BLAR12055 - History and Theory of Building Design

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit provides a broad introduction to the history and theories of building design with a specific focus on the cultural importance, practical uses, construction, and stylistic designs of those buildings. The fundamental knowledge gained in this unit will underpin many design processes and decisions that you will encounter in your work as licensed building designers. The study topics and assessment tasks will develop skills that will enable you to identify and evaluate the successes and failures of historic and contemporary building types as well as the suitability of those buildings for conservation, re-use, or re-development.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites Prerequisite: BLAR11045

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 3 - 2025 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 30%
2. Written Assessment 45%
3. Online Test 25%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 3 - 2023 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 30% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student Feedback
Feedback
The subject matter and the recommended texts are really enjoyable and supportive of learning.
Recommendation
The subject matter and texts will continue to be offered.
Action Taken
The subject matter and texts remains mostly the same with some updates.
Source: Student Feedback
Feedback
The weekly activity forums are full of interesting information and help keep progression through the unit material on track.
Recommendation
The weekly activity forums continue to be offered to support student learning.
Action Taken
The weekly activity forums were offered and students participated well.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
The unit content is very interesting, especially issues related to Australian heritage buildings are useful to know about as a Building Designer.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to cover Australian heritage buildings.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
The coursework, feedback forums and slideshows are very engaging.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to include material and learning activities provided in a similar format to support student learning.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback
Feedback
Understanding how building and construction evolved overseas is a good background to better understand Australian buildings.
Recommendation
The unit will continue to provide a sound overview of international building and construction over the ages.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse the historical development of building design and construction
  2. Explain culturally diverse values in buildings and spaces
  3. Recognise, discuss and compare the major stylistic trends of building design around the world
  4. Describe the historic and contemporary styles of building design in Australia
  5. Constructively discuss and collaborate within an online team environment to explore and propose potential design solutions for the renovation and extensions of heritage buildings.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Written Assessment • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • • •
5 - Team Work • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • • •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence • • • • •
8 - Ethical practice • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Written Assessment • • • • • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • • • • • •
3 - Online Test • • • •