11196 Landscape History and Theory 3

Description

This subject examines the complementary relationship between design theory and design practice, in the context of landscape architecture. It does this through focus on disciplinary criticism. In doing so, students learn to distinguish between different types of theory and critique: their methods of creation, their modes of expression, and the varying roles they perform. Furthermore, students become adept at identifying how knowledge about design practice is generated, disseminated and organised, and how this impacts future practice. This is pursued on the understanding that developed relationships between theory and practice via criticism directly benefit individual expertise, design quality, and the continued advancement of the discipline.

The subject is organised around the exploration of a series of contemporary issues by way of their respective academic discourses. These discourses are dynamic bodies of knowledge, incrementally built, re-built and deconstructed through networks of related activities: projects, publications, symposiums, lectures, exhibitions and educational programs, among others. The subject challenges students to align their emerging design practice with a specific discourse. Through two interconnected assessment tasks, students learn to adopt a critical approach to reading and researching design ideas and practices. Further to which, students develop the capacity to examine practice through the lens of theory, and conversely, examine theory from the perspective of built landscape architecture.