Undergraduate Course: Design: City and Habitation (ARCH08064)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | Working in different contexts and across scales is a significant component of the new MA Landscape Architecture curriculum. Design: City and Habitation builds on the 1st year course, Design: Context and Grounding as a focused introduction to designing the environments we live in(habit). Focused on Landscape Architecture in a city context, it has a particular emphasis on urban design, urban regeneration, urbanism, housing layout and the design of the environments we inhabit. Detail design, technical design and construction through a range of scales with both hard and soft material is a further important aspect of the course building on introductory knowledge gained from the first-year course Material Practices. This course will focus on the potential of an existing urban site, its relationship to its strategic context, site scale and detailed scale design associated with an urban landscape and the use of both hard and soft (planting) materials. |
| Course description |
The course takes as its starting point an existing Urban site, recognising the potential context and features of the site have for design resolution. The course reflects current and emerging areas of landscape practice within city living and therefore places a strong emphasis on topics such as rising city populations, regenerating brownfield sites, urban regeneration, housing layout design, housing density, street design, parking and servicing considerations, the design of public and private spaces alongside overarching themes such as sustainability, climate resilience and biodiversity
This course will run on two days per week, encompassing a range of teaching activity. Your learning will be supported by a range of lectures, studio tutorials, site visits and fieldwork. These will be delivered by Landscape Architecture staff and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) staff. The first half of semester will focus on core course knowledge via lectures and fieldwork visits. Lectures will typically be one hour long and will take place at RBGE and at ECA. Fieldwork duration will be dependent on the site location but will range from half day to a full day, typically utilising sites either in Edinburgh or in central Scotland. Occasionally, sites further away from Edinburgh may be utilised depending on the potential they offer. Out with these scheduled activities, students will develop their coursework in their Lauriston studios. Latterly, the course focuses on detailed design and construction utilising hard and soft materials supported by a further four to six lectures. Different contact combinations with staff will be utilised weekly from one to one, pairs and group. Our expectation is that students will spend self-directed learning time studio to take advantage of peer-based learning out with contact with tutors. Two full group reviews with staff will bookend each of these two course blocks.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Design: Context and Grounding (ARCH08060) AND
Design: Site & Process (ARCH08063)
Students MUST have passed:
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Field trips: incl. Local travel. Please budget: approx. £30 drawing and model-making materials, printing costs (approx. £50) |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 9,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 4,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 14,
Fieldwork Hours 14,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
349 )
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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 2 components of assessment.
A Design Summary (40 - 60 pages) 40%, due in the May exam diet. Individually assessed against all learning outcomes.
Design proposals across a range of scales (4xA1 panels) 60%, due in the May exam diet. Individually assessed against all learning outcomes.
Further Information:
Each component should include a collated and curated presentation of course material developed in each phase of the course The Design Summary is concerned with process and iteration, the Design proposal is concerned with final design proposals across a range of scales using professional graphic conventions. Further detailed guidance will be provided by the course organiser.
Resubmission Information
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
A Design Summary (40-60 pages), 40%, due in the August exam diet. Individually assessed against all learning outcomes. Students will submit to the original assessment brief.
Design proposals across a range of scales (4xA1 panels) 60%, due in the August exam diet. Individually assessed against all learning outcomes. Students will submit to the original assessment brief.
Further Information:
Each component should include a collated and curated presentation of course material developed in each phase of the course. The Design Summary is concerned with process and iteration, the Design proposal is concerned with final design proposals across a range of scales using professional graphic conventions. Further detailed guidance will be provided by the course organiser.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary.
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| Feedback |
Formative feedback on this course will include weekly tutorials where you will have the opportunity to present and discuss your initial ideas, inviting verbal feedback from the course tutor and your peers. There will be one mid-semester formative review during which you will receive verbal feedback from external guests and a formative submission, further to which you will receive written feedback. These milestones will be followed by an individual tutorial to provide feedforward, ensuring you are clear on the aims and practicalities of your proposed project. This will be followed up with group and individual tutorials through the latter stages of the course, helping you to refine the project. A final formative review at the conclusion of the semester will offer a chance to receive feedback on the Design Proposal panels and Design summary document in advance of submission. This feedback journey will have prompts across the semester to help you evolve your proposal and its implementation. Those prompts will be clearly set out in course material and discussed via lectures
Summative Feedback
Summative feedback will be provided by course tutors on the final submissions. Summative feedback will be written and delivered via LEARN. It will be based on a based on a feedback rubric describing the relationship between Learning Outcomes and University of Edinburgh standard grade descriptors. The rubric will be made available via LEARN.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Evaluate complex city environments via fieldwork, research and analysis across a range of territorial and spatial perspectives.
- Identify clear design strategies and subsequently utilise these to develop design proposals across a range of scales from strategy to focused detail design that respond to complex city scenarios.
- Communicate competent design proposals across a range of scales via creative making and associated professional graphic conventions
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Reading List
Arup, Cities Alive: Rethinking Green Infrastructure, 2014
Burns, Carol J and Kahn, Andrea, Site Matters; Design Concepts, Histories and Strategies. Routledge, 2005
Oles, Thomas, Fieldwork in Landscape Architecture; Methods, Actions, Tools. Routledge, 2025
Panagopoulos, Thomas, Landscape Urbanism and Green Infrastructure, MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2019
Reicher, Christa, Urban Design. Weisbaden, 2022
Waldheim, Charles, The Landscape Urbanism Reader, Princeton Architectural Press, 2006 |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and enquiry: By analysing facts, data and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions you will advance problem solving skills.
Collaboration: By working as part of a team you will evolve skills in understanding and respecting the needs, perspectives and actions of others; fostering cooperation and managing conflict in groups. Engaging with others from a range of backgrounds and disciplines will assist you to connect with and learn from others, and to build positive relationships.
Curiosity: By exploring complex topics related to how we live in city territories you will discover important socio-ecological concerns and will learn to ask searching questions from a range of perspectives.
Communication: By articulating information, ideas and landscape architecture design proposals to others in visual, oral and written form, you will become a more effective communicator. |
| Keywords | Fieldwork,urban regeneration,urban landscapes,habitation and biodiversity |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Kenneth Fraser
Tel: (0131 6)51 5799
Email: kenny.fraser@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Hancock
Tel: (0131 6)50 4124
Email: chancock@ed.ac.uk |
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