Overview

Summarised from course outline

Architecture is perhaps first a technology of our environment. It doesn't accept the conditions of the site. It changes them to allow the desires of human activity. In contemporary society it has become apparent doing this in an unmindful way has implications we can not ignore. Just as our concerns for the environment have grown because of changes in societies thinking, the cultural message may no longer be of our particular ethnic heritage but one that engages a complex philosophy of local and global position. Thus, Architecture is the silent but that its story is more complex and subtly rendered. 

In 20th centry, ornament became a crime. In reaction to the frivolous application of "nature" on everything modern designers called for the removal of unnecessary decoration to reveal the structural and material "truth". 

Through different studio focuses, we must develop our ideas and strategies that allow productive investigations of the underlying themes: space, matter, culture and process in architecture design. This can be done through practices of theory, architectonics, programme, performance, form and space and media. We must place ourselves in a theoretical framework and identify our preferences with accurate craftmanship. Generating stimulating spatial conditions which explores cultural reflections and assessing structural and environmental elements are crucial in order to carefully and mindfully engage in giving a contemporary voice to our own architectural expression.