Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 7 · Studio

Architectural Design VII

This is the studio where the building becomes a piece of the city. Architectural Design VII takes on advanced, complex problems at the URBAN LEVEL — groups of multi-storey buildings and their infrastructure, large developments shaped by climate, orientation, services and circulation, and the campuses, urban centres and senior-citizens' housing that hold thousands of people. It is also the studio that takes universal design seriously: a barrier-free route for every user, not as an afterthought but as the spine of the plan. Following Design VI's single complex building, Design VII scales up to the group, the campus and the quarter — and asks you to research, analyse and deliver an urban design proposal. It is the studio companion to the Urban Design theory course.

5Units
6Outcomes
14Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses
Unit I · From one building to a group

The Urban-Scale Design Problem

Design VII begins with a jump in scale: from a single building to a GROUP of multi-storey structures, a campus, an urban centre. The complex, multi-part programme can no longer be held in one object — it must be ORGANISED across many, and the organising idea (a spine, a court, a cluster, a mat, a grid) becomes the design. This first unit teaches you to read a complex urban-scale brief, to use building-type basics for large developments, and to choose an organisational pattern that orders the group and lets it grow. Use the campus-organisation explorer to test the patterns.

Spine & courtCluster & matGridBuilding-type basicsCampus explorer
Open the unit

The studio

Five units, from the group of buildings to the urban design proposal.

The published syllabus gives a single content block; we organise it into 5 teaching units faithful to the content and outcomes, each with original diagrams, a self-assessment and studio work.

1

Unit 1 — The Urban-Scale Design Problem

Live

The jump from one building to a group; reading a complex, multi-part programme at the urban level; building-type basics for large developments; the organisational patterns — spine, court, cluster, mat and grid — that order groups of multi-storey structures and a campus; precedent study at the urban scale.

CO1CO4
2

Unit 2 — Site, Climate & Context

Live

Reading and responding to the large site — climatic conditions, orientation and microclimate; massing and open space for sun, wind and shade; the infrastructure of a large development (water, sewerage, power, stormwater, solid waste); and sensitising the design to its environment and its urban context.

CO2CO4
3

Unit 3 — Circulation & Movement

Live

The circulation problems of large developments — separating and integrating pedestrian, vehicular and service movement; the movement systems that organise a campus or urban centre; parking and access; and weaving services through a group of multi-storey buildings.

CO1CO2
4

Unit 4 — Universal Design & the Campus

Live

Design and detailing for movement and use by persons with disabilities within and around buildings and campuses; the seven principles of universal design and the Harmonised Guidelines 2021; barrier-free routes, ramps, lifts and wayfinding at campus scale; and designing for older people — senior-citizens' housing.

CO2CO4
5

Unit 5 — Process, Communication & Delivery

Live

The design process from research and analysis to a tangible design; the diagram as a design and communication tool; delivering an urban design proposal; communicating ideas across drawings, diagrams, models and multiple media; and the jury — assessed against a weighted rubric.

CO3CO5CO6

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after the studio (CO1–CO6, from the syllabus).

1
Understand

Understand the functional aspects of designing a complex building type and its spatial organization.

2
Understand

Reciprocate and sensitise the design to its environment, with design skill across the project.

3
Apply

Transform theoretical ideas into the tangible output of an architectural design.

4
Apply

Apply space-organization and space-volume thinking to large-scale projects.

5
Analyse

Research, analyse and deliver an urban design proposal.

6
Apply

Communicate design ideas effectively across drawings, diagrams and models.

Every diagram is original Studio Matrx work. This is the studio companion to the Urban Design theory course — bring its concepts (image of the city, public space, TOD) to bear — and it follows Architectural Design VI. Accessibility is held to the Harmonised Guidelines 2021, not the superseded 2016 version.

When the building becomes a piece of the city.

Groups of buildings and campuses, climate and infrastructure, movement, universal design and the urban design proposal. Work through the five units, study the diagrams, then self-assess.

Open Unit I Back to Students

Studio Matrx is a tribute to Amogh N P. The curriculum is free, forever.