UNSW Built Environment: Postgrad Expo 6th of April

UNSW Postgrad Expo

6th April 2011, 4pm – 7pm
The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks, Sydney

Make April 6 the day to find out more about Postgraduate Study at UNSW.

The University of New South Wales provides a diverse range of flexible and career focused programs. Postgrad Expo offers you the opportunity to speak with UNSW staff to get the answers you need to help change your life.

The expo will have staff from UNSW faculties, affiliated research organisations and student services as well as current students on hand to answer questions and provide you with program advice to help you change your life.

If you have any questions about postgraduate study, contact the Student Recruitment Office who will be able to assist you with your enquiry.

For enquiries –

Email: studentrecruitment@unsw.edu.au

Phone: +61 93851844

Register now for Postgrad Expo.

UNSW Built Environment: 2010 Excellence in Research Initiative

The University of New South Wales has been ranked the 4^th highest university in Australia for Research excellence by the 2010 Excellence in Research (ERA) Initiative. Overall, the UNSW Built Environment was ranked highly against its competitors, receiving a high average score of 3 out of 5 for its combined Built Environment disciplines.   Among the separate discipline areas, Property and Construction Management research and Urban and Regional Planning research were both ranked in the highest scoring group of Universities in these two discipline areas, each scoring a 4.

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative assesses research quality within Australia’s higher education institutions. It provides a comprehensive overview of the quality of research undertaken in higher education institutions across the country in an international context.

The outcomes of the ERA 2010 process are available on the Australian Research Council (ARC) website .

Please see the below article, published in The Australian Newspaper for the thoughts of Les Field, UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor and others involved in the higher education industry regarding the 2010 ERA outcomes.

The Australian – Excellence in Research for Australia lays bare research myths

UNSW Built Environment: Postgraduate Conference Day – Wenjie Cai

On the 6th of December we had a UNSW BE Postgraduate Conference, it is the first one we ever had and when I was told that there would be such an event, I had no ideas on it—what would it be? About 2 months ago, Christine had a meeting with us to discuss our expectations on the conference; I suppose this is the unique aspect of this event—it aims at dealing with the problems we concerned with when doing research.

The conference began with seminars on generic skills (publication issues and ethics applications), followed by presentations by research cluster heads. It was surprising to hear that there are already three research clusters in the faculty (I only knew one) and research students can be a member of these clusters if they have interests. Sometimes I feel that there are disconnections between research students and researches undertaking within the faculty, obviously these research clusters can provide opportunities for us to be more involved in the faculty, and also facilitate the communications between research students.

But it was a bit disappointing when the poster presentations began, I originally thought that there would be supervisors and other researchers of the faculty but unfortunately I couldn’t find any. Obviously this session offered an opportunity for us to share our research experiences with each other, but it might be better if we can also get some feedbacks from other researchers in the faculty.

Students in paper presentation session

After a BBQ lunch, we had two concurrent writing workshops, thank Christine to invite teachers from the learning centre. I went to the one on dealing with data, I think the most important aspects of this workshop are that it pointed out the key issues in this aspect and we can then share our experiences. Lastly we had a recent BE graduate’s question and answer panel, but it is a pity that I didn’t attend it.

We finally reached our fun time—the Christmas party. There were two very excited lucky draw moments with very tempting prizes, but unfortunately I am not the lucky one. Actually I never win in such events and maybe we can have some small games in the party next year so that I don’t need to rely entirely on my luck (just joking)!!

Participants in BBQ lunch and Christmas party

The conference is very helpful indeed and a good practice for me as I gave a presentation, hopefully we can continue it next year.

Great thanks to the organizers (Christine, Suzie, Bronwen…), all the participants of the conference and party, and of course our associate dean of research Bill Randolph, who sponsored the event. Happy new year to everyone!

Written by Wenjie Cai

UNSW Built Environment: Win an Apple IPAD!

We are giving all BE students the chance to win an Apple IPad simply by taking part in an online CATEI survey! All you have to do is log into CATEI via your myUNSW portal and tell us your opinion about things. All those who complete the survey will go into a draw to win an Apple IPad.

We want to hear what you think! If positive, please take the time to say so,  affirm what is happening and provide this feedback to the  lecturers. If you would like to see change let us know so things can change.

It is understandable that this is a hectic time of the year and your time to provide this very important feedback  is really appreciated. It will only take about 15 – 20 minutes! 

