University of Sydney Handbooks - 2020 Archive

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Bachelor of Design in Architecture/Master of Architecture

 
Unit outlines will be available though Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.
 

Errata
Item Errata Date
1.

The following units have been cancelled for 2020:

DESA3004 Architecture and Diagrams

DESA3008 Architectural Models: Theory and Practice

24/01/2020
2.

Corequisites have changed for the following unit. They now read:

BADP3002 Property and the Built Environment C BAEN3002 or ENGG3854

24/01/2020

Table N: Bachelor of Design in Architecture (Honours)/Master of Architecture

Students must complete a total of 240 credit points, including:
(a) 114 credit points of core units of study (including 78 credit points of Master of Architecture units)
(b) 12 credit points of elective units of study
(c) 6 credit points of the Master of Architecture pre-requisite unit of study (BDES3025 Architectural Professional Practice)
(d) 18 credit points of honours preparatory units
(e) 12 credit point Architecture Dissertation
(f) 78 credit points of core units of study

Core units of study

Candidates are required to complete all of the following core units of study
1000-level units of study
BDES1011 Architectural History/Theory 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Michael Tawa Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: DESA1102 Assumed knowledge: HSC Mathematics and HSC English Standard Assessment: building analysis and tutorial participation (70%), exam (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architectural History/Theory 1 introduces students to the discourse of architectural history and theory. It includes a concise chronological survey of key periods of architectural history from antiquity to the mid-nineteenth century, as well as closer investigation of some particular architectural themes and ideas across history. Students will interrogate these themes through intense study of significant buildings, which they will research, document, and analyse. They will be introduced to fundamental principles and skills of scholarly research in the discipline, including locating and evaluating sources, and constructing arguments.
BDES1026 Architecture Studio 1A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Chris Fox Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture, lab and studio contact plus self-directed preparation and assignments; minimum student commitment of 12-18 hours per week. Corequisites: BDES1011 Prohibitions: DESA1001 or BDES1010 or BDES1024 Assessment: assessment 1 + 2 (40%) and assessment 3 (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This course aims at providing students with the conceptual and technical skills required to creatively explore dynamic transactions between artistic processes, place and architecture. Throughout the semester, students will extend their ability to work with complex ideas while drawing on interdisciplinary practices related to structure, form and site. This course provides a space for architecture students to establish parameters and territories for exploration beyond the concerns of conventional architectural projects. From generative form making to performative action, this course has an emphasis on making with material exploration. Essential design sensitivities and skills will be developed through different modes of working including lectures, tutorials, presentations and writing as well as the physical engagement with new materials and building processes.
BDES1028 Honours Intensive Studio 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Intensive August Classes: 5 hrs lecture, 35 hrs studio Assessment: architectural design proposal (50%) and portfolio (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
In Honours Intensive Studio 1 students produce an architectural design project in response to a studio brief set by a leading visiting academic or practicing architect that critically engages with issues of contemporary concern to the city of Sydney. The specific architectural brief and its theoretical underpinnings vary from year to year. Students develop their project in a studio setting alongside their peers over the course of one week, impelled by a suite of lectures and seminars that address key themes of the project. They informally present their work in progress for critical feedback at various times during the week, and at its conclusion they communicate their final architectural proposition to a design jury via a set of drawings and models supported by a verbal presentation. The work conducted during the intensive studio is finally assembled in a portfolio, which is due at a later date. The portfolio is a well-designed, carefully composed and clearly articulated summary document evidencing a critical and creative engagement with the studio.
BDES1027 Architecture Studio 1B

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Simon Weir Session: Semester 2 Prerequisites: BDES1026 or BDES1010 or DESA1001 Corequisites: BDES1023 Prohibitions: BDES1020 or DESA1002 or BDES1012 Assessment: Phase 1 Assessment: Online Studio Tasks and Peer Critiques (20%); Final Design Presentation (30%). Phase 2 Assessment: Interim Design Presentation (10%); Final Design Presentation (10%); Design Book (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This studio capitalises on the skills and processes gained in the first semester studio to engage with increasingly complex programmatic and contextual issues within the built environment.Fundamental modes of representation in a variety of media will be deployed as a means to comprehend and articulate architecture from multiple integrated perspectives.Designing a small building will be the final project yet based on a series of introductory exercises that will engage with concepts of iteration in a range of scales and media.Students will continue to learn new software and other related techniques while also developing their familiarity with the technical skills necessary to realise a final design presentation including various media.The design projects will explore the necessity of experimentation as a means to communicate fundamental ideas about space, structure and form.
BDES1023 Architectural Technologies 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: DESA1102 Assessment: Assignments (60%), Exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architectural Technologies 1 introduces students to the roles that environmental considerations, structures and construction play in architecture. The fundamental concepts underpinning each of these key areas are presented and students demonstrate their developing knowledge of them via project-based assignments. These progressively complex tasks initiate students to the knowledge required to successfully analyse and synthesise construction and technical systems in basic buildings.
2000-level units of study
BDES2026 Architecture Studio 2A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Ross Anderson Session: Semester 1 Classes: lectures, lab and studio contact plus self-directed preparation and assignments; minimum student commitment of 18 hours per week Prerequisites: BDES1027 or BDES1020 or DESA1002 Corequisites: BDES2013 Prohibitions: BDES2010 or DESA2001 or BDES2012 Assessment: design analysis (20%), mapping and design studies (20%) and design project and portfolio (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architecture Studio 2A is oriented towards the contemporary communicative dimensions of architecture, whilst remaining attentive to the deeper cultural and historical contexts in which modes of representation, particularly in regards to architectural drawings and models, has arisen and is currently situated. Recognising that there is necessarily an enigmatic relationship between an architectural drawing or model and the building that they might singly or collectively conjure into existence, the studio invites collusion between the architectural program and the means of its gestation, development and representation. An architectural representation might be analytical, rational and technical or it might be preparatory, coaxing, poetic or whimsical. That is, it can never be impartial - always filtering, selecting, editing, and emphasising certain aspects of reality and discarding or downgrading others. The studio project is conducted as a `conversation' between contemporary architectural ambitions, and the claims of the historically situated modes of communication - written, spoken, visual and physically constructed - that the students deploy to achieve them. It imparts knowledge and skills that will stimulate compelling architectural projects that are at once conceptually rigorous and technically adept. Students become increasingly attentive to the complexities of architectural design and are required to integrate multiple criteria, including thematic, conceptual, programmatic and technical concerns into a persuasive architectural proposition for a small-scale building in a charged urban context.
BDES2013 Architectural Technologies 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prerequisites: BDES1023 Prohibitions: DESA2111 or BDES2613 Assessment: Assignments (60%), Exam (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architectural Technologies 2 explores the roles that environmental considerations, structure and construction play in moderately complex small-scale buildings. Emphasis is placed on developing in students an active awareness of the impact that technical and constructional decisions have on architectural design. Through project-based learning, students develop an active awareness of the important role that appropriate technical and constructional decisions play in terms of fulfilling conceptual ambitions in tangible works of architecture. Students develop and demonstrate their developing appreciation of these issues via case study analysis, a group project, individual technical drawings and a final examination.
BDES2028 Honours Intensive Studio 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Ross Anderson Session: Intensive August Classes: 5 hrs lecture, 35 hrs studio Assessment: urban mapping and research (25%), preliminary architectural design proposal (25%), final design proposal and portfolio (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Honours Intensive Studio 2 is a travelling architectural design studio. Students produce an architectural design project in response to a brief that requires them to consider the particular cultural, environmental, architectural and urban conditions and possibilities of the chosen city. The specific architectural brief and its theoretical underpinnings vary from year to year. Students immerse themselves in the life of the city and conduct a range of analytical and interpretive mapping exercises and site studies, supported by building visits and talks by local architects, in order to establish terms of reference for their own architectural project. They present schematic work for critical feedback at various stages of the week away from Sydney, and upon return they communicate their final architectural project to a design jury via a set of drawings and models supported by a verbal presentation. The work conducted during the studio is finally assembled in a portfolio, which is due at a later date. The portfolio documents the various studies made in the host city in addition to interim stages of design and the final architectural proposition.
BDES2027 Architecture Studio 2B

