Units
Placemaking in Architecture
Unit code: DAB220
Contact hours: 4 per week
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
The unit aims to promote students' awareness of concepts of environmental psychology such as territory, community, privacy, personal space and spatial perception from a variety of cultural perspectives. It also includes an introduction to the ways in which architecture is practiced and the concept of professionalism as it pertains to architectural practice. Further the unit explores social and cultural relationships between people and the institutions of society through the study of introductory sociology, cultural analysis and political economy. Teaching and learning activities are spread across lectures, tutorials, and studio based activities.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 2 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2012
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
The concept of place is highly significant to architectural thought and production. This introductory unit surveys the concept of place in the discourse and practice of architecture and explores how place is in understood, interpreted and made in a range of cultural, historical and physical contexts.
Aims
The aim of this unit is to promote students' awareness of concepts of place and effective place making in relation to human behaviour and human institutions.
Objectives
On completion of this unit you should be able to:
- demonstrate an ability to explain qualities of place in relation to specified theories of place
- engage with these theories and methods of place-making through a built environment design task
Content
This unit examines place as both a cognitive and physical construct. The content of the unit is organised into three principal themes:
- the self and the body in the interpretation and making of place
- key cultural and historical frameworks for concepts of place
- the role of the physical in the making of places (landscapes and topographies)
- the value of the virtual (imaginary places, cyber 'places') to an understanding of place
Material is drawn from the fields of architecture, phenomenology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history and cultural studies.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Teaching Mode:
Hours per week: 4
Lecture: 1
Tutorial/Studio: 3
Learning Approaches:
This unit will involve some lectures (including keynote lectures from invited guests), facilitated discussions, and structured tutorials and online activities. You will work both individually and also in groups throughout the semester. Your individual work will focus on analysis, reflection, speculation and application.
Assessment
Overview of Assessment:
Assessment will be based on addressing, problematising, exploring and speculating on aspects of place-making in architecture. You will receive formative feedback on your progress in this unit during tutorials and discussions through the semester.Formative feedback will be offered by tutors during the semester at key times to assist you in the development of your assignments.
Assessment name:
Essay
Description:
Composite essay (1 - A3 panel) and graphic representation (2 - A3 panels)
Relates to objectives:
1
Weight:
30%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Mid Semester
Assessment name:
Design
Description:
Design and model a small architectural intervention to an urban landscape
Relates to objectives:
2
Weight:
50%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Late Semester
Assessment name:
Reflective Journal
Description:
A critical personalised account about your own learning. In particular, you are required to reflect upon the set readings and on the theories and illustrated examples presented during the lectures.
Relates to objectives:
1, 2
Weight:
20%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
End Semester
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Prescribed text:
Cresswell, T. (2004). Place: A short introduction. Oxford: Blackwell
Recommended text:
Menin, S. (Ed.). (2003). Constructing Place: Mind and Matter. New York: Routledge.
Ballantyne, A. (2002). Architecture: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Online:
Blackboard unit site
Additional Costs:
There are no unusual costs associated with this unit.
Risk assessment statement
You will undertake lectures and tutorials in the traditional classrooms and lecture theatres. As such, there are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with these components of the unit.
The unit may require you to partake in a field trip, of a supervised and self-guided nature. A risk assessment for the trip has identified only low impact risks. You will be provided with relevant safely guidelines prior to any field trip. You will be required to obey all safety guidelines and directions while attending field trips.
Health & Safety Inductions
Students are required to complete the following Inductions / Certificates
1. General Safety Induction
2. J-Block Workshop
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 29-May-2012
