module specification

As the culmination of the design studies within the BA (Hons) Architecture course you will be able to excel employing your design ability within Design Resolution: Comprehensive Design Project 3.2. Deriving from the studio programme, the final project will communicate an appropriate level of ambition, complexity and coherence in its design resolution. The creative dialogue with other areas of architectural knowledge informed by and informing the strategic and detailed design development will extend the understanding of the project and demonstrate the qualities of the proposal.

The module uses the research and brief making in the AR6001 Design Project Development module and emphasises the detailed resolution and critical assessment of a complex architectural design. It runs in conjunction with AR6003 Technology 3, Integrated Design Audit that requires specific and highly detailed appraisal of its cultural, professional, technical and environmental issues.

The module is the final design project of the BA (Hons) Architecture course, giving you the opportunity to deploy the understanding, knowledge and abilities you have developed throughout your course in the making of an ambitious and well resolved architectural design. It aims to allow you to demonstrate your ability as an architectural designer: your capacity to define and analyse architectural problems, generate briefs and proposals, integrate knowledge derived from different fields and sources, produce socially relevant inhabitable spaces, enrich rather than deplete the built and natural environment, and design technically competent and safe buildings of aesthetic quality.

The aims of the module are to teach skills pertaining to Health and Life Safety; Ethical and Professional Practice; Structure, Construction and Resources; and Design Processes and Communication (‘themes and values’ from Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA):: The Way Ahead 2021), appropriate to Level 6. The module also aims to provide a practical framework through which you can address the academic discipline of architecture as outlined in the RIBA document ‘The Way Ahead, Education Themes and Values’ 2021 as well as ‘Guidance Notes to Institutions’ issued by the Architects Registration Board (ARB) in 2021.

Pre-Requisite: AR5002 or equivalent. Co-Requisite:  AR6001 and AR6003
Available for Study Abroad NO.

During Design Resolution: Comprehensive Design Project 3.2 you will study within a design studio which provides the project framework and overall context. Within this context you are expected to work with an ever-greater level of independence in generating developing your final architectural design.

Typically, you will cover context development, including the social, cultural, economic, and political impact on the setting, representing these in a range of media (LO 1-3, 5). This will initiate spatial and structural strategies to explore habitable spaces, integrate cultural and technical and environmental concerns in response to the needs of users, to present a well resolved and explicit design (LO 1-5) The module is supported by the AR6003 Technology 3: Integrated Design Audit.

The detailed syllabus is project based and varies from year to year. The following programme is indicative. The major project(s) of the module focus on the design of a complex building or buildings. It brings to resolution the research and development established on AR6001 Design Project Development 3.1 integrating knowledge of the social, political, economic, environmental, and professional context that guide the building development. The resolution aims to synthesise spatial, technical, environmental, material, structural and constructional strategies, in relation to its users.

Scheduled teaching on Design Resolution: Comprehensive Design Project 3.2 ensures that independent study is effective and addresses the learning outcomes and assessment tasks. You are expected to, and can, continue with your studies outside of scheduled classes. There will be a range of learning strategies deployed and individual learning styles will be accommodated. The module’s learning outcomes and assessment tasks, its contents and delivery, are regularly reviewed to ensure an inclusive approach not only to pedagogic practice and appropriateness to the profession.

In-class activity makes use of varied student-centred approaches such as active, flipped and blended learning, so that a range of learning strategies is deployed, and individual learning styles are accommodated. Information is provided through a range of means and sources to minimise and remove barriers to successful progress through the module. The course team seeks to embed the University’s Education for Social Justice Framework in fostering learning that is enjoyable, accessible, relevant and that takes account of the social and cultural context and capital of its students.

Activities foster peer-to-peer community building and support for learning. Reflective learning is promoted through interim formative feedback points that ask you to reflect on their progress, receive help where they identify the opportunity for improvement in learning strategies and outcomes and make recommendations to themselves for future development. Throughout the module, you will build a body of work, including written reflections on progress and achievement.

The School’s programme of employability events and embedded work-based learning within the curriculum supports your personal and career development planning. Through these initiatives, you are increasingly able, as you progress from year to year, to understand the professional environment of your discipline, the various opportunities available to you, and how to shape your learning according to your ambitions.

On satisfactory completion of Design Resolution: Comprehensive Design Project 3.2, a number of Learning Outcomes (LOs) will have been addressed. You will be able to:

1. develop brief(s) that direct the political, economic, social, and cultural framework, of the projects through tectonic, environmental, and professional concerns;

2. make judgments as to the appropriate scale, spatial organisation, and complexity of an intervention within a given context;

3. construct a well resolved architectural design that is explicit about the integration of tectonic political, economic, social, cultural, and professional concerns

4. present and communicate a complex architectural design efficiently to lay and professional audiences;

5. manage personal time and resources constructively, effectively and in response to tasks, colleagues, and feedback;

6. evaluate your Personal Development Plan (PDP, see section 12 Course Description) in relation to your academic portfolio and the prospect of professional practice.

Assessment items are based on:
• The final portfolio (Component 1, 100%) comprises AR6002 (Design Project Resolution: Comprehensive Design Project 3.2) and co-requisite AR6001 (Design Project Development 3.1). AR6002 is assessed as whole at the end of Semester B, with an interim formative review. Typically, the portfolio comprises a complete set of drawings at a variety of scales appropriate to demonstrating the breadth of their design decisions, digital and material models of the project. Modes of documentation may include drawings; photographic material; multi-media material; quantitative data; qualitative data; 3D models, web-based material, and prototypes. All 3D, direct action and multi-media work should be recorded in graphic form and explained to a standard suitable for assessment purposes.

The assessment criteria are based on how well the student has fulfilled the learning outcomes. The module is assessed on the resolution of architectural design which integrates knowledge and understanding; (LO 1,2,3). In relation to AR6001 (Design Development 3.1) the resolution of architectural design comprises context development (LO 1,2) spatial (LO 2) and structural resolution (LO 3) and the resolution of a detailed design which may be communicated to a lay and professional audiences (LO 4) This module contributes to a final exit portfolio in preparation for a student’s year out in practice within a professional context (LO 5,6).

Written formative feedback and indicative rubric score is given through Weblearn following the interim review (autumn semester) and summative feedback after the final assessment (spring semester).

Students are expected to attend all taught sessions of Design Skills 1.1. A professional approach to your studies, which includes both attending regularly or informing staff if you are unable to attend, will be reviewed as part of the assessment process.

http://6002 Design Resolution – Core Reading List