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture, tutorial and studio contact plus self-directed preparation and assignments. Minimum student commitment 18 hours per week. Prerequisites: (BDES2026 and BDES1011) or BDES2010 or DESA2001 or BDES2622 Corequisites: BDES2024 or CIVL2410 or BDES2623 Prohibitions: BDES2624 Assessment: interim submission (20%), presentation (10%) and final submission and portfolio (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architecture Studio 2B demands of students a critical engagement with modern architecture and its histories. It couples the methods of humanities research, including analysing both historical precedents and primary sources, with the creative processes of architectural design. Through a weekly lecture series on key modern protagonists, movements and their historical consequences, as well as undertaking a number of analytical tasks, students become increasingly aware of the role of the architect as an active agent in history and negotiate some of the attendant ethical, political, technical and aesthetic challenges and opportunities. The learnings so gained are used to underpin the students' own design process and outcomes. Participatory and collaborative work processes are promoted and students are encouraged to develop and question their understanding of site, responsibility, architectural ethics and cultural competence.
BDES2024 Art Processes

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Chris Fox Session: Semester 2 Classes: lecture and studio contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prerequisites: BDES1026 or BDES1024 Assessment: assessment 1 + 2 (50%); assessment 3 (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Drawing upon the processes developed in Architecture Studio 1A, students will extend their ability to work with complex ideas while drawing on interdisciplinary practices. Conceptual and technical skills are further devloped in this unit to creatively explore dynamic transactions between art and architecture. A range of studios and labs will host the production and critical discussions of work in conjunction with a series of lectures and independent research. By treating art as a field of open-ended experimentation with direct consequences for architecture, this course encourages architecture students to undertake a self-directed and research-based approach to their studies, working across multiple streams of information specific to contemporary art.
3000-level and 4000-level units of study
BDES3026 Architecture Studio 3A

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lectures; Studio contact plus self-directed preparation and assignments. Minimum student commitment of 18 hours per week. Prerequisites: (BDES2027 or BDES2020 or BDES2624) and (BDES2013 or BDES2613) Corequisites: BDES3011 or MATH2061 Prohibitions: BDES3010 or DESA3001 or BDES3023 or BDES3616 Assessment: interim presentation and submission (30%), final submission and portfolio (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architecture Studio 3A is oriented towards the technical dimensions of architecture, whilst remaining attentive to the deeper cultural and historical context in which such technical knowledge, particularly in regards to structures and sustainability, has arisen and is currently situated. It imparts knowledge and skills that will stimulate compelling architectural projects that are conceptually rigorous, structurally innovating and technically adept. Structural knowledge is developed through a suite of lectures and accompanying practical exercises, and is assessed through technical reports and a final examination. They are required to integrate multiple criteria, including thematic, conceptual, programmatic and technical concerns into a persuasive architectural proposition.
BDES3011 Architectural History/Theory 3

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Michael Tawa Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prerequisites: BDES2027 or BDES2021 or DESA2111 or BDES2616 Prohibitions: DAAP3001 or BDES3611 Assessment: Concept exploration (20%), Essay (80%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The objective of the Architectural Theory unit is to equip students with a critical understanding of key Western architectural theories and philosophy from the Enlightenment to the present. Emphasis is placed on the specific historical situations and cultural and philosophical contexts in which those theories arose, and ultimately how they were represented within the domain of architectural embodiment. It is organized to clearly identify particular trains of thought. Students will become generally conversant in the principles of central theories, and will understand their terms and references. Through readings, lectures, and tutorial sessions, students will acquire the literacy required to perceive and articulate contemporary theoretical standpoints, and will refine their research and writing skills through independent research into a particular aspect of recent architectural theory and philosophy related to their concurrent studio design project. Close attention will be paid to the exchange between practice and theory and the relevance of the discussed theories to the formation of current circumstances, and to the place of architecture within contemporary culture as a whole.
ARCH4007 Critical Thinking in Architecture

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Chris L Smith Session: Semester 1 Prerequisites: BDES2028 Assessment: seminar presentation (30%), critical essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Critical Thinking in Architecture introduces students to the important role of criticality in architecture. Impelled by a series of lectures and seminal readings, students study the relationship between architectural design and architectural theory. They become familiar with key contemporary movements, ideas and protagonists, and come to understand the ways in which ideas that emerged in other areas of culture have been absorbed into architectural discourse. They become conversant with the underlying principles and foundational skills of scholarly research, including locating and critically evaluating sources, constructing arguments, and communicating ideas using graphic, spoken and written means of expression. Through exploration of the characteristics and concerns of differing written media, including books, articles, reports and essays, they recognise writing as a practice that is in part conditioned by every author's own circumstances and interests, opening up questions of objectivity and judgement. By critiquing contemporary architectural discourse in light of its historical, political, aesthetic, ethical and cultural circumstances, students develop capacities that make them capable of both understanding and challenging prevailing positions and practices in architecture.
ARCH4009 Research Methods in Architecture

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Assessment: critical essay (40%) and research proposal (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
In Research Methods, students advance their working knowledge of differing kinds of architectural research; from those aligned with the humanities, those allied to the sciences, and those of architectural design. Having become conversant with the contemporary concerns, conventions, methodologies and modes of expression of each mode of research, they hone in on the one that best aligns with their own emerging research interests. They learn how to conceive a topic and frame it appropriately as a coherent and defensible line of inquiry; collect evidence; navigate academic databases; prepare a literature review; develop an argument; and clearly express their findings in sound academic prose. Upon completion of the unit of study, students will have developed the broad intellectual framework for their Architecture Dissertation.
BDES3027 Architecture Studio 3B

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Ms Catherine Lassen Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lectures; Lab; Studio contact plus self-directed preparation and assignments - minimum student commitment of 18 hours per week. Prerequisites: BDES3026 or BDES3010 or DESA3001 or BDES3616 Prohibitions: BDES3020 or DESA3002 or BDES3012 Assessment: Assessment 1: Phase 1 Design Presentation (20%); Assessment 2: Phase 2 and Communications Submission (20%); Assessment 3: Design Project and Portfolio (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
As the culminating design studio for the degree, students are presented with the opportunity to develop an architectural position within their projects. Architecture Studio 3B continues themes from Architecture Studio 3A, extending design understanding with respect to programmatic ambition and situating a symbolic public building proposal within a specific urban site.
Particular attention is paid to the conventions of architectural representation as 'Communications' to doubly generate as well as conceptually clarify design opportunities.
Computational modes of modelling are a particular focus. Structural, technical and material thinking is encouraged in coherent relation to students' strategic design intent and through studied historical and cultural awareness. The studio consolidates students' abilities in communicating and translating architecture using advanced modes of graphic visualisation through 3D modelling software and associated fabrication potentials. Hybrid techniques for moving between computational and actual realms are promoted in parallel with clarifying attitudes toward contemporary built and un-built environments.
Depth of design development is promoted via a dual emphasis: early analysis of exemplary architectural thinking coupled with intensive speculative and projective exploration. Students aim to produce conceptually challenging, integrated and compelling pre-professional architectural design projects confronting a variety of spatial contexts.
BDES3025 Architectural Professional Practice

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Mossman Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prerequisites: BDES3023 or BDES3026 or BDES3616 Assessment: Analysis Exercises (30%), Assignment (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architectural Professional Practice introduces students in the final semester of their undergraduate degree to the professional practice of architecture, focusing on design development within regulatory and practice management frameworks. Students are introduced to the fundamental principles of key regulatory requirements and critically deploy their understandings by investigating local practice case studies. They further develop a capacity to apply their knowledge in a particular context through an architectural design project that they take to Development Application level using current best practice.
ARCH4008 Architecture Research Areas

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Jennifer Ferng Session: Semester 2 Prerequisites: BDES2028 Assessment: research area summaries (40%), research project report (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Architecture Research Areas familiarises students with the three broad research areas of: architectural design; architectural theory and history; and architectural technologies. Academics with differing backgrounds and approaches to architectural research contribute to a suite of lectures, discussing their own projects and initiatives within the broader context of their research area. Students come to understand the theoretical underpinnings of each area and become generally conversant with their contemporary concerns and methodologies. They conduct a limited-scope research project of their own that enables them to pursue their own emerging area of interest in architectural research.
ARCH4010 Architecture Dissertation

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Ross Anderson Session: Semester 2 Classes: group supervision 3 hrs/week Prerequisites: ARCH4009 Assessment: dissertation (100%) Mode of delivery: Supervision
In Architecture Dissertation, students carry out a substantial individual research project alongside a small group of peers who are pursuing topics and approaches conversant with their own. Guided by an academic with broad expertise in each group's area of research, students advance their project and present it for discussion and critique at key stages of development, and they finally communicate their findings in a clearly articulated and appropriately illustrated dissertation that is the culmination of the undergraduate Honours component of their degree. The dissertation may take the form of a traditional architectural humanities thesis; a scientific report; or a studio design supported by a textual exposition that theorises and contextualises the project.

