FIRST YEAR
2nd Semester

Module A – Communication by Images for Video Storytelling (3 CFU)

Prerequisites

This is a basic course in multimedia application development and is a natural continuation of the course in “Graphic And Image Editing” Prerequisites: skills in freehand drawing of architecture and composition disciplines acquired in the Bachelor programm.

Training objectives

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course, the student should know the main tools for managing a multimedia product in terms of acquisition and file processing.

He/she should be familiar with video capture techniques and have a sensitivity about the management of video products in terms of spatial and temporal analysis of the visual message.

The student will acquire a basic knowledge to develop a multimedia product reflecting particular architectural narratives. The drawing becomes a fundamental element in the development of an image-based narrative process. The narrative of architecture is structured through sequences of drawings considering a narrative progression, in a temporal order, intended to qualify a storyboard. The drawing of architecture confers critical capabilities in prefiguring spaces, scenarios and architectural compositions.

ABILITY OUTCOMES: SUBJECT-BASED PRACTICAL/PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

At the end of the course the student should know:

  • Develop a storyboard for the creation of a video sequence.
  • Manage a video shooting medium and handle the different types of input and output files.
  • Adjust the video components affecting a media file.
  • Have knowledge of using video editing software.

 Program and content

This course covers the fundamentals of digital storytelling and video editing for defining digital and multimedia products related to architecture. From the analysis of the digital video image, the course addresses storytelling and scripting of the visual message by analyzing the timing, pace, and mechanics of visual communication.

Students will learn about the techniques of editing and graphic composition of a short film, develop technical and creative skills, and apply theoretical concepts in a practical way to drawings and 3D models of architecture.

The course introduces the basic theoretical concepts and technical tools for audiovisual product development, with the aim of providing an overview of creative media. The first part of the course covers the fundamentals of picture storytelling theory and analysis of the main aspects of screenwriting and digital storytelling production. The second part includes the production of a short film. Students will employ video cameras, stabilizers, lighting, and major video editing software. The discipline introduces both theoretically and practically the basic principles behind editing. The student develops a visual storytelling project after alternating between lectures and laboratory activities. In this way, he/she explores a variety of processes, both experimental and established, employed in the development of a screenplay, and deepens his/her knowledge of audio-visual storytelling. Drawing becomes the discipline through which to control time. The student will be able to concretize orientation skills in the operation of multimedia products through the development of creative experiences.

 

List of lesson contents:

  • From idea to storytelling, drawing as support for time management.
  • Defining a script from objectives to ‘idea, structure, and layout.
  • Drawing and linear storytelling in animation composition.
  • Software and workflow for an understanding of post-production processes.

Description of lab activities

The course enables the development of technical and operational skills hand in hand with artistic and creative expression through the constant practical application of theoretical concepts. Students complete their communication skills through direct comparisons with teaching staff.

The course will provide students with a range of cross-disciplinary skills necessary to generate video and film products useful for promoting architectural projects or narrating existing architecture.

Lab activities will involve the creation of a short video. Students will be required to produce a storyboard, capturing the images and footage, and will have to compose elements of graphics, text, drawings, and 3D models into a short video.

 Teaching methods

The 3 CFU course is structured on 15 hours of frontal lessons and 23 hours of laboratory, for a total of 38 hours.

Theoretical lessons include the projection of videos, the commentary of the different scenes, the analyses of the relationship between visual message, filmic time, and architectural scenes. The student will know examples of abstractions and interpretations of architectural space through the main techniques of video use of space. During the laboratory activity, the student will produce a video, through the development of a short storyboard and the acquisition of videos with different types of cameras (possibly provided by the educational laboratories).

The student will use the laboratory hours to create his own video project and assemble the shooting scenes with the support of the sound component, developed during the “Sound And Multimedia Compositions” course.

 Reference books

    • Hanson, The end of Celluloid. Film Features in the Digital Age, Mies 2004.
    • Bordwel, The way Hollywood Tells It. Story and Style in Modern Movies, Berkley-Los Angeles-London 2006.
    • Cameron, Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema, New York 2008.
    • Beach, A Hidden History of Film Style, Los Angeles 2015.

 Learning Evaluation Methods

During the course, students will carry out practical tests to verify knowledge.

Students will have moments of dialogue and individual review with the teaching staff.

