Since I took this class in Sem 1, 2026, hopefully this review should be more useful and relevant for anyone thinking about doing it. TL;DR - All the assignments are about a damn weed (iykyk) - Very time consuming - Need to put lots of time and effort if you wanna get high grades - Subjective and harsh marking - Portfolio style assignments Ok, where do I even begin?! Overall, I wouldn’t say this subject was inherently bad, but it was definitely very time-consuming and demanding. There is a lot of work throughout the semester, and you need to put in a huge amount of time and effort if you want to do well. The assignments are also all connected to each other, so doing well in the first assignment is pretty important because the skills and work from one assignment carry over into the next. It can feel like you’re constantly working on one big project for the entire subject. The studios weren’t necessarily bad for me, but honestly, I don’t think they needed to be three hours long. We often didn’t do that much during the full three hours, and a lot of the content felt like a repeat of what was already covered in the lectures. I also felt like some of the software and technical skills weren’t really taught in enough depth, which made the learning curve quite steep. Another thing I found frustrating was that the grading can feel quite subjective and arbitrary at times. A lot seems to depend on your tutor and the kind of feedback you get throughout the semester. If you’re lucky and get a tutor who is genuinely helpful and willing to give you useful feedback, it can make a huge difference. If you end up with a tutor who is petty and isn’t very helpful or seems unnecessarily picky about things, good luck 😭. A big part of the subject is learning software like Affinity and Rhino 3D, and Rhino in particular can be quite complicated and abstract if you’ve never used 3D modelling software before. It definitely takes time to get used to, and there were moments where I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. However, like everything else, the more you practice and use the software, the easier it becomes. I think the biggest thing is just getting through the initial learning curve. One thing I would mention is that the subject isn’t really architecture-related in the way I initially expected. I was expecting more content around buildings, the built environment, urban planning and things like that, but the subject is more focused on teaching the core skills used in architecture and design. This includes drawing, digital and physical representation, orthographic drawing, scale, modelling, reflection, visual communication and oral presentations. So it’s less about actually learning architecture and more about learning the different ways you communicate and represent design ideas. For most design and especially architecture students, this subject is a core subject and prerequisite for later subjects, so unfortunately it’s one you’ll probably have to get through. However, I wouldn’t really recommend taking it as a breadth subject unless you’re genuinely interested in design and are prepared to spend a significant amount of your semester working on it. You definitely can enjoy it, but be prepared to basically spend your entire semester studying a weed... 🤡

fun if you're doing architecture major

There is a lot of guidance on how to complete assignments and their expectations. It does have a relatively high workload, but it is manageable as there are no readings and is just a matter of completing assignment work each week. You can get a good grade if you dedicate the hours.

Avoid by all means if not a prerequisite for you. For a fair amount of students it'll be their first introduction to like four new softwares and on top of the ridiculous workload it can be extremely overwhelming. From what I've been told the subject has changed for the better in recent times too so i cant even imagine what it was like beforehand. Also the uni skimped out on Adobe so get used to Affinity I guess.

The most meaningless series of activities ever devised. Tutor was asked multiple times how any of the content or assignments related to architecture and couldn't give a straight answer, because it doesn't. OK, but seriously: even with three assignments (one less than in previous years), there is so much being introduced for the first time -- Rhino is the main one, but also website building and Adobe Suite. I felt like the most I could do was copy the video instructions exactly, with as little variation as possible, and then make up a bunch of jargon to relate it back to the brief. I didn't even have time to render anything (ViewCaptureToFile is the way to go). To save yourself the mental strain, don't try making sense of the lectures or the rationale for grading one thing over another; just focus on getting something done to tick every box, no matter how insubstantial. If you're crazy, you might enjoy doing this subject voluntarily. Otherwise, settle for something a little more manageable, like water torture.

Toughest workload I’ve ever experienced in a subject. Wouldn’t recommend.

DON'T do it as a breadth, elective or if you need a WAM booster! Literally unless you have to, don't do this subject. While the tutors are nice and helpful and you'll learn a lot, it's a VERY VERY time-consuming subject. (In some occasions 12 hours of work were expected over the weekend). You have to manage your time EXTREMELY WELL to even get above 70/75 because the subject expectations are so high. Many, many students dropped out of the subject halfway through it was that bad. There are 4 assignments and 1 portfolio, no exam. The thing that broke me during this subject (besides workload) was that I had a Mac. Rhino software is used which is not compatible with a mac AT ALL compared to other computers. My rhino app would constantly crash making the work very difficult. I honestly think its appalling that the subject uses software that isn't compatible with a brand most people have (the tuts will tell you to consider buying a new laptop themselves, I'm not just saying this).

Get to learn a variety of interesting skills. Adobe, Rhino softwares, pin-up presentations. Get to make a folio by the end of it. Interesting content that really gets you into design thinking mode.

Great intro to design, pin ups and digital software such as Adobe and Rhino. However, workload was insane. Lectures and readings didn't really relate to what we were doing in studio. Readings were really pretentious tbh. Do not recommend as a breadth at all. However if you are planning to major in architecture, its very beneficial.

For those familiar with design concepts and basic techniques this subject can seem a bit useless. However it is a good introduction to how pin ups work and the overall structure of design courses.