Master of Architecture units of study

Core units of study

Students are required to complete all of the following core units of study:
MARC4101 Advanced Technologies 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Paolo Stracchi Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Corequisites: MARC4001 or MARC4002 or MARC4003 Prohibitions: ARCH4202 Assessment: Weekly detailing exercises (60%), design development drawing (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The unit introduces students to concepts, issues and techniques relating to the design of some advanced structural, construction and services systems, and the integration of these systems within the design decision making process. This unit has a modular structure and aims to give students the tools to initiate and develop their design intentions in relation to structural, construction and services technologies. The knowledge will move from an understanding of the nature and impact of materiality on the architectural design process through to the implementation of this knowledge in the practice of a professional architect through design, consultation and building processes. The unit aims to examine the foundation and structural systems of large scale public buildings, the construction of the elements of the external fabric and the impact on the design process of the anthropomorphic, environmental and engineering requirements of the internal spaces. The unit stresses the primacy of detailing, skills in the development of individual design processes, and the understanding of design principles of construction materials in relation to structural and environmental concerns. It also aims to develop an understanding of the impact of the BCA and relevant Australian Standards on the building interior and exterior. Knowledge required for the selection of strategies, systems, and integration of the systems for a variety of design situations, is assessed through case study assignments and an examination. This unit is core to the Master of Architecture. Contact hours: 6 hours per week (lecture and tutorial); student effort expected for an average student to achieve a pass level result: class preparation: 3 hours per week; assessment preparation: 30 hours per semester.
MARC4003 Digital Architecture Research Studio

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Rizal Muslimin (Semester 1), Dr Dagmar Reinhardt (Semester 2)/Rizal Muslimin Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and studio contact (technical consultants and demonstrations as required), plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 18 hours per week. Assessment: Preliminary research, design development, interim reviews (40%); Final project and portfolio review (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This studio cannot be taken in the same semester with MARC4001 or MARC4002. Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The Digital Architecture Research Studio explores the application of digital technologies in architectural design and fabrication, and explores their potential to reinvigorate architectural discourse, develop new forms of architectural expression and make significant contributions to improving productivity and sustainability in the built environment. The studio will prompt students to develop critical positions in response to a studio brief selected from one or more options that probe the possibilities of digital design and fabrication and extend and explore those positions through a research-based architectural design process.
MARC4001 Urban Architecture Research Studio, MARC4002 Sustainable Architecture Research Studio and MARC4003 Digital Architecture Research Studio are all available in both Semesters 1 and 2. Students may enrol or pre-enrol freely, but some will be asked to swap to create equal groups. After three semesters each student will have done each of the studios. The studios examine the relationships between architecture and urbanism; architecture and sustainability; and architecture and digital design. Each is based around one or more design projects which address a specialised area of study, supported by lectures and seminars which introduce the relevant theory, knowledge and design precedents. Studios require the investigation of key technical issues and systems, and their innovative integration in the design, with the preparation of appropriate documentation. On the successful completion of these units, students will have demonstrated: an ability to formulate, interpret and communicate appropriate concepts derived from the study of brief and site; an ability to extend those starting points into a working design proposal; an ability to develop the design proposal in response to critique, and produce a building design which demonstrably embodies understanding of the principles associated with the specialised study area; an ability to communicate the design ideas effectively through appropriate graphic and three-dimensional means using architectural conventions; and an ability to cohesively design and execute a comprehensive presentation of the project. These units are core to the Master of Architecture.
MARC4001 Urban Architecture Research Studio

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Francois Blanciak (Semester 1), Prof Duanfang Lu (Semester 2)/Francois Blanciak Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and studio contact (technical consultants and demonstrations as required), plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum student commitment averaging 18 hours per week. Assessment: Preliminary research, design development, interim reviews (40%); Final project and portfolio review (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This studio cannot be taken in the same semester as MARC4002 or MARC4003. Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The Urban Architecture Research Studio examines the role and agency of architecture in the urban context - interrogating the internal and external parameters that act on the design process at incremental urban scales and intensities and engaging with the social, economic, environmental, legislative and managerial frameworks that shape urban development. The studio will prompt students to develop critical positions in response to a studio brief selected from one or more options that probe urban issues, and extend and explore those positions through a research-based architectural design process.
MARC4001 Urban Architecture Research Studio, MARC4002 Sustainable Architecture Research Studio and MARC4003 Digital Architecture Research Studio are all available in both Semesters 1 and 2. Students may enrol or pre-enrol freely, but some will be asked to swap to create equal groups. After three semesters each student will have done each of the studios. The studios examine the relationships between architecture and urbanism; architecture and sustainability; and architecture and digital design. Each is based around one or more design projects which address a specialised area of study, supported by lectures and seminars which introduce the relevant theory, knowledge and design precedents. Studios require the investigation of key technical issues and systems, and their innovative integration in the design, with the preparation of appropriate documentation. On the successful completion of these units, students will have demonstrated: an ability to formulate, interpret and communicate appropriate concepts derived from the study of brief and site; an ability to extend those starting points into a working design proposal; an ability to develop the design proposal in response to critique, and produce a building design which demonstrably embodies understanding of the principles associated with the specialised study area; an ability to communicate the design ideas effectively through appropriate graphic and three-dimensional means using architectural conventions; and an ability to cohesively design and execute a comprehensive presentation of the project. These units are core to the Master of Architecture.
MARC4002 Sustainable Architecture Research Studio

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Arianna Brambilla (Semester 1), Dr Daniel Ryan (Semester 2) Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and studio contact (technical consultants and demonstrations as required), plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 18 hours per week. Assessment: Preliminary research, design development, interim reviews (40%); Final project and portfolio review (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This studio cannot be taken in the same semester with MARC4001 or MARC4003. Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The Sustainable Architecture Research Studio will focus on the theories, technologies and techniques that promote the creation of a sustainable built environment. The studio projects will explore the interdependent issues of environmental, social and economic sustainability. The studio will prompt students to develop critical positions in response to a studio brief selected from one or more options that probe sustainability and extend and explore those positions through a research-based architectural design process.
MARC4001 Urban Architecture Research Studio, MARC4002 Sustainable Architecture Research Studio and MARC4003 Digital Architecture Research Studio are all available in both Semesters 1 and 2. Students may enrol or pre-enrol freely, but some will be asked to swap to create equal groups. After three semesters each student will have done each of the studios. The studios examine the relationships between architecture and urbanism; architecture and sustainability; and architecture and digital design. Each is based around one or more design projects which address a specialised area of study, supported by lectures and seminars which introduce the relevant theory, knowledge and design precedents. Studios require the investigation of key technical issues and systems, and their innovative integration in the design, with the preparation of appropriate documentation. On the successful completion of these units, students will have demonstrated: an ability to formulate, interpret and communicate appropriate concepts derived from the study of brief and site; an ability to extend those starting points into a working design proposal; an ability to develop the design proposal in response to critique, and produce a building design which demonstrably embodies understanding of the principles associated with the specialised study area; an ability to communicate the design ideas effectively through appropriate graphic and three-dimensional means using architectural conventions; and an ability to cohesively design and execute a comprehensive presentation of the project. These units are core to the Master of Architecture.
MARC4201 Modern Architectural History

