ARCH 7034 - Studio: Urbanism (M)

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2018

This is a studio interrogating theories and practices of urban design. Students are to develop an urban design project demonstrating understanding of the interconnected variety of technical, social and cultural influences upon development of projects considered at the scale of the city. Projects may be located within, but are not limited to, Adelaide. Following examinations of a chosen site, students identify and pursue their own project in response to site-specific issues. These are compared against issues of international significance, treating the specific context as a laboratory for testing ideas against understandings of global urban conditions, infrastructure and city development.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code ARCH 7034
    Course Studio: Urbanism (M)
    Coordinating Unit School of Architecture and Built Environment
    Term Semester 2
    Level Postgraduate Coursework
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 6
    Contact Up to 6 hours per week for 12 weeks
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Restrictions Available to M.Arch (Cswk), M.LArch, M.Plan, M.Plan(UD), M.Arch/M.LArch and M.LARch/M.Plan(UD) students only
    Assessment Essays, written assignments, illustrated verbal presentations, preparation of variety of other graphic, visual and physical model-based materials
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Dr Jo Russell-Clarke

    Coordinator for 2018: Dr Jo Russell-Clarke

    Tutors: 
    (To be determined)
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

    Elaboration for 2017 Iteration
    This studio explores the layers of infrastructures and their associated regimes and affordances that structure and shape our urban existences. The studio aims to grasp and map the infrastructural landscapes that vein the urban territory and lifeworlds; and then project, speculate, articulate and visualise new conjunctions of these infrastructures, that enable enhanced or alternative forms of urban occupation and experience.

    We will be working with a broad and inclusive definition of infrastructure that encompasses both hard and soft aspects - potentially ranging from natural (hydrology, topography, ecologies); built space (housing, workplaces, transportation, open space); services (energy; water); institutional (police, health, education); to digital/virtual (IT+communications, media, collective memory). Infrastructure’s distinctive characteristic is invisibility - we will be aiming to make it visible, tangible and interesting. The purpose of the studio is to partly to reveal and then animate, enliven, and imaginatively occupy or interact with this invisible artificial landscape.

    An overview of course activities will be given in the first lecture, on Wednesday 26 July, 2017.
  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes

    On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

    1. Demonstrate familiarity with the history of urban design, the planned development of cities and the diverse historic range of disciplines and stakeholders involved in this development.
    2. Apply and extend skills learnt in earlier studies including written and graphic modes of communication (hand-drawing as well as digitally produced drafting and image-manipulation), research methods and critical thinking. In particular to refine imaging and mapping techniques for examination, development and communication of specific propositions.
    3. Analyse and ulitise mappings of environments as complex, interconnected natural and cultural systems including, but not limited to: infrastructural (‘green’, transportation, communication, energy, etc), hydrological, biophysical, economic, political and legislative processes.
    4. Produce urban design propositions that engage critically with their project’s physical, political and historic contexts.
    5. Demonstrate understanding the ways in which urban design develops cogently informed, sensitive and appropriate development scenarios, including appreciation of the necessity to articulate and argue terms for such sensitivity and appropriateness, rather than apply the received ideas of others as self-evidently correct.
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1,2,3,4,5
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    3,4,5
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    1,2,5
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    4,5
    Intercultural and ethical competency
    • adept at operating in other cultures
    • comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
    • able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
    • demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
    3,4,5
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    1,4,5
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    The intellectual impetus for this studio is drawn largely from two books: 
    1. Keller Easterling. Extrastatespace. London, Verso, 2014. 
    2. Kazys Varnelis, Ed. The Infrastructural City. Barcelona: Actar, 2009.
    Reference will be made to the materials in these books during the course. Ambitious students are advised to familiarise themselves with these books and the work of their respective authors/editors, and engage their ideas in the course of developing their studio work.
    Recommended Resources
    Please refer to MyUni for details of recommended readings and websites.

    Speaker Series:
    The School has a fortnightly lecture series where respected practitioners and academics from the field deliver a public lecture on contemporary architectural practice. In order to expand your knowledge of contemporary directions in design it is recommended that you attend these sessions. The exact detail of dates and speakers is available from the School website and the Front Office.
    Online Learning
    MyUni is an essential online tool which will be used to communicate information regarding the course including details of assignments and interim grades. Learning resources including recorded lectures and assessment pieces will rely on the MyUni system for delivery. Therefore it is recommended that you familiarise yourself with the various functions of MyUni and employ it to its fullest extent. https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au

    Noticeboard / Handbook:
    General information about the activities at the School is available online from the Student Noticeboard which can be accessed at
    https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/professons-studentarchitecture/ current-student 
    Students can also access a copy of the Student Handbook at the following link:
    https://architecture.adelaide.edu.au/docs/2016Maystudenthandbook.pdf
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    No information currently available.

    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The University expects full-time students (ie. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote at least 48 hours per week to their studies. Accordingly, students undertaking this 3 unit course are expected to devote 12 hours per week to contact activities and self-guided studies.

    Based on this framework here are some figures that might assist workload management (delete as appropriate):

    For a 6 unit course:
    Total workload hours: 24 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 312 Hrs
    Total contact hours: 6 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 72 Hrs
    Total self-guided study: 312 Hrs – 72 Hrs = 240 Hrs

    These 240 hours should be used towards preparation of weekly tasks and for completion of the various assignments associated with the course, including development of various skills required to complete the same. Please organise your time wisely.
    Learning Activities Summary

    No information currently available.

  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    #Assessment TaskTask TypeWeightDue Date/WeekLearning Outcomes
    A1 "Mappings" Group 30% W5 (Wed, Aug 23)
    A2 "Knottings" Individual 30% W9 (Wed, Oct 4)
    A3 "Occupations" Individual 30% W12 (Wed, Oct 25)
    Participation Individual 10% Ongoing
    Total 100%
    Assessment Detail
    A1 “Mappings"
    Conducted in groups of 5-6 students each, this assignment aims to revealing the layered patterns and fields of urban infrastructure. Several modes, scales, and methods are available here, including manual and digital techniques; close and distant readings, documentations and graphic analyses.

    A2 “Knottings”
    Devising conjunctions, intersections, hybridisations of these layers and trajectories to yield points of intensity or complexity, registered or expressed spatially.

    A3 “Occupations"
    Fertilising these knots with human activity; spatial programming; aesthetic character; social meaning - and rendering all this in some intelligible way graphically.

    Further detail of assignments will be provided as the course progresses.
    Submission

    No information currently available.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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