ARCT40050 Architectural Design VIII

Academic Year 2021/2022

The Vertical Studio Project is intended to bring the school together after a year and a half of lockdowns and to encourage us to think together about the future of our planet. Students and staff from Years 1-4 will work together around the overall theme of ‘ReThinking ReUse’, recognising that the post climate change architect will have fewer new buildings to design and that ReUse will be the new radical way of operating. The studio work will concentrate on the Dublin GPO (its history, its structure, its construction, its politics, its social value, its planning, its significance as a monument, its dominance on O’Connell Street and its place as an agency for change). You are encouraged to observe acutely, draw alternatively and propose radical change to this building and this part of the city. The common project and mixed tutorial groups will foster peer-to-peer learning and greater interaction across the school.

Structure
Working individually and as a collective, students will carry out project development and associated research. Student activities are studio based and attendance in studio is mandatory. The project will involve a 7-week period of initial design leading up to an interim review. This is followed by a 5-week period of design development to conclude with a final review.

Submission
At the end of module each student is required to submit an individual, collated and organized digital portfolio of work. The portfolio must include all drawings, models and sketches that must demonstrate the required outcomes. In addition, each student is required to submit a digital portfolio book, a collated guide that succinctly describes and reflects on the work the student has made over the trimester with reference to the work of their peers.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate the ability to analyse and critically evaluate existing and historic buildings and environments and to use these as an active component in the design process.
2. Demonstrate the ability to apply critical and analytical thinking to the development of a series of projects, employing a range of work methods and techniques.
3. Demonstrate the ability to use design as a means of investigation and research.
4. Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate issues of building construction, structure and materials and integrate them into a synthetic design proposal.
5. Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate issues of environment and integrate them into a synthetic design proposal.
6. Demonstrate an ability to use a variety of representational skills as a means of investigation and research and to present and exhibit work coherently.
7. Demonstrate the ability to communicate, discuss, critique and reflect on your own work and the work of your peers.

Indicative Module Content:

Key content covered will include an exploration of modes of engaged practice, the role of the practicing architect in society, introduction to research by design and methodologies for framing research by design projects.
These themes will be examined and tested by students in applied projects, under relevant contemporary themes which may be typological, infrastructural, landscape, or urban based. Students will be encouraged to develop their research, analytical and critical thinking skills in the application to a thematic project/s set by the tutors.
Exemplar studies of similar projects will be investigated.
Detailed project design will be developed by students through a variety of scales to reach a good level of resolution.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Small Group

50
Tutorial

20
Seminar (or Webinar)

80
Autonomous Student Learning

150
Total

300
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Key modes of teaching in this module will include: studio work to include active/task-based learning, enquiry-based learning, peer and group work, case-based or precedent study, lectures, reflective writing and student presentations. Representation skills are emphasised in drawing, model, collage and digital techniques. Students will work to reflect, collate, edit and present their research and design work for presentation and exhibition. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

B. Sc. Architecture or equivalent


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Portfolio: A portfolio of work including research, survey and design drawings, final drawings, digital and physical models, written material, images, undertaken by the student individually or within a group. Week 12 n/a Graded Yes

100

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
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students are in weekly contact with their tutors in small group meetings. At these, student's work is discussed and summative feedback is provided that is focused on positively developing project ideas. It is not intended to grade ideas which are in the process of taking shape. Reviews are scheduled during the semester at which students will be given an indication of what development is required in the case of a project being underdeveloped. Written feedback is given after the Interim Review and after the final assessment.

Name Role
Professor Hugh Campbell Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Mr Marcus Donaghy Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Mr Tiago Faria Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Lisa Godson Lecturer / Co-Lecturer