Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Architecture, Design and Planning School
This course focuses on knowledge and application of concepts and techniques of advanced built environment representation such as Urban Data Visualization, Building Information Modelling, and Immersive/Interactive Communication. Students will critically develop methods and explore digital representation, modelling, visualisation, and production to conduct and communicate open-ended investigation on emerging topics at built or urban scale.
The development of digital and physical infrastructure has long been shaping our perception of time, space and urban life. The recent emergence in technologies, such as autopiloting, big data, digital infrastructures, and urban sensor networks are constantly challenging our understanding of urban space by blurring the boundaries between the digital and physical world, shaping a different perception of urban streetscape for the pressing future.
This hybrid theory/technology/practice course introduces critical mapping discourses and geographic information systems tools. It examines both historical and contemporary questions with reference to the technology of mapping and representation of multi-dimensional urban systems. Additionally, through the use of GIS via Rhino and Grasshopper, browser-based technologies (Mapbox), open data (OpenStreetMap), and data mining via web services (Google API), students learn how to critically use 2Dﾠand 3D mapping tools and geographic data for spatial analysis and representation.
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Aims and outcomes
This course aims to introduce students to the principles, conventions and technologies of architectural communications
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Record built environment information using a range of media and technologies.
LO2.
Create models, drawings and visualisations using a range of digital media and apply critical thinking.
LO3.
Integrate and translate between drawings, models and visualisations created in different digital mediums.
LO4.
Select appropriate architectural communication technologies, representation modes, conventions and qualities.
LO5.
Prepare a set of architectural representations that convey context and design information.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product/ Design | City Scan | 20% |
Hardcopy and online submission 18/03/2025 4:00 pm |
| Portfolio | Urban Mapping | 30% |
15/04/2025 4:00 pm |
| Presentation, Portfolio |
Presentation of Urban Dynamics
|
50% IVAH |
Portfolio and video 10/06/2025 4:00 pm |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
City Scan
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Product/ Design
- Weight
- 20%
- Due date
Hardcopy and online submission 18/03/2025 4:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05
Task description
Assessment Rationale:
Students will develop essential technical and graphic skills to critically document and communicate key urban features and systems, such as lighting, signage, greenery, and others. Each student is required to select a 1km urban streetscape and produce analytical drawings for three designated sample locations along the chosen area.
Detailed instructions, templates, and submission guidelines are available on Blackboard or Ultra under the Announcements section. For Assessment 1, students must submit both a physical print of their drawings and a digital copy, adhering to the template provided on Blackboard.
Assessment tasks prohibiting the use of AI or MT: This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills, and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
The School of Architecture, Design and Planning uses Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment submission. Turnitin is accessed through the course Blackboard site. Turnitin also checks for plagiarism or instances where the original work of others is not appropriately acknowledged. Uploaded files must contain readable text and not be rasterised. Students are advised to commence assignment uploads with sufficient amount of time (consider possible technical problems with computers, internet speed, etc). After successfully submitting an assignment through Turnitin, a ‘Submission Complete!’ screen will be displayed. It is the student’s responsibility to check the assignment preview and confirm successful submission. If the ‘Submission Complete!’ screen isn’t displayed, the student should regard the submission as unsuccessful. Students should download a copy of the digital receipt as proof they have submitted the assignment. Students who are experiencing upload issues must advise the Course Coordinator immediately by email and should include screenshots and a copy of the assessment for submission. To meet professional accreditation, public engagement and quality assurance obligations, digital copies of all course assessment items must be submitted in addition to any hard copy submission requirements specified in individual Course / Studio Outlines. Any physical models should be photographed and a minimum of two photographs describing the complete and full model must be included in the digital submission.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
If a student wishes to apply for an extension, they must apply online on or before the assignment due date. When possible, it is suggested that requests are submitted 2 business days prior to the submission due date for the assignment to allow processing time. Students with outstanding applications for extensions are advised to submit their assessment by the original due date, irrespective of whether the work is complete, so that what has been done can be graded.
Late submission
The late penalty for this assessment item will be calculated as follows:
First 1-hour block - initial 1 hour grace period no penalty.
Second 1-hour block - An penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted
Third 1-hour block - An additional penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted. (adding up to a total penalty of 20% of the maximum possible mark)
Any submissions received after three hours will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each one-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Urban Mapping
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Portfolio
- Weight
- 30%
- Due date
15/04/2025 4:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05
Task description
Assessment Rationale:
For Assessment 2, students will explore the cultural perspectives and technological foundations that influence cartographic practices. This exploration will enable students to make informed and intentional design decisions in the creation of maps. Using open-source GIS data and computational tools, students will develop a series of analytical maps.
Detailed instructions, templates, and submission guidelines can be found on Blackboard under Announcements. Students are required to submit a digital copy of their portfolio, formatted according to the template provided on Blackboard. The portfolio should function as a standalone document, showcasing all work developed for Assessment 2. It must be presented in an A4 Landscape bound booklet format. Each page should be self-contained and effectively communicate the drawings, and analyses.
