School-Assembly

It is envisioned that over the coming years, Monash Architecture will engage in a series of Design - Make projects on the grounds of Dandenong Primary School. This Studies Unit will form the commencement of the ongoing project relationship and be used to frame this engagement by undertaking the following activities:

  • Broadly defining and communicating to the school the nature of architecture student design and build projects, including those having previously been executed at Monash - both in terms of a type of practical engagement as well as a generator of a particular kind of built architectural project.
  • Researching the historical and social context of the school and undertaking site analysis in the process of developing a brief and Building Projects Plan,
  • Identifying and developing a series of grant-ready Stage 1 projects from the Building Projects Plan that could be used to pursue funding to be used to execute these as part of future Monash Architecture Design Make studios.

Straddling aspects of Design, Technology and Professional Studies, this unit will be largely practical in nature. Students will learn about framing a long term project with a real client, undertaking careful site analysis and briefing processes and developing carefully considered, practical design proposals aimed at grant acquisition.

The unit will be overseen by Ross Brewin and involve Thomas McKenzie and Rachel Couper as tutors that drive particular aspects of the project engagement. We are all hybrid practitioner - academics with a particular interest in alternative forms of undertaking and executing built projects (including with students) and the broader social contribution that architecture can make in the world.