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Jennifer Ferng Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: ARCH4102 Assessment: Illustrated Research Essay (60%), Short response essay (30%), and visual diagram (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit presents foundational knowledge concerning modern architecture in global context. It commences briefly with fundamental principles of the European Enlightenment as a means of discussing modern architecture's relationship to a number of external disciplinary fields including archaeology, biology, economics, history, landscape studies, and philosophy. Vital Enlightenment inquiries not only set the stage for historical debates about architecture but have also influenced contemporary questions about what constitutes architectural practice. Attitudes towards classical antiquity, art collections in museums, craft and industrialization, and building materials exemplified how architects have actively participated in creating intellectual discourse. Some principal qualities of modernism evident within the arts and sciences heralded historical contingencies, self-conscious agency, and the rise of technical developments. Architecture's enduring involvement with the modern sciences, in particular, has been conditioned by the shifting tensions existing between many polarizing pairings: empiricism and subjectivity, art and techne, representations and their models.
Instead of employing a chronological structure, course readings are grouped into core areas of exposition. We will survey a range of topics on autonomy, class, construction, drawing, gender, nationalism, ornament, primitivism, science, technocracy, urbanism, and utopia to understand how the complexities of these issues have created frameworks for architectural historiography, theory, and design in a variety of cultural contexts. The Enlightenment influence over these issues engendered lasting modes of resistance against these canonical formations, which remain highly evident in colonial and post-colonial dialogues as well as post-industrial interventions. The intersection of architecture with external disciplines set the agenda for a global modernity spanning from the eighteenth century into the present moment.
MARC5101 Advanced Technologies 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Arianna Brambilla Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture 2 hrs/wk, tutorial 1 hr/wk Prohibitions: ARCH4203 Assessment: Assignment 1 (30%), Assignment 2 (20%), Assignment 3 (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The unit explores architecture and the integration of structural, construction, environmental and services systems within the design development process. It aims to give students the ability to understand how structural, constructional technologies and systems are conceptualised, developed and integrated within the technical design. The unit aims to provide a basis for the development of technical and design skills required within ongoing design studio projects and for reference as a professional architect. This unit reviews a series of seminal architectural approaches and explores the technological approaches associated with realising such buildings, including case study buildings recognised by the architectural professional, it explores the nature of both the building fabric and, the environmental and management systems which enable the building to function optimally in a complex and dynamic urban environment. Students are expected to develop the ability to research structural, environmental and construction systems that satisfy aesthetic and philosophical intentions and to evaluate them based on clearly articulated decision criteria. Knowledge required for the selection of strategies, systems, and the integration of the systems, within a variety of design situations, is assessed through assignments and presentations.
MARC5001 Graduation Studio

Credit points: 12 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Sandra Loschke Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and studio contact (technical consultants and demonstrations as required), plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 24 hours per week. Prerequisites: MARC4001 and MARC4002 and MARC4003 Prohibitions: ARCH5201 or MARF5201 Assessment: Preliminary Research and Design Development (30%); Final Design Project (40%); Portfolio (30%). Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students may incur materials costs in this unit.
The Graduation Studio is the culminating architectural design studio of the Master of Architecture degree. It affords students the opportunity to establish an individual position in respect to current architectural thinking and practice in response to a studio brief selected from one or more options. Within the conceptual and programmatic framework of the studio, students will develop individual research approaches appropriate for their agenda and advance their skills in critical evaluation, independent decision-making and communication through ongoing consulation with project tutors, consultants, and each other. They are expected to produce thoroughly investigated, well-resolved and technically adept architectural projects that make a solid contribution to knowledge in their field and deliver significant benefits.
MARC4102 Modern Architectural Theory

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Andrew Leach Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: ARCH6104 or ARCH9048 or ARCH9049 Assessment: Assignment 1 (30%); Essay (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The objective of the Modern Architectural Theory unit is to equip students with a critical understanding of key Western architectural theories from the Enlightenment to the present. Emphasis is placed on those theories which have contemporary traction. Emphasis is also placed on the specific historical situations and cultural and philosophical contexts in which those theories arose, and ultimately how they were represented within the domain of architecture. It is organized predominantly as a conceptual survey which clearly identifies particular trains of thought in their continuity and transformation. Students will become generally conversant in the principles of central theories, and will understand their terms and references. Through readings, lectures, and tutorial sessions, students will acquire the literacy required to perceive and articulate contemporary theoretical standpoints, and will refine their research and writing skills through independent research into a particular aspect of recent architectural theory and history related to their concurrent studio design project. Close attention will be paid to the exchange between practice and theory and the relevance of the discussed theories to the formation of current circumstances, and to the place of architecture within contemporary culture as a whole.
MARC5102 Contract Documentation

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Paolo Stracchi Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: ARCH4103 Assessment: 4 assignments (40%); contract documentation set (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit aims to provide knowledge of basic contract law and building contracts; as well as information about, and skills in, the production of working drawings, specifications and opinions of probable construction costs, as commonly prepared by an architect. On the successful completion of this unit of study, students will have demonstrated: a competent ability in the production of working drawings, specifications and cost control for the building designed during the semester studio; an ability to communicate this documentation to clients, statutory authorities, consultants, tenderers, contractors and sub-contractors etc. such that they are able to understand what is required to be built; an understanding of the significance of contract documents in contracts, the relationship between contract documents and relevant law, and the provision of a context for understanding the full examination of commonly used building contracts in the Management in Architecture unit of study; an ability in the making of working drawings and specifications, the coordination of these documents into contact documents; an understanding of the role of consultants with specific reference to cost control, and the management of the process. This unit is core to the Master of Architecture. Contact hours: 3 hours per week. Class preparation and assessment preparation: 39 hours per semester.

Electives

Candidates are required to complete 12 credit points of elective units of study
Recommended 1000-level elective
Students are strongly encouraged to undertake the following undergraduate elective unit of study:
AWSS1001 Architectural Sketching and Drawing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Semester 1 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DESA1601 or DESA1602 Assessment: portfolio of works (60%); process journal (40%) Practical field work: Studio practice Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Students may incur costs for materials in some Art Workshops units.
This unit aims to provide the student with the knowledge, skills and aptitude required to use a range of fundamental architectural sketching and drawing skills based on observation of the physical world, in particular the built world. Students will be encouraged to develop a commitment to the practice of drawing as a fundamental design skill through 13 studio classes coupled with independent study. The workshop places an emphasis on keen observation, experimental use of materials and engagement with historical frameworks used in design practice in design and architecture. Exposure in studio to the sensitivities offered by different drawing materials and techniques will give students the competency to more confidently use drawing as a communication device. Skills in perspective drawing are introduced and drawing is used to document the visible world and define structure and detail. On successful completion of this unit of study students will have demonstrated familiarity with a range of drawing media and techniques, including charcoal, graphite, pen, brush and ink, and an introduction to colour. Students will understand the importance of maintaining a sketchbook as a site to record all their visual and conceptual research, and in which to draw on a daily basis as a means to develop ideas and technical proficiency.
Art in Architecture elective units of study
2000-level and 3000-level units of study
AWSS2002 Site Specific Art and Architecture

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Workshop 3 hrs/wk Assessment: Practical work (60%); research, written component and presentations (40%) Practical field work: Studio practice Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This practical unit aims to give students a critical understanding of site-specific intervention, through the development of sculptural objects, material investigation and research into relevant visual art forms and architecture. Students gain experience in ways of selecting and analysing sites for the development of site-specific installation. The structured methodologies will allow students to develop material competency exploring techniques in specific combinations of materials. Students will also develop ways of analysing and evaluating site-specific works through directed group discussions engaging in an ongoing discourse regarding site-specificity, installation and the complex relationships between historical and contemporary practices and architecture.
AWSS2010 Arch and Design Material Processes (Ceramics)

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DESA2634 Assessment: studio projects (70%); process journal and associated assignments (30%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This studio-based unit explores ceramic media and processes. Students will investigate different fabrication techniques such as slip-casting, ceramic rapid prototyping and analogue modelling. There will be an emphasis on ceramics as a modelling medium in design and architecture. Students will use the digital modelling and fabrication lab within the school to investigate possibilities for ceramic production. This exploration will be in relation to historic and contemporary architectural frameworks. Set projects will enable students to explore expression and design in an architectural form and materiality context. Students will be expected to produce a research process journal and report on how a particular practitioner/s or movement has informed or influenced their project/s.
AWSS2015 Generative Drawing

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Assessment: portfolio (60%); process journal (40%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit explores a variety of drawing skills with an emphasis on materials and techniques as tools for generative and process-based work related to drawing as a fundamental medium and method in design. Drawing is approached as a system for critical analysis, research and design speculation. The focus is on the formal aspects of composition and perspective while the material nature of drawing is explored as a balance between chance and control. Students use a wide variety of mark-making methods to render line, tonal value and texture. Students are provided with the opportunity to combine observational skills with experimental techniques in order to encourage a personal vision and a commitment to the practice of drawing in design. Each technique and approach will be presented against a background of Architecture and Art history and theory.
AWSS2020 Object Design (Material and Light)

