Basic graphics : an introduction to rudimentary graphic design

These notes were compiled from several authorities to be used for teaching and learning purposes here at QUT, with the focus on first and second year landscape architecture design studio units.

Design basics : an introduction to rudimentary design ideas and sources

These notes were compiled from several authorities to be used for teaching and learning purposes here at QUT, with the focus on first and second year landscape architecture design studio units.

Fourth wall removed : womens' liberation or entrapment?

Australian dramatic literature of the 1950s and 1960s heralded a new wave in theatre and canonised a unique Australian identity on local and international stages. In previous decades, Australian theatre had been abound with the mythology of the wide brown land and the outback hero. This rural setting proved remote to audiences and sat uneasily within the conventions of the naturalist theatre. It was the suburban home that provided the back drop for this postwar evolution in Australian drama. While there were a number of factors that contributed to this watershed in Australian theatre, little has been written about how the spatial context may have influenced this movement. With the combined effects of postwar urbanization and shifting ideologies around domesticity, a new literary landscape had been created for playwrights to explore. Australian playwrights such as Dorothy Hewett, Ray Lawler and David Williamson transcended the outback hero by relocating him inside the postwar home. The Australian home of the 1960s slowly started subscribing to a new aesthetic of continuous living spaces and patios that extended from the exterior to the interior. These mass produced homes employed diluted spatial principles of houses designed by architects, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and Adolf Loos in the 1920s and 1930s. In writing about Adolf Loos’ architecture, Beatriz Colomina described the “house as a stage for the family theatre”. She also wrote that the inhabitants of Loos’ houses were “both actors and spectators of the family scene involved”. It has not been investigated as to whether this new capacity to spectate within the home was a catalyst for playwrights to reflect upon, and translate the domestic environment to the stage. Audiences were also accustomed to being spectators of domesticity and could relate to the representations of home in the theatre. Additionally, the domestic setting provided a space for gender discourse; a space in which contestations of masculine and feminine identities could be played out. This research investigates whether spectating within the domestic setting contributed to the revolution in Australian dramatic literature of the 1950s and 1960s. The concept of the spectator in domesticity is underpinned by the work of Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley. An understanding of how playwrights may have been influenced by spectatorship within the home is ascertained through interviews and biographical research. The paper explores playwrights’ own domestic experiences and those that have influenced the plays they wrote and endeavours to determine whether seeing into the home played a vital role in canonising the Australian identity on the stage.

Normanton2020

Normanton2020 This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Interior Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Normanton. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the second half of the Carpentaria Project (following Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections 2008), in the other Carpentaria Shire town of Normanton. This project, Get EnGulfed: Normanton 2020, looked back and forwards to propose strategies strengthening local and regional identities. Our project partners recognised the need for a strategic approach to developing future visions for Normanton’s growth as a socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable town in the decade to 2020. They proposed: Project aims to foster: • Enhanced liveability; • A strengthened expression of town identity; • Expanded sustainable tourism. Primary challenges & opportunities: • Remoteness; • Two seasons: wet & dry; • Local economy; • Society and Cultural Heritage. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Mud Maps of Normanton: Rhys Belnap, AJ Humphries, Amos Shirreff, Haiku Van Keuk Normanton: Stay Another Day: Belle Dalton, Tom Jordan, Josh Nielsen, Carla Ramsland The Sweet Spot on the Savannah Way: Daniel Lapham, Yvonne Phillips, Patrick Poon, Dan Young Resilience Through Diversity: Jillian Kenny, Tania Metcher, Stephen Orr, Evan Thompson

Get EnGulfed: Normanton2020

Get EnGulfed: Normanton2020 This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Interior Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Normanton. It presented the work to QUT staff from across the university, as well as industry partners and invited guests. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the second half of the Carpentaria Project (following Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections 2008), in the other Carpentaria Shire town of Normanton. This project, Get EnGulfed: Normanton 2020, looked back and forwards to propose strategies strengthening local and regional identities. Our project partners recognised the need for a strategic approach to developing future visions for Normanton’s growth as a socially, culturally, economically and ecologically sustainable town in the decade to 2020. They proposed: Project aims to foster: • Enhanced liveability; • A strengthened expression of town identity; • Expanded sustainable tourism. • Primary challenges & opportunities: • Remoteness; • Two seasons: wet & dry; • Local economy; • Society and Cultural Heritage. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Mud Maps of Normanton: Rhys Belnap, AJ Humphries, Amos Shirreff, Haiku Van Keuk Normanton: Stay Another Day: Belle Dalton, Tom Jordan, Josh Nielsen, Carla Ramsland The Sweet Spot on the Savannah Way: Daniel Lapham, Yvonne Phillips, Patrick Poon, Dan Young Resilience Through Diversity: Jillian Kenny, Tania Metcher, Stephen Orr, Evan Thompson

