86005 Design Studio: Inhabitations
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Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 86004 Design Studio: Foundations in Interior Architecture
Description
This studio introduces students to the core principles, concepts, skills, and practices of contemporary interior architecture. This primarily includes areas of space planning, site analysis, and client engagement. The subject introduces students to the concept of adaptive reuse, allowing for a critical and creative exploration of different histories of inhabitation while designing projects for contemporary (spatial and social) conditions.
Students incorporate practical design skills with critical research techniques, and work towards developing cohesive design projects. With a strong emphasis on adaptive reuse, co-working and ‘living and working’ scenarios, the studio engages with and responds to the prominent global inhabitation practices. As such, it offers an opportunity to learn and experiment in thinking and practice as means of developing one’s own design approach.
A single design project constitutes the primary vehicle for learning and development throughout the subject. The subject comprises of interactive lectures, weekly tutorials and design studios. Lectures and tutorials unpack contemporary and historical case studies, and theoretical frameworks concerning primarily domestic typologies.
Design projects are framed within a theoretical discourse and developed within the design environment. Projects within the design tutorials build spatial intelligence and innovative approaches to design through thoughtful and rigorous individual design processes. Students work alongside studio leaders to incorporate specific knowledge from the lectures through a combination of iterative modelling, drawings, and sketch design developments in a weekly ‘pin up and present’ studio format.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:
| 1. | Develop formal and informal experimentation methods. |
|---|---|
| 2. | Engage with ideas of event, programme and spatial organisation. |
| 3. | Develop and evolve individual design intuition and spatial creativity. |
| 4. | Develop and employ a rigorous iterative method-based design process. |
| 5. | Engage in the realisation and presentation of design concepts across four dimensions. |
| 6. | Establish and employ critical reflective techniques. |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes to the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes:
- Ability to take autonomous responsibility for actions and decisions (A.1)
- Ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, initiate partnerships with others, take a leadership role when required and constructively contribute to peer learning and critique (C.1)
- Ability to communicate ideas effectively, including oral, written, visual, analogue and digital presentations (2D and 3D) (C.2)
- Ability to understand and generate design propositions across a diverse range of design scenarios and negotiate final propositions with multiple stakeholders (I.2)
- Ability to initiate and execute meaningful self-directed iterative processes (I.3)
- Ability to apply and utilise appropriate communication techniques, knowledge and understanding to enable practical applications in spatial design (P.1)
- Ability to rigorously explore, apply and extend multiple representational techniques (P.2)
- Ability to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of interior and spatial design precedent and to contextualise one's work within the extended discipline (R.3)
- Ability to reflect on, challenge and interrogate theoretical speculation (R.4)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
The term CAPRI is used for the five Design, Architecture and Building faculty graduate attribute categories where:
C = communication and groupwork
A = attitudes and values
P = practical and professional
R = research and critique
I = innovation and creativity.
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs) are linked to these categories using codes (e.g. C-1, A-3, P-4, etc.).
Teaching and learning strategies
The lectures of the subject are episodic instances in a larger continuous narrative. Students, therefore, are to review the previous week's lecture notes before each lecture.
This subject is studio-based. Design tutorials are an intense, fast-paced and highly interactive learning format. It is taught collaboratively by practising design professionals and UTS academics. In each tutorial session, students receive formative feedback and reflection from studio leaders and peers while continuing to work iteratively towards the final design project through a variety of formats both within and outside tutorial times. This includes audio and video works, diagrams, plans and drawings, models and reflective writing.
This subject includes active, interactive and collaborative learning experiences through lectures and design tutorials. It uses an inquiry-based learning strategy that involves students in researching and developing their own/group solutions to complex problems and scenarios. Further, this subject incorporates a range of teaching and learning strategies which includes lectures, discussions, demonstrations, studio activities, design thinking/making and student presentations. Each class is complemented by reading, research and reflection on studio work, individual and collaborative group tasks.
Lectures and tutorials will incorporate a range of teaching and learning strategies including studio work, short presentations, videos, simulations, discussion of readings, case studies and student group work. These will be complemented by independent student reading and participation in online and in studio discussion. Students should document their work process, visual and written research and design development of their design project.
Content (topics)
This subject addresses the following issues and topics:
- Iterative and generative design processes
- Spatial design experimentation
- Exploration of inhabitation and spatial organization
- Theoretical rigor
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Creative Hub Design: Understanding site and client
| Intent: | Overview: Creative Hub Design: Understanding site and client Aims: To develop a detailed understanding of the site and client through models, research and drawings. To develop a preliminary design response based on your understanding of site and client through models and drawings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task addresses the following subject learning objectives: 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 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, I.2, P.2 and R.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 35% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 2: Creative Hub Design: Preliminary Design
| Intent: | Overview: Creative Hub Design: Preliminary design proposal Aims: To develop a detailed spatial design proposal that responds to the site and client. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.2, I.2, I.3 and P.1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 25% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Assessment task 3: Creative Hub Design: Final Design
| Intent: | Overview: Creative Hub Design: Final Design Aims: To develop a detailed final spatial design strategy that responds to the site and client(s) based on your preliminary design proposal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.): C.2, I.3, P.1, P.2 and R.3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type: | Project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 40% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criteria linkages: |
SLOs: subject learning objectives CILOs: course intended learning outcomes |
Minimum requirements
- The DAB attendance policy requires students to attend no less than 80% of formal teaching sessions (lectures and tutorials) for each class they are enrolled in to remain eligible for assessment. Achievement of the subject’s aims is difficult if classes are not attended. Where assessment tasks are to be presented personally, in class attendance is mandatory.
- Pursuant to UTS rule 2.5.1 students who do not satisfy attendance requirements may be refused permission by the Responsible Academic Officer to be considered for assessment for this subject.
Recommended texts
Recomended texts & resources will be shared on Canvas, under Modules.