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1012 overview

COA 1011 COA 1012
Fundamentals of Design and the Built Environment I & II
College of Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology
Fall 2007 Spring 2008


We learn to see a thing by learning to describe it.
Raymond Willliams

Drawing is both the object and the apparatus of inquiry.
Robin Evans


OVERVIEW

COA 1011 and COA 1012 are the two design studios in the Common First Year sequence. The studio sequence proceeds from a broad understanding of design as a particular set of operations that shape virtually everything in the world: places, spaces, products, systems, and environments.

Our goal is to equip students with a broad range of conceptual and technical skills enabling them to take on and engage a wide range of situations in the world around them.

Each exercise ends with a written response to the learning afforded by the exercise. These self-reflections reinforce both the individual experiences and the common apparatus through which the experiences unfold.

At the end of each exercise students will document, digitally, their work. Instructors will review the work to ensure that the documentation is of high quality.


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Drawing: description; re-presentation; inquiry
  • Learn to see; to describe; to inquire
  • Develop a facility in a wide range of media and technologies of representation
  • Develop procedures for framing inquiry: setting up the 'problem' as well as the 'process'
  • Develop analytical skills as well as the capacity to imagine
  • Introduce basic digital software to enable digital documentation of work after each exercise

Designing: problem definition; proposal formulation; project development
  • Problematize prior assumptions of what design is, and what it may encompass
  • Understand the iterative nature of design inquiry and the role different media and genres of representation play in design inquiry
  • Understand design as discursive activity that draws strength from discussion, critique, self-reflection, and collaboration

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
  • Successful completion of ALL studio exercises, reflection responses and digital documentation
  • All students are required to turn in a CD with high-quality documentation of studio work at the end of the semester. Failure to do so will result in an 'F' for the course
  • Attendance of all studio sessions, including pinups and juries. No unexcused absences
  • Missing more than 2 TUTH classes or 3 MWF classes will result in a grade penalty equal to one full letter grade
  • All absences for medical reasons need written corroboration
  • There are no final exams for this class
  • Final reviews will be held during the last week of classes

GRADING CRITERIA

Instructors will provide a written evaluation and grade for each exercise within ten days after the final review for each exercise.

Student work will be graded on the following criteria:

  • Clarity of thought and procedure
  • Quality of craft
  • Intensity of effort
Regular work habits and participation in class discussions and activities will be crucial to doing well.
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