ARCH 171: Design Fundamentals I                FALL 2015

Instructor    David Matthews|  AA 221|  matthej3@utk.edu  | http://www.jdavidmatthews.com

Catalog Description

Fundamentals of spatial composition and design.  Two and three-dimensional compositions to explore ideas of form and space.  Introduction to architectural representation in drawings, sketches, and models.  

co-requisite: AR 101, AR 121. 

Course format    

This is the first course in the design studio sequence, meeting three times per week in a studio/lab setting.  Design issues and theory are presented in lectures, readings, demonstrations, and class assignments.  Students work both in-class and out-of-class on individual design assignments.  The faculty coordinator establishes a course-wide outline of projects and schedule, while each faculty member develops individual assignments. 

Content        

Designers play a significant role in how we perceive our world; far more than most realize. Architecture and Interiors Design are each essential to most everything people do and yet are largely taken for granted. The course will commence the development of ones’ aptitude to solve spatial problems and to ultimately create and make beautiful places for habitation, utility and delight. 

The creative organization of spaces is not only necessary to the health, safety and welfare of the general public, but is also essential to a sustainable and lasting future. Balancing the many facets of design is a difficult responsibility and requires special skill sets to harmoniously orchestrate a wide variety of different tasks. This course is the beginning of a journey that will one day culminate in each of you crafting beautiful, meaningful spaces that will make a better world. 

Each student must come to understand design as a complex process where both static and moving parts mesh into a singularity. The first year of design presents wonderful opportunities to explore fundamental aspects of thinking that encourages risk taking, exploring defaults, the consideration of divergent possibilities that will open ones’ eyes to many different ideas. It will be a time where the creative process takes many pathways, none of which are linear, and results in a rewarding learning experience. 

Design Process

  • Think relative to divergent possibilities, defaults and limits
  • Think critically, take risks; challenge assumptions and interpret boundaries. 
  • Think and translate a design idea in various scales 
  • Test, fail, iterate develop prototypes, 
  • Be able to set, break, define, interpret and re-interpret rules.
  • Understand how play, empathy and collaboration propel the design process. 
  • Explore how various materials each embody unique qualities 
  • Utilize a variety of visualization techniques in a broad range of applications
  • Sketch, draw and diagram
  • Gather and record a variety of light, color and textures 
  • Use basic power tools to construct models in various material
  • Ordering Systems Skills    
  • Understanding of the fundamentals of both natural and formal ordering systems and the capacity of each to inform two- and three-dimensional design.

Reasoning

  • A studio culture that recognizes design as essential to society, history and the environment.
  • Visual literacy; spatial thinking.
  • Fluency between two and three-dimensional constructs. 
  • An integral sense of craft, fabrication, precision.
  • Poetic interpretations of design
  • Basic design ideas, principles, and the collegial nature of problem solving.
  • Drawing, model building and digital skills in a variety of platforms and techniques
  • Conceive and develop a clear, cogent concept
  • Organize formal and informal elements and spaces
  • Solids and voids relative proportion, scale and material limits throughout the process
  • Rhythm, repetition, and structure as design concepts
  • Geometry relative to the composition of planar and volumetric elements
  • Circulation and spatial sequences
  • Additive and subtractive strategies 
  • Implied and explicit relationships
  • Relationships between light and space; color and perception

Language        

Assignments will resolve abstract spatial problems between two-dimensional compositions and three- dimensional constructs relative to the language of designers, including the following terms:

  • Unity | variety
  • Geometry 
  • Proportion
  • Hierarchy | balance
  • Movement | stasis
  • Rotation
  • Figure-ground
  • Datum and axis
  • Spatial sequence and scale
  • Spatial manipulation
  • Transformation

Attendance

Class attendance, working during class time and participation in all class discussions will be taken into account for grading criteria. More than two unexcused absences will lower the final grade. More than 3 absences, without documentation will result in no credit. 

An important reason for requiring you to work in class is the benefit of student interaction--- seeing and learning from your fellow students. It is a good way to get feedback and develop skills. With all students in attendance, impromptu meetings, discussions and pin-ups can be held.

