Product as Environment

Unit Code: HDG522

Credit Points: 12.5 Credit Points

> Related Course/s
> Teaching Methods
> Assessment
> Aims & Objectives
> Content
> Reading Materials

Related Course/s:

A unit of study in the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Design (Industrial Design), Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma of Design (Interior Design), and the Graduate Certificate and .

Aims & Objectives:

This studio explores synergies between Industrial Design and Interior Design through the design of hybrid product/environments. It challenges students to create innovative design solutions for everyday spaces such as caravans, campervans, motor homes, mobile homes, marine craft (sailing boats to cruise liners), compact urban dwellings, capsule hotels, and so forth.

Teaching Methods:

Projects are conducted in a student-centred studio, on a work-in-progress basis. Group discussion, site visits, research, consultation, evaluation, critique sessions and presentations are conducted as appropriate.

Assessment:

Content:

The studio considers design for mass production, and advanced materials and construction techniques, including the relative merits and applications of plastics, metals, natural materials, and composite material technologies. It examines tool design and development, and the economics of manufacturing large components. Project work is team-based and focuses on the design of an entire product/environment. This encompasses the overall structure of the space and the detailing of the fixtures and fittings, including establishing users' needs, aspirations, and expectations and their development into a viable outcome that embraces design, prototyping and production.

Reading Materials:

Ashby, M & Johnson, K, Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002.
Antonelli, P, Workspheres: Design and contemporary work styles, MoMA Thames & Hudson, New York & London, 2001.
Hanington, B, 'Methods in the Making: A Perspective on the State of Human Research in Design', in Design Issues, Vol. 19, No. 4, Autumn, 2003.
Myerson, J & Ross, P, The 21st Century Office, Laurence King Publishing, London, 2003.
Harrison, A, Wheeler, P & Whitehead, C (eds), The Distributed Workplace, Spon Press, London, 2004.