Postgraduate Course: Computer-Aided Design after 1960: Critical Practice and Disciplinary Debates (ARCH11278)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on developments in computer-aided design in Great Britain, the United States and elsewhere between 1960 and the present. It aims to enable students to think critically about, and develop a set of arguments and positions on the role of computers, digital media and information technology in the making and functioning of architecture and the built environment. |
| Course description |
This course considers the primary developments in computer-aided design in Great Britain and the United States primarily (to a lesser degree Japan and China) during the second half of the twentieth century. A reading seminar with weekly lectures and group discussions, the course invites students to relate and distinguish the various traditions of thought and practice that were invented and extended during this period. Through an exploration of phenomena such as the first human-machine graphical communication system for design (Ivan Sutherland's SketchPAD), and the early parametric modeling systems for the building industry (e.g. Charles Eastman's BDS system), we will seek to understand the immediate and long-term effects of computational technology and information technology on architectural practice and discourse. Through reading, writing and group discussions, we will define what it meant for designers and architects to work computationally in a range of geographic, cultural, political, socioeconomic, and material contexts. We will also familiarize ourselves with the major writings of some of the key scholars of this historically recent but rapidly emerging field.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 15 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
161 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The assessment is based on two assignments:
Assignment 1: Journal 2,000 words. Assessed against Learning Outcomes 1 and 3. Submitted during exam period. 40% of the student's term grade.
Creation of a journal with reflective evaluation of each week's readings. Students should produce a summative and reflective assessment of one or more of the week's readings, totaling around 200 words for each week's entry. Students should submit the completed journal of around 2,000 words during the Examination period.
Assignment 2: Essay 3,500 words. Assessed against Learning Outcomes 2 and 3. Submitted during exam period. 60% of the student's term grade.
Development of a written essay of 3,500 words on a particular topic of computing/computer-aided design, evidencing awareness of relevant histories and contested, constructed discourse. This essay must be based on the formative essay proposal that is submitted at mid-term. Students should submit their completed essay during the Examination period (simultaneously with Assignment 1). |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback:
Each week, students are to write one Journal entry of around 200 words. Each student will present their Journal entry to the class, two times during the course. The purpose of this presentation is to introduce the class to the key aspects, unique interpretations and central arguments of the assigned readings. This will in turn serve to provide stimulus for in-class discussion about the week's overall theme. Students will be provided with verbal feedback on their in-class presentations, which act as formative feedback on Learning Outcome 1.
Each student will submit a 500-word written proposal for the final essay outlining a plan for an original work of research. The essay proposal should begin from a topic introduced through one of the readings engaged with during the course. The essay proposal should include descriptions of topic, key research question, sources and methods. The essay proposal should be submitted mid-semester, and formative feedback will be offered against Learning Outcomes 2 and 3. Each student will present their essay proposal in-class, which creates an opportunity for peer-feedback. Students will be provided with verbal feedback on their in-class presentations, which act as formative feedback on Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.
Summative feedback will be provided in line with university regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of key histories, theories and practices of computer-aided design and information technology in the architecture and planning professions.
- Critically review and extend understanding of a particular topic of computing/computer-aided design evidencing awareness of contested, constructed discourse.
- Produce a coherent, well-written and illustrated piece of academic writing (following appropriate referencing conventions), that demonstrates familiarity with and a critical perspective on key primary and secondary texts addressing computer-aided design after 1960.
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Reading List
Alexander, Christopher. The Question of Computers in Design. Landscape 14, no. 3 (1967), pp. 6-8.
Coons, Steven A. An Outline for the Requirements of a Computer-Aided Design System. In Proceeding AFIPS '63 (Spring), Proceedings of the May 21-23, 1963, Spring Joint Computer Conference (1963), pp. 299-304.
Cross, Nigel. Designerly Ways of Knowing: Design Discipline Versus Design Science. Design Issues 17, no. 3 (2001), pp. 49-55.
Eastman, Charles. The Use of Computers Instead of Drawings in Building Design. AIA Journal (March 1975), pp. 46-50.
Light, Jennifer S. When Computers Were Women. Technology and Culture 40 (1999), pp. 455-83.
Simon, Herbert. The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial. Design Issues 4, no. 1/2 (1988), pp. 67-82.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will be able to show readiness to critically review, consolidate and extend knowledge, skills, practices and thinking in the subject.
Students will be able to communicate with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists about the topic.
Students will demonstrate leadership and/or initiative and make an identifiable contribution to change and development and/or new thinking in this field. |
| Keywords | Computer Aided Design,Architectural Critical Practice,Critical Media Studies |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Miss Moa Carlsson
Tel:
Email: Moa.Carlsson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Anne Davis
Tel: (0131 6)51 5735
Email: Anne.Davis@ed.ac.uk |
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