Project X: A Multi Disciplinary Design Workshop

Abstract

This paper describes the development and implementation of two multi disciplinary design courses at UNSW, dubbed Project X and Project X2. The courses were originally proposed by the Organising Committee of the ConnectED 2007 Conference, as demonstration courses that might embody the spirit of the Conference. They have been coordinated by representatives from the three design-based faculties at UNSW: Faculty of the Built Environment (FBE), College of Fine Arts (COFA) and Faculty of Engineering (FOE). These faculties are also the host faculties for the Conference. Project X (the Scheme Design Course), ran as an intensive course for three weeks in February 2007. Students from the three Faculties worked together in teams to produce scheme designs against a brief set by the Conference Organising Committee as ‘client’ for the design. The scheme designs were evaluated first within the course and then by an external Project X Jury. The Jury selected the winning design which was then to be developed and constructed by multidisciplinary teams in Project X2 (the Fabrication and Construction Course). This course is currently running in a standard once-a-week mode in Session 1, 2007. Together, Project X and Project X2 celebrate both the design process and the design education process, and both in their multi-disciplinary dimension. The Project X cross-disciplinary mix, with Faculty of Engineering students working alongside students from the College of Fine Arts, and Faculty of the Built Environment students, is so rich it has been described as ‘cross-cultural’. Whether despite or because of this richness, evidence so far from surveys of students and staff indicates a successful outcome in terms of design education experience.