Virtual Environments

Subject ENVS10008 (2013)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2013.

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 1 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable

On-campus



Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: 36 hours: 1 x 1 hour of lectures; 1 x 2 hours of seminars.
Total Time Commitment:

120 hours

Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Mr Paul Loh

Contact

Email: paul.loh@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:

To plan or design requires the imagining of worlds yet to exist. Drawings and models undertaken with analogue or digital media operate as virtual environments that articulate proposals for environmental change in the physical world. An understanding of how media shape real environments is the aim of this intensive foundation year subject. A series of lectures will introduce students to the range of spatial media and techniques used to develop design concepts and planning strategies. The emphasis will be on developing knowledge of the critical relationship between media and outcomes, and how tools and techniques encourage or constrain possibilities. Concluding each lecture, students will be introduced to self teaching modules that will enable experimentation with media and techniques typically used in design and planning.

Objectives:

In this subject students will:

  • Gain an understanding of the design, reasoning, and application of spatial and analog representations of physical models.
  • Develop an historical awareness of pictorial traditions and symbolic representations in both 2D and 3D.
  • Understand object-centred representations from aerial, topographic, planar and volumetric perspectives.
  • Understand process-centred representations through digital, distributed/networked, time-based, quantitative, and kinetic/performative/responsive applications.
  • Develop ways of reading and interpreting such representations with a cultural and critica lens.
Assessment:

Course work consisting of:

  • analogue/digital drawing and modeling 40% (assessed weekly);
  • critical review of lectures, 1000 words in total 20% (assessed weekly);
  • final project using mixed media 40% (due in the end-of-semester examination period).
Prescribed Texts:

None specified

Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:

At the completion of this subject students should have the following skills:

  • Developed a familiarity with basic techniques in drawings and model making undertaken with analogue and digital media, as typically used to enable the planning and design of the environment
  • Developed an understanding of how such techniques are related to creative thinking, and ultimately determine physical outcomes in the natural and built environment
  • Developed their capacity for independent critical thought, creative inquiry and self-directed learning
Links to further information: http://www.benvs.unimelb.edu.au/
Related Course(s): Bachelor of Environments
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Architecture major
Civil (Engineering) Systems major
Construction major
Environmental Engineering Systems major
Environmental Geographies, Politics and Cultures major
Environmental Science major
Environments Discipline subjects
Geomatics (Geomatic Engineering) major
Landscape Architecture major
Landscape Management major
Property major
Urban Design and Planning major

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