Incomplete or “I” grades will only be assigned when students are absent from class with a University approved absence and are unable to make up the work by the end of the term. Expectations are for completion of all assignments by the deadline. 

Textbooks    

Architectural Graphics,  by Frank Ching

Architecture: Form, Space, and Order, by Frank Ching

Copies should be available in the bookstore at the University Center. Reading assignments will be in the assignment handouts. Please read each before the day of the class discussion. Other readings or research projects will be common throughout the semester.

Objectives

Fundamental Design Skills: Ability to effectively use basic architectural and environmental principles in design.

Ordering Systems Skills: Understanding of the fundamentals of both natural and formal ordering systems and the capacity of each to inform two- and three-dimensional design.

FERPA | Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act

The method with which the University of Tennessee governs the distribution of student information is based on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 or FERPA. This Act, as amended, established the requirements governing the privacy of student educational records in regards to the release of those records and access to those records. This Act is also known as the Buckley Amendment. For further information please see link: http://ferpa.utk.edu/

Security

The Schools of Architecture and Interior Design and the University of Tennessee are not responsible for the loss of your equipment. Permanently title and label on all equipment. Do be careless by leaving equipment out while away or not securing it to a desk or other object. 

Time

It is imperative to use all time efficiently, especially in-class discussions, critiques and lectures. Students can expect to allot an equal amount of time out of class to the time spent formally in class. Good time management is critical to success in this class and, especially, in all aspects of achieving an excellent design project. 

Evaluation

Focus on what you are doing in the course, learning from creative and imaginative thinking. Evaluations are provided to give reflective opportunity to your enhance creative and imaginative development. Your ability to demonstrate improvement, learning from trial and error, and focus on creating better design is essential for success in the course. 

  • Evaluations are not grades, evaluations and the written and oral feedback provided formally and informally about your work provided in formal reviews, discussions, and other interactions with faculty and peers.
  • Like all design studios the final project of the semester typically has more weight and substance as it indicates the student’s understanding of design principles and the ability communicate an idea.
  • Evaluation for content will be based on the quality of the design and those elements being emphasized in the particular assignment, general resolution of the design, conceptual clarity and development.  
  • Evaluation of presentation will consider the quality of craft, accuracy, effort, and effectiveness of the formal presentation.  
  • Your effort, professionalism, curiosity, and creative and imaginative development are significant factors in your evaluations and final grade. 

Grades

You will receive a midterm and final grade for the course. If you are in danger of making a less than a C in the course you will be notified. (Non-notifications does not mean you can’t make lower than a C, a poor final project presentation can create a result of a grade less than a C.) 

In accordance with the University Academic Policies, the following grading standards will apply: 

  • A     Superior                    4.0
  • A-    Intermediate grade            3.7
  • B+    Very Good                3.3
  • B    Good                    3.0
  • B-    Intermediate Grade            2.7
  • C+    Fair                    2.3
  • C    Satisfactory                2.0
  • C-    Unsatisfactory                1.7
  • D+    Unsatisfactory                1.3
  • D    Unsatisfactory                1.0
  • D-    Unsatisfactory                0.7
  • F    Failure                    0.0            

All late work results in a penalty that is typically a half a letter grade. The degree of the penalty is relative to the importance and status of the assignment. For example, late work for the final might result in no credit for the course. This will also include work that, while ‘on time’, is incomplete, unfinished or lacking the required content.

A course grade lower than a C will require you to repeat the course. 

Projects may be graded formally on content, and presentation.  In addition to the evaluation of the design projects each student will be evaluated on his or her process and class participation. Among the process criteria are curiosity and inquiry, grasp of design ideas, ability to respond to criticism, capacity to make decisions, ability to generate ideas, ability to assess ideas, ability to develop ideas, work habits, standards of self-performance, ability to communicate ideas graphically and verbally, and willingness to assume responsibility.

Incomplete or "I" grades will only be assigned when students are absent from class with a University approved absence and are unable to make up the work by the end of the term.  

Communications

Email will be used for official communications in the course. Notifications, assignments, updates, revisions and other items will be sent via email. Check your email before you come to class and in the evening for any updates. 

