BE: Visual Communication (11021.1)

Please note these are the 2025 details for this unit
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BE: Visual Communication
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-Campus
 South Bank, QLD
UC College, Bruce, ACT
Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Arts And Design
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
School Of Design And The Built Environment Level 1 - Undergraduate Introductory Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 3 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
This unit is designed to equip students with a range of tools for the communication of built environment projects. Students are expected to explore a range of communication techniques including:

- freehand illustration/hand-sketching and its use for analyses and/or explorations
- drafting - the fundamentals of orthographic drawing, three-dimensional projections, technical drawing standards and conventions, collage, and modelling techniques to aid the communication of design ideas
- digital - the use of the computer as a tool to aid communication of design ideas
- model-making - an introduction to various techniques of three-dimensional representation and exploration
- presentation - the ability to present work verbally and clearly articulate project ambitions to a range of audiences, as well as understand the implications of different types of representation in the communication of built environment projects, and
-multimedia communication strategies - the ability to strategically curate and orchestrate different types of representation techniques as a cohesive set of documents.

The representation skills acquired in this unit are fundamental tools for the communication of the design projects developed for core unit BE: Analysis Studio.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Use and develop analog drawing/sketching methods to explore and represent ideas;
2. Use digital drawing tools to represent projects in a built environment context;
3. Apply techniques of model-making as a device for the communication of ideas;
4. Build and present verbally and visually a Communication Strategy as a cohesive and carefully curated set of documents; and
5. Apply and orchestrate different design communication techniques and to position them within a broader disciplinary and historical context.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - use creativity, critical thinking, analysis and research skills to solve theoretical and real-world problems
1. UC graduates are professional - work collaboratively as part of a team, negotiate, and resolve conflict
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - take pride in their professional and personal integrity
2. UC graduates are global citizens - think globally about issues in their profession
2. UC graduates are global citizens - adopt an informed and balanced approach across professional and international boundaries
2. UC graduates are global citizens - understand issues in their profession from the perspective of other cultures
2. UC graduates are global citizens - communicate effectively in diverse cultural and social settings
2. UC graduates are global citizens - make creative use of technology in their learning and professional lives
2. UC graduates are global citizens - behave ethically and sustainably in their professional and personal lives
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - reflect on their own practice, updating and adapting their knowledge and skills for continual professional and academic development
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - be self-aware
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - adapt to complexity, ambiguity and change by being flexible and keen to engage with new ideas
3. UC graduates are lifelong learners - evaluate and adopt new technology


Skills development

This unit celebrates pre-digital modes of representation, and equips students with an understanding of, and the skills to, produce two fundamental languages in architectural communication: drawing, and modelling.

Students will learn the linetype and lineweight conventions of the orthographic drawing set (plan, section, and elevation), and will explore this understanding in weekly workshops and assignments. Along with these essential two-dimensional representations, students are introduced to three-dimensional representations, in the form of the plan-oblique drawing, and the sectional model.

In addition to acquiring a fundamental understanding of drawing conventions, students will be exposed to how certain types of orthographic drawings foreground distinct architectural qualities, and simultaneously, what certain orthographic drawings might hide about a project. From weekly lectures featuring examples from modern and post-modern architects, students will begin to understand that acts of analogue architectural representation are highly curated and selective pursuits, and that certain drawing and modelling types are fundamentally linked to different architectural concepts and approaches.

The representation skills acquired in workshops, and the knowledge of various examples of drawing and model-making from lectures, are fundamental tools for the BE: analysis studio, and other design studios going forward in this degree.



Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2025 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2024 South Bank, QLD Semester 1 05 February 2024 On-Campus Mr Tom James
2024 UC College, Bruce, ACT UC College Trimester 1 05 February 2024 On-Campus Miss Swarali Sidhaye
2024 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 05 February 2024 On-Campus Dr Sally Farrah
2024 Bruce, Canberra Winter Term 27 May 2024 On-Campus Miss Lyn Norton
2024 UC College, Bruce, ACT UC College Trimester 3 23 September 2024 On-Campus Miss Swarali Sidhaye
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 1 03 February 2025 On-Campus Dr Sally Farrah
2025 South Bank, QLD Semester 1 03 February 2025 On-Campus Mr Tom James
2025 UC College, Bruce, ACT UC College Trimester 2 26 May 2025 On-Campus Miss Swarali Sidhaye
2025 Bruce, Canberra Winter Term 26 May 2025 On-Campus Miss Lyn Norton
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

Recommended readings

• Ching, Frank. Architectural Graphics. 6th 2015. Available online, and several physical copies in the UC library

• Unwin, Simon. Analysing Architecture. London: Routledge, 1997. Available online

+ further reading (technical readings)

• Lewis, Paul, Tsurumaki, Marc, and David J. Lewis. Manual of section. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016.

• Montague, John. Basic perspective drawing: a visual approach. 6th ed. London: Wiley, 2013.

• Yee, Rendow. Architectural drawing: a visual compendium of types and methods. London: Wiley, 2007.

+ further reading (conceptual readings and examples of drawing)

• Aureli, Pier Vittorio. The Possibility of an Absolute Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2011.

