Design Studio Epsilon (ARCH30002)

Undergraduate level 3Points: 25On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

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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.

This is the capstone subject for the Architecture major in the Bachelor of Design, integrating previous coursework in the major.

The focus of this subject is architecture that deals with design issues at the urban scale. The site and accompanying projects deal with a development of up to 100,000m2, or a combination of sites at this scale. The project will see the design within the context of an urban morphology and will examine and explore the consequences of individual projects to their surrounding context. The project will engage with historical, theoretical, structural, and environmental ideas relevant to the specific project through the lectures and various design exercises.

In this capstone subject a high degree of design resolution and comprehensive presentation of the project is expected. The completed project and design journal forms the centrepiece of an undergraduate portfolio.

Intended learning outcomes

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




 

  • Demonstrate comprehensive digital and analogue modelling, and model-making skills at various scales
  • Apply design methodologies and problem solving to a large-scale building project or ensemble, with a focus on urban scale
  • Understand the context and impact of location and site on design, and incorporate social, cultural, historical and environmental context into design projects
  • Understand the functional and pragmatic aspects of architecture, including building functionality, site and landscape interface, basic environmental concerns (orientation, ventilation, light, and materials), and apply this knowledge into a comprehensive capstone design project
  • Demonstrate high-level understanding of structural concepts, construction technologies and the performance of diverse materials and their integration within design projects
  • Understand the role of design in addressing issues of environmental sustainability
  • Apply critical thinking to the assessment of design proposals, and to make changes and improvements based on that assessment through iterative design processes
  • Present, substantiate and advocate for design proposals in a public setting, and accept critique in a constructive manner.

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: 14 March 2025