Did you know because you complete CATEI;

• Lecturers have changed course content and teaching  as a result  of your feedback.
• If you complete the survey you can view lecturer feedback on comments and course data after the results are finalised.
• If you complete the survey you are then given access to see the completed results for  Form A evaluation and so find out what your peers thought.
• By completing the survey you boost the overall response rate for FBE compared to other Faculties at UNSW which is very important. You also boost your own  program’s response rate compared to other programs within FBE too! Yes, they are all measured which indicates the importance of this survey.

So log in to myUNSW portal today today for your chance to win!

UNSW Built Environment Event: Postgrad Study Expo 2010

UNSW Postgrad Study Expo is a week-long spotlight on postgraduate study from 27-30 September 2010. This week is a great opportunity to explore ways to upgrade your qualifications and discover a new range of career possibilities.

The Faculty of the Built Environment and COFA are holding a joint Postgraduate Study Expo during the UNSW Postgrad showcase week.

Date: Tuesday 28 September 2010

Time: 4.00pm to 7.00pm

Venue: BE Galleries, Red Centre West Wing

Please register here for this event

UNSW Built Environment Research: Laura Goh

Hi Everyone,

Well it’s already the end of Semester 1 and so much as happened since my last post in November 2009! The biggest news – I AM BACK AT UNSW! No, no don’t panic – I didn’t fail my undergraduate thesis…actually I have just started my PhD!

The first questions most people ask me when they hear that I am in my sixth straight year of uni is ‘Are you mad?’ Well, actually – yes I am (obviously). So why did I decide to do the PhD? Well, whilst writing my undergraduate thesis I felt that I didn’t have enough time to explore all the aspects that I wanted to on my topic area. My supervisors encouraged me to think about turning my undergraduate work into something bigger, as well as apply for a post-graduate research scholarship. For anyone thinking about postgraduate research degrees check out the UNSW Graduate Research School Website or UNSW BE Future Students page .

I have been offered an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship for three years, which will help to cover my living expenses whilst I am doing my PhD. I don’t think it would have been possible for me to do the PhD without the scholarship – so I am very thankful for the support. I have a desk in the lovely new PhD Lab in the Red Centre. We have a fabulous view of the University Walk and the Village Green, as well as our own little kitchen for heating up our lunches and making millions of cups of tea (note: this blogger is a tea-addict).

At the moment I am at uni four days a week and still working as a planner one day a week. I have started doing some lecturing and tutoring work for a couple of the undergraduate planning subjects, which is a lot of fun! I was even luck enough to go up to Kurri Kurri with the Third Year students on their strategic planning field trip!

Lots more soon – I think it’s time for a cup of tea!

UNSW Built Environment Master of Architecture: The public place in Sydney (Final year studio)

“To draw is to select, to select is to interpret and to interpret is to propose.”  Manuel de Sola-Morales

This program drew on architectural strategies developed by Candelepas associates in their practice.  The studio supported students in their analysis and evaluation of the city with close study of a site in the vicinity of Customs House and its environs.

The studio began with analytical drawings.  There was a requirement to draw observations of public and private places in Sydney’s CBD for an area the boundaries of which are:

• East: Macquarie Street
• West: Kent Street and the Harbour Bridge
• South: Martin Place
• North: Sydney Harbour (including the Opera House)

Abstract mappings and observations throughout the semester were conducted with reference to:

• Figure ground
• Height mapping
• Use mapping
• Historical mapping
• Edge conditions
• Landscape
• Built Form
• Population
• Sound
• Light
• Smell
• Taste
• Memory

This process prepared students in their development of individual proposals for the site in the vicinity of Customs House and for the purposes of a cultural use.

Students: Barry Babikian, Raeed Dannawi, Amanda Kezovski, Joseph Khoury, Carmen Masry, Ayu Mintara, Angelo Parisi, Louise Tsung-Lei Parsonage, Mark Roach, Silvia Sanjaya, Robert Ursino

Studio Leaders: Angelo Candalepas & Andrew Scott

Angelo Candalepas runs a well known medium sized architectural practice in Sydney.  The work of this practice has received many prestigious architectural and industry awards.

Andrew Scott is an associate of Candalepas Associates They have been teaching studio in the graduation year at UNSW for three years.