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Corequisites: DESA1555 Prohibitions: DESA2643 Assessment: portfolio of works and presentation (60%); process journal and associated assignments (40%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
In this unit students produce light objects exploring diverse materials and fabrication techniques in the DMaF workshops. Emphasis is placed on developing and inter-relating manufacturing and artisan skills with research, analysis and design development. The course aims to develop a critical awareness of the nature of objects that surround us, exploring cultural, contextual and symbolic aspects of object design as well as functional and aesthetic qualities working with light. Sustainability and social issues relating to their manufacture, use and disposal are also discussed; the unit aims to increase appreciation of the materiality of objects focusing on timber as an example paying attention to associated environmental and ethical issues, and emerging alternative materials. Through a series of exercises, experiments and production of their major project, students develop knowledge of construction techniques and skills in using wood/plastics tools and machinery and in so doing, build an awareness of industrial and craft practices and how they impact on the design process and outcome. Students will be expected to produce a research process journal and report on how a particular designer/s or movement has informed or influenced their final project/s.
AWSS2023 Architectural Photography

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DESA2629 Assessment: process journal and associated assignments (40%); final project and presentation (60%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This practical unit assumes students have little or no understanding of photo image making. It aims to give students an understanding of how photography functions as a contemporary visual medium, including its connection to modernism and architecture. Students will gain knowledge of the principles and practise of camera operations, the production of high quality black and white prints in small studio style classes. This module covers the use of a 35mm DSLR camera, image composition, use of lighting, image capture and correction, and printing. Practical work includes completion of set class projects, gallery visits, class discussions and the production of a portfolio. *Students should have access to a 35mm DSLR camera.
AWSS2026 2D Print Processes in Design

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DESA2638 Assessment: research journal (30%); portfolio of studio works (70%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This studio-based unit introduces a variety of traditional and experimental techniques that will enable students to design and print a series of 2D works both within and around the context of design and Architecture. It will provide students with the knowledge and skills to design and print on a variety of substrates including paper, wood, and perspex through a range of techniques and creative exercises that can be developed into an edition or a series of experimental printed works. Students will also explore the historical roots of print and print as an element in design and architecture. Techniques covered include: digital photography and vector illustration, typography, hand and laser-cut paper stencils, ink mixing, registration and print set-up for multi-coloured prints. Through studio practice, set exercises, illustrated talks, gallery visits and library research, students will develop an understanding of their creative process and ability to interpret ideas through the medium of printing and with particular focus on design and architecture applications.
AWSS2027 Arch and Design Material Processes (Casting)

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: workshop 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DESA2636 Assessment: studio projects and associated tasks (70%); research process journal (30%) Practical field work: Studio practice NB: Students may incur costs for materials in some units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This studio-based unit focuses on critical engagement with materiality and form. The course introduces fundamental knowledge and technical skills for students to produce a series of 3D objects through high-definition casting and complimentary construction techniques. Students will work with a broad range of traditional and experimental materials. Emphasis is placed on developing students' material and spatial awareness of three-dimensional forms in context and investigating their conceptual meanings and applications. Students will be required to design, plan and produce a series of sculptural works, utilizing mediums and techniques explored throughout the semester. Additionally, students will critically contextualise and discuss their projects against historical precedents and contemporary practices that inform their creative inquiries.
DESA3013 Expanded Colour: From Theory to Application

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Koji Ryui Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: tutorial 1 hr/week; studio 2 hrs/week Assessment: studio projects (65%); process journal and associated assignments (35%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This studio-based unit develops and extends research into an astonishing world of colour and the designed environment. The unit will take students across the connections made between colour, light, music, and the phenomenology of space, locating some of the main figures that have investigated and championed the use of colour historically and in contemporary contexts, including artists and theorists Josef Albers, Johannes Itten, David Batchelor, Ann Veronica Janssens, Carlos Cruz-Diez, James Turrell and Olafur Eliasson, scientist Albert Henry Munsell, architects Le Corbusier and Sauerbrauch Hutton. Using a range of materials and techniques tied to sculpture, video, photography, assemblage and installation, students will experiment and explore propositions for architecture in response to conceptual frameworks and historical and contemporary precedents. Through this unit students have the opportunity to develop observational, critical and tactical skills related to the meaning and potential uses of colour in architecture.
Architecture elective units of study
2000-level and 3000-level elective units of study
DAAE2001 Australian Architecture

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Andrew Leach Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: DESA2305 Assessment: One process development presentation and one 3,000-word essay (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit will introduce students to the history of Australian architecture in its various contexts. Lectures and seminars will cover key architects, projects and building types and their relation to Australian history. Students will become familiar with a range of architectural styles and movements and their characteristics. They will undertake individual self-directed research and learn how to record and present the results of this research. Students will also acquire an appreciation of the factors that shape architectural design and thought in Australia and how these relate to wider social and cultural circumstances. Tutorials will introduce students to key books, essays and journals concerned with Australian architecture. On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to: demonstrate a familiarity with a range of Australian architects, buildings and types; research, record and present a specific project in Sydney; connect specific works to other works of a similar style, period or cultural context. This will be assessed in the submitted essay.
DAAE2002 Architecture, Place and Society

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Michael Tawa Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture and tutorial contact, plus self-directed preparation and assignments, for a minimum total student commitment averaging 9 hours per week. Prohibitions: DESA2211 Assessment: Graphic and Written Pressentation on Research (40%); Final Research Essay (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit aims to investigate the relationship between architecture, place and society and to explore the meaning of cultural and social sustainability in architectural design. The unit assumes that designers will increasingly work in places where cultures are unfamiliar at home or in a global context, and that an ability to understand, and interpret, diverse cultures, and the way design occurs in diverse locations, is an important area of knowledge for designers. A key aspect of social sustainability is the practice of social responsibility, and the unit explores how this may occur, including involving people in the design process. On completion of this unit students will be able to demonstrate: an ability to better understand the connections between architecture place and society, and the social, cultural, political and economic factors affecting sustainable environments; skills and knowledge in participatory processes necessary for effective communication about environmental design issues; increased critical awareness about social responsibility in relation to the practice of architecture and the design of the built environment, and an ability to exercise this awareness. This unit will provide architecture students with knowledge of the relationship between culture and architecture, as well as practical knowledge of the social aspects of design practice. It is intended that students from other disciplines will develop a critical awareness of the built environment as a form of cultural production, and the possibilities for their participation in its production.
DESA3003 Architectural Detailing

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 1 Classes: Tutorial 3 hrs/week, minimum 4 site visits/semester Assessment: Initial site report (30%), Draft final findings (10%), Final site details (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
The process of detailing in the office and during construction is a fundamental part of architectural practice. Experience of the process can provide and invaluable learning experience for students of architecture. However, many students have no available path to builders or architects and access to operative building sites is generally limited by OH and S concerns. The studio-based elective will allow a small group of students access to current building projects to explore the role of detail in design and building and in guiding not only a small component of a building's construction but its fundamental overall character. This elective will link students to a particular architect, builder and domestic scaled project to study and document a series of details in the context of the whole building and provide access to the site under supervision to study construction methods and detailing in context.
DESA3004 Architecture and Diagrams

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Francois Blanciak Session: Semester 1 Classes: 1-hr lectures/Weeks 1, 2 and 3, 3-hr tutorials/week, 1-hr seminars/week Prerequisites: 48 Credit points Assessment: Diagramming (50%), Seminar presentation (35%), Active participation (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Architecture and Diagrams is an elective that aims to provide students with an overview of various techniques of production and theories that relate to architectural diagrams. Its objectives are: to learn how to analyse buildings from a diagrammatic point of view; to acquire a basic knowledge of the history and theory of diagrams in architecture; and to develop basic skills to generate urban and architectural diagrams directly related to the students' respective design work in other units of study.
DESA3007 Prefab Architecture

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Mathew Aitchison Session: Intensive February Classes: 5 intensive days Prerequisites: 48 credit points Assessment: Case study report (50%), Presentation report (50%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit will introduce students to the benefits and limitations of prefabricated architecture through case study analysis and design exercises. Architects have long used prefabricated housing to explore industrialised building solutions, often with disappointing results. Yet, recent developments show the conditions for a more industrialised approach to housing ¿ especially its promise of low-cost, more socially inclusive, and well-designed housing ¿ have rarely been better. Australia¿s housing affordability crisis, changing design needs, sustainability concerns, and the rise of digital and automated fabrication technologies, have conspired to challenge a housing industry deeply resistant to change. Using design research tools, students will assess case study projects before developing their own prefab building 'offering'. Through a series of workshops running parallel to 'live' research projects within the Innovation in Applied Design Lab, students will have contact with professionals and researchers active in the industry. Learning outcomes will include the ability to analyze complex case studies using graphic, physical, and textual media for the case study report. Design, communication and presentation skills will be examined in the form of a PowerPoint presentation 'Pitch' and report.
DESA3008 Architectural Models: Theory and Practice

