Postgraduate Course: Architectural Design Studio H (ARCH11174)
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 | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course marks the conclusion of a design thesis inquiry relevant to current architectural issues, including tested hypotheses and design speculations at a range of scales. The course seeks to develop a student¿s ability to recognize, carry out, and test a research question, and to understand how this informs and is activated by an architectural design and urban proposition. The course will culminate in the presentation of complex architectural and urban and/or landscape proposals, represented as part of an identified research inquiry. |
| Course description |
The course¿s studio content, themes, methodologies, and approaches change on an annual basis and are determined by the studio leaders according to their research interests and expertise. Topics have previously included, for example, the use of digital sensing technologies to develop architectural proposals; the reuse, repair, and deconstruction of existing buildings and infrastructures; the development of low carbon and bioregional approaches to architectural materials and components; and the development of urban interventions in charged environmental and socio-political settings. Studios have addressed a variety of national and international contexts, including, for example, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Berlin, Naples, Derry, and Tangier. The studio themes and methodologies will be described to students through briefing materials made available at the beginning of the academic year.
This course involves one routine studio day and one optional follow-up tutorial morning per week throughout the semester. The latter session also includes additional lectures and workshops as determined by studio leaders and in accordance with the specific themes and context identified in the briefing materials. In addition, over the course of one dedicated week, students might visit a site and engage in fieldwork, or participate in a multi-day workshop. Students are expected to engage by following the tasks and exercises in the briefing documents, which they will, individually or in groups, develop in advance of each studio tutorial.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 29 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 4,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 84,
Formative Assessment Hours 28,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
272 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 1 assessment component.
¿¿Portfolio, 100%, May exam diet.
The portfolio is inclusive of an installation in the studio (mixed media) and a digital submission (60-70 pages).
The portfolio is marked to all four Learning Outcomes, which are equally weighted. Coursework is assessed by Learning Outcomes, and presented in the form of drawings, models, digital representations, etc, as outlined in the studio brief and discussed with course tutors.
The Learning Outcomes are defined in relation to the ARB Part 2 criteria required to be demonstrated in the course. Please refer to the Programme Handbook via Learn for detailed information.
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Formative feedback is delivered by studio tutors verbally during weekly individual or group tutorials, and in response to the drawn/built in-progress outcomes of design exercises. It is delivered verbally by studio tutors and by invited guests during studio reviews, which are organised by studio leaders to support students in the development of their projects, usually around the middle and the end of the semester. In response to reviews, written feedback is provided by course tutors, critically reflecting on the work produced in relation to the Learning Outcomes, and communicating specific areas for further investigation and development.
Summative Feedback
Written summative feedback will be provided by studio tutors to individual students on completion of their coursework. Summative feedback will be provided as per University regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Develop a research inquiry that is clearly and logically argued, showing an awareness of disciplinary and interdisciplinary forms of knowledge that are relevant to current architectural issues.
- Test hypotheses and speculations in architectural design, which may be informed by materials; processes and techniques of building; the design and development of cities; histories and theories of architecture and the related arts; management, practice and regulatory frameworks; ecological, environmental and climatic concerns.
- Present complex design proposals in the context of a research inquiry through appropriate forms of representation (e.g., drawing, modelling, photography, film, installation, and workshop techniques).
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Reading List
Studio themes change on an annual basis and are determined by the studio leaders in dialogue with Course Organiser and Programme Director. Reading lists therefore change with each new thematic, and tailored reading lists are issued as part of briefing documents.
Examples of the texts read in the course have included:
Brand, Stewart. How Buildings Learn: What Happens after They¿re Built. Penguin Books, 1995.
Haraway, Donna. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Duke University Press, 2016.
Hutton, Jane Elizabeth. Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories in Material Movement. Routledge, 2020.
Latour, Bruno. Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climate Regime. Translated by Catherine Porter. Polity Press, 2018.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry: Conducting research into relevant architectural and urban issues, critically appraising results and developing appropriate design responses.
Personal Effectiveness: Setting objectives to formulate and evaluate design proposals that respond to current knowledge in architecture, urban design, building construction, and the allied fields.
Communication: Communicating and explaining complex architectural design proposals and critically articulating the corresponding research using a range of visual, oral, and written media.
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| Keywords | Studio days will be structured according to the design work being undertaken. A mixture of methods |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Christopher French
Tel: (0131 6)50 2310
Email: C.A.French@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Louisa King
Tel: (01316) 502306
Email: Louisa.King@ed.ac.uk |
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