The seminar aims to investigate some paradigms of the low energy and carbon built environment, as challenging and contemporary topics of environmental design and assessment; the goal is therefore to develop awareness of the most current theories, methods and operational tools, which can be adopted in subsequent teaching courses.

The complex issues of the relationship between the built environment and health, well-being and safety of people will be addressed, focusing on influential environmental factors (light, sound, heatwaves, air quality etc.) and on design approaches and technological solutions, with particular attention to the human-environment interaction and environmental management solutions (e.g. smart approaches to measuring, monitoring and simulating environmental quality with widespread and low-cost systems - IoT, Apps).

The disciplinary laboratory of Energy Conscious Design of Post-Carbon Building is inserted in the MSc in Architecture Building City and is aimed at providing students with knowledge of energy topics applied to architectural projects. Another objective is that of making students conscious of the cultural richness, the requirements, the methodologies and the tools typical of building physics, in order to be able to carry out a disciplinary thesis on these themes. In particular, students face the challenge of develop the retrofit of a residential existing building considering energy, environmental, financial and economic aspects for the evaluation of the different scenarios.

The course deals with theoretical and applied aspects of architectural technology and construction, with a specific focus on minimising the environmental impacts of design and construction choices. Construction products and methods and building systems, as well as the ramifications of cultural models, building standards and regulations, production modes, and users’ behaviour are holistically understood as variables which affect the overall environmental performance of constructions.

The teaching of administrative law by architecture aims to provide students with some basic knowledge of administrative law together with a more specific preparation in the areas of urban planning, expropriation for public utility and construction activities, as well as public contracts, with reference to public works. Since they are mainly foreign students, the course, while focusing on national law, will have as a constant reference the international framework that influence the territorial planning of individual States. Each topic will therefore be first framed in the light of multi-level interactions and of the impact that globalization has on urban planning.

The course aims to introduce students to the current urbanism structure in Italy, addressing tools, techniques and urban planning policies. Consequently it deals with the current issues of the contemporary city, the organization of urban planning and design and territorial government in Italy. These topics are addressed in their multidisciplinary - territorial, landscape, energy, social and economic - and technical contents through the study of the current urban planning tools at different geographical-institutional scales.