1. Handbook
  2. Subjects
  3. Design Studio Beta

Design Studio Beta (ARCH20001)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

You’re viewing the 2020 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks
As part of the University’s response to COVID-19 and the associated Government restrictions and guidelines, most subjects will continue to be delivered online in Winter and Semester 2.
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.
You’re currently viewing the 2020 version of this subject

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
Semester 2
FeesLook up fees

Underlying the undergraduate design course is the development of both design thinking and dexterity with tools and techniques. The focus of this design subject will be on generating design ideas, translating them into architectural forms, spaces, materials and programs. Students will learn how to refine architecture through consideration of spatial organisation, environmental context and structural necessity. Students will also learn how to communicate comprehensive architectural propositions through 2D- and 3D-modelling (physical and digital), visual and written media and oral presentations.

The focus in the design studio shifts to technologies and techniques in architectural practice. The studio assignments create an accretive conceptual investigation of fundamental principles into the making of buildings, including structure, enclosure, circulation, program, site, and light. An essential aspect of the design process is the incorporation of abstract thinking and abstraction within architectural production.

Critical use of diagramming, conceptual mapping, narratives, animations and performative expositions join with conventional techniques (plan, section, elevation, axonometric projections and perspectives) to generate and document design ideas.

The design studio focuses on singular, medium-scale programs on prototypical sites, with the development scope of up to 1000m2.



Intended learning outcomes

Students who have successfully completed this subject should be able to:

  • Understand and integrate building functionality, site and landscape interface, and environmental building systems such as air circulation and light, into design proposals;
  • Use abstract thinking to compliment conventional design techniques;
  • Design medium-scale buildings and tailor designs to the context of a particular site;
  • Read, understand and create architectural documentation, including plans, sections, elevations, diagrams, three-dimensional representations, renderings and animations;
  • Communicate and test ideas and design propositions through iterative use of orthographic drawing, 3D-modelling (digital or physical), photomontage, renderings, and animations;
  • Understand, interrogate and work to a design brief;
  • Apply critical thinking to the assessment of design proposals, and to make changes and improvements based on that assessment through iterative design processes;
  • Formulate a conceptual design proposal (in the form of a speculative architectural design proposition) that tests a design idea or design method;
  • Present, substantiate and advocate for design proposals in a public setting, and accept critique in a constructive manner;
  • Engage with and contribution to studio culture.

Generic skills

Students completing this subject will have developed the following generic skills:

  • Ability to generate and iteratively test design ideas
  • Ability to work with design precedents
  • Ability to work with different design methodologies
  • Physical and digital model-making and its translation process
  • Ability to integrate digital tools into the design generation and design development processes
  • Graphic communication (including orthographic projections: plans, sections, elevations, axonometric and other projections)
  • Verbal presentation and appropriate use of design terminology
  • Time management and project management
  • Constructive acceptance of feedback and criticism.

Last updated: 3 October 2024