ARCH-1006 – Design Thinking – Fall 2019
What does the act of design mean? This course introduces the concepts of design thinking in various fields, through a series of lecturers and design assignments. We will focus on how design influences culture, from art to graphic design, furniture design to architectural design. The course studies the work of select architects, to see how they each approach the act of design, especially studying conceptual thinking and architectural drawings. Discussion focuses upon design as a central activity of the architect and designer. Exercises include the study of designed objects, as well as 2D and 3D composition, to develop critical thinking skills parallel to graphic skills.
Course taught by Terrance Galvin and Kristin Beites.
The tradition of the architect’s sketchbook begins in the first year of our program. Students are required to keep a weekly sketchbook in this course, outlining lecture notes, weekly readings, ongoing public lectures and a series of drawing themes to work on throughout the term. Sketchbooks are highly personal and creative; they capture the imagination of each architecture student, and often display visible improvement as the sketchbook is repeatedly used as a recording device for visual ideas over the course of the term. No two sketchbooks are alike – these ones are dedicated to the Design Thinking course only.
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Students were asked to choose a fairly small object that had some value or merit to them, and then to sketch out a container for the object. They then had to draw the object, design and draw the container, make the container, and then finally do a composite drawing using Photoshop. The assignment shows photos of the containers, which had to be well crafted using our Fabrication shop facilities.
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This is the first time in the history of the MSoA that the first-year class was widely dispersed around the globe due to pandemic travel restrictions. Intentionally, this assignment asked them to film some form of outside ‘infrastructure’ in their respective towns or cities. We then played the films weekly as a mini-film festival that allowed the class to virtually travel around Ontario and the world, from Sudbury to Ahmedabad. All two-minute films have a soundtrack and credits that further enhance the atmosphere of the film.