During the exam, students will talk about the developed multimedia project according to three different points of view:

  • The story of the idea, through the storyboard.
  • The story of the making of the video, of the different shooting and editing techniques.
  • The product, the short film made.

The commission will discuss and comment on three points, asking questions about the theoretical contents of the lessons. For the exam, the student will prepare a presentation of what they have accomplished during the lab, showing their graphic design and product communication project, and will take an oral examination on the acquired skills.

 Module B – Sound and Multimedia Compositions (3 CFU)

 Prerequisites

Training objectives

 Program and content

 Teaching methods

 Reference books

Module A – BIM Systems and Digital Asset Management (6 CFU)

Prerequisites

To conduct the course, students are required to possess adequate knowledge in the field of digital modelling design acquired in the Bachelor programm. In particular: theoretical knowledge on architectural representation; methods of critical analysis and expressive synthesis of architecture and its context; architectural survey bases and the relationship between geometry and measurement; knowledge of Autodesk AutoCAD software (basic level).

Training objectives

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES

The course deals with overcoming design and planning challenges in cultural heritage knowledge, conservation and management process in a lifecycle perspective, focusing on H-BIM based approach, which will be analysed as a necessary tool during both the design and the management phase, as well as during the proper intervention phase. Having access to the right information at the right time has been and remains a pervasive problem during operations and maintenance (O&M) and thus hinders an asset owner’s ability to ensure their facilities performance is being optimised. Typically, asset managers are often confronted with ‘As-built’ documentation that is prepared using Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) and is often incomplete, erroneous and/or redundant, which adversely impacts an asset’s integrity and productivity during O&M. The aim of the course is to give an overview concerning the development of structured and innovative methodologies for the management of cultural heritage by means of HBIM models digital twins, the management of scheduled planned conservation strategy and the setting up of a BIM-oriented Asset Management platform.

ABILITY OUTCOMES: SUBJECT-BASED PRACTICAL/PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

At the end of the course students shall know

  • Which kind of information may be included within a H-BIM model;
  • How integrate an H-BIM model within the diagnostic/design/management process;
  • How to manage H-BIM model in perspective of innovative digital asset management tools.

 Program and content

The BIM methodology can be a bridge between archival documentation, architectural survey and digital model, proving to be an effective tool as a semantic data archive, consisting not only of geometrically correct elements but also of alphanumeric and digital attributes (texts, multimedia files, URL links, etc.). The HBIM models are understood as data hubs that in the documentary field, can represent the historical artefacts taking into account the past and the present as a result of constructive transformations, enlargements and changes of use in a wide time span. HBIM models can be constructed from three-dimensional data derived from digital surveying techniques, such as laser scanner and photogrammetry. The process, called reverse engineering, no longer has the goal of translating geometric survey into two-dimensional plans, elevations and sections, but rather is a starting point for three-dimensional modelling, striving to move from solid to parametric objects, described geometrically and semantically.

The course is organised in 6 topics, each structured in 4 hours of frontal lessons and 6 hours of exercise, 60 hours total (Lessons: 24 hours; Exercises: 36 hours) as following:

  • Digital asset management: a global overview. (Lesson: 4 hours; Exercise: 6 hours)
  • BIM models for cultural heritage: a support for knowledge integration within the decision process. (Lesson: 4 hours; Exercise: 6 hours)
  • BIM models for cultural heritage and planned conservation: multi-dimensional models.
  • BIM models for cultural heritage as a support tool during the construction site activities. (Lesson: 4 hours; Exercise: 6 hours)
  • BIM models and innovative data acquisition techniques. (Lesson: 4 hours; Exercise: 6 hours)
  • H-BIM models and digital twins. (Lesson: 4 hours; Exercise: 6 hours)

 Teaching methods

The 6 CFU course is structured on 24 hours of lecture and 34 hours of exercise.