Studio Culture Policy  |  http://archdesign.utk.edu/about/studioculture/ 

The College of Architecture and Design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is an academic and professional community, committed to promoting an environment of respect and academic excellence. As educators and students, we share a dual responsibility and opportunity to provide and pursue the best education possible. We strive to provide and promote a culture founded on the belief in diversity, respect, critique, collaboration, conflict resolution, academic integrity, balance, and growth among the members of our community. This Studio Culture Policy represents the ongoing collaboration among the administration, faculty, and students, defines the essential qualities for a healthy, productive, and investigative studio environment that the members of our community uphold. 

The Studio Culture Policy was developed through the Deans’ Student Advisory Council (DSAC) in collaboration with the college faculty. 

STUDIO:

The term “studio” refers to courses as well as a physical place founded on the belief in an environment that fosters critical thinking.

RESPECT:

We uphold a mutual attitude of respect among faculty and students; we stand for a culture of respect within our college by allowing ideas, processes, and products to develop freely.

DIVERSITY:

We believe each member of our design community possesses a variety of educational and life experience that produce diverse opinions and are valuable to the dialogue and collaboration within our studio culture.

CONFLICT:

We agree to respect the process and products of others’ work, we handle all issues in a constructive manner, we address all issues with respect, discretion, and humility, and we respond to all conflict in an open-minded manner in order to sustain a studio culture defined by respect.

PLACE:

The Art and Architecture building allows each member of the community access to a cross-section of design education; interaction within the studio spaces follows that of a professional environment and we treat our studio spaces, equipment, and furnishings with respect.

BALANCE:

It is the instructor’s responsibility to distribute a reasonable workload throughout the semester while it is the student’s responsibility to develop time-management skills that meet responsibilities in and beyond the classroom – studio culture is not influenced by a broad spectrum of academia, life experience, and professional practice.

Professionalism

Delivering completed assignments on time is an assumed requirement for this course. It is vital that students schedule their time wisely and in advance.

  • Students should be able to accept and respond to criticism from their instructor as well as from their peers. In addition, students should be able to offer criticism free of personal feeling. In the studio environment criticism shall be considered either reinforcing or redirecting in nature. 
  • For design presentations you will use a combination of digital and hand drawing. Multiple iterations of physical drawings are a requirement of the course. It should be understood that those characteristics that make a successful hand drawing also make a successful CAD drawing or digital image: lineweight, precision, accuracy, composition and contrast. 
  • Individual critiques will only be given when an observable design iteration has been made. It should be assumed that a new iteration of drawing, diagramming, model building, writing, or analysis will be due each studio meeting. Although discussions of ideas are an integral part of the studio, they must be accompanied by legible, physical evidence. Making your design process observable aids in your own development as well as it conveys your intent to others.
  • The studio will be taught to a tripartite ideal of creativity, discipline, and passion. Just as a tripod cannot stand if it is missing a leg, neither can the design student be successful without all three criteria. A lack of creativity leads to perfunctory solutions devoid of humanity and poetry. A lack of discipline leads to stylistic voyages of whimsy and caprice that lack function or meaning. A lack of passion leads to incomplete execution and the inability to weather the innumerable crises inherent to design and building.
  • The designer possesses an unrivalled ability to make his or her will manifest in the world. This unique position comes with unique responsibility. The designer is neither artist nor engineer, and is held to a unique ethic of practice that encompasses function, aesthetics, and meaning. Students are expected to participate in studio discussions and to contemplate the ethical implications of their own design proposals.

Academic Integrity Policy

An essential feature of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is a commitment to maintaining an atmosphere of intellectual integrity and academic honesty. A student may be disciplined for cheating, plagiarism or any other act of academic dishonesty. See Student Conduct and Community Standards, a division of Student Life at http://studentconduct.utk.edu/faculty_dishonesty.php for a description of prohibited conduct and a complete list of steps to be carried out by the faculty member. Further information for students can be found in Hilltopics http://dos.utk.edu/files/Hilltopics2014-2015.pdf.

If a student has any question about academic dishonesty it is recommended that he/she seek the guidance of the instructor. Many cases of academic dishonesty may be accidental in nature, but it is the responsibility of the student to understand what plagiarism means. Claiming ignorance to the meaning, nuances and ramifications will not be an acceptable excuse.