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Matthew Mindrup Session: Semester 2 Classes: 2hr lectures/week, 1hr tutorials/week Assessment: (40%) Portfolio, (60%) Graphic and written presentation on research Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study asks students to consider 'what is a physical model in architecture?' and 'what are the different materials, methods and uses of physical models in the design and presentation of architecture?' Participants in this unit will critically investigate and creatively apply a non-conventional modeling technique of their choice in the conception, study or presentation of architecture. These inquiries are supplemented by lectures and in-class discussion, which seek to uncover a historical and contemporary use of physical models as a tool for architects, including their mention in architectural treatises and in the formation of Modernism. In recent years, the development and use of parametric driven architectural models has received significant attention. Naturally, the unit will also explore the interface between the physical and virtual model to understand how architectural modeling programs belong to a historical tradition and are playing a role in not only representing conditions of building in the world but also in the development of new architectural ideas.
DESA3009 Advanced Fabrication

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Simon Weir Session: Semester 1 Classes: 3 hr/week Lecture/lab/tutorial Prerequisites: 96 credit points Assessment: Assignments (2x50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This design elective bridges the domains of design theory and advanced fabrication practices. In this unit students will make complex and polished objects using the fabrication tools in the DMaF lab, that demonstrate and/or embody design ideas intrinsic to their formulation. The unit includes lectures/tutorials on the technical knowledge related to sandstone fabrication, and lectures on the theoretical premises and associations generated by the internal logic, and expressive languages. Tutorials will also be divided between technical developing machine control, and design tutorials in which students will develop control of the design trajectory and expressive languages.
DESA3010 Code to Production

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Dagmar Reinhardt Session: Intensive December Classes: 1hr lectures/week, 2hr tutorials/week, 2hr workshops/week Prerequisites: 48 credit points Assessment: Small exercises (50%), Documentation (50%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Code to Production is an elective that explores the potential of an iterative design process from parametric variations; to analysis and simulation; to digital prototyping and manufacturing. The course has a two-fold agenda: to examine the performance of complex geometries available through computational design processes, and to translate the optimised design by digital manufacturing into construction and prototype (CNC/robotic fabrication). Based upon the development of a series of controlled variations derived through parametric and scripting methods, the elective aims to further expand an understanding of structural and acoustic performance of these geometries. It reviews an open system of design research in which design process, structural analysis and acoustic analysis are deployed to improve the acoustic and structural performance of complex spatial geometries, and derive fabrication knowledge for architectural practice. The unit of study extends students' knowledge of advanced computational design, interdisciplinary processes and fabrication methodologies by application of commercial and specialist 3D-modelling, scripting, analysis and manufacturing packages (including various software such as McNeel Rhino and Grasshopper, Karamba, RhinoNest and KUKA/prc).
DESA3011 Introduction to Building Construction

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Eugenia Gasparri Session: Semester 2 Classes: 3 hr lecture/tutorial/week Assessment: Two assignments (40%) and (60%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides a comprehensive overview of standard domestic scaled construction in Australia. It begins by introducing a number of recurrent themes in construction including the idea of building culture, the various modes of delivery and variety of classifications of buildings and building elements, rational construction and construction detailing from first principles. There follows a review of construction techniques of well-documented and/or accessible exemplars. Finally, the unit will review current issues related to key attributes of buildings which make them sustainable, particularly with regard to material selection, appropriate detailing and energy and resources conservation.
DESA3014 Finding Country

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Kevin O'Brien Session: Intensive July Classes: 5-day intensive Assessment: proposition (20%), mapping process (20%) and finding country (60%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study involves an intensive 4-day workshop focusing on 'finding country': that, is recuperating the erased or imperceptible layers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories within the urban fabric of Sydney. The workshop also aims to make propositions for urban interventions within the city fabric that would re-establish the value and importance of those histories to the cultural and experiential futures of the city.
DESA3441 Elective Travelling Studio 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Intensive June,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Classes: weekly meetings by arrangement Prerequisites: 48 credit points and WAM of at least 70. Assessment: report or equivalent (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit provides an opportunity to high achieving students to develop an interest in a specific Design Architecture topic; to develop skills in independent study; and to develop advanced report writing skills. This elective is undertaken with an agreement between the student and a supervisor on an agreed topic related to Design Architecture. The student will meet with the supervisor weekly to discuss progress. The outcome should be a reflective report on a selected topic demonstrating mastery of the topic.
DESA3442 Elective Travelling Studio 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Intensive June,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Classes: weekly meetings by arrangement Prerequisites: 48 credit points and WAM of at least 70. Assessment: report or equivalent (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit provides an opportunity to high achieving students to develop an interest in a specific Design Architecture topic; to develop skills in independent study; and to develop advanced report writing skills.
This elective is undertaken with an agreement between the student and a supervisor on an agreed topic related to Design Architecture. The student will meet with the supervisor weekly to discuss progress.
The outcome should be a reflective report on a selected topic demonstrating mastery of the topic.
DESA3443 Design Architecture Independent Study C

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: weekly meetings by arrangement Prerequisites: 48 credit points and WAM of at least 70. Assessment: report or equivalent (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit provides an opportunity to high achieving students to develop an interest in a specific Design Architecture topic; to develop skills in independent study; and to develop advanced report writing skills.
This elective is undertaken with an agreement between the student and a supervisor on an agreed topic related to Design Architecture. The student will meet with the supervisor weekly to discuss progress.
The outcome should be a reflective report on a selected topic demonstrating mastery of the topic.
DESA3444 Design Architecture Independent Study D

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: weekly meetings by arrangement Prerequisites: 48 credit points and WAM of at least 70. Assessment: report or equivalent (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit provides an opportunity to high achieving students to develop an interest in a specific Design Architecture topic; to develop skills in independent study; and to develop advanced report writing skills.
This elective is undertaken with an agreement between the student and a supervisor on an agreed topic related to Design Architecture. The student will meet with the supervisor weekly to discuss progress.
The outcome should be a reflective report on a selected topic demonstrating mastery of the topic.
DESA3551 Design Architecture General Elective A

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Intensive June,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Assessment: assignments as determined by unit coordinator (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This elective allows a group of students to pursue a topic proposed by a member of academic staff in a formal learning environment.
This unit of study is available to a minimum of 10 students to engage in a topic related to Design Architecture that is organised by a member of academic staff. This allows a member of staff to teach a topic of special interest or for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their specialty. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. The topic for this elective is proposed by a member of academic staff and approved by the Associate Dean (Education).
Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and tutorial exercises.
DESA3552 Elective Intensive Design Studio 1

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive February,Intensive January,Intensive June,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Prerequisites: 48 credit points. Assessment: assignments as determined by unit coordinator (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This elective allows a group of students to pursue a topic proposed by a member of academic staff in a formal learning environment.
This unit of study is available to a minimum of 10 students to engage in a topic related to Design Architecture that is organised by a member of academic staff. This allows a member of staff to teach a topic of special interest or for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their specialty. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. The topic for this elective is proposed by a member of academic staff and approved by the Associate Dean (Education).
Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and tutorial exercises.
DESA3553 Elective Intensive Design Studio 2

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive June,Intensive November,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Prerequisites: 48 credit points. Assessment: assignments as determined by unit coordinator (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This elective allows a group of students to pursue a topic proposed by a member of academic staff in a formal learning environment.This unit of study is available to a minimum of 10 students to engage in a topic related to Design Architecture that is organised by a member of academic staff. This allows a member of staff to teach a topic of special interest or for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their specialty. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. The topic for this elective is proposed by a member of academic staff and approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and tutorial exercises.
DESA3554 Intensive Design Studio 3

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Michael Muir Session: Intensive January,Intensive June,Semester 1,Semester 1a,Semester 1b,Semester 2,Semester 2a,Semester 2b Prerequisites: 48 credit points. Assessment: assignments as determined by unit coordinator (100%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This elective allows a group of students to pursue a topic proposed by a member of academic staff in a formal learning environment. This unit of study is available to a minimum of 10 students to engage in a topic related to Design Architecture that is organised by a member of academic staff. This allows a member of staff to teach a topic of special interest or for a visiting academic to teach a subject related to their specialty. Students will participate in lectures, tutorials, or other activities as needed to pursue the elective topic. The topic for this elective is proposed by a member of academic staff and approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Students will develop an understanding of a special topic through reports, projects, and tutorial exercises.
MARC6204 Graduate Exhibition