 Reference books

  • Letellier, Recording, Documentation, and Information Management for the Conservation of Heritage Places, Los Angeles 2007.
  • L. Pedersoli, C. Antomarchi, S. Michalski, A Guide to Risk Management of Cultural Heritage, Roma 2016. 
  • C. Giovannini, Virtual reconstruction information management, 2017. 
  • Bruno, From Survey To Analysis for Cultural Heritage Management: a New Proposal for Database Design in Bim, Parma 2017.
  • Chiabrando, V. Donato, M. Lo Turco, C. Santagati, Cultural heritage documentation, analysis and management using building information modelling: State of the art and perspectives, [online] 2018.
  • Bruno, A. Musicco, F. Fatiguso, G.R. Dell’Osso, The Role of 4D Historic Building Information Modelling and Management in the Analysis of Constructive Evolution and Decay Condition within the Refurbishment Process. International Journal of Architectural Heritage, [online] 2019. 
  • Garozzo, M. Lo Turco, C. Santagati, Information Models to Manage Complexity for an Integrated Knowledge Project. Roma 2019.

Other specific bibliography will be selected from archives of several index of publication, organisations, and associations, which are active in education and research in the field of Computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) of which main references among many others are:

Association for Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe http://ecaade.org

 Learning Evaluation Methods

The module is based on the idea students will learn throughout the term and via various tools/methods, so the final examination represents only the final stage of such a process. In fact, students will have several opportunities to interact with staff during tutorials, and exercises but will also be encouraged towards peer-to-peer learning (via group discussions, group presentations and crits). Students will be asked to deliver a final report including the results of tutorials and exercise work. The oral discussion will be based on these results as well as on students’ critical understanding of theoretical approaches.

Module B – BIM and H-BIM Modelling (3 CFU)

 Prerequisites

To conduct the course, students are required to possess adequate knowledge in the field of digital modelling design. In particular: theoretical knowledge on architectural representation; methods of critical analysis and expressive synthesis of architecture and its context; architectural survey bases and the relationship between geometry and measurement; knowledge of Autodesk AutoCAD software (basic level).

Training objectives

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course the student must know the different communication and representation methods on parametric modelling platforms. The student must be able to formulate a shared project and to manage the digital files produced during the workflow. The student will be able to relate to the geometric shapes of architecture through parametric modelling and will know the main hierarchies of approximation and definition of levels of detail for the development of a BIM model.

ABILITY OUTCOMES: SUBJECT-BASED PRACTICAL/PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

At the end of the course the student must know:

  • Work on parametric modelling software.
  • Define the parametric families of a built-in digital information system.
  • Create a scan-to-BIM model.

 Program and content

The course deals with the issues of BIM modelling applied to Cultural Heritage, for the digitization of built heritage, management and computer-aided design. The course aims to provide the tools and methodologies for the management and critical reading of the data obtained from digital survey, including the use of these data within the HBIM digital parametric modelling procedures.

The training methodology includes lectures alternating with practical exercises and laboratory activities, approaching a case study in a concrete and operational way.

List of lesson contents

  • Parametric modelling HBIM: concepts, methods and evolution of digital databases(3 hours).

The lesson introduces the topic of parametric modelling and scan-to-BIM methods applied to the built architectural heritage. Through an excursus on the types of digital databases and modelling techniques, an updated framework is provided on the protocols and systems of information representation.

  • Integrated survey methodologies for the documentation of the architectural heritage. (3 hours)
  • Typological classifications for three-dimensional information representation: information categories of the parametric model for Cultural Heritage. (3 hours)
  • Scan-to-BIM procedures Management of the point cloud data and parametric modelling strategies. (3 hours)

The lesson deals with the issue of managing point cloud digital data from Autodesk Recap to Autodesk Revit. (Data import/export, segmentation techniques and data point cloud visualisation, rcs project structuring associated with Revit, point cloud management in Revit).

  • Procedures Scan-to-BIM web based digital platforms and archives and collaborative modelling workflows. (3 hours) 
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Description of laboratory activities

During the laboratory hours, students will work in the classroom on a specific case study assigned for the deepening of practical knowledge related to the development of the parametric digital model project and the different collaborative modelling techniques for architectural representation.

 Teaching methods

The 3 CFU course is structured on 15 hours of frontal lessons and 23 hours of laboratory for a total of 38 hours. The lectures include lessons related to the use of software and the main complexities of modelling and development of a shared modelling workflow. The laboratory activities, on the other hand, concern the development of a practical test in which the acquired knowledge is practically developed and consolidated.

 Reference books

Manuals and guides

  • Eastman, P. Teicholz, R. Sacks, K. Liston, BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors. 2nd Edition, Hoboken 2011.
  • F. Aubin, Revit Essentials for Architecture: 2021 and beyond, 2021.
  • F. Aubin, Renaissance Revit: Creating Classical Architecture with Modern Software, 2021.

