Design Studio 4

Assuming the conceptual role of the ‘digital flaneur’, students will actively discover and explore a variety of ‘surface’ qualities of the Callaghan Campus. The theme––Surface––questions the dynamic and transformative aspects of surfaces, prompting the exploration of expected and unexpected design outcomes through various techniques of data collection and analysis.

This studio questions received notions of architectural practice: how we view public space through the lens of technology as operational definitions to interrogate, explore and outline radical propositions.

To participate in this debate, the course shifts focus away from prosaic practice to a research centred program, encouraging the development of prototypes as critical instruments to engage with the consequences of operating in complex urban landscapes. Students are to develop and evidence their design process through analysing data collected from the public space­­––abstracting this data­­­­––then actualising this material as a design proposition reinforced by theory. Ultimately, this studio will encourage students to develop an understanding of space and place as test sites informed by dynamic design, prototyping new concepts, ideas, and methods in order to change the architectural status quo; to foreshadow or anticipate their societal impact.