Traditions: 'Real', Hyper & Virtual

This subject is not offered in 2016.

170 hours

Admission into a course at the Melbourne School of Design.

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 aims to bring together students who have an interest in the concept of “tradition” and is designed to give participants a detailed overview regarding the discussion of tradition and its particular relation and intersection with the built environment. More specifically, the seminar uses the discourses generated over the past twenty years in the various forums of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE) as a platform to further the theoretical debates surrounding the concept of tradition in the built environment. Starting with more conservative approaches regarding the concept of traditional environments, variously framed as vernacular, indigenous or organic, this course will move into more critical investigations of the use of tradition in architecture and urbanism. The built environment will be the primary lens through which we will explore traditions and its manifestations in space.

On completion of the subject students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding the historical development and central principles associated with the idea, practices and meaning of tradition.
2. Understand the key controversies and theories that have shaped the practices and problems involved in dealing with tradition and heritage discourses.
3. Identify more critical stances regarding heritage and conservation practices and recognize its implicit politics.

1. A review (2000 words) End of first week of class (40%)
2. An original research paper (3000 words) 1 day after end of class (60%)

"Traditions: The "Real", the Hyper, and the Virtual In the Built Environment" by Nezar AlSayyad, London: Routledge, 2014.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Critical reading skills, research skills, essay writings, engagement with interdisciplinary works.