How we teach and talk about Single Family Homes: “Single Family Homes” and “Single Family Home – thinking ahead” as a set of courses

Abstract

The two courses „Single Family Homes“ and „Single Family Homes – thinking ahead“ were offered in the degree programs Spatial Planning and Architecture at the TU Wien (both Bachelor and Master degree). Student interest in this very emotionally discussed topic is enormous. Facing different current challenges, such as high land consumption and climate change, the aim of the courses is to enable a critical discourse about the single-family house to prepare future planners and architects for professional practice. To cover different perspectives and the broad range of challenges within the topic, various methods were applied - such as elaborating basic knowledge (numbers/data/facts) and carrying out a personal interview with a single-family homeowner to learn more about individual motives and living preferences (course 1) or discussions following lectures on different topics and reviewing these as a group in specific settlement areas (course 2)