University of New South Wales

This course examines influential theories of nature and the environment in philosophy and a range of interdisciplinary writings, from Aristotle to the present.  The course explores the following questions: Is there a connection between how nature has been conceived in philosophy and science and the current environmental crisis? Is the notion of nature still a meaningful term in the Anthropocene?  What is the difference between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’? How should humans understand their relationship to ‘nature’? These questions will be addressed from a range of perspectives, such as: Phenomenology, Critical Theory, German Romanticism, environmental ethics, Ecofeminism, contemporary thought and non-Western approaches. Drawing on these diverse traditions, the course examines possible alternatives for understanding the human-nature divide.

This course examines the primary structural materials adopted in commercial and residential projects in Australia. It covers the composition of concrete, with a detailed analysis of the properties of its components, including cement, aggregates, and the most utilized admixtures. Students will learn how to design concrete mixes in accordance with Australian Standards. Additionally, the course presents a discussion on alternative sustainable materials that can be used in the concrete mix. The course also examines other structural construction materials, such as steel, masonry, and timber, with discussions presented on their physical and chemical properties, along with design and planning considerations that need to be accounted for. The final part of the course examines finishing material, including ceramics, claddings, curtain walls, painting, and glass. 

This course examines the deep connection between film and architecture. Both are art forms that shape and articulate our experience of space and place, influencing how we perceive and interact with the built environment. Through themes of space, place, and time, students will explore cinematic perspectives and methodologies for spatial analysis and design. By analyzing and making short films, students will also explore opportunities and strategies for storytelling, documentation, research and critique of the built environment. 

This course examines the practice of painting within a contemporary art context. Working individually and collaboratively in the studio, students will complete a range of practical tasks that will give them a foundation in painting practice. It covers how to use painting tools, materials, supports, and how to work with color and tone to create paintings. 

This course examines the disciplinary foundations for architectural design. Through small scale and experimental design projects, students will explore the main concepts and activities of architectural design. There is a focus on making and thinking about human inhabitation including space, form, order, structure, material, scale and proportion. It covers manual and digital representational techniques as primary design communication tools, and explore the relationship between plan, section, elevation and three-dimensional forms.

In this course, students will focus on the design and fabrication of functional and/or wearable objects in response to architecture and interior spaces. Students will apply jewellery and metal fabrication skills and small-scale production methods to develop a series of designs that engage with spatial and conceptual relationships between architecture and the body. The designs outcomes will be contextualized by contemporary practices in Jewellery and Object Design.

This course examines engineering hydrology and its application in water resources management and flood estimation. Topics discussed include hydrological cycle, climatology, atmospheric circulation, meteorological measurements, precipitation, streamflow measurement, runoff components, hydrograph analysis, loss rates, IFD and design  storm hyetographs, flood frequency analysis, unit hydrographs concepts and linear reservoir method, groundwater, hydraulic conductivity, Darcy's law, intrinsic permeability, water potential, hydraulic head, unsaturated zone, aquifers, aquicludes, aquitards, steady state flow, transient flow, effective stress, transmissitivity, storativity, pump test interpretation.

This course helps students develop skills and experience with a range of etching techniques in a supportive and peer-oriented studio environment. Working with intaglio matrix techniques such as collagraph, drypoint, hard ground line (etching), aquatint, soft ground, sugar lift and spit bite, students will be encouraged to explore how printmaking connects with contemporary art contexts where distinctions between disciplines are increasingly fluid.

This course examines city and regional economics in relation to the practice of city planning. It covers a range of key economic concepts and models that shape urban land uses, and urban housing and labor market systems. It encompasses the following main areas: micro/macroeconomic processes that drive urban land use, governance and planning systems; market failures as the source of urban planning problems; development feasibility; and the economic theories of urbanization, gentrification and technological transformation.

This course examines psychology as a biological science. The emphasis is on understanding the links between the neurobiology of the brain, sensory organs and nervous system and human behavior. It covers diverse perspectives on psychology from various experimental traditions and levels of analysis – behavioral, cognitive and neurophysiological. Topics include memory and cognition, animal learning, psychobiology, perception, and abnormal psychology.