Course overview
Students in this course will consider cities, landscapes and urban environments as complex living systems within, sustainability and liveability contexts. They will use environmental assessment literature, instrument, software and tools to understand environmental issues of landscape and urban design including: public space quality, plants, climate change, resources, microclimate, transport, water, waste, agriculture and energy. The course aims to develop skills in critical thinking and knowledge of the technological, building codes standards, scientific and socio-cultural factors that drive and define the problems that designers engage with to make positive contributions.
Course learning outcomes
- Develop an understanding of the various physical, social-cultural and environmental layers of a city and the ways these interact to form the urban environment
- Demonstrate general understanding of theoretical models and analytical approaches to dissect existing urban environments, develop critical (re)framings and applying urban retrofitting measures to address urban sustainability and liveability
- Develop an experiential sensitivity to urban environments, and a creative imagination that visualises how cities may change, and the ability to represent such future scenarios using sketches, text, map, image and data
- Skills
- Acquire in-depth research skills of the following modes in application to urban analysis and representation: (1) mapping; (2) data and infographics; (3) documentation; (4) outdoor microclimate field measurements and survey; and (5) critical writing
- Develop practical skills to work with urban microcliamte measurement equipment and simulation software
- Build abilities in teamwork and time management for group and individual work