MUDD 21 - City Visions II
Eight Studies in Urban Form Sydney Studio, 2015 Convenor: Professor James Weirick
The MUDD21 introductory studio commenced with generic design studies investigating paradigms and typologies of urban design to develop a vocabulary of urban space and form. This was followed by a project looking back at the design work undertaken in selected International Studios over the previous 20 years of the MUDD Program, which presented an opportunity to apply concepts of urban design to a project site. A major component of the design methodology was a critique of the previous MUDD projects on sites in Hanoi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dubai, New York, Barcelona and Venice. Students examined past projects in relation to developments that had taken place on each site. When urban design frameworks are proposed, this is often done with assumptions on how the market will progress and an anticipation of a city’s future needs. In examining past work, students had the opportunity to assess whether the projects had correctly anticipated urban changes. Moving forward, students then proposed a new urban design framework for the site. In some cases, site areas were adjusted based on developments that had occurred within the intervening years. In proposing a new framework, students were presented with the same challenge their peers had been: how do you assess the driving forces and most important needs of a city - and create a list of objectives for a future development? In analysing multi-disciplinary site factors and major issues, students were able to propose projects that benefitted from the lessons and examples of past work and created visionary solutions for the future.
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