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Design - Philosophy - Architecture (ABPL90421)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Subject Coordinator
Donald Bates
Coordinator
Louise Burchill
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Semester 1 |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject explores an array of philosophical perspectives on design and architecture by way of which students can develop a deeper appreciation of the complex, and compellingly contemporary, questions raised both by creative design practice and by design taken in its broader anthropological sense of an essentially human modality of being-in-the-world.
These questions predominantly concern, as regards creative design practice, the relation of design to art, the status of the design object, the conditions under which something new can be created, the notion of space that informs design activity, and the necessity to rethink, in terms other than the traditional dichotomies, the interrelation of form, function and matter, subjectivity and objectivity, idea and materialization. We will examine, in this respect, a number of key (conceptual and material) “constellations” in the history of design (e.g., the Renaissance concept of disegno, or, again, the paradigmatic portent of the 1851 Crystal Palace) as well as a number of its key movements (notably, of course, the Bauhaus school). We will also focus on the interrelation of architecture and philosophy—as well as design—as different ways of thinking and fashioning space, spatiality and subjectivity.
As to design as an anthropological category, the overarching question here concerns the manner in which we are to understand the designed to now form the naturalized but problematic condition of existence. What are the ways in which humans are designed by their designs? What is the pertinence in this respect of conceptions of the “post-human”? What could, or ought, design be, what does it need to be and to become, for the world to be habitable for human and non-human beings or entities alike? In what way do human beings come to understand the essence of a thing to be used, and in what way do designed things allow or disallow creative life-forms in which each living individuality’s potential can be maximized?
Philosophers whose work offers us conceptual tools (and sometimes extensively elaborated positions) for this exploration of design and architecture include Heidegger, Sloterdijk, Baudrillard, Benjamin, Deleuze, Harman, Foucault, Rancière, Derrida, Latour, Irigaray, Haraway, Ingold, Lefebvre and Fry. We will also refer to philosophical texts and systems that have, historically, informed design discourse (by, e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Kant …).
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of core philosophical and theoretical issues in, and relating to, both design discourse and contemporary anthropological conceptions of design.
- Critically engage with (analyze, mobilize, problematize) conceptions of space, spatiality, materiality, and "being-in-the-world' elaborated within the Western philosophical tradition (as well, in certain cases, as within other cultural spheres).
- Critically analyze and evaluate definitions of design.
- Critically analyze aesthetic definitions of taste and judgement in relation to design.
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of design's involvement with the production of social space, gender and personal identity.
- Identify and analyze a number of key moments and movements in design history.
Generic skills
- Comprehension of philosophical concepts related to design and architecture;
- The capacity to clearly communicate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication;
- Critical thinking and analysis;
- Use and citation of sources.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Oral presentation (individual, equivalent: 1000 words)
| From Week 3 to Week 12 | 20% |
Quiz on lecture content
| Week 3, 9 and 12 | 10% |
Reading Analysis (100 words per weekly instalment. equivalent to 1000 words in total.
| Throughout the semester | 20% |
Final Essay (due first week of examination period)
| Week 14 | 50% |
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Donald Bates Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 1X2 hour lecture and 1X1 hour tutorial per week Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 2 March 2020 to 7 June 2020 Last self-enrol date 13 March 2020 Census date 30 April 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 5 June 2020 Assessment period ends 3 July 2020 Semester 1 contact information
Subject Coordinator
Donald Bates
Coordinator
Louise Burchill
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Last updated: 3 November 2022