Bachelor of Design in Architecture (Urban Design & Planning)/(Digital Arch)/( Allied Arts in Arch.)

DESIGN PRACTICE 3A

Year 3, March Semester, 2006, 12 credit points

Coordinator: Kristine Sodersten

Aims

The aim of this unit of study, together with the following unit, Design Practice 3B, is to develop your architectural design abilities in all areas, both pragmatic and poetic, to a pre-professional level.

• Progressive use of knowledge

Consistent with the aims of the course as a whole, you will be required to use the understanding you have gained in all your previous core units of study. You will be required to build on that understanding.

• Scale and complexity of projects

In this unit, and also in Design Practice 3B, you will be engaged in architecture at the scale of the city. In both units of study the emphasis is on complex, medium scale design projects, resolved to increasingly high level of competence as you move from Design Practice 3A to 3B.

• Consultants

As projects of this type are the result of collaboration with teams of architects and other design professionals, including consultants, there is increased emphasis on collaborative working with consultants, within groups.

• Designing skills

You will also be required interpret multiple levels of complex interacting design issues, problems and opportunities. These will include site, context and programmatic issues, organisational, formal and

spatial issues, programming interpretation, materiality realisation and interpretative skill.

• Research

Research is a key aspect of the design project in this unit of study. Research will inform all aspects of the design, and you are expected to show how you have used evidence from your research to investigate, develop and interpret the clients requirements in a developed brief, in your design intent, and in your design proposal.

• Technical Design Skills

The knowledge you will be required to understand and demonstrate includes the following:

• the design of key aspects of the internal environment of a medium scale building and impact of design decisions upon aspects of the external environments.

• the construction and materiality of your designs particularly typical systems of construction for medium scale buildings and their design for particular circumstances.

• sufficient structural understanding to develop architectural structural strategies for medium scale buildings.

• Communications

A high level of your skills in communicating your designs in verbal, digital and physical graphic and modelled form will be required to clearly demonstrate your understanding at a high level of pre-professionalism required in this unit.

Objectives

On the successful completion of this unit you will have demonstrated at a high level:

  • your ability to research, interpret and express poetic and pragmatic in your design, based on the evidence from your own and others’ research, including:
  • Social, cultural and physical context and site issues
  • Developed brief, planning and organization
  • Form, spatial expression, materiality and environmental performance

To do this you will be need to use critical thinking, investigative, interpretative and problem-solving skills and scholarship to inform your design decisions at all levels, including the study of precedents; You will need to use self-reliance, initiative and resourcefulness in finding information, references, case studies etc for the project, and take responsibility for your learning.

  • your understanding of environmental, construction and structural issues, through embodying your knowledge in the proposal and detailed development of your building design.
  • your ability to reflect upon, evaluate, understand and improve your own designing.
  • your ability to communicate and express of your design intent, concepts and proposals.
Skillsof graduates of the University of Sydney

These general skills apply in all areas of your life but particularly in design. Through successfully completing this unit of study you will develop the following generic skills:

• your collaborative skills, through researching in small groups.

• your reflective skills, particularly in evaluating your own work and development, leading to effective reflective professional practice and life-long learning.

• your knowledge skills, through the increasing your body of knowledge in the field and applying theory to practice in an new situation through applying knowledge to the design of a building in a specific context, and through carrying out field studies

• your thinking skills, through accounting for your decision-making in designing, and through being realistic self-evaluator; by adopting a problem-solving approach and by creative and imaginative thinking in solving design problems.

• your personal skills and attributes, particularly your life-long learning skills, through taking further personal responsibility for your learning, developing increased self-reliance and developing your judgement in designing.

• your practical skills in the field of study

Workload
Workload in terms of total student effort required to get a pass level result for this unit of study is 312 hours

This includes both timetabled and non-timetabled work.

• contact time : 126 hours
• weekly preparation time: 12 hours average per week for 9 weekly studio sessions this semester = 108 hours on average

assignment preparation: 78 hours on average

Role of this unit of study

This mandatory unit of study in the BDesArch program will be expect students to use the knowledge gained in the pre-requisite unit for the BArch – ‘Contemporary Architecture and Theory’ to inform their designing. Design Practice 3A and 3B are central to the program, worth 50% of the course, and together with the pre-requisite in each semester, accounts for 75% of the course. This unit of study is required as a key part of all streams you are taking, and it relates directly to the practice of the profession of Architecture and all its related forms. It forms the basis for further applied study and practice in all the fields related to the built environment, from Project Management through to Heritage Conservation.

Structure of this Unit of Study

As with the degree as a whole, the unit of study is organised into three domains of knowledge. In this unit of study, the relevant knowledge explored in each particular section of the domain knowledge is required to be applied to the design project.

Design, social and cultural studies,
architectural history, theory:• Social and cultural issues, design theories and knowledge, contextual, formal, spatial,issues

• Precedents in architecture

• Communication of design

Environmental, Structures

and construction:• Environmental strategies: sun, wind, fire and rain.

