Architectural Design Studio (ADST) 690

Diploma Project (Revision 1)

Status:

Open

Delivery mode:

Grouped study or Paced study

Credits:

Area of study:

Architecture

Prerequisites:

ADST 675

Precluded:

None

Faculty:

Faculty of Science and Technology

Notes:

This course will be offered in January, May and September. You may contact the FST Student Success Centre at 1-855-362-2870 for confirmation of other offerings.

Students are required to attend one 3 hour evening video teleconference session per week during the first 13 weeks. Students will have the remainder of the 48 weeks to complete and submit their final diploma projects.

Architectural Design Studio 690: Diploma Project is intended for students enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Architecture (GDA) at the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University.

Overview

ADST 690: Diploma Project is the final project of your educational experience in the ADST architectural design studios, leading to the Graduate Diploma in Architecture. This project can be either a building design or a research project. The Diploma Project connects architectural theory and practice through the advanced study of professional and cultural issues that give purpose and meaning to design.

A building design project, for example, may resolve an existing problem through a new and innovative project or design solution, while a research project may involve academic research and critical analysis of a theoretical problem, with the goal of developing a solution with application beyond a single project and which is of use to other practitioners in the field. For ADST 690, either kind of project must involve a critical analysis of the problem, which is an essential skill for architects.

Outline

As noted above, the Diploma Project may be one of the following:

a building design with a thoroughly analyzed complex functional program that you have developed; or
a research project that you have initiated.

You have a choice which of these two projects to undertake but the specific topic must be approved by your academic expert.

A research project may or may not involve a design component involving a building or space in the traditional sense. It may include research into building science, building technology or building materials, the development of a new building typology, a prototype, a set of guidelines, a set of policies, or another architectural topic. You must find a suitable project that will provide an effective solution to a problem.

If the Diploma Project is to result in a building, the following written documents must be prepared:

statement of intent
project proposal
project program
final presentation.

You are responsible for conceptualizing, framing, and realizing the project under the supervision of your academic expert, the Director (of the RAIC Centre for Architecture) and the external Advisor(s), requested by you and approved by the academic expert and Director.

Throughout this course, you must maintain a sketchbook capturing personal engagement with the Studio, thoughts and observations on you work and that of others, design explorations you considered and abandoned, your interactions with critics and fellow students, and questions that remain unanswered. The sketchbook is a required element of all Design Studio courses.

You are encouraged to engage your academic expert often throughout the course. Their experience and knowledge will be a valuable resource as you develop your design thinking and they will act as a sounding board for your design ideas.

You are required to develop a Personal Archive on your computer to store materials that are pertinent to your studies. This can include images, texts, scanned drawings, models, and websites. If this is your first course using a Personal Archive at Athabasca University, please carefully read Archives and Collections. It will familiarize you with concepts behind a Personal Archive and with design, organizational tools, and formats that can help you achieve a workable collection. Your Personal Archive will be central to your studies throughout the program and to your ongoing career.

During the first 13 weeks, you will be asked to share your work in progress with your academic expert and the other students in the studio. This weekly session is the equivalent of a desk critique (a session during which the architecture student sits down with their instructor to review their designs) given in a face-to-face studio.

These interactive meetings will be held in an online environment that includes video conferencing, audio conferencing, and social media, and will allow the academic expert to provide feedback in the form of sketches, beside or as a layer over your work. This is intended to be a productive working session much like you would experience in an architect’s office. You will receive a full set of instructions for connecting to the virtual studio

Learning outcomes

Adapted from Canadian Architectural Certification Board, Canadian Education Standard.

After successfully completing this course, you should have developed:

Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two- and three-dimensional design and architectural composition, and urban design.
Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential information at each stage of the pre-design and design process.
Ability to make technically precise drawings and develop an outline specification for a proposed building.
Ability to apply fundamental architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites, and to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and the design of a project.
Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architectural project, which accounts for client and user needs, appropriate precedents, space and equipment requirements, relevant laws and standards, and site selection and design assessment criteria.
Ability to produce and document a comprehensive architectural project based on a building program and a site, which includes the development of forms and spaces demonstrating an understanding of structural and environmental systems, building envelope systems, building assemblies, and life safety provisions, and of the principles of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Evaluation

Your work in this course will be evaluated based on two projects. You are required to scan and submit your projects to your academic expert via the Project links on the course home page. Each project is weighted as shown below. Note that your participation in discussions and your sharing of resources will contribute to your grade.

Activity	Weight	Complete by
Project 1A: Diploma Project Proposal	15%	Week 10
Presentation: Diploma Project Proposal		Week 10
Project 1B: Preliminary Development	20%	Week 20
Presentation: Preliminary Review		Week 20
Project 1C: Intermediate Development	25%	Week 30
Presentation: Intermediate Review		Week 30
Project 1D: Final Development	30%	Week 48
Presentation: Final Review		Week 48
Project 2A: Reflecting on What You Have Learned / Studio Collection	10%	Week 48
Project 2B: Submit 2 images to the Gallery
Total	100%

You must complete all projects. A final course grade of 67% or higher is required to pass the course.

All work completed for each assignment must be original and must conform to the policies and guidelines outlined in the Athabasca University Student Manual. Essays must follow APA style.

You may wish to consult the university’s Write Site resource centre to review writing processes; you will find APA style guidelines under on the Documentation and Plagiarism page.

Materials

Although there is no textbook for this studio, the academic experts may assign readings as they deem appropriate during the course.

Other Resources

Student-Provided Tools and Equipment

You must provide a digital camera for your own use, as well as a few other tools. The items you will need to provide are listed below:

Photography tools:

Smartphone with camera, or digital camera (SLR preferable)

Drawing materials:

35.56cm × 43.18cm (14” × 17”) Strathmore 300 series acid-free drawing paper
22.86cm × 30.48cm (9” × 12”) Strathmore 300 series sketchbook
white or beige 2-ply card stock
trace paper

Drawing tools:

0.30 mm precision felt pen (or similar).
2H to 2B pencils or mechanical pencils
coloured markers and/or pencil crayons
compass
protractor
ruler
drawing board (recommended)

Modeling materials:

white or beige 2-ply card stock
clear plastic sheet

Modeling tools:

self-healing cutting mat: 18” × 24” (45.75cm × 60.96cm) or larger preferable.
metal-edge cork-back ruler (various sizes)
stainless steel knife
masking tape/painter’s tape
white glue
modeling set square

Use of Computers

You may use computers to design and complete your projects for this studio (except where noted), but remember that hand drawing and modeling skills remain essential to the development of an architect and we encourage you to use those skills wherever possible.

Course Home Page (online): The course home page houses all the online components of your course.

Course Information (online): The Course Information provides specific information about how to proceed through the course. Read the Course Information carefully before you begin reading the Study Guide.

Projects (online): The 2 projects are embedded on the course home page.

Forms: Forms you may need are available through the myAU portal.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 1, July 8, 2016