The Honours programme consists of three main subject streams: Design, research and professional practice.
Studios are designed as stand-alone quarter modules, with the option of linking studios per theme or site of investigation in each quarter or across different quarters. Integration with ongoing research projects and collaboration with communities and practitioners results in a rich variety of studio experiences. Examples over the last few years have included participatory research and co-design studios, human-centred and interface design, archive and heritage studios, biodiversity enhancement and ecological design, climate adaptation and sustainable precincts, as well as urban strategy studios.
The course comprises design methodologies, methods, and techniques relevant to the field, discipline or practice of architectural design, and an understanding of how to apply such knowledge in a particular context. Appropriate theoretical underpinning is assimilated by way of seminars and discussions. As the Department of Architecture offers studies in three architectural disciplines, students are encouraged to participate in studios other than their own discipline for two quarters, where the possibility exists, retaining one design quarter in their own discipline and the final quarter for their own disciplinary focus.
The pedagogical sequence of the studios ensures that students are exposed to a variety of research and design generation methods, eventually synthesising this knowledge in a critically reflective process of iteration towards detailed design resolution:
Research Field Studies comprise the basics of good research practice, along with research methodologies, methods and techniques relevant to the field, discipline or practice of architectural design, and how these are introduced and applied in a particular context. In essence students are led to work across the four quarters on a research report. The course is structured around four main study themes, which deal with data gathering research instruments and the practical application of research to form design principles and design guidelines; the research process; research methodology and finally research outcomes that considers the skills and considerations for research write up and dissemination.
The Continuing Practice Development stream considers the practical, technological, legal and practice related aspects of the professions in the built environment to establish an ecosystemic understanding of the scientific, natural, and cultural settings within which designers work, together with the impacts of construction (building science) on individuals and society.
During the first quarter, advanced construction, technology and structural systems are considered from a philosophical perspective, to embed environmental stewardship in the mind of the designer, inclusive of the three disciplines of architecture. In the second quarter, the course explores the application of a variety of building technologies and their implementation. The objective is to develop cognisance of the origin, application, and long-term performance of specific building technologies.
In the third quarter the course aims to enable the student to technically develop and model an architectural design which considers certain critical technical and sustainable design considerations such as thermal comfort, water consumption, daylighting, carbon footprint and energy consumption. This is done through continued development and assessment of the performance of the design in terms of above-mentioned criteria. During the final quarter, the legal responsibilities implied in professional practice are explored. The course aims to introduce and instill an awareness and understanding of professional practice issues and the larger legislative frameworks in which professionals in the built environment operate.
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