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Visions and Agendas in Architecture (ABPL90403)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable (login required)(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 1
Karen Burns (subject coordinator)
Overview
| Availability | Semester 1 |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This subject introduces students to a body of theories and polemics for architectural design and spatial practice formulated from the post-war period to the present. Figures such as Le Corbusier, Minnette de Silva, Reyner Banham, Denise Scott Brown, Robert Venturi, Atelier Bow Wow, Bernard Tschumi, Beatriz Colomina, Diller and Scofidio, Yasmeen Lari, Jane Rendell, Robin Evans, Greg Lynn, Katie Lloyd Thomas, Muf, Teddy Cruz, Eyal Weizman and Sasha Costanza Chock are introduced and examined. This subject covers a history of efforts to theorise a progressive spatial and design agenda in modern society. It explores urgent topics that have been central to discussion in the long 20th Century and are still open to debate today: how to define architecture and practice; the demands of the environment, the Anthropocene and sustainability; the role of media and technology; the place of the body, the senses and subjectivity; changing understandings of materiality; and design for social justice. This subject provides an academic basis for critiques in design practice – in the teaching and learning spaces of design studios and beyond. Based on critical and historical reading, it invites students to speculate on new agendas of design and spatial thinking for our time and to understand the complexities of these topic areas.
Intended learning outcomes
On completing this subject it is expected that the student be able to:
- Understand and articulate the key design and spatial practice theories produced in the late 20thc and early 21st c.
- Develop a disciplinary vocabulary that will underpin critical thinking and analysis.
- Identify and articulate one's own critical thinking on design, architecture, spatial practice and the city.
- Develop capacity to locate architectural, spatial and urban knowledge within a social and cultural context.
Generic skills
- Skills in the formal presentation of the theoretical underpinnings of design practice.
- High quality visual and written documentation skills.
- Theorization and communication of design and spatial practice.
- Framing, finding and researching relevant material for the theorization of one's own design and spatial practice.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
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: 31 January 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Weekly Reading Summaries from Weeks 2 -11 (excluding Week 9)
| From Week 2 to Week 11 | 40% |
Annotated Bibliography of at least 10 references for Research Proposal and brief summary of proposed research topic
| Week 6 | 10% |
Slide presentation of 4 slides (approximately 120 words per slide or visual equivalent),
| Week 9 | 10% |
Final Photo essay. Every student is to complete the Slide presentation, develop the project further, and formally present the ideas as a coherent theorization in an illustrated portfolio with images, diagrams and texts to a publishable standard
| During the examination period | 40% |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Dates & times
- Semester 1
Principal coordinator Karen Burns Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 26 February 2024 to 26 May 2024 Last self-enrol date 8 March 2024 Census date 3 April 2024 Last date to withdraw without fail 3 May 2024 Assessment period ends 21 June 2024 Semester 1 contact information
Karen Burns (subject coordinator)
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
K. Michael Hays, ed. Architecture Theory since 1968, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998.
Hanno-Walter Kruft, A History of Architectural Theory: From Vitruvius to the Present, trans. R. Taylor, E. Callander & A. Wood, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1994.
- 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.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 31 January 2024