| CODE | AUD5102 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Design Workshops - Architecture and Urban Design | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 15 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Architecture and Urban Design | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The Design Workshops consist of studio-based practical design projects, which are assessed by the submission of a portfolio of the design projects, and by an oral presentation of their work by each student (sometimes by a group of students), to a critique jury, and to their peers. The jury, or “crit”, will be organized by the Workshop tutors, with the participation of other Faculty members, external to the Workshop, and also of professionals or academics external to the Faculty. The crit is a different process from the assessment process, although the members of the Board of Assessors would normally take part in the Crits, together with other participants, and to take into account the students’ defence of their proposals in their assessment. The credits assigned to the Design Workshops can be allocated to three separate projects of 5 ECTS each, or two projects, one of 5 ECTS and one of 10 ECTS, or even as a year-long 15 ECTS project. Each 5 ECTS workshop session is assumed to be spread over 8 effective term weeks, separated by a Presentation Week, free of formal lectures or seminars, normally held on Week 9, Week 23 and Week 34. The themes for the Workshop projects will vary with the relative Master degree programme, but it is intended that the projects provide an opportunity for practical synthesis of the different themes covered in the respective study-units. The themes of the Design Workshops are assigned at the beginning of the respective workshop period. The projects will typically have a series of successive stages with specific learning outcomes, typically a research, analysis and engagement stage, where students engage with “clients”, assess context and site parameters, collate data; an interpretation, communication and brief preparation stage, where students organize the data collected, and communicate it, developing skills of presentation, diagramming and illustration, and of synthesis and interpretation of data; a design proposal stage, wherein students are encouraged to present innovative and original solutions to the problems identified previously, critically assess feasibility and suitability; a design development stage, wherein technical knowledge is used to convert the proposals into realizable projects. Study-unit Aims: The design process is one which needs to take into account different problems, and the proposal of different solutions addressing, in an optimal way, the different constraints described in the specific Workshop. These Design Workshops are intended to provide an opportunity for practical application of the theoretical material covered in other study-units, and for an intelligent synthesis of the different disciplines covered in the respective study-units, in a structured way, and one wherein the design problem grows in complexity, culminating, in the last year of the degree programme, in the final synoptic project. The Workshops are intended to function at two different levels. At the level of the specific disciplines covered in the degree programme, the workshop projects are intended to promote intellectual development, the development of technical knowledge and skills, and the understanding of the conceptual and theoretical positions that underpin their proposals. They are also intended to help students develop, in a step-wise fashion, the ability to synthesize the various disciplines studied. At a second level, the Workshop projects and the relative crits are also intended to reinforce personal development skills, such as initiative, teamwork, confidence, time management and communication skills. They are also intended to provide feedback to the students on their work, and encourage them to handle constructive criticism. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Understand the significance of, and apply, the knowledge theory relevant to the disciplines in the specific master degree programme, to solve professionally-oriented project tasks; - Appreciate the principles, theories, methods and tools within the design process, and be able to reflect on the choice of method for the task; - Integrate technical considerations and contextual issues as design influences; - Reflect on the interaction and results of different working methods and design approaches, particularly in the formulation of innovative solutions; - Appreciate the importance of time-management in the achieving of project targets. (additional project specific learning outcomes will form part of the workshop project assignment) 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Independently and in collaboration with others, identify client requirements, site parameters, and functional constraints; - Independently and in collaboration with others, collate, analyze, synthesize and interpret project constraints and requirements; - Prepare a written project brief, presenting this information using text, graphics and oral communication; - Independently and in collaboration with others, organize a project plan, to prepare design proposals addressing the project brief; - Independently and in collaboration with others, critically assess the feasibility and suitability of different design proposals; - Take a schematic design proposal into the design development phase, demonstrating how the proposals could be converted into realizable projects; - Independently and in collaboration with others communicate technical problems and solutions, using appropriate presentation tools. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Reading lists will be prepared for each individual workshop project theme. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Project | ||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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