11526 Special Project 3A
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particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 144 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C09079 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Honours)
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
The Masters Special Project series engages Industry Professionals/Advocates/Affiliates in discourse across the topics of Decarbonisation, Decolonisation + Urban Equity, relative to the Practice of Architecture. Drawing on varied methods, which can include speculative design / technological prototyping / theory / writing / exhibition + encounters, students collaborate and formalise their own positions in response to the specific briefs set by the curated Elective Leads. The Masters Special Project electives are announced in the Master of Architecture Prospectus prior to the commencement of each session and introduced at the Ballot Day, when self-enrolment opens.
Sustainable Sydney 2050
With the global urban population projected to increase by 75 percent by 2050, the need for sustainable liveability in cities, including Sydney, is crucial. This course leverages the City of Sydney Council's ‘Sustainable Sydney 2050’ strategy to explore the critical intersection of city making and policymaking.
Led by an elected City Councillor, this immersive course places future architects in the heart of real-world urban challenges and opportunities. Students engage in strategic design interventions to examine Sydney’s transformative drivers for 2050, such as housing for all, creating a swimmable harbour, greening the city, advancing a circular economy, and delivering First Nations ‘Walking on Country’ (Yananurala).
Emphasis is placed on understanding urban governance, strategy, complex systems change, and the political dynamics that shape sustainable city transformation. Students develop a comprehensive understanding on how to design in the public interest, equipping them with the skills to contribute meaningfully to support the realisation of Sydney’s vision for 2050 and beyond.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Critically analyse and articulate the key components of a long-term city strategy and their implications for urban design and policymaking. |
|---|---|
| 2. | Develop and apply strategic design interventions that address relevant urban challenges |
| 3. | Demonstrate an understanding of the principles and practices of designing in the public interest, with a focus on sustainable liveability and resilience |
| 4. | Understand the needs and roles of diverse stakeholders, including policymakers and community representatives |
| 5. | Create innovative design solutions that contribute to urban spaces and the enhancement of public life |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Establish and develop an informed and ethical position towards social, technical and environmental issues and practices (A.1)
- Work cooperatively and professionally as part of a team, initiate partnerships with others, take a leadership role when required, and constructively contribute to peer learning (C.1)
- Communicate ideas professionally and effectively through a variety of mediums: oral, written, visual, physical and digital (C.2)
- Produce inspirational responses that demonstrate the successful integration of sub-disciplinary areas of knowledge: history, theory, tectonics and/or practice (I.1)
- Understand and challenge disciplinary conventions through an engagement with emergent forms of architectural practice, technologies and modes of production (P.1)
- Independently analyse, synthesise and formulate complex ideas, arguments and rationales and use initiative to explore alternatives (R.3)
Teaching and learning strategies
This subject is taught in-person on campus in one of two modes.
Semester stream – weekly 3hr touchpoints across a semester/
Block mode – 36hrs across a 2 week period/
Students will engage in workshops + seminars to inform and engage with material, develop iterative processes, culminating in a response to a complex brief.
Content (topics)
?Special Projects can include:
- Historic and ongoing narratives
- Fabrication + material prototyping
- Innovation in sustainability
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Assessment Task 1
| Intent: | Assessment Task I sets up the framework of the elective brief specific to either research, context, texting and prototyping, where relevant. Refer to Subject Briefing document |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): A.1, C.1, C.2, P.1 and R.3 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 35% |
Assessment task 2: Assessment Task 2
| Intent: | AT2 develops a translation from AT1 into a considered reponse, that can include, but is not limited to - design solutions, policy documents, fabrication + protoyping, parametric modelling, architecture speculation. Refer to Subject Briefing document for agenda and deliverables |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 2, 3, 4 and 5 This task also addresses the following course intended learning outcomes that are linked with a code to indicate one of the five CAPRI graduate attribute categories (e.g. C.1, A.3, P.4, etc.): C.1, C.2, I.1, P.1 and R.3 |
| Type: | Project |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 65% |