The Architecture of Wishful Thinking

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

170 hours

Entry into the Melbourne School of Design or approval from the subject coordinator.

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

This subject will explore utopian architecture and planning projects based on political idealism, wishful thinking and the prospects of technology. What does technology contribute to the creation of a modern utopia? Is technology the key to a democratic society without poverty and class warfare? Is it a mechanism for the development of a totalitarian state? This subject will investigate the productive and critical dimensions of utopian thought, exploring the ways in which architecture performs as a vehicle for the implementation of political and social vision.

At the conclusion of this subject students will have:

• A highly developed understanding of modern urban and architectural utopian vision, together with a high capacity for critique of them;
• An understanding of how conceptual and theoretical thought is translated into built form;
• A critical basis from which to interrogate and evaluate contemporary architecture.

• Project proposal of up to 1000 words due in week 4 (20%).

• Written and/or graphic project of at least 4000 words due at the end of semester (80%).

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Critical thinking and analytical ability.
• Ability to comprehend architectural concepts and express them lucidly, orally and textually.
• Methods of documentation and presentation.