Overview
ADST 400 is the fifth of ten studio courses that will prepare you for work in an architect’s office.
This course continues the development of architectural design with an emphasis on communication skills. It focuses on functional and expressive qualities of structure, materiality and building technical systems, and how they affect the design of meaningful space. Studies of the development of visual communication skills emphasize the presentation of the technical aspects of building with precision and clarity.
The course outline provides a brief project description, and an outline of a functional program for a collective habitat. The intent is to wean you from dependence on the provision of a complete program and encourage critical analysis and validation of any program you are supplied with.
You will submit a Design Brief, including a summary of precedents for this building type, outlining important organizing principles, site relationships and the project design parti. After the mid-term presentation, you must complete the project and prepare for presentation of the work and its documentation as outlined in Assessment and Evaluation.
Outline
This studio course consists of two projects and two presentations. Each week, you will be asked to share your work in progress with your academic expert 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 academic expert to provide feedback in the form of sketches, beside or as a layer over your work. This is intended to be a productive working session much like you would experience in an architect’s office. 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:
- Understand the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two- and three-dimensional design and architectural composition, and urban design.
- Ability. Use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technologies, to convey essential information at each stage of the pre-design and design process.
- Ability. Make technically precise drawings and develop an outline specification for a proposed building.
- Ability. Apply fundamental architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites, and to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and the design of a project.
- Ability. Prepare a comprehensive program for an architectural project that accounts for client and user needs, appropriate precedents, space and equipment requirements, relevant laws and standards, and site selection and design assessment criteria
Evaluation
Your work in this course will be evaluated based on two projects. You are required to scan and submit your work at each stage to your academic expert via the Project links on the course home page. Each project is weighted as shown below. Note that your participation in discussions and your sharing of resources, will contribute to your grade.
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Project 1A: Design Brief | 15% | Week 3 |
| Project 1B: Schematic Design | 30% | Week 7 |
| Mid-term presentation | | Week 7 |
| Project 1C: Final Project | 45% | Week 13 |
| Final Presentation | | Week 13 |
| Project 2A: Final Collection | 10% | Week 13 |
| Project 2B: Gallery Submission | | Week 13 |
| Total | 100% | |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
You must achieve a cumulative grade of 67% or greater to receive credit for ADST 400.
Materials
This course either does not have a course package or the textbooks are open-source material and available to students at no cost. This course has a Course Administration and Technology Fee, but students are not charged the Course Materials Fee.
Although there is no textbook for this studio, the academic experts may assign readings as they deem appropriate during the course.
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:
- 35.56cm × 43.18cm (14” × 17”) Strathmore 300 series acid-free drawing paper
- 22.86cm × 30.48cm (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” (45.75cm × 60.96cm) 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
You may use computers to design and complete your projects for this studio (except where noted), but remember that hand drawing and modeling skills remain essential to the development of an architect and we encourage you to use those skills wherever possible.
Course Home Page (online): The course home page houses all the online components of your course.
Course Information (online): The Course Information provides specific information about how to proceed through the course. Read the Course Information carefully before you begin reading the Study Guide.
Projects (online): The 4 projects are embedded on the course home page.
Forms: Forms you may need are available through the myAU portal.