POIEMA

Medium Density Housing as a form of Poiema POIEMA Bachelors Design Studio, Val Austin, Mondays/Thursdays 3.30-5.30pm

The studio will investigate design as a Re-imagining of Medium Density Housing and as design for the Aesthetics of Experience.

• Students are to make a Design proposal which addresses the question of ‘how can our suburbs and towns grow within a sustainable and mean-ingful way? This Studio is grounded in issues of Housing and Density and will research precedents and discuss the question of what is ‘habitable medium density housing? How for instance, do you design for growth in suburbs and towns whose residents are resistant to evolving changes to density and identity?

• Students will research precedents: i.e. Berlin Hinter Housing, Garden cities, Terrace Housing, planning and pattern making for new housing typologies suited to emerging cities.

  • Medium Density living as an ancient concept, typical to middle eastern cities and Chinese courtyard housing. Why is it a good idea to address the What, How and why of an increased density in an Australian context?

• Is there a new typology for a future city? What is the history of Medium Density Housing in outer Melbourne for instance?
• You are asked to design a reimagining of Medium Density Housing as a critique of the functional form of town and city? Your design proposal will hopefully act as critique of our living habitat in all its subordination to the market. Just how political are modes of representation in Architecture?
• Can the design and making of an Architecture offer change?
• Just how literally has the use of materiality as a highly visible form of en-tertainment in Architecture become to the detriment of the economic and social constructs of our built environment?
• How much of our built environment is too loud and devoid of beauty?