Unit 5 — Architecture of Transformation
Final design thesis. Fabio Sedia, Bessam Fallah and Éric Pelletier: research, architectural practice and conservation.
Fabio Sedia’s contribution
Fabio Sedia coordinates Unit 5 with Bessam Fallah and Éric Pelletier and participates in supervising design theses. His contribution connects architectural research, critical reading of existing buildings and the formulation of a design position. Each proposal remains the work of its student author.
Unit 5 supports final design theses focused on working with existing buildings. Coordinated by Fabio Sedia with Bessam Fallah and Éric Pelletier, it brings together three complementary perspectives: research, architectural practice and conservation.
We approach transformation as a rewriting of the palimpsest: recognising what is already there, understanding its relationships and developing a design position. Measured surveys and critical redrawing are forms of knowledge; texts, precedents and the reading of context inform architectural hypotheses.
Each design thesis brings together a distinct research question, an investigation and a spatial proposal. Drawings, models and group critiques provide a means of testing decisions about programme, materials, structure and use, making the transition from analysis to design explicit.
In fall 2026, ARC-6500 develops the research question, the analysis and the initial foundations of the proposal. Architectural development continues in ARC-6501 in winter 2027.
