Units

---

Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

This unit is intended to advance ideas about the designed interior through the design studio. There is the opportunity to research and investigate design issues in an exploratory and experimental manner and to present findings in an innovative way. The premise for the unit is closer to critical scepticism coupled with creative innovation. It will build on foundational ideas developed in previous units through consideration of more complex physical technical and cultural contexts across the field of interior design.

Aims

The aim of this unit is to undertake research-through-design where design is the research methodology. It requires design issues to be examined through theory and technology such that a deeper understanding of design process and outcome is achieved. It will also foster a critical-analytic capacity that will enable you to grasp and evaluate some key presumptions of past practice.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to:

1. Critique current interior design paradigms, contribute to intellectual inquiry and understand the way research informs design
2. Develop creative as well as analytical ways of thinking and construct a dialogue between research and design
3. Apply external parameters such as theoretical constructs, objective data and programmatic requirement sources using effective strategies and appropriate technologies
4. Resolve and communicate through written, graphic, built and oral means one aspect of the design, both technically and theoretically

Content

Because of the thematic approach some content may vary but in all cases will consist of:
- a semi-directed design studio examining contemporary aspects of the designed interior
- an introduction to crucial theoretical concepts that relate to contemporary interior practice
- the development of spatial and surface theory in contemporary design culture, and
- emergent ideas on modelling between real and virtual environments.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

This unit has several tutor led themes each with a different focus, rather than all students undertaking the same design problem. You will elect to join a theme and explore the ideas promoted. The unit will involve some lectures, seminars and tutorials. A particular emphasis will be placed upon fostering critical reflection and debate in the studio tutorials stemming from set readings and papers presented through each sub-theme.

Teaching Mode: 4 Hours per week:
Lecture: 1 hour per week as scheduled
Studio/Tutorial: 3 hours per week as scheduled

Assessment

The overall aim of the assessment pattern is to foster design skills by acquiring knowledge of past practices and understandings of aesthetic theory as well as developing imaginative capacities in regard to interior design. There will be three assessment items throughout the semester.

There is no requirement to submit a folio of the semester's work.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.

Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information please refer to the Blackboard site for this unit.

• Studio sessions will offer an opportunity for formative feedback whereby you will be provided with opportunities for feedback through the studio activities/exercises incorporating identification of strengths and weaknesses and suggestions for further consideration.


• Assessment will be criterion-based. Criteria will be circulated as part of the project information and you will be encouraged to use the assessment criteria as constraints for testing their decisions.

Assessment name: Design
Description: "DESIGN ACTIVISM" - Exhibition Design
The design of an exhibition space based on a vital current social/political issue.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Early Semester

Assessment name: Retail Design Presentation
Description: Analysis and presentation of retail design precendents and related issues with particular emphasis on the nature of existing spaces.
Relates to objectives: 2, 3
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Group
Due date: Mid Semester

Assessment name: Retail Design Proposal
Description: Final presentation of retail design project.
Relates to objectives: 3, 4
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End of 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

There are no set textbooks for this unit. Specific readings, reading lists and other resources will be available from the Course Materials Database and the DTB501 Blackboard Site.


Additional Costs
Costs for this unit relate to the normal costs incurred in the generation and presentation of a design project.

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.

Your assignment work may require you to partake in field research that is lecturer-led and/or self-guided (eg., visiting architectural exemplars or urban sites for the purposes of recording, analysis, illustration). A risk assessment for this identified only low impact risks, but you should always be aware of your own personal safety, and also consider sun protection if spending long periods of daytime study outdoors. You will be required to obey all safety guidelines and directions while attending field trips. If you feel you are at risk you should notify staff.

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: 05-Oct-2012