Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

Unit 3 Contextual Studies 1: Architecture and Context

ESSAY BRIEF:
ARCHITECTURE
ON DISPLAY

Engraving of Old Smithfield, 1893

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Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

Description
We hope you have been enjoying the lecture series so far, covering the key historical eras
and themes from antiquity to the industrialization. Weve been trying to provide and
accomplish several things at once:
The unit attempts to give you an initial dose of historical information about the time
periods covered. It is vital that you conduct further research to get a more
comprehensive historical picture.
We discuss not only the architecture, but also the social, political, cultural and
economic concerns within and across historical periods. This is to show how architecture
both acts upon and is a product of a broader context.
We have examined at least two readings per session, always from different authors.
This is not arbitrary: as scholars, we should maintain independent judgment and look at
the competing narratives presented by various authors. Each text has its own agenda:
some authors are trying to rewrite history, while others are trying to be objective; some
are technically motivated, others are more poetic.
By asking you to respond weekly to each text and topic, we hope you have developed
specific curiosities, and developed interests through various historical phases and styles.
The Formative Task
Online submission via Moodle only, deadline 17:00 Friday 09 December 2016
Your first submission for Contextual Studies is a Formative Task, which will help you get
practice and build important skills for future submissions. The purpose of the formative
task is primarily to give YOU feedback on your own research and writing skills, such that
you can improve on them for the second submission. Your submission will be externally
appraised and moderated, so that you get constructive, academic feedback.
The purpose of this task is to:
Assess your capacity to research, extract and relate ideologies and cultural
issues WITH architectural or spatial practices
Assess your ability to reflect on how these two (ideologies and architecture) are
presented to the public, in physical space
Allow for practice in writing a comparative critical text. In your Summative
(graded) assessment next term, you will be writing an essay comparing two
different buildings; we will first practice the techniques of academic writing and
critical comparison through this task.
Check your confidence in using images and text critically
We are also checking your ability to use proper academic research skills

Outline of Activities
-

You will produce an illustrated, 800-word comparative exhibition review,

discussing two separate exhibitions in terms of their content, spatial
organization and architectural context. Your review will be based on primary
and secondary research (that is, based on visits and academic study (You will
receive a list of suggested alternative exhibitions, though you are welcome to
choose your own)
You can use the group exhibition visits (2224 Nov) as a starting point and take
one other example of an exhibition or display of your own choosing, from
Londons many museums and galleries considering its architectural and
spatial framing and organization as well as content (tip: the Newport Street
Gallery won the Stirling Prize this year!)

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Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

Your review should be informative, researched and critical rather than a

personal reflection. 800 words is very short (one page is approx. 400 words) so
you need to plan and think carefully about which points you think are most
important to include. We will look at some examples on Tuesday 22.11. 16
Your review must be academically referenced, showing sources beyond the
exhibition catalogue and materials themselves. For example, if you are looking
at an exhibition on Japanese architecture, you may want to study the work of
Tadao Ando or Kengo Kuma (for example) in books and magazines. You have
already had a research guidance session with Viv Eades so you should have
plenty of available materials!
Images should be deliberately selected to show what youre talking about. For
example, if youre talking about the spatial quality inside a church, it might be
better to use a plan, interior axonometric or even a sketch of your own, rather
than a random image of the church facade. Make your image work to support
the points you make in text.

Submission Guidelines:

Submissions should be made as ONE PDF file, no more than 10MB in size.
If youre working in Adobe Photoshop or InDesign, select Save for web viewing
and reduce the file size; were not printing posters here.
Submit via Moodle: The submission will be open a few days before the deadline,
but it will CLOSE immediately upon deadline. Late submissions are
automatically noted and will be penalised.

