Architecture

This module aims to provide a critical body of knowledge and a set of methodologies to allow students to produce original and rigorous proposals for construction and environmental design in their architectural design projects. It does this through exploring key concepts and debates in the field of ecology and their relevance to the role and practice of architects, urbanists, and other spatial practitioners. It also introduces the importance of fire and life safety and the critical role this plays in the architectural design process.

A theme of the module is ecology and the interdependency of decision-making in the production of buildings and human environments. In this respect, technical and environmental design remain positioned within a social, political, and economic consideration of architecture.

You’ll study topics such as:

• Ethics and Ecologies of architectural production
• Infrastructures and sustainable urbanism
• Material sourcing and embodied energy
• Good practice in sustainable construction technology
• Ethics, principles and practices of sustainable architecture and human wellbeing in architecture
• Sustainable Development Goals
• Environmental legislation, codes of practice and certification
• Good practice in low and zero-carbon construction
• Digital design and assessment tools for environmental architecture
• Ethics and priorities within life and fire safety legislation
• Design and construction practice for life and fire safety

Design Studio 4(extended) operates as the introduction and foundation to design components of the 2 year MArch course. You are introduced to some of the core principles and agendas that inform the culture of design and architecture across the 2 years.

The module sets out to inspire a spirit of enquiry in developing personal values and an ethical position in relation to architecture, its social aspects, and the needs of a sustainable environment. The activities are designed to promote greater understanding of the social, political and cultural contexts of architecture, and their influence on the development of urban areas, through the integration of their analysis into the design process. In its extended format, bridging students across Design Studio 4 and Design Studio 5 modules of the 3 year route, the module will develop more ambitious architectural designs with an urban focus, and underpinned with an awareness of the wider political, regional and local contexts.

The module also strives to enhance creativity and design skills and develop communication and presentation skills in a range of media and to provide a forum for peer debate, deep learning and critical reflection.

The module operates in three connected phases, both concerned with the development of an individual architectural design project.

The first phase involves the individual development of a scenario, brief and programme for the subsequent design project. This proposition is developed through a rigorous process of research and explorations of the social and spatial conditions of a site in Sheffield, much of which is carried out in close collaboration with other students on the module. This work provides the basis for the second phase which is to develop an architectural proposal. The project encourages students to develop innovative design concepts and will focus on the cultural context of the specific location and sustainable strategies in social and environmental terms.

The third phase of the project is to extend the resolution of the project, by demonstrating design strategies at an urban scale and the realisation of a building within that context with resolved spatial and technical attributes.

You are encouraged to extend their understanding of architectural design through guided and self-directed reading of critical architectural theory.
Learning is also supported through the other related academic modules in the year.

The Praxis of Architecture 1: Theory and Recent History is the first in a related pair of modules (with The Praxis of Architecture 2: Expanding Practice) which form, alongside Design Studio 4, an introduction to the M.Arch course.

This module provides an introduction to important architectural theory, history and practice from the late 20th Century to the present day. The term praxis refers to an understanding of architecture as both a theoretical and practical discipline, and thus the module encourages an appreciation of how different positions and approaches to architectural design and practice emerge from an understanding of and engagement with theoretical and historical ideas.

The module is designed to prepare students for postgraduate architectural design, as well as to develop academic research and writing.

You will produce a written, illustrated essay which focuses on one architect or architectural practice/collective, and discusses the interplay between theory and practice in their work. A specific brief for this will be issued each year, designing the content to align with the Design Studio 4 agenda.

The module will expose students to a rich set of theories and practices of architecture, including content from both the traditional canon as well as from the contemporary alternative and critical field. This curriculum is designed to prepare and support students in their parallel and subsequent Design Studio modules.

The material will focus on architectural theory from the mid-late 20th century to the present day, including detailed investigations of cutting-edge work from around the world. It will specifically attempt to bridge the perceived void between theory and practice, working with built or live examples of theoretical ideas, without diminishing the academic or intellectual rigour of written work. The module also intends to demonstrate that contemporary ideas and practices are all located in a historical (as well as political and cultural) trajectory, and so to reveal in tangible ways the relevance of studying historical architectural theory and history to the production of contemporary or future-facing architectural practice. Finally, the module expands from a theoretical and historical perspective your understanding of practice in the contemporary context as something more diverse than is often acknowledged.

Each academic session, there will be a balance of content between core material that is delivered each year (designed in line with the broader ethos and agenda of the M.Arch course) and more specific material that aligns with the parallel Design Studio 4 theme and agenda that year. This will reinforce the relations between theory and design in an applied way.

The Praxis of Architecture 2: Expanding Practice is the second in a related pair of modules (with The Praxis of Architecture 1: Theory and Recent History) which form, alongside Design Studio 4, an introduction to the M.Arch course.

This module will introduce one of the key agendas of the course, which is to interrogate the continually evolving and expanding nature of architectural practice. The module straddles both traditional models as well as their increasingly prolific alternative forms. The module will also introduce cultural, theoretical and practical issues relating to contemporary architectural practice.
Given their position in both academia and practice, you will be encouraged to critically consider a rich array of examples of architectural practice and consider them in light of their own experiences of practice.

You will produce a written, illustrated essay.

The module will deliver a series of lectures and seminars that will critically explore the nature of contemporary architectural practice. This will include issues such as the history of the profession, ethical issues of practice, different forms of practice organisation, different approaches to the management of practice, inter-disciplinary practice, and collaboration in practice.
The module is run and delivered by a team of permanent Architecture staff who have extensive experience of different forms of practice, with the additional involvement of a range of practising architect guests who are leaders in their respective fields of practice.

You will be actively encouraged to make connections between the work on this module and that in The Praxis of Architecture 1: Theory and Recent History, and Design Studio 4.

