ready-made solutions, neither into limiting environmental impact on a purely numerical basis. We need instead to shape architectural practitioners able to use their creativity and imagination to shape new architectural paradigms re- harmonizing natural and built environment. Throughout the MSc program in Sustainable Architecture at NTNU, students rely on different kinds of software to optimize environmental performance and minimize environmental impact of their projects. Teaching experience show that an extensive use of simulation software risk anyway of simplistically reducing complexity behind sustainability to a discreet number of parameters. Question is therefore how results provided by advanced simulation tools can be combined with a holistic understanding of the process. The Climate Hub-LAB, developed thanks to the support of the AVIT program at NTNU, aims at providing students an integrated studio where flow of information coming from different machines and tools, can be collected, and more effectively translated in efficient architectural design concepts on the basis of hands-on experiences. In this paper we will reflect on the the use of digital tools and their role for supporting the development of hands-on activities fostering creativity and imagination.