DESST 1503 - Design Studio I

Theme: site/context/place. This foundation course introduces design as a speculative process of inquiry and experimentation. It involves knowledge acquisition and the preliminary development of skills to conceptualise, resolve and present well-reasoned landscape and architectural ideas through analogue drawing and physical model-making. The course introduces the design process as well as techniques of analysis and critique of design outcomes. Fundamental engineering principles applicable to architecture and landscapes are introduced with emphasis on the manipulation of the ground plane. This course engages students with learning to design through iterative processes integrating considerations of site and topography, placemaking, precedent, human scale, principles of site engineering and material and physical data. Students will complete compulsory training in the Innovation and Creation Studios of the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology. Design Studio I students are required to complete 2 ‘Hot Courses’ on safety induction (approximately 20 minutes online) and Hand Tools (3 hours) in a supervised environment in fully-equipped workshops as a foundation for future design studios.