Course Title: Landscape Architecture Design Research Seminar 3

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Landscape Architecture Design Research Seminar 3

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

315H Architecture & Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2010,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 1 2013,
Sem 2 2013

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2018,
Sem 2 2018,
Sem 1 2019,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 1 2020,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 1 2021,
Sem 2 2021,
Sem 1 2022,
Sem 2 2022,
Sem 1 2023,
Sem 2 2023,
Sem 1 2024

Flexible Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

PGRDFx2019 (ZZZY),

PGRDFx2019 (All)

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

PGRDFx2020 (ZZZZ),

PGRDFx2020 (All)

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

PGRDFlex21 (ZZZZ),

PGRDFlex21 (All)

ARCH1362

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

PGRDFlex22 (All)

Course Coordinator: Heike Rahmann

Course Coordinator Phone: Contact via email

Course Coordinator Email: heike.rahmann@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 100.8

Course Coordinator Availability: please email for appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Required Prior Study

You should have satisfactorily completed Landscape Architecture Design Research Seminar 2 before you commence this course.

Alternatively, you may be able to demonstrate the required skills and knowledge before you start this course. Contact your course coordinator if you think you may be eligible for recognition of prior learning.


Course Description

Design Research. Design Research recognises that the act of design is itself a mode of research and that design processes and practices including ones own are a productive means of generating insights, ideas and creating new knowledge.

Design Research Seminars expose you to a broad variety of practice-based Design Research methods relevant to landscape architecture. Guided by contemporary questions and issues central to the profession and discipline, the courses test and reflect on established ways of working to find new ways of engaging with an increasingly complex world. 

Seminar courses develop necessary design research skills through specialised landscape knowledge and practices, expanding on areas of core knowledge in landscape architecture.  Specialisations focus on the following three threads: 

Critical Thought  / Material Systems / Advanced Communications.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The capabilities that are developed through the program in which you are enrolled are described in the Program Guide. In this course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:

  • Initiate, execute and situate substantial Landscape Architectural design research projects which demonstrate an engagement with urban and global complexities and an applied critical knowledge of the ecological, cultural, political, economic and ethical issues of Landscape Architecture
  • Generate innovative outcomes for Landscape Architecture design projects at a range of scales through a mastery of practice which synthesizes creative, critical, analytical, reflective and theoretical thinking skills
  • Effectively and fluently disseminate design research across disciplines to specialist and non-specialist audiences through a mastery of communication skills in a range of forms and media which shows a sophisticated understanding of the technical and theoretical frameworks of landscape architecture
  • Express a high level of personal responsibility within independent design research projects combining an ability to employ a range of design processes for the generation and evaluation of design research projects
  • Interrogate, question, engage and act in a broad range of social and cultural situations, and demonstrate effective teamwork and collaborative practices including an openness to others from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds
  • Evidence the capacity to be an agent for change and innovation in the profession of Landscape Architecture in local and global contexts and in wider society as a whole


Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: 
1. Analyse a design research method and clearly articulate an understanding of its lineage and implications for contemporary landscape architecture practice.
2.Critically reflect on the application of a design research method in the discipline of landscape architecture through undertaking an individual enquiry within the seminar framework.
3.Demonstrate advanced understanding of a design research method through a coherent visual & textual body of work.


Overview of Learning Activities

Learning activities for the design research seminars will vary in the way the activities are weighted, but they will include:
Lectures and presentations, field visits, experiments and seminar classes


Overview of Learning Resources

You will be expected to utilise library and electronic resources as well as field based enquires to engage with landscape architectural and broader design discourse. RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.

The University Library has extensive resources for Landscape Architecture students. The Library has produced a subject guide that includes quality online and print resources for your studies http://rmit.libguides.com/landscape-arch  

The Library provides guides on academic referencing http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/referencing 

A range of Study resources can be found at https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/study-support/learning-lab

The RMIT University Study and Learning Centre offers a variety of services for students: https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/study-support/study-and-learning-centre


Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.

The outcome of a research seminar depends on its content, methodology and topic. As the seminars aim to develop design research skills, a visual research essay will be the medium which reflects on the work, describes the research methodology and research process, includes a thorough documentation of the design research products themselves and discusses the research findings in a wider professional context. This medium will be aiming to provide training for the final document required in the capstone Project A and B courses in the Master of Landscape Architecture. Recommended length of the final visual research paper is 3000 to 5000 words. Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.

Assessment Tasks

Visual Research Essay, 100%
Linked to all Course Learning Outcomes

Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.