In this unit, students will grapple with contemporary theories and contexts, and how Architecture as a profession and as a product responds to those ideas. Students will begin by interrogating Critical Architecture theories, developing an understanding of where architecture theory has been and where it is now, and how theory relates to discipline and practice. From that foundation, students will use Tasmania as a case study and lens through which to investigate social, political, cultural, and ecological contexts in this post-colonial era. Throughout, students will gain awareness of how to work effectively with colleagues through in-class work, assessment tasks, and reflection exercises. At the end of the unit, students will have a toolkit for understanding how architecture as a discipline can interrogate, reify, dismantle, and respond to the social, political, and ecological contexts of the 21st century.

This is one of a stream of Bachelor of Architecture and Built Environments Architecture Theory units, which focus on establishing and enhancing students’ capacity to think with clarity and rigour to ensure solid bases for research inquiry and design practice. At Advanced level, the units concentrate on building understandings of and attitudes towards the present and forecasted futures of Architecture and your role in the field and profession.