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Unit of study_
ARCH9100: Urban Design Foundations Studio
2025 unit information
This unit is to introduce students to key concepts and basic principles in urban design through lectures and studio-based tutorials. By taking full advantage of the neighbourhoods around campus as our laboratory for urban design analysis and intervention, this unit will walk students through deep experiential, historical, and spatial study and engagement with Sydney as a place and urbanity. Through the critical interrogation of selected study areas, this unit will help students understand the urban environment where human beings operate physically, culturally and socially. The studio will engage students with critical thinking, collaborative work and constructive discussion, all of which will serve as the foundation on which the assessments will be based. Emerging out of a process of enquiry about the city, students will develop critical observation, visual documentation, map reading, systematic urban analysis, basic urban intervention, and visual, verbal and written communication skills. These skills will help students to participate with effectiveness in the urban design studios and integrated urbanism studio.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Urban and Regional Planning and Policy |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. understand the role of group work in developing comprehensive, synthesised approaches to urban design
- LO2. explain common urban design terms, including context, public domain, street, subdivision patterns, lot, block, building typology, mixed-use, activation, walkability, scale, city, town centre and design process
- LO3. demonstrate an understanding of building types and explain mixed-use building types
- LO4. describe and evaluate public domain elements
- LO5. use mapping to define urban elements and create evidence based urban design analysis
- LO6. use urban design analysis to define and evaluate urban character and quality
- LO7. demonstrate the role of comparative analysis and the use of good precedents in defining and explaining urban design
- LO8. use a combination of written, verbal and visual communication techniques, to explain urban design concepts, elements and principles.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2024
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney | |
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Semester 2 2024
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Semester 2 2025
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Normal day | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