Recommended texts

  • Murphy, Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) For Recording and Documenting Classical Architecture in Dublin 1700 to 1830, Trinity College Dublin, 2012.
  • Bolognesi, A. Villa (eds.), From Building Information Modelling to Mixed Reality, Cham 2021.

 Learning Evaluation Methods

The verification of the acquired knowledge will concern the delivery of an HBIM project developed on a real case study, assigned during the course. The lectures of the course are structured to guide the student during the practical activities. The laboratory hours are used as practical moments of verification and comparison about the acquired skills. The workshop of the course is conceived as a moment of open work, in which students will interact with the teaching staff through a learning-by-doing process.

Prerequisites

The course proposes a specialisation path focusing on the creation of numerical models for structural analysis and prototyping. The methodological-operational aspects of mathematics and building science and being able to use this knowledge to interpret and describe problems in architecture and construction learned during the bachelor programme.

Students should also have preferrable background on the following disciplines:

  • Base of mechanics.
  • Heat transfer.
  • Properties of materials

Training objectives

The course intends to provide an insight on the creation of virtual models suitable to carry out advanced numerical simulations. Concerning the additive manufacturing processes, the course aims to identify the most appropriate technology for different prototyping activities.

Students will learn basic principles of numerical modelling, by means of theoretical and practical lessons, through case studies dealing with the production of specific prototypes through 3D printing technologies.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES

The course will provide basic theoretical elements for the understanding of the fundamental concepts underlying 3D printing processes and non-linear numerical simulations. The main additive manufacturing technologies will be described and general indications will be given for the choice of the specific technology and main process parameters for given applications. Particular attention will be paid to the Fused Deposition Modelling and Selective Laser Melting processes and their main related problems will be illustrated, such as thermal distortions and geometrical accuracy. The most common commercial computing environments and numerical techniques to solve the equations governing additive manufacturing processes will be described as well.

ABILITY OUTCOMES: SUBJECT-BASED PRACTICAL/PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

The aim of the course is to prepare future professionals able to deal with numerical-driven approaches for the selection of the most appropriate additive manufacturing technique for prototyping applications. Such professionals will have a background on additive manufacturing techniques and on commercial codes to simulate the processes and predict the overall result.

 Program and content

Theoretical lessons according to the following scheme (30 hours):

  • Introduction to additive manufacturing technologies (4 hours)
  • SLM technology (2 hours)
  • FDM technology (4 hours)
  • Main slicing parameters for FDM processes (2 hours)
  • Generation of the G-code (2 hours)
  • Introduction to the finite element method (3 hours)
  • Solution of non-linear thermal problems (2 hours)
  • Elastic and plastic constitutive models (3 hours)
  • Solution of mechanical problems with elastoplastic materials (3 hours)
  • SLM and FDM process simulation: weakly coupled thermomechanical problems, mesh, assumptions and lumped models (5 hours)

Hours of practice (25 hours):

  • Introduction to STL file management software (Educational Licence software such as Autodesk Netfabb) (2 hours)
  • FDM: slicing software (Open source software such as Slic3r – Cura) and choice of process parameters (4 hours)
  • FDM: gcode generation and analysis (2 hours)
  • SLM: object orientation and support design (Educational Licence software such as Autodesk Netfabb) (3 hours)
  • FDM process simulation (Educational Licence software such as Ansys): case study of interest (7 hours)
  • SLM process simulation (Educational Licence software such as Ansys – Amphyon): case study of interest (7 hours)

 Teaching methods

The 6 CFU course is structured on 30 hours of lecture, 25 hours of exercise for a total of 55 hours. The course will include both theoretical and practical lessons. Practical lessons will involve the use of commercial software and numerical simulation codes.

 Reference books

  • Slide and in-depth material provided by the teacher.

    Some reference texts:

    • Gibson, Additive Manufacturing Technologies, Cham 2021.

    Texts for further study

    F.Auricchio, S. Marconi, G. Alaimo, Materiali per la stampa 3D: possibilità attuali e prospettive future, in Stampa 3D di C. Galli e A. Zama, Bologna, 2014 (italian)

 Learning Evaluation Methods

The learning assessment will include a practical test with exercises and the development of a project (possibly carried out in small groups).