• Carpo, Mario. The working drawing: the architect's tool. London: Park Books, 2013.

• Cook, Peter. Drawing: The Motive Force of Architecture. London: Wiley, 2014.

• Eisenman, Peter. Cities of Artificial Excavation: the work of Peter Eisenman, 1978-1988. Montreal: CCA, 1994.

• Eisenman, Peter, and Robert Somol. Diagram Diaries. London: Thames & Hudson, 1999.

• Evans, Robin. Translations from drawing to building. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1997.

• Evans, Robin, and Eva Blau (eds.). Architecture and its image: four centuries of architectural representation: works from the collection of the CCA. Montreal: CCA, 1989.

• Evans, Robin. The projective cast: architecture and its three geometries. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.

• Fernandez-Galiano, Luis. Norman Foster, drawings 1958-2008. London: Ivory Press, 2010.

• Frascari, Marco. From models to drawings: imagination and representation in architecture. New York: Routledge, 2007.

• Frascari, Marco. Eleven Exercises in the Art of Architectural Drawing: Slow Food for the Architect's Imagination. New York: Routledge, 2011.

• Gandelsonas, Mario. ‘The Order of the American City: Analytic Drawings of Boston'. Assemblage 3, 3 (1987): 63- 71.

• Hejduk, John. John Hejduk, 7 houses. New York: IAUS, 1979.

• Hejduk, John. Education of an architect. New York: Rizzoli, 1988.

• Kipnis, Jeffrey. Perfect acts of architecture. New York: MoMA, 2001.

• Koolhaas, Rem et al. S, M, L, XL: OMA, Rem Koolhaas, and Bruce Mau. 2nd ed. New York: Monacelli Press, 1998.

• Krier, Leon. Drawing for Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009.

• Schrijver, Lara. Oswald Mathias Ungers and Rem Koolhaas: Recalibrating Architecture in the 1970s. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2021.

• Smith, Kendra Schank. Architects' drawings: a selection of sketches by famous architects through history. Boston: Architectural Press, 2005.

• Ungers, Oswald M. Oswald Mathias Ungers: the dialectic city. Milan: Skira, 1997.

• Ungers, O. M. et al. The city in the city: Berlin: a green archipelago. Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2013.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Assessment 01: physical drawings, high quality scans, and digital upload to Canvas (as one .PDF file)

Assessment 02: photographs of model, scanned collage, and digital upload to Canvas (one .PDF file)

Assessment 03: digital upload to Canvas (one .PDF file)

Academic integrity

Students have a responsibility to uphold University standards on ethical scholarship. Good scholarship involves building on the work of others and use of others' work must be acknowledged with proper attribution made. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsification of data are dishonest practices that contravene academic values. Refer to the University's Student Charter for more information.

To enhance understanding of academic integrity, all students are expected to complete the Academic Integrity Module (AIM) at least once during their course of study. You can access this module within UCLearn (Canvas) through the 'Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism' link in the Study Help site.

Use of Text-Matching Software

The University of Canberra uses text-matching software to help students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understanding of academic integrity. The software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.

Participation requirements

Attendance at scheduled lectures and workshops, and your participation over the semester is expected. Presentation and discussion of your work in progress is essential for the development of your  skills in meeting the learning outcomes of the subject and for your design education.

Participation in learning sessions and reviews provides important opportunities for feedback and demonstrates that the submitted work is your own.

In order to receive a grade of Pass or better,  students must bring their work in progress to all sessions, reviews and juries as detailed in the unit outline. Assessment items that have not been presented for review during the semester as required may not be submitted for final assessment.

Please advise the Unit Convener if you are unable to attend a particular class or workshop.

Required IT skills

Formatting files to acceptable file sizes, formatting to .PDF file type.

In-unit costs

Required cost of drawing and modeling material: in the order of $300 - $500 during a typical semester.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None.

Additional information

Announcements

Announcements made during studios, seminars, lectures, or posted on to the unit canvas site and/or sent to your University of Canberra student email address, will be deemed to have been made to the whole group. Students are responsible for regularly checking the Canvas site and their UC student email.

Consultation with Staff

Contact with staff should generally be within the allocated class times. Consultation outside of these hours shall be by prior appointment, and in addition to, not in lieu of, the scheduled class time. Students who fail to attend classes, and who do not have a Medical or Counsellor's Certificate or other genuine reason for missing classes, should not expect additional tutorial or consultation time.

Please note: staff are not able to return calls to long distance or mobile telephone numbers after normal hours or on weekends or holidays. Emails are normally not checked or answered at nights, on weekends or on public holidays. Teaching staff (and particularly part-time staff) may not be able to attend to phone calls or reply to emails immediately. Please ensure any urgent matters are brought to their attention within the studio session or request assistance in notifying the Convener through the Administrative Assistant for the Course.

Retained Work

Due to the requirements of professional accreditation samples of student work will be retained and stored at the School for periods of up to three years. Where possible, each student should make a copy of any assignment (prior to submission) as that work may be retained and inaccessible thereafter.

End of Semester Clean Up

Studios are to be cleared of work and generally cleaned up at the end of each semester. Projects not removed by the advertised date may be discarded without further notice.

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