ARCH72-502: Architecture and Urbanism: Design Thesis Studio

Description

The Architecture and Urbanism: Design Thesis Studio is the final studio project in the Masters sequence and represents a synthesis of comprehensive architectural understanding. This studio-based subject shall focus upon the development of a single project over the duration of the semester which explores subjects related to a contemporary cultural, environmental, technical or social context.

This subject builds upon skills and concepts developed in the Studios and other complementary subjects in the Master’s program.  The subject matter for this project will already have been agreed during the Design Thesis Research and Development subject, during which students will have undertaken a significant amount of research, site analysis, brief development, and concept design work.

Projects are required to be developed to a high degree of resolution in terms of tectonic, spatial and experiential quality, contextual, cultural, social and environmental considerations, technical proficiency, and conceptual rigour to demonstrate the potential significance of the thesis proposition.

Projects may vary in scale, site, project brief, and complexity per topic. Students will be expected to engage in the work of the thesis at the highest level of individual motivation, resourcefulness, and inquisitiveness as would be expected of professional level studies.

Students shall develop and submit a written account and critical reflection of their thesis investigation of a minimum of 3000 words.  This work will have been started in the Design Thesis Research and Development subject, and aims to situate the work into a broader context to demonstrate, reflect, or question the validity of the thesis proposition and its impact upon the field and/or society at large.

The thesis design is to be presented to fully communicate the nature of the project according to its context and theoretical underpinning.

Subject details

Learning outcomes

1. Demonstrate independent judgement and critical analysis skills to conceive, research, theoretically situate, develop, design and reflect on an architectural project from its inception.
2. Develop iterative speculative propositional design work in parallel with undertaking evidence-based design research to arrive at a synthesis of design resolution between the competing factors of a design project.
3. Present a body of design work that is developed from a clearly stated thesis question and is situated in the context of historical, theoretical, and disciplinary knowledge and awareness through written and visual presentation.
4. Create and evaluate design options for formal, spatial, material, sociocultural and environmental consideration through the tools of contemporary architectural visualization and making.
5. Demonstrate the ability to critique and reflect iteratively upon one’s design work to further develop a body of work and be able to contextualize that as knowledge within a broader disciplinary and cultural framework.

Enrolment requirements

Subject outlines

• September 2021 [Standard]
• January 2021 [Standard]
• September 2020 [Standard]
• May 2020 [Standard]
• January 2020 [Standard]
• September 2019 [Standard]
• May 2019 [Standard]
• January 2019 [Standard]
• September 2018 [Standard]
• May 2018 [Standard]
• January 2018 [Standard]
• September 2017 [Standard]
• May 2017 [Standard]

Subject dates