The aim of this module is to enhance your professional development through the completion of, and reflection on meaningful work experience. A work experience will provide students with opportunities to experience the realities of professional employment and experience how their course can be applied within their chosen industry setting. 

The placement will:

• Allow student to apply the skills, theories and behaviours relevant and in addition to their course
• Enable students to enhance their interpersonal skills in demand by graduate employers – communication, problem solving, creativity, resilience, team work etc.
• Grow their student network and relationship building skills
• Provide students with insights into the industry and sector in which their placement occurs
• Help student make informed graduate careers choices

In this module, you will undertake a work experience (minimum duration and expectations as per HESA regulations – clarified on assignment brief/Blackboard) which is integrated, assessed and aligned to their studies and appropriate for their level of study.

Their personal Placement Academic Supervisor (PAS) will be their key point of contact during their work experience and will encourage and support students to reflect on their experience, learning and contribution to the organisation they work for.

To demonstrate gains in professional development, you will be required to share your progress, learning and achievements with your Placement Academic Supervisor and reflect on these for the summative piece of work.

The Critical Study module establishes the framework for a significant piece of academic writing and provides an opportunity for the development of student-determined research into architectural and urban theory and history. A written, illustrated report is produced in which the student develops the outline of an architectural design thesis proposal by critically evaluating relevant cultural and social issues. The module encourages students to develop personal, ethical and philosophical positions on the nature of the architectural designs that they are required to produce in other modules.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

The module is responsive in that the subjects to be researched are identified by the student.

A theme or architectural issue, that is of interest to the student and deemed relevant to the contemporary fields of architecture and urbanism, is to be selected and explored through academic research and critical analysis.

The investigation of the subject is furthered by considering the ways in which it might be developed into the basis for an architectural design intervention. In doing so, the student is given the opportunity to develop a methodology for the integration of histories and theories of architecture and urbanism with current discourses on the socio-political and cultural context of architectural practice, to produce a rigorous basis for design propositions. The module therefore constitutes a foundation and preparation for the Design Studio 6 module in the final year.

Design Studio 6 constitutes the culmination of the design component of the M.Arch in Architecture course, in which you'll develop an ambitious thesis design project. You will integrate a spectrum of knowledge into the design process, enabling a deep understanding of the subject and of related disciplines. The module promotes embedded critical thinking and reflection to challenge prevailing practice and values, leading to creative concepts for an uncertain future.

The module provides a platform for lifelong learning and professional development, and hones holistic design skills in preparation for professional practice.

The work in the module involves the development of an architectural design thesis project, through the development of a scenario and spatial proposition.

Design Studio 6 provides a framework for you to develop an ambitious architectural design proposition, holistically integrating different aspects of architectural knowledge - cultural, aesthetic, technical, environmental and regulatory. Relevant and contemporary discourses will inform your design projects on architectural design theory, sustainable design and construction methods.

This module encourages students to critically reflect on architectural practice and its relationship to the design process by integrating the academic study of professional practice into your Design Studio 6 project. 

This process aims to create awareness of personal aspirations and aptitudes to inform continuing professional development, and to provide a forum for debate and sharing experience on the theory and practice of architecture. 

The module will creatively enhance professional knowledge and management skills.

This module is concerned with professional architectural practice and management, including regulatory codes and procedures. Practice is both a theoretical and applied subject, and these two domains will be investigated in a comparative manner. The focus for learning in this module will be a student-led design project, undertaken in a parallel module, to enable this comparison to be an active and applied process

The key issues that the module addresses are those of contemporary architectural practice, including professional, social, economic and legal. Directed reading includes office procedures, codes of practice and standards. Values and professional ethics are debated, and current practice is set alongside potential future developments in answer to cultural, economic and technological development, in particular the growing sustainability imperative.

The Praxis of Architecture 3: Developing Your Agenda for Practice is the third of a suite of modules dedicated to critically understanding, interrogating and developing architectural praxes rooted in theory, existing practices and your own personal values and agendas. The modules 'The Praxis of Architecture 1: Theory and Recent History' and 'The Praxis of Architecture 2: Expanding Practice', prepare the ground for this module, which, building on the previous two, shifts the focus to students' understanding their own personal and professional values, critically reflecting on the crafting of potential professional trajectories.

This module will help students synthesise key concepts introduced in the previous two modules and relate them to their own emerging professional stance and agenda. You will be encouraged to reflect on notions explored in the previous two modules and to relate them to their developing professional agendas. 

Ultimately ‘The Praxis of Architecture 3: Developing Your Agenda’ for Practice aims to give you the means, the tools, the space and the support to develop potential professional trajectories that they might want to pursue on completing the MArch course.

The module will deliver a series of workshops, alongside lectures and seminars, where you will take an active role in designing and testing potential professional trajectories. In particular, the lectures and seminars will critically explore the nature of contemporary architectural practice and how it might relate to the development of your own praxes. These sessions will focus on organisational, ethical and financial aspects of praxis, discussing business models, interdisciplinary approaches, limitations and opportunities associated with the various models and approaches considered. The workshops, instead, will facilitate a process of designing, testing and interrogating approaches to developing students own praxis. This will be explored through the complementary 'Project' and 'Personal Development' views to accommodate a range of learning styles and different degrees of awareness of personal and professional values and agendas.

The module is run and delivered by a team of permanent Architecture staff who have extensive experience of different forms of practice, with the additional involvement of a range of practicing architect guests who are leaders in their respective fields of practice.

You will be actively encouraged to make connections between the work on this module and that in The Praxis of Architecture 1: Theory and Recent History' and 'The Praxis of Architecture 2: Expanding Practice', as well as the Design Studio 5 (3 year route) or Design Studio 6 (2 year route).