Project X: A Multi Disciplinary Design Workshop

This paper describes the development and implementation of two multi disciplinary design courses at UNSW, dubbed Project X and Project X2. The courses were originally proposed by the Organising Committee of the ConnectED 2007 Conference, as demonstration courses that might embody the spirit of the Conference. They have been coordinated by representatives from the three design-based faculties at UNSW: Faculty of the Built Environment (FBE), College of Fine Arts (COFA) and Faculty of Engineering (FOE). These faculties are also the host faculties for the Conference. Project X (the Scheme Design Course), ran as an intensive course for three weeks in February 2007. Students from the three Faculties worked together in teams to produce scheme designs against a brief set by the Conference Organising Committee as client for the design. The scheme designs were evaluated first within the course and then by an external Project X Jury. The Jury selected the winning design which was then to be developed and constructed by multidisciplinary teams in Project X2 (the Fabrication and Construction Course). This course is currently running in a standard once-a-week mode in Session 1, 2007. Together, Project X and Project X2 celebrate both the design process and the design education process, and both in their multi-disciplinary dimension. The Project X cross-disciplinary mix, with Faculty of Engineering students working alongside students from the College of Fine Arts, and Faculty of the Built Environment students, is so rich it has been described as cross-cultural. Whether despite or because of this richness, evidence so far from surveys of students and staff indicates a successful outcome in terms of design education experience

Making Connections between Teaching Practice and Learning Experience in First Year Design Education

At the College of Fine Arts (COFA), School of Design Studies we offer a four year, integrated, Bachelor of Design, where design is the discipline, not the individual studio practices. One of the challenges in designing the First Year Design Studio Curriculum is that it is necessary to prepare students for six possible studios in years 2 and 3, and they are: Applied/Object, Environments/Spatial, Graphics/Media, Ceramics, Jewellery and Textiles. The first year also includes a number of contextual courses, Computing 1 & 2, Design History and Interactive Systems. How is it possible to incorporate into 2X14 week sessions all that is required? The first year of the Bachelor of Design, integrates theory, conceptual development and studio practice. As first year is the time to establish independent and critical ways of thinking, an integrated approach in the First Year is constructed to introduce an integrated approach. The current structure has been in place since Session 1 2005. This structure introduces students to a mix of experiences and diverse values: - A diverse range of skills - a diverse knowledge base - Global thinking patterns - Effective problem solving skills and - Learning transfer, where connections are made During the continual development of first year studios the aim has always been to develop ways to teach critical and independent thinking skills, a design process and the practical studio skills needed to achieve innovative design outcomes. Three key questions arise within an integrated design program are: 1. What does integration mean in design? 2. What does integration mean in a First Year design education? 3. How does integration translate in the upper years of a program when studio courses are specialised