Design Studio Delta (ARCH30001)

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 will be on issues of organisational sophistication and the consequence of planning. A critical understanding of how architectural design, planning and spatial order deal with the social, political and civic relationships that define a community, and how architecture transforms or assists (or resists) the transformations of these communities. Particular emphasis will be placed on awareness and critical appreciation of the consequential nature of architectural production, that is, how the control and use of architectural effects are a means of architectural production. The design studio focuses on complex buildings on sites with a development scope of up to 3,000m2. The designated site

will be located within the urban or inner suburban area of Melbourne. The emphasis is on speculative undertakings.

Intended learning outcomes

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

 

• Develop and refine architectural design strategies;
• Use three‐dimensional spatial ordering to develop complex planning and organisational arrangements;
• Design a large building with an appreciation of the social, historical, environmental and cultural contexts of the site;
• Understand the complex interrelationship between designed civic spaces and community,including the ways in which architectural design, spatial order and planning can be used to offer positive outcomes for communities;
• Demonstrate a high‐level of representational and compositional skill, and generate and present ideas in digital, analogue and other formats;
• Apply critical thinking to the assessment of design proposals, and make changes and improvements based on that assessment through iterative design processes;
• Design to a level of resolution that demonstrates knowledge of structure, materials and architectural technology;
• Present, substantiate and advocate for design proposals in a public setting, and accept critique in a constructive manner; and,
• Engage with and contribute to studio culture.