• Ergonomics, planning

• Construction systems, strategies, materials and details

• Services

• Structural decisions and strategies
• Teaching Structure and Studio

In the studio the knowledge explored will be investigated on Mondays and in the BArch prerequisite units of study, through seminars, lectures, studio, laboratories, tutorials, workshops or field studies, and this will be followed by studio on Tuesday with group and individual tutorials on your design, work in small groups with an individual tutor. You are free to consult with other tutors. You will have your own drawing/work table in your group area and you will have 24-hour access to the building. Card access will be required to the building, your studio, and the computer labs outside normal opening hours.

• Drawing equipment and materials

Bring to all sessions: model-making materials for study models and drawing paper and equipment – butter paper or similar

Difficulties

• Breakdown of communication with your tutor.

Changing groups can only be through irretrievable breakdown of communication with your tutor and after three weeks into semester there will be no changes. Group numbers must be maintained and exchanges found only if exchange is essential. Make an appointment to speak directly with your Design Practice/Year Coordinator first. After discussion, a cooling-off period of at least one-week will be required, followed by another interview, before any change can be considered.

• Concerns about assessment

Concerns can range from arithmetical error, to concerns about a mark, to concerns about the assessment procedures, to a concern about a tutor’s biased judgement.

All students have the right to ask for a re-assessment, however during parity, all tutors look at your work.

In a formal re-presentation and assessment the original mark is discarded and a new mark replaces the old, which may be lower or higher than, or the same as the original. Requests for a formal re-examination must be in writing.

See your unit of study lecturer first if you are concerned by the outcome of an assessment. If your concerns have not been resolved, see your Year or Program Coordinator or then Head of School – you must set out your concerns in writing – either email or a letter. Act sooner rather than later. Resolution can include a re-mark using same or new examiners, clarifying of issues, fixing arithmetical or other errors.

• Complaints

The University has a structured system of dealing with complaints – see MyUni or your unit of study lecturer, Year or Program Coordinator, the Head of School, the Associate Dean Undergraduate, the Professor of Architecture. Write, send an email or make an appointment. Act sooner rather than later to resolve issues .

University email communication

Check you university email regularly as it will be the way any changes of plan, clarifications etc are issued.

Consultancy hours – coordinator

I will be available at the following times for consultation:

Mondays 1.30 –3.30pm by scheduled appointments – there are 15 minute appointment slots for these sessions on the schedule on my door Room 322.

and 3.30pm – 4pm by special appointments – please contact me by email or phone to make and confirm an appointment.

My contact details are set out at the end of this handout.

Unit of Study Timetable

The generic timetable issued in Week 1 will be updated as required. Individual lecturers may also issue more detailed schedules for their particular classes. It is each student’s responsibility to be aware of when particular activities take place. Field trips or practical sessions may take place off campus Please make sure you know the location of all classes and observe starting times. Note that attendance is mandatory (compulsory) for all Design Practice sessions – see details further on in this handout.

Unit of Study Attendance and Assessment Requirements

Assessment – competency and achievement levels

The approach to competency and merit grading of assessed summative tasks Design Practice 3A and 3B, and in the degree as a whole, is based on the standards-referencing approach, where your achievements are measured against a competency standard and assessed against criteria, rather than norm-referencing approach, where your achievements are compared with the work of other students undertaking the same assessment.

Summative assessment tasks

•Mastery tasks must be passed – Satisfactory or Not Satisfactory results will be given

Satisfactory submissions will receive competency merit grades of C (Competent), HC (highly competent or Superior) and OC (outstandingly competent or Outstanding) will be given for satisfactory submissions.

Unsatisfactory submissions will either be given extra work as a Resubmission, or a Fail.

Resubmissionswill be offered if the work is deemed by the examiners to be able to reach pass standard within the time available and with a small amount of extra work.

Late submissions – see below under ‘Late Work’

Special Consideration – if you are ill, suffer misadventure or if your work is late due to the failure of University equipment you may apply for an extension to submission dates under the Special Consideration policy. See under ‘Late Work’ below.

Attendance

Attendance at all sessions of Design Practice 3A is mandatory. Attendance means arriving at the time required – usually 9 or 10 am, and staying until lectures or studio ends [usually 5 pm except on presentation days, when presentation may go to 7.30 pm or 8 pm – tell your tutor if you have a class or work after 6 pm so you can be scheduled earlier]. Two early departures or late arrivals to studio are acceptable. Attendance is recorded in studio by your tutor.

‘Not Satisfactory’ for attendance results in failure to pass. If you are absent, bring to the Coordinator (Kristine) a Special Consideration Form with documented reasons for absence. You are expected to put in a full day’s work on Design Practice days. Studio is a preliminary experience for professional work in an office.