A Tale of Two Marinas

A Tale of Two Marinas: Burnett Heads and Port of Bundaberg This exhibition showcases the work of 4th Year undergraduate Landscape Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in Burnett Heads and the Port of Bundaberg. The Burnett Heads & Port of Bundaberg project site, just north of Bargara, is a complex mix of port facilities, urban development, established residential and service areas, coastal conservation and agriculture. The project brief was to prepare a range of strategic planning and environmental management options for future urban and infrastructure development. 4th year undergraduate Landscape Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering students worked over one teaching semester with guidance from QUT academics and partner organisations to produce strategic planning, environmental management planning and design options for managing future growth in the area. The project process involved three visits to the site by QUT students and staff. The first visit at the project’s commencement included a formal briefing session with project partners the Burnett Mary Regional Group, Port of Brisbane Corporation, and Queensland Department of Local Government and Planning. Formal and informal community engagement facilitated by the Burnett Heads Progress Association also allowed students to gain some understanding of local values. A second visit mid-project involved a ‘Futures Workshop’ with students and community. This enabled the students to gain the benefit of local knowledge and experience in response to their work-in-progress, and to establish priorities for project completion. It strengthened the relationship between the community and the students. A final exhibition, ‘A Tale of Two Marinas’ was held at the Burnett Progress Hall just prior to completion of the project. The student work exhibited offers a diverse number of alternative options for the future urban development, infrastructure and environmental planning that the partner organisations have used for ongoing consultation.

Linking Karumba : Creating Sustainable Connections

Linking Karumba: Creating Sustainable Connections This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Industrial Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Karumba. It presented the work to the Karumba and Carpentaria Shire community. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the first half of the Carpentaria Project: a fortnight-long strategic planning project entitled Linking Karumba to encourage social, economic, environmental and cultural linkages across the town. Karumba, along with the nearby town of Normanton, is one of Queensland’s most remote settlements. Its economy is based on fishing, tourism, and mining. It has two centres, 2.5km apart by river, or 9km by road. This physical disconnect was identified by Carpentaria Shire Council (CSC) and the Karumba Progress Association (KPA) as a source of socio-cultural disconnection, which formed the basis of our project brief. Student designs were highly responsive to the character of Karumba’s culture and environment, indicating remarkable levels of immersion, and attracting $830 000 in Qld. state government funding for implementation. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Make the Switch: Alice Anonuevo, Michael Marriott, Carla Priestley & Grant Harvey Realigning the Systems: Claudia Bergs, Rebecca Stephens, Anna Coulson & Lois Kerrigan Diversification of Experience: Rebecca North, Kyle Bush, Debra Sullivan & Jenna Green The River is the Main Street: Ashley Nicholson, Monica Kuiken, Dean Bowen & Bill Schild

QUT Linking Karumba Project

QUT Linking Karumba Project This exhibition showcases the work of 3rd -4th year undergraduate landscape architecture, architecture, Industrial Design, Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in the Gulf of Carpentaria town of Karumba. It presented the final, polished set of work to the Karumba and Carpentaria Shire community, following revisions in line with feedback from the 2008 exhibition. 16 students and four staff set off on a 2488km journey to undertake the first half of the Carpentaria Project: a fortnight-long strategic planning project entitled Linking Karumba to encourage social, economic, environmental and cultural linkages across the town. Karumba, along with the nearby town of Normanton, is one of Queensland’s most remote settlements. Its economy is based on fishing, tourism, and mining. It has two centres, 2.5km apart by river, or 9km by road. This physical disconnect was identified by Carpentaria Shire Council (CSC) and the Karumba Progress Association (KPA) as a source of socio-cultural disconnection, which formed the basis of our project brief. Student designs were highly responsive to the character of Karumba’s culture and environment, indicating remarkable levels of immersion, and attracting $830 000 in Qld. state government funding for implementation. The Exhibition Four groups of four students produced four strategic planning and design options toward this future: Make the Switch: Alice Anonuevo, Michael Marriott, Carla Priestley & Grant Harvey Realigning the Systems: Claudia Bergs, Rebecca Stephens, Anna Coulson & Lois Kerrigan Diversification of Experience: Rebecca North, Kyle Bush, Debra Sullivan & Jenna Green The River is the Main Street: Ashley Nicholson, Monica Kuiken, Dean Bowen & Bill Schild