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Michael Tawa Session: Semester 2 Classes: 3-hour design intensives twice weekly in weeks 1-3 and 3-hour pre-production meetings and production intensives in weeks 9-14 Assessment: preliminary research, exhibition design and performance assessment (individual work) (40%); exhibition and yearbook (group work) (60%) Practical field work: 3-hour intensive fabrication workshops in Weeks 10-14 and as required to produce the exhibition. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit of study enables students to engage in a collaborative project to research, design and produce a high-profile public exhibition and accompanying yearbook of graduating work from the BDesArch and MArch programs. The project will exercise and extend design skills and knowledge required to produce a plausible concept for the exhibition and yearbook and to implement the necessary logistical, technical and practical means to realise it. The project integrates multiple activities which exercise different skill sets including research and precedent studies of exhibition, curation and potential venues; developing a critical, plausible and achievable concept for the event; budgeting and financial management; exhibition design; graphic design; construction and installation of the exhibition; production of the yearbook; consultation with stakeholders and implementation. Students will extend their research, design and implementation skills through a real project with a concrete outcome to real-time deadlines and resource limitations.
Architectural Science elective units of study
1000-level elective unit of study
DESA1004 Designing with Surfaces and Light

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 2 Classes: Online. Expected total workload is approximately 35 hours online, plus independent study and preparation. Lecture materials are available on the Canvas site. They consist of PDF files and Powerpoint slides. No lecture recordings are available. Prohibitions: DESA2612 Assessment: Assignment 1 (40%), Assignment 2 (60%) Mode of delivery: Online
Objects only become visible when light reflects off of them. This unit explores the ways in which light interacts with surfaces, objects, and the human visual system. Architectural design decisions regarding the lighting, as well as exterior and interior surfaces of a building, alter the perceptual experience of users and should be done thoughtfully.
This unit introduces students to the way humans perceive and experience the built environment. It covers some of the fundamental properties of light, mechanisms of human perception, and the ways that light interacts with surfaces. The application of these topics to design decisions is also discussed. Students demonstrate their understanding of the presented material and apply their knowledge to critically analyze their own environments.
Due to the high volume of interest in this course, all questions and enquiries will be answered in online discussion forums on Canvas, instead of in face-to-face consultation.
No early results are available for this unit. No extensions will be granted because of failed internet access.
2000-level and 3000-level elective units of study
DAAE2005 Designing with Colour

Credit points: 6 Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Online. Expected total workload is approximately 35 hours online, plus independent study and preparation. Lecture materials are available on the Canvas site. They consist of PDF files and Powerpoint slides. No lecture recordings are available. Assessment: Assignment 1 (40%), Assignment 2 (60%) Mode of delivery: Online
All design decisions involve decisions about colour within the fields of architecture, applied design and art. This unit presents knowledge about colour theory as well as research-based information about colour and associated topics that can be used in design. Information and knowledge about colour can vary in quality and reliability, which is demonstrated. Students apply their skills and knowledge about colour theory and colour design in the assignments of this unit. This unit covers the processes of colour vision and other aspects of visual perception. It also explores colour application from the Pre-history period, as well as selected colour theories of the Renaissance period through to the 21st Century. Common colour-related constructs and the application of these in art, architecture and design are discussed. In completing the assessment tasks, students must demonstrate understanding of the knowledge presented in learning modules of the unit and critically analyse and apply knowledge related to colour design and application.
Due to the high volume of interest in this course, all questions and enquiries will be answered in online discussion forums on Canvas, instead of in face-to-face consultation.
No early results are available for this unit. No extensions will be granted because of failed internet access.
DAAE2008 Innovative Building Structures

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Michael Muir Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture 2 hrs/wk; tutorial 1 hr/wk Prerequisites: BDES1023 Prohibitions: DESA2206 Assessment: Group Report (40%); Physical Test (20%);Individual Report (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The aim of this unit is to engage students in detailed studies of innovative building structures, covering the three aspects of innovation in architectural and structural design (modeling, materials and technology). The main topics covered are: architectural form and structural function; interpretation of basic (arch, beam, column, space and spatial portal) and advanced (truss, vault, dome, shell) structural principles with an intuitive graphical method (Load Path Method - LPM). Examples of significant case studies will be shown and interpreted (works by A. Gaudi, B. Fuller, F. Otto, N. Grimshaw, S. Calatrava, N. Foster, R. Piano and others); biomimetics; bioinspired structures as a way to increase structural efficiency. Innovative structural materials: the use of glass as structural material, innovative reinforcements for composite structures, smart and nanostructured materials; kinetic architecture: structural movement as the 4th architectural dimension. A case study assignment will be used to assess student's competence in investigating and presenting case studies and being able to identify and evaluate issues and factors contributing to innovative structural solutions.
DAAE3001 Sustainable Architectural Practice

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Daniel Ryan Session: Semester 1 Classes: lecture 2 hrs/wk, tutorial/lab 2 hrs/wk for weeks 1 to 12 Prerequisites: BDES1023 or (DAAE1001 and DESA3011) or (DAAE2002 and DESP1001) Assessment: Case Studies (30%), Design Exercise (70%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The unit of study begins by exploring the concept of ecologically sustainable design as it applies to architectural practice and defines those key attributes of buildings which make them sustainable. It discusses the implication of applying sustainable design principles upon contemporary architectural practice. This unit will cover the fundamentals of passive solar design, the environmental impact of building materials, water sensitive design and the environmental certification of buildings. Through the use of case studies and project work students will learn about how to design environmentally sustainable buildings by understanding contemporary trends in sustainable architectural practice, methods to critically evaluate environmental claims about buildings and will develop a personal position on applying sustainable design principles to architecture. This unit is an Architecture Elective in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture and elective in other courses.
Design Computing elective units of study
1000-level elective unit of study
DECO1012 Design Programming

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Liam Bray Session: Semester 1 Classes: seminar and tutorial 3 hrs/wk Assessment: submitted work (70%) and in-class assessments (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides an introduction to creative coding. It teaches an understanding of the fundamentals of computational thinking as well as skills in the design and implementation of software for creative expression and prototyping. It introduces students to tools for building interactive design applications through programming assignments, knowledge of programming concepts, and knowledge of the Javascript programming language. Key concepts covered in this unit include: object-oriented programming, control flows, and algorithmic thinking. Students learn how to design through the development of code, allowing them to incorporate programming into their own design projects as well as to collaborate effectively with software developers.
2000-level and 3000-level elective units of study
DAAE2011 Intro to Visual Communication Design

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Nathaniel Fay Session: Intensive February,Intensive July,Semester 1 Classes: Online: expected total workload is approximately 35 hours online, plus independent study and preparation. Prohibitions: DAAE2009 or DECO1015 or DECO2101 Assessment: Visual Design Assignments (85%), Quiz (15%) Mode of delivery: Online
This unit of study introduces students to the principles and practices of visual communication design for non-designers. Visual communication is an essential skill in today's complex world, for effectively communicating ideas, information, perspectives and proposals to diverse audiences in a variety of contexts. Students will learn about the theories of visual perception and psychology underlying visual design principles, and strategies for the composition of visual elements to produce effective and compelling visual presentations. On the successful completion of this unit of study, students will have demonstrated knowledge and skills in the understanding and application of visual design to produce and evaluate effective visual communication materials for a range of audiences.
DECO2010 Designing Social Media

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Ms Madeleine Borthwick Session: Intensive June,Semester 1 Classes: Lecture 1 hr/wk; tutorial 2 hrs/wk Assessment: Social Media Project (75%); Tutorial Activities (10%); Quizzes (15%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit provides students with an understanding of principles and technologies relevant to the design of social media, that is, media supporting social interaction. The unit covers the history and theory of social networks, techniques and methods for analysing social media networks, design principles and patterns for the creation of social media applications, and the development and delivery of social media strategy. Students will gain proficiency designing social media platforms and usage scenarios that solve a range of design challenges. Students will participate in, critically review and prototype social media platforms and content to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter.
DECO2015 Design for Innovation

