Master of Urban Design

The Master of Urban Design at the Melbourne School of Design develops professionals who are capable of seeing the city from multiple viewpoints and who relish working with interdisciplinary teams.

The strengths of this course are the people it involves and the atmosphere they create. People who make urban design at the Melbourne School of Design what it is are the staff and students. Our core group of staff brings together experience and active involvement in current urban design research, design research and education. A broader teaching team with expertise in landscape architecture and urban planning adds diversity and richness. Urban design students contribute their own experiences, energy, new themes and aspirations and add to a multicultural complexity that make our courses special.

The Master of Urban Design encourages interaction and an appreciation of creativity and difference, which creates an atmosphere of collegiality and common endeavour.

Course Specialties
The key quality of the Master of Urban Design is its combined strength of urban design theory and three design studios. Studio projects are always approached as design-research exercises, where innovation and discovery represent a major part of the educational experience. Studios emphasise the importance of place and fieldwork represents a significant component of studio work. Professional and wider community involvement is a regular part of the Master of Urban Design studio experience.

The program aims to:

• Provide a masters-level education in urban design which meets the market in urban design practice both locally and internationally;
• Provide students with expert knowledge in urban design and related areas; and
• Serve an integrating role between the disciplines of the Faculty, building cross-disciplinary strengths and teaching efficiencies.

All students must complete:

• 162.5 points of core subjects
• 37.5 points of electives

Core Subjects (162.5 points)

AND 25 points from one of the following:

Electives (37.5 points)

Urban Design Theory

Urban Design Practice

Urban Planning Issues

Research Methods

To view a sample course plan go to:

http://www.msd.unimelb.edu.au/urban-design/master-of-urban-design.html

1. The Selection Committee will evaluate the applicant’s ability to pursue successfully the course using the following criteria:

• an undergraduate degree in a cognate area with a weighted average of at least 65% in the final two years, or equivalent.
• a portfolio of recent design work, submitted in accordance with the requirements of the Selection Committee.

2. The Selection Committee may conduct interviews or tests and may call for referee reports and employer references to elucidate any of the matters referred to above.

*The design portfolio should consist of not more than eight A3 pages. Where design work has been produced jointly, applicants must indicate their role in the production of the design. Work should be clear and legible.

The Melbourne School of Design is the graduate school of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. It offers professional entry programs in Architecture, Construction Management, Landscape Architecture, Property and Urban Planning. It offers specialist development programs in Property Valuation, Planning and Design and in Urban Design.

The Melbourne School of Design welcomes applications from students with disabilities. It is the University and Faculty (Architecture, Building and Planning) policy to take reasonable steps to make reasonable adjustments so as to enable students’ participation in degrees offered by the Melbourne School of Design (MSD).

A candidate for degrees offered in the MSD must have abilities and skills which include the following: observation; communication; motor; conceptual, integrative, and quantitative; and
behavioural and social. Adjustments can be provided to minimise the impact of a disability, however, particularly at Masters level, students need to be able to participate in programs in an independent manner and with regard to their safety and the safety of others.

(i) Observation: Candidates must be able to read text, diagrams, maps, drawings and numerical data. Candidates should be able to observe details at a number of scales and to record useful observations of environmental contexts.

(ii) Communication: Candidates should be able to communicate with fellow students, professional and academic staff, members of relevant professions and the public. Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively. Communication includes not only speech but also reading and writing.

(iii) Motor: Candidates should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from environmental contexts. Off campus investigations may include visits to construction sites, urban, rural and/or remote environments. Candidates should have sufficient motor ability to prepare documentation of analytic texts, drawings and models of findings and for the preparation of proposals for environmental interventions via digital or other means. Candidates should have the ability to actively participate in appropriate site and/or design studio-based activities.

(iv) Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, synthesis and, importantly, the ability to interpret results of such work. Problem resolution, the critical skill demanded of graduates, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, given the disciplines pursued in the MSD, candidates should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships in environmental structures of a wide range of scales – from smaller than the individual through individual buildings and urban spaces to large geographic areas. Further, graduate study entails learning to master one’s own abilities and skills and to deploy them strategically. This requires further developing skills in both reflective and reflexive thinking and being able to practice these skills.

(v) Behavioural and Social Attributes: A candidate must possess behavioural and social attributes that enable them to participate in a complex learning environment. Students are required to take responsibility for their own participation and learning. They also contribute to the learning of other students in collaborative learning environments, demonstrating interpersonal skills and an understanding of the needs of other students. Assessment may include the outcomes of tasks completed in collaboration with other students.

Students who feel a disability will prevent them from meeting the above academic requirements are encouraged to contact the Disability Liaison Unit.

Refer to University of Melbourne graduate attributes located at http://www.unimelb.edu.au/about/attributes.html