Overview
Architectural Design Studio 200: Foundations of Design I is the first of 10 studio courses that will prepare you for work in an architect’s office. This course explores the creative design process through a series of composition, abstraction, and design projects. The aim of ADST 200 is to familiarize you with the creative application of sound analytical skills, imaginative conceptual thinking, and form-making abilities.
You will be introduced to a design process based on original thinking, in which you will synthesize collected information and draw conclusions based on established premises. The course will also demonstrate how to generate a number of design alternatives, and evaluate and select the most appropriate one.
Outline
ADST 200 consists of five projects and two presentations. Each week, you will be asked to share your work in progress with your instructor and the other students in the studio. This weekly session is the equivalent of a desk critique (a session during which the architecture student sits down with their instructor to review their designs) given in a face-to-face studio.
These interactive meetings will be held in an online environment that includes video conferencing, audio conferencing, and social media, and will allow the instructor to provide feedback on your work. This type of session is intended to be a productive working session much like you would experience in an architect’s office. Upon registration, you will receive a full set of instructions for connecting to the virtual studio.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course, you should be able to
- Comprehend: Establish a basic understanding of design thinking, exploration, and communication.
- Analyze: Explore and examine the following topics:
- primary elements
- form
- space
- organization of primary elements, form, and space
- circulation through space
- program
- proportion and scale
- ordering principles
- Apply: Understand and apply basic design principles in the process of design development through critical thinking.
- Apply: Begin to build a community of practice by working with other students.
Evaluation
To receive credit for ADST 200, you must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 67 percent. Your work in this course will be evaluated based on five projects. Note that your participation in discussions and your sharing of resources will contribute to your grade.
The weighting of the projects is as follows:
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Project 1: Two-Dimensional (2D) Graphic Composition: Points and Lines | 15% | Week 2 |
| Project 2: 2D Composition | 15% | Week 4 |
| Project 3: Translation from 2D to 3D; midterm presentation | 30% | Week 7 |
| Project 4: Exploring Solids and Voids | 30% | Week 10 |
| Project 5: Final Presentation: Reflecting on What You Have Learned | 10% | Week 13 |
| Total | 100% | |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Ching, F. D. K. (2015). Architecture: Form, space, and order (4th ed.). Wiley.
Other Resources
Student-Provided Tools and Equipment
You must provide a digital camera for your own use, as well as a few other tools. The items you will need to provide are listed below:
Photography Tools
- Smartphone with camera, or digital camera (SLR preferable)
Drawing Materials
- 35.56 cm × 43.18 cm (14” × 17”) Strathmore 300 series acid-free drawing paper
- 22.86 cm × 30.48 cm (9” × 12”) Strathmore 300 series sketchbook
- white or beige 2-ply card stock
- trace paper
Drawing Tools
- 0.30 mm precision felt pen (or similar)
- 2H to 2B pencils or mechanical pencils
- coloured markers and/or pencil crayons
- compass
- protractor
- ruler
- drawing board (recommended)
Modeling Materials
- white or beige 2-ply card stock
- clear plastic sheet
Modeling Tools
- self-healing cutting mat: 18” × 24” (45.75 cm × 60.96 cm) or larger preferable
- metal-edge cork-back ruler (various sizes)
- stainless steel knife
- masking tape/painter’s tape
- white glue
- modeling set square
Use of Computers
While this is an online and virtual studio, you are asked not to use a computer in preparing your projects. Hand drawing and modeling skills remain essential to the development of an architect, and the first studio courses in this series are designed to help you improve those skills. It is understood that you will need to use a computer to scan, arrange, format, save, and upload your final submission for each project, but you must complete all your drawings and models for this course by hand.