Assessment tasks prohibiting use of AI or MT: This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills, and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
The School of Architecture, Design and Planning uses Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment submission. Turnitin is accessed through the course Blackboard site. Turnitin also checks for plagiarism or instances where the original work of others is not appropriately acknowledged. Uploaded files must contain readable text and not be rasterised. Students are advised to commence assignment uploads with sufficient amount of time (consider possible technical problems with computers, internet speed, etc). After successfully submitting an assignment through Turnitin, a ‘Submission Complete!’ screen will be displayed. It is the student’s responsibility to check assignment preview and confirm successful submission. If the ‘Submission Complete!’ screen isn’t displayed, the student should regard the submission as unsuccessful. Students should download a copy of the digital receipt as proof they have submitted the assignment. Students who are experiencing upload issues must advise the Course Coordinator immediately by email and should include screenshots and a copy of the assessment for submission. To meet professional accreditation, public engagement and quality assurance obligations, digital copies of all course assessment items must be submitted in addition to any hard copy submission requirements specified in individual Course / Studio Outlines. Any physical models should be photographed and a minimum of two photographs describing the complete and full model must be included in the digital submission.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
If a student wishes to apply for an extension, they must apply online on or before the assignment due date. When possible, it is suggested that requests are submitted 2 business days prior to the submission due date for the assignment to allow processing time. Students with outstanding applications for extensions are advised to submit their assessment by the original due date, irrespective of whether the work is complete, so that what has been done can be graded.
Late submission
The late penalty for this assessment item will be calculated as follows:
First 1-hour block - initial 1 hour grace period no penalty.
Second 1-hour block - An penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted
Third 1-hour block - An additional penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted. (adding up to a total penalty of 20% of the maximum possible mark)
Any submissions received after three hours will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each one-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Presentation of Urban Dynamics
- Hurdle
- Identity Verified
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Presentation, Portfolio
- Weight
- 50% IVAH
- Due date
Portfolio and video 10/06/2025 4:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L04, L05
Task description
Assessment Rationale:
The final assessment of the course will build upon the precedent work in uncovering and mapping urban systems and organisations and expand to include access to social media or real-time service information from the internet. The students will be able to analyse, discover and represent hidden relationships within the layers of information. The result of the analysis will be represented in the portfolio as well as interactive web media, outlining decisions you made regarding the representational method and what you have discovered from the outcome.
Assessment 3 includes two submission items:
- Portfolio - the student will submit a digital portfolio copy following the template provided on Blackboard. The portfolio is a standalone document that will expose all the works developed for the entire course. The pages should stand alone and convey the most important works and drawings.
- Video Presentation - a pre-recording of a verbal presentation presented by the student personally for identity verification, with relevant files, should be submitted via Blackboard.
Complex / authentic assessment using AI and/or MT to support learning: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Hurdle requirements
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied to receive a specific grade in the course. This assessment item is designated as a Hurdle in this course. This means a minimum achievement of 50% (a grade of 4) is required for this assessment item in order to pass the course. Meeting the hurdle requirement for a course does not guarantee a passing grade for the course and in order to pass this course, students also need to achieve a minimum grade of 4 overall.Submission guidelines
The School of Architecture, Design and Planning uses Blackboard and Turnitin for assessment submission. Turnitin is accessed through the course Blackboard site. Turnitin also checks for plagiarism or instances where the original work of others is not appropriately acknowledged. Uploaded files must contain readable text and not be rasterised. Students are advised to commence assignment uploads with sufficient amount of time (consider possible technical problems with computers, internet speed, etc). After successfully submitting an assignment through Turnitin, a ‘Submission Complete!’ screen will be displayed. It is the student’s responsibility to check assignment preview and confirm successful submission. If the ‘Submission Complete!’ screen isn’t displayed, the student should regard the submission as unsuccessful. Students should download a copy of the digital receipt as proof they have submitted the assignment. Students who are experiencing upload issues must advise the Course Coordinator immediately by email and should include screenshots and a copy of the assessment for submission. To meet professional accreditation, public engagement and quality assurance obligations, digital copies of all course assessment items must be submitted in addition to any hard copy submission requirements specified in individual Course / Studio Outlines. Any physical models should be photographed and a minimum of two photographs describing the complete and full model must be included in the digital submission.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
If a student wishes to apply for an extension, they must apply online on or before the assignment due date. When possible, it is suggested that requests are submitted 2 business days prior to the submission due date for the assignment to allow processing time. Students with outstanding applications for extensions are advised to submit their assessment by the original due date, irrespective of whether the work is complete, so that what has been done can be graded.
Late submission
The late penalty for this assessment item will be calculated as follows:
First 1-hour block - initial 1 hour grace period no penalty.
Second 1-hour block - An penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted
Third 1-hour block - An additional penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark allocated for the assessment item will be deducted. (adding up to a total penalty of 20% of the maximum possible mark)
Any submissions received after three hours will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each one-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 24 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 25 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
Identity verified assessment with a hurdle (IVAH)
To meet assessment validity and integrity obligations, this course includes at least one piece of individual Identity Verified Assessment with a Hurdle (IVAH) that is unambiguously completed by that student, and in which a minimum level of achievement is reached. IVAH assessment item(s) contribute at least 30% towards the final grade. Examples of IVAH items include any activity in which a student’s individual performance is directly monitored, such as performances, fieldwork, oral assessment (including design critiques), design studio project work and invigilated exams. In order to pass this course students must achieve a minimum grade for the IVAH designated assessment item(s) as stated in the Assessment Task Description in the ECP.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is not available for some items in this course.
Supplementary assessment may not be available for all courses, or for some of the assessment items for a course.
Additional assessment information
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 12 |
Lecture |
Lecture Please see Blackboard for information. Learning outcomes: L01, L04, L05 |
Tutorial |
Tutorial Please see Blackboard for information. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.