4 CREDITS (to be validated, without no marks recorded) MANDATORY FOR STUDENTS OF THE II YEAR OF THE BACHELOR COURSE:

• Architectural Design / Progettazione dell’Architettura

Scientific coordinator
Luigi Cocchiarella
cecilia.bolognesi@polimi.it

The DIGI SKILLS training program, offered online with in-person mid-term reviews, began in 2020 as a mandatory 4-credits internship program, aiming at providing the initial digital literacy for the students of the second year of the Bachelor Degree Programme in Architectural Design.

The Programme is offered both in Italian (in Milan, Piacenza and Mantua) and English (in Milan and Piacenza). It consists of 20 classes, with about 1,000 students per year, that is, around 4,000 students in total from 2020.

In line with the recommendations of the UNESCO/UIA Charter (Tokyo 2010), the main training objective is to provide basic skills and competences consistent with the main operational steps characterizing the architectural design process. Alongside the modeling of space in a 3D environment, which remains the main thematic focus of the programme - in continuity with the courses attended in the first year -, Digiskills focuses on the basic principles of interoperability with the data acquisition and management from 2D and 3D environments, visual prototyping (image/video editing), graphic presentation (printing), physical prototyping (by cutting machines and 3D printing), as well as a brief introduction to parametric modelling and BIM software interfaces. In line with the general educational goal of the School of Architecture, the creation of a small pavilion is proposed, including its narrow urban context.

The final outcome results from the integration of various modeling steps, carried out by different assigned software, in a 3D operational environment.

The scheduled offer involves the same online activities, carried out on the basis of the same syllabus by all the classes, and consisting of interactive lessons and exercises prepared from time to time by the teaching team.

The main software environments, available for Polytechnic students, are: Rhinoceros (with introduction to Grasshopper and Revit) for 3D modeling, QGIS and Metashape for cartography and 3D photogrammetric or laser data acquisition, Twinmotion for video/image editing, and Ultimaker Cura for 3D printing.

Three face-to face mid-term reviews are scheduled during the semester, for validating outcomes and assigning credits.

The teachers - namely the class 'tutors' - are selected every year from among young researchers, research fellows, doctors and PhD students, young professionals, and particularly brilliant master's graduates who have completed their thesis on topics related to the program.

The courses are held in a mixed mode online and in the classroom. Three face-to-face mid-term reviews are scheduled during the semester to evaluate the results, based on weekly/biweekly deliveries established in advance, and on the basis of a specific delivery format. Since this is an 'internship', the evaluation in grade is not provided, and the 4 credits are attributed after the positive evaluation of the student’s outcomes.

Evaluation and conclusion of the course activities, as well as, eventually, the recovery test, must take place within the month of December, as no further evaluation sessions are planned.