Bargara Pasturage Reserve : Future Visions

Bargara Pasturage Reserve: Future Visions This exhibition showcases the work of Postgraduate Landscape Architecture and final year Undergraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering students in response to issues of sustainability in a coastal wetland known as the Bargara Pasturage Reserve; an exemplar of the many issues facing sensitive coastal places in Queensland today. The 312ha Pasturage Reserve at Bargara is the only biofilter between the pressures of Bargara’s urban and tourism expansion, surrounding sugarcane farming, and the Great Sandy Marine Park, including the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland. This ephemeral wetland, while struggling to fulfil its coastal biofiltration function, is also in high demand for passive recreation, and the project partners’ priorities were to meet both of these challenges. The students were required to plan and design for the best balance possible amongst, but not limited to: wetland and coastal ecological health, enhancement of cultural heritage and values, sustainable urban development, and local economic health. To understand these challenges, QUT staff and students met with partners, visited and analysed the Pasturage Reserve, spent time in and around Bargara talking to locals and inviting dialogue with Indigenous representatives and the South Sea Islander community. We then went home to Brisbane to undertake theoretical and technical research, and then worked to produce 11 Strategic Plans, 2 Environmental Management Plans and 33 Detailed Designs. One group of students analysed the Bargara coastal landscape as an historical and ongoing series of conversations between ecological systems, cultural heritage, community and stakeholders. Another group identified the landscape as neither ‘urban,’ ‘rural,’ nor ‘natural,’ instead identifying it metaphorically as a series of layered thematic ‘fields’ such as water, conservation, reconciliation, and educational fields. These landscape analyses became the organising mechanisms for strategic planning. An outstanding Strategic Plan was produced by Zhang, Lemberg and Jensen, entitled Metanoia, which means to ‘make a change as the result of reflection on values’. Three implementation phases of “flow”, “flux”, and “flex” span twenty-five years, and present a vision a coastal and marine research and conservation hub, with a focus on coastal wetland function, turtle habitat and coral reef conservation. An Environmental Management Plan by Brand and Stickland focuses on protecting and improving wetland biodiversity and habitat quality, and increasing hydrological and water quality function; vital in a coastal area of such high conservation value. After the planning phase, students individually developed detailed design proposals responsive to their plans. From Metanoia, Zhang concentrated on wetland access and interpretation, proposing four focal places to form the nucleus of a wider pattern of connectivity, and to encourage community engagement with coastal environmental management and education. Jensen tackled the thorny issue of coastal urban development, proposing a sensitive staged eco-village model which maintains both ecological and recreational connectivity between the wetland and the marine environment. This project offered QUT’s partners many innovative options to inform their future planning. BSC, BMRG and Oceanwatch Australia are currently engaged in the investigation of on-ground opportunities drawing on these options.

HCI for city farms : design challenges & opportunities

Urban agriculture plays an important role in many facets of food security, health and sustainability. The city farm is one such manifestation of urban agriculture: it functions as a location centric social hub that supplies food, education, and opportunities for strengthening the diverse sociocultural fabrics of the local community. This paper presents the case of Northey Street City Farm in Brisbane, Australia as an opportunity space for design. The paper iden-tifies four areas that present key challenges and opportunities for HCI design that support social sustainability of the city farm: A preference for face-to-face contact leads to inconsistencies in shared knowledge; a dependence on volun-teers and very limited resources necessitates easily accessible interventions; other local urban agricultural activity needing greater visibility; and the vulner-ability of the physical location to natural phenomenon, in this instance flooding, present a design challenge and a need to consider disaster management.

Eye on the Street? Sensory Experience in Public Places

Research on the sensual experience of place is not a mainstream topic in the architectural debate; it is more common in other disciplines like landscape architecture or interior design. The curriculum sometime offers opportunities of cross-pollination between disciplines; students in architecture courses might be exposed to different theories of space more typical to other fields. This paper explore the teaching/research nexus within QUT Master of Architecture research stream; the focus of the discussion is students’ experimentation with people’s experience and navigation of the public space. Theories of placemaking in relation to urban design are first introduced; then the teaching/research nexus is discussed; finally students’ experience in approaching phenomenological research within the Master of Architecture are presented.

