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ARCT40660

Academic Year 2024/2025

Street Life: Urban Design, an Introduction (ARCT40660)

Subject:
Architecture
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Architecture, Plan & Env Pol
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Miriam Fitzpatrick
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module focuses on Street Life and how to improve it. Understanding the delicate balance of engaging across scales (from a room to a city) this module will provide you with a range of methods/tactics to assess places at different scales. The objective is to support your interest in understanding the broader context of urban sites, both physically and socially and the module will include lectures on key urban thinkers and methods for comparative analysis and fieldwork to support your curiosity.

This year, we will work with a community group known as Green Pearse Street so there will be an opportunity to engage, get feedback and hopefully influence policy and improve a street.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

1. Select a preferred methodology for the analysis of a place from a range of urban design thinkers.
2. Show evidence of in depth research in the assessment of an urban open space.
3. Develop critical appraisal of a place with evidence of fieldwork.
4. Capture findings in a submission that is academically rigorous and visually attractive (This can include visual diagrams, a design component, photos, videos, models, charts, recordings).


Indicative Module Content:

Open to students of architecture, planning and landscape architecture, this module will focus on streetlife and how to improve it. Lectures will draw upon a range of historical and current insights and methods in Urban Design to enable an informed assessment of one street/urban open space.

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Seminar (or Webinar)

12
Field Trip/External Visits

8
Specified Learning Activities

40
Autonomous Student Learning

40
Total

112

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Roald Dahl’s story of ‘The Giraffe, and the Pelly and Me’ suggests a useful tripartite structure of scales of analysis; The Giraffe, who is vertically advantaged, offers a vantage point or overview from above: Pelly, (the pelican with a voluminous beak) feeds off the field (field-work), and captures the idea of the city as a container of urban open space: Me, represents subjective experience, your personal academic learning journey and reflective writing skills.

These three building blocks conclude with an assignment based on the overview (Giraffe), the close-up (Pelly) and the reflective (Me) tailored to suit your studio work (if possible). Three Continual Assessments will build upon each other towards the summative assessment that applies to the assessment of a particular place.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Reflective Assignment: The final assessment closes the learning cycle with a reflective assignment. Week 15 Graded No
10
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Final and Individual Reflective Essay based on your fieldwork, evaluation and analysis. Week 12 Graded No
60
 No
Group Work Assignment: Street life Comparisons and Analysis. Methods to be selected based on lecture content and include readings, fieldwork, drawings and data collation. Alternative forms of assessment are also possible. Week 9 Graded No
20
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Fieldwork and observation of street life are required and spread over the trimester (to suit the student and the project). Week 4, Week 6, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11 Graded No
10
 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
• Online automated feedback

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback is given via Brighspace and in person (as required). I have developed a rubric for on-line grading related to learning outcomes. Timing and format to be agreed with the class.

Readings and links to books are available via Brightspace for this module.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Wed 11:00 - 12:50
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