Design Thesis Studio Portfolio
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ABEE4057 | Architecture and Built Environment | 4 | 60 | Spring UK |
- Code
- ABEE4057
- School
- Architecture and Built Environment
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 60
- Semesters
- Spring UK
Summary
The portfolio component that constitutes this module is a continuation of the research and brief development activities from the co-requisite Design Thesis Research module . It therefore builds upon the latter's aims and learning outcomes.
Each student will continue to work under the supervision of the tutor that was assigned at the beginning of the Autumn Semester.
For this module, the teaching focus shifts towards the production of a Portfolio as a comprehensive representation of the student's full thesis project. The emphasis is on the development of architectural proposals that serve as 'proof of concept', which therefore builds upon the research findings and initial discoveries about site, programme and context that emerged out of the Autumn Semester's coursework. The majority of time in Spring Semester will be spent testing and developing those proposals as part of a live design process. The body of work that is produced for the portfolio will be presented for examination during the second semester's exam period.
Each student is expected to follow a self-directed plan of independent study throughout the year's process, from research through briefing and design development.
Target Students
MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2) K10I and K10X, MArch Architecture with Collaborative Practice Research K107 and K10H; U7PATTAR, U7PATTAR3, U7UARCCPX and U7UARCCPY.
Co-requisites
Modules you must take in the same academic year, or have taken in a previous year, to enrol in this module:
Assessment
- 5% Coursework 1: Interim Review Submission (3 credits)
- 95% Coursework 2: Design Thesis Portfolio (57 credits)
Assessed by end of spring semester
Educational Aims
Each of the studios’ project briefs will have particular aims and objectives. Overall the module aims to:develop design proposals that emerge from the research findings developed under the co-requisite module ABEE4056and build upon the latter’s aims and learning outcomes;develop advanced design skills that intelligently integrate a wide range of architectural issues, conceptual, theoretical or technical, in relationship to the design development process;encourage the pursuit of a particular and personal line of enquiry into the nature of architecture in its broader socio-economic, cultural and professional contexts;develop a critical approach to different design approaches;develop a range of communication and presentation skills commensurate with the nature of the architectural representation;have regard for the practice of architecture and professionalism;produce work individually and as part of a design team.Learning Outcomes
In general, students will be expected to:
1. produce architectural designs that develop a conceptual critical approach to architecture and that integrate and resolve the aesthetic, technical and environmental aspects of an architectural proposal within the theme of the individual thesis proposition
2. generate analysis and systematically test and appraise design options, through progressive stages of development and complexity and draw conclusions which display methodological and theoretical rigour
3. understand the inter-relationship between people, buildings and the environment, social sustainability and social value, and an understanding of the need to relate buildings and the spaces between them to human needs and scale, as well as to larger spatial contexts and systems
4. demonstrate an ability to use visual, verbal and written communication methods and appropriate media to represent the testing, analysis and critical appraisal and resolution of complex design proposals
5. demonstrate the ability to apply the design brief in order to develop the programme through client and user requirements, as well as the response to site and context
6. produce documentation and reports which are clear, analytical and logical covering a range of architectural issues of culture, theory and design
7. demonstrate knowledge, understanding and application of sustainability design principles