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ARCT30040

Academic Year 2025/2026

Architectural Design VI (ARCT30040)

Subject:
Architecture
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Architecture, Plan & Env Pol
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
15
Module Coordinator:
Dr Peter Cody
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module is dedicated to the design of a public building with a complex functional brief and its integration with the surrounding context. The programme examines potential relationships between form, function, space and assembly that can be realised when a building is designed in tandem with the broader environment and social context in which it is made. It calls for consideration between the making of a collective space and the underpinning of communal identity, understanding this can be better fostered through design that is centred on the needs of a particular place and community at a point in time.

This is a studio based programme. The teaching of the module is carried out through design seminars, workshops, presentations, travel, reviews and individual and group tuition in the studio. Attendance during all design studio sessions is therefore mandatory. Students are encouraged to challenge accepted assumptions and perceptions about the design and making of public space through their interpretation and development of the brief. To achieve this they are expected to participate in and contribute to an open discussion of ideas. They must be self motivated and capable of progressing the design of their project through models, drawings and other appropriate media via a series of interim submissions to an accomplished level in the final presentation.

Students must complete all parts of the 2no. projects in this module and are required to submit an individual collated and organised A1 physical portfolio of their trimester's work including all drawings, photographs of models, rough-work and sketches etc. that demonstrate the required learning outcomes, and a separate A3 reflection document (pdf) in both digital and hardcopy. All of the learning outcomes must be adequately demonstrated to pass the module. The first four weeks of the trimester are dedicated to a primer project. This project is a must pass component of the overall grade and is graded separately.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Learning Outcomes Project 01, 
On completion of this module students should be able to:



01. Demonstrate an ability to survey, draw, research and analyse existing and historic buildings, and urban settings and to use the findings as an active component in the design process. 20

0

2. Demonstrate the ability to make appropriate and well-considered design interventions in a specified context through the integration of existing structures, urban settings with proposed new forms and functions. 40

0

3. Demonstrate the ability to develop a project through an iterative and rigorous work process, employing both conceptual and analytical thinking and the required range of work methods, techniques and scales. 20

0

4. Demonstrate an ability to use the required representational skills at various stages of the study/design project to investigate and communicate the work coherently. 20

Learning Outcomes Project 02, 
On completion of this module students should be able to:

01. Demonstrate an ability to survey, draw, research and analyse existing and historic buildings, urban settings and to use the findings as an active component in the design process. 30



02. Demonstrate the ability to make appropriate and well-considered design interventions in a specified context through the integration of existing structures, urban settings with proposed new forms and functions. 30



03. Demonstrate the ability to develop a project through an iterative and rigorous work process, employing both conceptual and analytical thinking and the required range of work methods, representation techniques and scales. 20



04. Demonstrate the ability to integrate construction, structure and materials into a synthetic design proposal that at the same time acknowledges and compliments the natural environment. 10



05. Demonstrate the ability to integrate environmental issues and concerns into a synthetic design proposal across all scales. 10



Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Studio

272

Autonomous Student Learning

88

Total

360


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
- active/task-based learning
- peer and group work
- lectures
- lab/studio work
- enquiry and problem-based learning
- student presentation
- case studies

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

A minimum of D- grade in ARCT 20050 Architectural Design IV


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Pre-requisite:
ARCT20050 - Architectural Design III

Co-requisite:
ARCT30010 - Architectural Design V


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Portfolio: An individual, collated A1 physical portfolio of work for project no.1 completed during weeks 1-4.
It must include all required drawings, photographs of models, rough-work and sketchbooks.
Week 14, Week 15 Graded Yes
20
Yes
Portfolio: An individual, collated A1 physical portfolio of work. It must include all drawings, photographs of models, rough-work and sketchbooks prepared over the semester. To include an A3 Reflective Document. Week 14, Week 15 Graded No
80
No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

- Written feedback will be given to students during the trimester after week 7.

Gaston Bachelard - “The Poetics of Space” - (memory & dwelling)
Anthony Vidler - “Site and Sight” - (architecture + memory in modernity)
Anthony Vidler - Histories of the Immediate Present
Colin Rowe’s essays (memory and collage in design)
Rachel Whiteread - House (cast architecture) - negative space as memory of absence.
Aldo Rossi - The Architecture of the City, II. Architecture, Memory & Time
Juhani Pallasmaa - The Eyes of the Skin
Juhani Pallasmaa - The Thinking Hand
Peter Zumthor - Atmospheres, 
Peter Zumthor - A Feeling for History
James E. Young - The Texture of Memory
Georg Simmel - The Ruin (essay) podcast
Christian Norberg-Schulz - Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture
Kevin Lynch - The Image of the City
Kevin Lynch - What Time Is This Place?
Jane Jacobs - The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Ray Oldenburg - The Great Good Place
J.B. Jackson - Discovering the Vernacular Landscape
John Ruskin - The lamp of Memory, The Seven Lamps of Architecture
Ignasi de Solà-Morales - “Terrain Vague”
Rose Macaulay - Pleasure of Ruins
André Corboz - “The Land as Palimpsest”

Name Role
Ms Rose Bonner Tutor
Ms Phoebe Brady Tutor
Ms Nicci Brock Tutor
Mr Thomas Cookson Tutor
Mr Colin McDonnell Tutor
Mr Thomas O'Brien Tutor
Mr Luis Pedro Pedro Tutor

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Studio Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Fri 09:00 - 12:50
Spring Studio Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Fri 14:00 - 17:50
Spring Studio Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 14:00 - 17:50
Spring Studio Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 14:00 - 17:50