General Tips:

We will read examples of exhibition reviews together on the morning of

Tuesday 22 Nov, in order to learn how to structure and write critically, and also
to see how an exhibition theme may be used to have a broader discussion. You
must note down your own emergent, raw and critical opinions as soon as you
can after your own exhibition visit (or even while youre there); copying writing
styles is no substitute for expressing your own ideas.
Every time you use a reference (book, magazine, journal, web or other media),
you must provide a footnote showing where you have found it, using the
proper academic referencing conventions. Viv Eades from the library will give
you instructions on these conventions. Once you have the names and details of
your books, magazine, website and research sources, you can find excellent and
college-approved guidance on citations here: CitethemRight.com
Please leave enough time for online submissions and digital work. These things
always take longer than you think. If you need to get somewhere with reliable
Internet access, do make these arrangements.
NB. This does not apply if you already have a valid ISA confirmation, in which
case you must request an extension in writing; you will be given a maximum of
one week of extra time.

Please keep reading the following few pages for formal UAL criteria and advice on
submissions, marking criteria, referencing and additional help.
As always, please write to me with any and all problems or queries at
s.bose@csm.arts.ac.uk.

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Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

Learning Outcomes (Marking

Criteria)
Upon successful completion of this unit you will be able to demonstrate to an
appropriate level:
1. Ability to gather and investigate information through the effective use of a range of
sources (MC Research)
2. Analysis of the outcomes of the information (MC Analysis)
3. Basic understanding of the contexts of architecture, and how architecture relates to
the broader field of art and design (MC Subject Knowledge)
4. Ability to employ academic conventions including the appropriate methods of citing
written and visual work (MC Communication and Presentation)

Assessment Evidence
1 x 800-word comparative exhibition review, supported by images and references.

Assessment Deadlines
Your task must be submitted by the following dates:
09 December 2016, 5pm (Moodle submission only)
This assessment will be submitted via an online submission platform called Turnitin UK.
As part of the submission process, the University will utilise Turnitin UK to check the
authenticity and originality of your work.
The CLTAD e-learning blog includes step-by-step guides to uploading assignments to both
Moodle and Turnitin: elearningsupport.myblog.arts.ac.uk/student- help/studenthelp/assessment-how-to.
If you have difficulties uploading your assignment, please contact the e-Learning support
team for help: elearning-support@arts.ac.uk

Feedback Target Date

24 February 2017
Feedback will be available on Moodle through the Assessment Feedback link.
Feedback will provide indicative marks. These marks will be ratified by the Progression
Board.

Progression Board
30 June 2017

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Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

Study Material
We will look at a selection of Exhibition Reviews on Tuesday Nov 22, but as this is really a
primary writing task, you do not need a huge amount of preparatory material before
choosing your selected exhibitions.

Referencing
Always acknowledge anyone else's ideas that you use in your work by quoting the
source of the information:
In an essay or assignment, when quoting another person's words "put their
words in quotation marks" and properly reference the author within the text
and in the bibliography
From your reading and research, you may include facts that you have found, for
example: Kengo Kumas decision to study architecture was deeply influenced
by his father
References may also include opinions or conclusions that are not your own:
According to Kuma himself, Japanese modernism was or
In Kenneth Framptons article on the effect of European modernism on Kumas
work, he writes that
These can either be incorporated in your own words, as in the examples above,
or they may be given as direct quotation:
As Frampton states, in 1984, Kengo Kuma has interpreted modernist
tendencies for an Asian context.

How to avoid academic misconduct

The University of the Arts London takes all cases of plagiarism very seriously.
Such an offence is likely to lead to failure of that assignment and/ or unit and serious or
repeated offences may lead to failure of the whole stage of the course, suspension or
even expulsion. In addition, a breach of copyright may lead to legal action.
Make sure that, for any assignment, you refer to Cite Them Right Online,
(www.citethemrightonline.com) the Universitys approved online tool for Harvard
referencing.

Further information

The UAL Assessment webpages (bit.ly/ualassess) include useful information on:

The course requirements
What happens if you fail a piece of work or miss a deadline
What to do if you are ill or have other extenuating circumstances
What to do if you want to take time out from your studies
The adjustments that can be made to assessments if you have a disability
How to avoid plagiarism in your work
What to do if you want to appeal an exam board decision

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Project Brief

BA (Hons) Architecture

Stage 1 2016-17

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