Assessment tasks

1. Mastery• Research topic report: due end of day, Monday 20 March 06 by electronic submission (groups)

2. Mastery/feedback• Interim: design presentation Monday 24 April 06,

4. Feedback• 27 June 05.

3. Summative tasks • Final Presentation of Design (55%) , Evidence-based Design Research Report (20%) and Design Development (Drawings and Report) (25%)

• Design drawings, models and 1:20 section to be SUBMITTED Monday 29 May 06, 3pm to 5 pm.

• Final Presentation of design9.00amTuesday 30 May 06

• Evidence-based Design Research Report and Design DevelopmentReport submitted by 5.00 pm Friday 17 June for assessment

Design Development (Drawings and Report) will be assessed by consultants and tutors in your absence on Monday 21 June and Tuesday 22 June 05

• All Resubmitted work due Tuesday 12 July 05

[Winter School -see below under Resubmissions - for selected students Monday 20 June , then Monday 27 June to Friday 1 July

work due Friday 1 July in studio – to be confirmed ]

Late Work

NO LATE PRESENTATIONS for Interim design or Final Presentation WILL BE ACCEPTED EXCEPT IF DUE TO ILLNESS OR MISADVENTURE.

Submissions of Design Development Report will be subject to the published Faculty Late Policy.

As Design Presentation submission date is prior to presentation, late submissions will be subject to the published Faculty Late Policy.

Note that the Faculty of Architecture Special Consideration, Late Submission and Attendance policy has changed. It is available on the Architecture website under ‘Current Students’ ( YOU are strongly advised to familiarise yourself with these policies early in the semester.

Apply for extension on the yellow forms as required (on Architecture Faculty website under ‘Current students – forms’), and after your application is signed by the coordinator or lecturer in charge of the unit of study, submit the completed forms together with any required certification, to the Student Services Office on level 4 of Wilkinson Building within 7 days of illness etc unless prevented by serious circumstances such as hospitalisation. You will be notified by e (Supply a copy to the Coordinator and submit a copy with your submission).

•Special Consideration – if you are ill you may apply for an extension to submission dates under the Special Consideration policy. See under ‘Late Work’ above. See Faculty of Architecture home page on the website Note the limitations to receiving Special Consideration, and the definitions of major and minor illness.

• Extensions – see Faculty Late Policy and Special Consideration Policy. If your work is late due to the failure of University equipment you may apply for an extension – see above policies.

Satisfactory submissions - Pass

Performance merit grades of C [competent], HC [highly competent] and OC [outstandingly competent] will be given for submissions which meet pass requirements and demonstrate identified levels of excellence in meeting assessment criteria.

The final mark and grade for Design Practice 3A, which will be awarded to each student at the end of the semester will be High Distinction (HD), Distinction (D), Credit (CR), Pass (P): for passing grades

INC indicates that your assessment is incomplete [either due to illness or the requirement to submit additional work.]

Findicates that you have failed to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

These grades are based on your competency grades (see following section for details)

There are three principal assessments for this semester. The One-day Design Project forms 10% of the total summative assessment and the major Design Project forms 60% of the total summative assessment, and the Design Development Drawings and Report submission forms 30% of the total.

For conversion to grades, the competency indicators are weighted approximately —

OC5

HC3

C1

However consistencency at a high level (OC) is rated more highly overall.

Unsatisfactory submissions - Resubmission

Students whose submissions are assessed as not satisfactory but in the judgement of the examiner show evidence that they could be brought up to a pass standard with some extra work (but no extra teaching on that task), may be resubmitted. This is a requirement for awarding resubmission, and is set out in the University of Sydney Examiner’s manual.

All Resubmissions in Design will be ‘major resubmission required’.

• Resubmission of One-day design project: all unsatisfactory work will be given a resubmission, due the following Tuesday at 10am.

• Resubmission of the Major Design Project: Students must attend a one-week ‘Winter School’ program on 20 June then from 27 June to 1 July, pass this satisfactorily, and pass satisfactorily the Design Development (Report and Drawings) of the Major Design project before they may resubmit their major design project. Failing to satisfy either or both the Winter School and the Design Development of the major project will result in a ‘Fail’ result for Design Practice 3A. (details will be handed out at the time).

• Resubmission of the Design Development (Drawings and Report) of the Major Design Project.

Resubmission of a key component/s of one or more Sections of the Design Development (Drawings and Report) will be a ‘Major resubmission’ while a resubmission of a minor component of one or more Sections will be a ‘Minor resubmission’ required.

• Fail result if a ‘resubmit’ is given for both major Design project and Design Development Report

Students whose work is below pass standard in the Major Design Project (60%) and is given a Resubmission, and then whose work is again below pass standard (‘Major resubmission required’) in Design Development of the major project (Drawings and Report) (30%), will not be given opportunity to resubmit, and will have failed to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

To clarify: if a student’s work is accorded a ‘Major Resubmission’ in both the Major Design project and Design Development of the major project (Drawings and Report) at the end of the final semester of Year 3 in Design Practice 3A, this will be recorded as an outright Fail.