Rejuvenating lost and disused space within Fortitude Valley : a study into the effectiveness of urban greenery in subtropical public space

An issue gaining prominence in our urban environments in the notion of lost space, the undesirable urban areas that are in need of redesign, commonly caused by a focus on development as individual architectural entities, without a greater view of the urban environment as a holistic entity. Within the context of South East Queensland, the suburb of Fortitude Valley has been earmarked for development as an extension of the current CBD. With lost and disused spaces already existing throughout the suburb due to rapid growth and mismatched developments, recent planning regimes have proposed rejuvenation in the form of proposals that echo typologies from other Australian regions, such as the laneway typology from Melbourne. Opportunities exist in these spaces for design approaches that relate specifically to the individual and unique subtropical character of the area. This research explores the relationship between innovative approaches towards urban greenery as a means to rejuvenate lost and disused public space, and its suitability within a subtropical climate, specifically focused within the suburb of Fortitude Valley. A trend gaining prominence is the notion of biophilic cities; cities that integrate urban greenery as a means to provide vibrant public spaces, and meet the growing aesthetic, social, cultural and economic needs of our cities. Through analysis of case studies showcasing greenery in an inventive way, observations of public using subtropical public space, and a discussion of the current policy frameworks at place within Fortitude Valley, innovative uses of urban greenery is proposed as viable placemaking technique in subtropical urban environments.

Defining sustainability requirements for design-build (DB) contractor selection in public sector projects

The design-build (DB) delivery system is an effective means of delivering a green construction project and selecting an appropriate contractor is critical to project success. Moreover, the delivery of green buildings requires specific design, construction and operation and maintenance considerations not generally encountered in the procurement of conventional buildings. Specifying clear sustainability requirements to potential contractors is particularly important in achieving sustainable project goals. However, many client/owners either do not explicitly specify sustainability requirements or do so in a prescriptive manner during the project procurement process. This paper investigates the current state-of-the-art procurement process used in specifying the sustainability requirements of the public sector in the USA construction market by means of a robust content analysis of 40 design-build requests for proposals (RFPs). The results of the content analysis indicate that the sustainability requirement is one of the most important dimensions in the best-value evaluation of DB contractors. Client/owners predominantly specify the LEED certification levels (e.g. LEED Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) for a particular facility, and include the sustainability requirements as selection criteria (with specific importance weightings) for contractor evolution. Additionally, larger size projects tend to allocate higher importance weightings to sustainability requirements.This study provides public DB client/owners with a number of practical implications for selecting appropriate design-builders for sustainable DB projects.

A design led innovation approach to gathering deep customer insights in the aviation industry

Research has long documented the value that design brings to the innovation of products and services. The research landscape has transformed in the last decade and now reflects the value of design as a different way thinking that can be applied to the innovation of business models and catalyst for strategic growth. This paper presents a case study of gathering deep customer insights through a design led innovation approach and reveals industry perspectives and attitudes towards the value of deep customer insights within the context of a leading Australian airport corporation. The findings highlight that the process of gathering deep customer insights encourages a design led approach to testing assumptions and developing stronger customer engagement. The richness of the deep customer insights also provided a bridge to future thought by provoking possible product, service and business innovations which aligned to the airport corporation’s vision. The implications of the study reveal how quantitative market data, which reveals broad sociocultural trends into ‘how’ and ‘what’ customers interact with within an airport, can be strongly validated and built upon through qualitative deep customer insights that explore ‘why’ those choices to interact are made. Future research is then presented which aims to widely disseminate a design led approach to innovation within internal stakeholders of the airport corporation through the development of a digital strategy.