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Karla Straker Session: Semester 2 Classes: lecture 1 hr/week; tutorial 2 hrs/week Assessment: analysis report (35%), project work (35%) and quizzes (30%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: It is recommended students first complete either DECO2016 or DECO1006 and/or DESN1000 before selecting this unit of study.
This unit of study introduces students to design strategies and techniques for developing alternative points of view and exploring multiple solutions iteratively. Through the analysis of real-world case studies students will develop an understanding for how to use design-thinking methods to tackle complex problems. The unit will discuss how design can be used as a method and as a way of thinking to drive innovation for products, services and processes. In the tutorial component, students will apply design strategies and techniques through small group exercises and develop a deeper understanding of them through the assessment items, which capture theory, analytical reflection and the practical application of methods.
DECO2101 Fundamentals of Visual Design

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Karla Straker Session: Semester 1 Classes: seminar 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DECO1015 Assessment: submitted work (80%) and in-class assessments (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
Note: This unit is for students who are not enrolled in the Bachelor of Design Computing. Students from the Bachelor of Design Computing should enrol in DECO1015.
This unit of study introduces students to the principles of visual design, including graphic design, colour theory and typography. Students will develop an understanding of how to successfully combine visual elements to effectively communicate an idea or concept, to describe a product, and to represent visual user interface elements in an interactive product. Using digital image manipulation tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, students will learn how to develop design concepts and how to turn concepts into visual communication materials in the form of digital images.
DECO2102 Introduction to Web-based Design

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Karla Straker Session: Semester 2 Classes: seminar 3 hrs/week Prohibitions: DECO1016 Assessment: submitted work (80%) and in-class assessments (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: This unit is for students who are not enrolled in the Bachelor of Design Computing. Students from the Bachelor of Design Computing should enrol in DECO1016.
This unit introduces students to web design and modern web technologies for the purpose of designing and prototyping web-based user interface solutions. Students will learn about design principles and patterns for the web and apply them in practical exercises that involve designing and creating interactive user interfaces. The unit will introduce interface sketching and wire-framing tools and techniques. A variety of media and platforms, such as desktop computers and mobile devices, will be discussed, with a focus on interaction design. Students will develop an understanding of web technologies and their role in user experience and interaction design, including the use of web technologies for prototyping user interfaces. Prototyping techniques covered in this unit include interface sketching and wire-framing to develop dynamic content and interactive designs.
DECO2103 Architectural Modelling and Prototyping

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Rizal Muslimin Session: Semester 1 Classes: Lecture 1 hr/wk, tutorial 2 hrs/wk Prerequisites: DESA1555 and completion of at least 36 credit points Assumed knowledge: Basic understanding of design principles and design processes and how to apply them in practical design projects Assessment: Assessment 1 (25%), Assessment 2 (35%), Assessment 3 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit teaches students basic understanding of digital modelling and architectural prototyping. Students will develop skills in creating and using 3D modelling software for various design tasks. The unit further introduces students to rapid prototyping fabrication techniques, such as 3D printing and laser cutting with the aim to understand how to prepare a digital model for physical fabrication. Students will learn how physical objects are represented in 3D digital models by modelling various 3D geometric entities. Key concepts covered in this unit include: joinery, composite material and solid modelling.
DECO2016 Design Thinking

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mrs Madeleine Borthwick Session: Semester 2 Classes: lecture 1 hr/week; tutorial 2 hrs/week Prohibitions: DECO1006 Assessment: submitted work (70%), in-class assessments (10%) and quizzes (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Not available to students in the Bachelor of Design Computing and the Bachelor of Architecture and Environments.
This unit of study provides an introduction to design methods and their application in a human-centred design process. The unit structure follows the stages of a typical design process, which are: define, understand, ideate, prototype, evaluate and reflect. A series of lectures and tutorial sessions are dedicated to each of these stages, allowing students to gain a deep understanding of and experience with design thinking methods. Students will learn how to balance convergent and divergent thinking at various stages throughout the design process, and how to use these methods to respond to a design brief requiring both analysis and synthesis. Students will learn to build empathy with users, identify the problem space, develop value-driven design concepts and persuasively communicate design proposals with an emphasis on the user experience through visual storytelling.
DECO3101 Innovation Design Studio

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Karla Straker Session: Semester 1 Classes: lecture 1 hr/week; tutorial 2 hrs/week Assessment: reflection report (30%), design project (45%) and tutorial activities (25%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: It is recommended students first complete either DECO2016 or DECO1006 and DECO2015 before selecting this unit of study.
This unit of study provides a format for deep engagement with design and innovation methods. Students will develop responses to a real-world design problem that requires the application of students' existing disciplinary skills combined with knowledge in an interdisciplinary context. Projects are student-led, allowing students to identify projects that are linked to their interests and discipline-specific career paths. Through interactive group work, facilitated by experienced design mentors, students will learn how to negotiate interdisciplinary requirements and boundaries. All projects developed in this unit of study are expected to address some element of innovation in an existing product, service or process. Students will be able to apply methods acquired in other units of study, and will learn about new methods through weekly project work and reviews.
DECO3006 Animation and Motion Design

This unit of study is not available in 2020

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Mr Nathaniel Fay Session: Semester 2 Classes: Lecture 1 hr/wk, tutorial 2 hrs/wk Prohibitions: DECO1017 Assessment: Animation Assignments (80%); Quizzes (20%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit introduces students to the fundamental principles of animation and its role in interaction design. Students will develop an understanding of the process involved in developing character, text and motion graphics based animation, the integration between 2D artwork and 3D composition, and techniques and tools for audio recording and production to support animation. Assessments in this unit focus on the application of animation in user interface design as well as for the production of short animated films. Students will acquire basic animation skills, develop the skills to create an animated sequence, and learn the critical vocabulary to describe animation. Basic knowledge will be related to foundational technical skills in industry standard software for animation.
Planning elective units of study
1000-level elective unit of study
DAAE1001 Living Cities

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Dallas Rogers Session: Semester 2 Classes: lecture 2 hrs/week (weeks 1-6), 1 hr/week (weeks 7-13); tutorial 1 hr/week (weeks 1-6), 2 hrs/week (weeks 7-13) Assumed knowledge: DECO1006 and DECO1012 and BDES1011 and AWSS1001 Assessment: assessment 1 (30%); assessment 2 (30%); assessment 3 (40%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study reviews the challenges involved in planning the contemporary urban environment. It covers a range of perspectives, including urban planning, urban design and heritage. Students will examine the evolution of towns and cities from the first settlements to the modern metropolis, and explore the cultural, economic, political and digital drivers that shape the urban environment. It asks, 'why did cities evolve?', 'what purpose do cities serve?', 'who is the city for?', and 'how are decisions made about cities?' The contemporary urban environment is explored as a dynamic and continually evolving 'living city' that is co-created by architects, planners, urban designers and other public and private stakeholders. On the successful completion of this unit of study, students will have demonstrated an understanding of the importance of planning in shaping our towns and cities through time. They will have a basic knowledge of the key ideas that are needed for formulating planning and urban design proposals.
Textbooks
Course material, announcements and assessment submission will be available at www.canvas.sydney.edu.au
2000-level elective unit of study
BADP2002 City Form and Development

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Adrienne Keane Session: Semester 1 Classes: lecture 2 hrs/week, tutorial 1 hr/week Prerequisites: DAAE1001 or (DAAE2002 and ENGG1850) Assessment: assessment 1 (individual) (30%), assessment 2 (40%), assessment 3 (group) (20%), participation (10%) Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit builds on the content of Living Cities and introduces students to the modern formal domains of planning, urban design and heritage conservation. The focus will be on two main areas of debate, namely, city form and structure, and secondly, the planning and development processes on which the formal planned city is made. The unit will establish the context in which the role of planners, architects and urban designers in the process of building the 'incremental' city is understood, from the site to precinct, neighbourhood and city wide levels. Elements of city form and structure are analysed, as well as mobility, transport, land use, infrastructure and current policy responses at a metropolitan and local level in meeting urban growth needs. The unit will also overview the development process including the framework in which architects, planners and property developers must work. Using a contemporary planning framework, the nature of development assessment, strategic planning and the community's role within this framework are explored. Criticisms and reform agendas around frameworks will be examined. Informal urbanism is also introduced in this unit to address development that occurs outside the domain of formal western regulated planning and design systems.
Textbooks
Course material, announcements and assessment submission will be available at www.canvas.sydney.edu.au