UNSW Built Environment Alumni: Community Art as a means of Place-Making for Culturally Divers Communities

Rhonda Jamleoui, Planning 09

The creation and promotion of public space is seen as a powerful opportunity to generate cultural engagement within a community despite a lack of understanding which planners and local communities often have for changing demographics in established neighbourhoods and their resistance to new cultural expressions. The role of creating culturally influenced public spaces is to alleviate isolation and the fracturing of community life by bringing together people from culturally diverse backgrounds. The thesis is an investigation of the creation of place through community art. The research will focus on the design and implementation of community art projects which allow local people to express their culture and local stories through a collaborative process in which all local stakeholders take part. The thesis investigates three case studies:  Greenacre Town Centre Improvement Art program, Llandilo Multicultural Footprints and Nelson Park Upgrade. All three projects illustrate the ways in which communities can come together to improve their local neighbourhood, creatively address local issues and eliminate cultural barriers through promotion of public space. Community art projects allow local people to take pride in where they live, create a sense of place and provide a level of ownership which empowers them to care and maintain for their local area.

UNSW Built Environment: Ian Robertson (MArch) – 2nd place winner at the HP Cityscape 2020 Competition

HP flew me down to Melbourne for the day on Thursday (12 august), telling me only that I was a finalist in the HP Cityscape 2020 competition, information about the competition had been forwarded to students earlier last semester, and among the posted 15 semi-finalist entries there were 3 students from UNSW (I didn’t recognize and don’t remember the names of the others). I was the only one flown in for the ceremony.

At 4:30  the reception started in HP’s new demonstration and sales center in downtown Melbourne – the 15 posted entries (out of ~90 total submissions from all over Australia) were each on an easel with a core group of 5 in the middle (including mine). At 6:00 the results were announced with a student from Melbourne Uni taking third place, me in second and an RMIT student in first place.

The projects varied greatly, but many [including all 3 prizewinning entries] centered around somehow adding programmatic density to the urban environment – mine in the spaces between buildings, the first place by parasitically grafting onto them, and the third place by making a skyscraper from Melbourne’s laneways.

Interesting to see the convergence of ideas from many different schools – demonstrating, prehaps, shared concerns about the future of the city.

Space in the city isn’t pure, and can’t be defined by simple figure ground relationships. Space flows around unvisible whorls and eddies, and tracing movement in the urban environment exposes spaces that have unknown unactivity – space we don’t know that we don’t use. These unused sites are sites for the injection of life into the urban muddle – dead space for living people.

The unvisible spaces become building envelopes.

The unvisible spaces are thirdspaces between the the face and the mask – the walls we build and the walls we experience. Why not live inside these walls?

Low-fi analysis of the space allows unnecessary detail to be stripped away – revealing the essence of the urban condition.

The natural progression of the city is of internal entropy, the example of Split Croatia demonstrates how over time the pure condition is corrupted by life – emerging over time as the space it should become.

The tool of for the analysis is a flock of boids – autonomous agents that reveal urban flow patterns.

UNSW Built Environment Master of Architecture: Mark David Roach

It’s great to be back and to be getting started with the design stage of my graduation project (ARCH7202). Having completed my research phase of the design (ARCH7201), I can now start to implement what I have learnt to design a theatre for Customs House.

Being my final semester, it’s already pretty intense with a sketch design of my proposed theatre due by week 3. This basically involves fleshing out what kind of spaces/rooms are required, their relationship to each other and how people experience the building in a graphic way. So this would usually include plans and sections and some sketches, with elevations coming later in the process. This might sound a bit full on, but over the course of my degree I am more efficient at doing things and prioritising, so it’s not too intense.

Getting back to theatres, and I’m quickly realising how amazing and technically demanding they are. But I think we are all really lucky in Sydney to have such a great example – Sydney Opera House.  The significance of it is quite clear when you observe other theatres and buildings in general that have been influenced by it.

To help us prepare for this semester, our tutors gave us the task of understanding what exactly a theatre is and what kind of requirements it demands. I was also particularly interested in looking for buildings that had been restored or incorporated existing buildings (adaptive re-use) as well as those buildings that were concerned with the public realm/space of cities and how a building may contribute to that space in a positive way. This concern for the public realm and in general urban fabric of a city is a growing concern amongst architects especially given the emphasis on sustainability. I suppose this is also a point of departure or distinction from what is done in the earlier years of an architecture degree, which deals with sites of a smaller scope.

The process of understanding the theatre was pretty exciting as it involved looking at a ton of awesome theatres from around the world, like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dallas Theatre, Jean Nouvel’s Opera de Lyon, Rem Koolhaas’s Casa da Musica and Sydney’s very own Opera House by Jorn Utzon.  All these buildings are worth checking out whether in person or through books and the net – that might have video tours of the building. Observing buildings and life in general is something that my design tutors have really encouraged and it’s a really good practice to have as an architecture student, to just take time to stop and actually really look hard at what’s around you and record it either through words or drawing.