Architecture

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 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.

The course will explore the history of the Modern Movement from the 19th century onward, including its gestation, maturation, decline, and the subsequent evolution of foreign architecture. This course not only helps students understand the roots and processes of the dramatic architectural transformations over the past centuries but also provides intellectual nourishment for their current design training.

This course is an introductory survey of architectural history in a range of global settings between c. 1775 and 2000. It is not just about buildings and designs, but seeks to place architecture in its historical contexts. What can architecture tell us about wider developments in social, political, cultural, and urban history? How did those contexts inform design and practice? The idea of "modernity" appears throughout the course. How has this idea informed architectural debate and production? The course begins with the stylistic revivals that dominated western architecture in the early 19th century. It also discusses the 19th century development of new typologies along with the new materials and technologies that made them possible. In the second part of the course, students turn to 20th-century Modernism in global contexts, including Europe, Africa, and Latin America. They explore how architects and their clients sought to invent new architectures, and the ways in which the results balanced international agendas with local and national concerns. The course concludes with the revision of Modernism in the 1950's and 60's and the emergence of a Post-modern consciousness.

This course, which is taught on site in historic buildings, introduces students to the history of London and its buildings from the late 17th century to the present day. This is an extremely dynamic period in London's history: nearly the entire city was destroyed and rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666, the city then saw huge increases in its population in the 18th century, and massive technological and social change in the 19th. The 20th century brought yet more destruction and rebuilding after the Blitz, alongside political and economic upheaval, all of which led to radical changes in the appearance of London's buildings. This century has seen huge new investment in the City, and the rise of gentrification in the suburbs. Throughout the course, students tell this story by visiting and considering many different types of buildings, from churches, hospitals, and palaces, to railway stations, and housing estates. Students explore questions of architectural style, the implications of social and cultural change for architecture, and urban and architectural history and theory more generally. 

This course examines the evolution of Chinese ancient architecture, including the main characteristics of ancient architecture in different historical times. It focuses on the official style buildings in the Song and Yuan dynasties and the Ming and Qing dynasties. 

This course provides the theory and practice for students to understand ecodesign and sustainability and its affects on design practice. Students examine the design methods related to ecodesign and sustainable design and its applications. Project work is conducted to provide the bridge to integrate such theoretical knowledge into practice.

This course examines concepts and methods of Building Information Modelling (BIM), its standards, and its application in design analysis. It covers BIM-based analysis of low carbon building design to achieve optimal design solutions and BIM to evaluate building performance.

This course is a survey of the architectural output of the Islamic world from from Spain to Indonesia from the 7th century to the present. It presents major examples of religious and secular architecture, including mosques, madrasas, palaces, and caravanserais and offers an insight into different Islamic dynastic styles in their respective geographic territories beginning with the Umayyads in Syria and ending with the contemporary architecture. With the help of visual material and field trips, the course analyzes major monuments with the objective of arriving at an understanding of each dynasty’s contribution in the context of the continuous development that nurtured it. The course facilitates enjoyment of Islamic architecture, provides an understanding of how art historians think and argue with one another, and expands visual memory.