Producing and maintaining professional identities in early childhood

This study is an inquiry into early childhood teacher professional identities. In Australia, workforce reforms in early childhood include major shifts in qualification requirements that call for a university four-year degree-qualified teacher to be employed in child care. This marks a shift in the early years workforce, where previously there was no such requirement. At the same time as these reforms to quality measures are being implemented, and requiring a substantive up skilling of the workforce, there is a growing body of evidence through recent studies that suggests these same four-year degree-qualified early childhood teachers have an aversion to working in child care. Their preferred employment option is to work in the early years of more formal schooling, not in before-school contexts. This collision of agendas warrants investigation. This inquiry is designed to investigate the site at which advocacy for higher qualification requirements meets early childhood teachers who are reluctant to choose child care as a possible career pathway. The key research question for this study is: How are early childhood teachers’ professional identities currently produced? The work of this thesis is to problematise the early childhood teacher in child care through a particular method of discourse analysis. There are two sets of data. The first was a key early childhood political document that read as a "moment of arising" (Foucault, 1984a, p. 83). It is a political document which was selected for its current influence on the early childhood field, and in particular, workforce reforms that call for four-year degree-qualified teachers to work in before-school contexts, including child care. The second data set was generated through four focus group discussions conducted with preservice early childhood teachers. The document and transcripts of the focus groups were both analysed as text, as conceptualised by Foucault (1981). Foucault’s work spans a number of years and a range of philosophical matters. This thesis draws particularly on Foucault’s writings on discourse, power/knowledge, regimes of truth and resistance. In order to consider the production of early childhood teachers’ professional identities, the study is also informed by identity theorists, who have worked on gender, performativity and investment (Davies, 2004/2006; McNay, 1992; Osgood, 2012; Walkerdine, 1990; Weedon, 1997). The ways in which discourses intersect, compete and collide produce the subject (Foucault, 1981) and, in the case of this inquiry, there are a number of competing discourses at play, which produce the early childhood teacher. These particular theories turn particular lenses on the question of professional identities in early childhood, and such a study calls for the application of particular methodologies. Discourse analysis was used as the methodological framework, and the analysis was informed by Foucauldian concepts of discourse. While Foucault did not prescribe a form of discourse analysis as a method, his writings nonetheless provide a valuable framework for illuminating discursive practices and, in turn, how people are affected, through the shifts and distribution of power (Foucault, 1980a). The treatment used with both data sets involved redescription. For the policy document, a technique for reading document-as-text applied a genealogical approach (Foucault, 1984a). For the focus groups, the process of redescription (Rorty, 1989) involved reading talk-as-text. As a method, redescription involves describing "lots and lots of things in new ways until you have created a pattern of linguistic behaviour which will tempt the new generation to adopt it" (Rorty, 1989, p. 9). The development and application of categories (Davies, 2004/2006) built on a poststructuralist theoretical framework and the literature review informed the data analysis method of discourse analysis. Irony provided a rhetorical and playful tool (Haraway, 1991; Rorty, 1989), to look to how seemingly opposing discourses are held together. This opens a space to collapse binary thinking and consider seemingly contradictory terms in a way in which both terms are possible and both are true. Irony resists the choice of one or the other being right, and holds the opposites together in tension. The thesis concludes with proposals for new, ironic categories, which work to bring together seemingly opposing terms, located at sites in the field of early childhood where discourses compete, collide and intersect to produce and maintain early childhood teacher professional identities. The process of mapping these discourses goes some way to investigating the complexities about identities and career choices of early childhood teachers. The category of "the cost of loving" captures the collision between care/love, inherent in child care, and new discourses of investment/economics. Investment/economics has not completely replaced care/love, and these apparent opposites were not read as a binary because both are necessary and both are true (Haraway, 1991). They are held together in tension to produce early childhood teacher professional identities. The policy document under scrutiny was New Directions, released in 2007 by the then opposition ALP leader, Kevin Rudd. The claim was made strongly that the "economic prosperity" of Australia relies on investment in early childhood. The arguments to invest are compelling and the neuroscience/brain research/child development together with economic/investment discourses demand that early childhood is funding is increased. The intersection of these discourses produces professional identities of early childhood teachers as a necessary part of the country’s economy, and thus, worthy of high status. The child care sector and work in child care settings are necessary, with children and the early childhood teacher playing key roles in the economy of the nation. Through New Directions it becomes sayable (Foucault, 1972/1989) that the work the early childhood teacher performs is legitimated and valued. The children are produced as "economic units". A focus on what children are able to contribute to the future economy of the nation re-positions children and produces these "smart productive citizens", making future economic contribution. The early childhood teacher is produced through this image of a child and "the cost of loving" is emphasised. A number of these categories were produced through the readings of the document-as text and the talk-as-text. Two ironic categories were read in the analysis of the transcripts of the focus group discussions, when treated as talk-as-text data: the early childhood teacher as a "heroic victim"; and the early childhood teacher as a "glorified babysitter". This thesis raises new questions about professional identities in early childhood. These new questions might go some way to prompt re-thinking of some government policy, as well as some aspects of early childhood teacher education course design. The images of children and images of child care provide provocations to consider preservice teacher education course design. In particular, how child care, as one of the early childhood contexts, is located, conceptualised and spoken throughout the course. Consideration by course designers and teacher educators of what discourses are privileged in course content —what discourses are diminished or silenced—would go some way to reconceptualising child care within preservice teacher education and challenging dominant ways of speaking child care, and work in child care. This inquiry into early childhood teachers’ professional identities has gone some way to exploring the complexities around the early childhood teacher in child care. It is anticipated that the significance of this study will thus have immediate applicably and relevance for the Australian early childhood policy landscape. The early childhood field is in a state of rapid change, and this inquiry has examined some of the disconnects between policy and practice. Awareness of the discourses that are in play in the field will continue to allow space for conversations that challenge dominant assumptions about child care, work in child care and ways of being an early childhood teacher in child care.