Facebook icon Twitter icon Forward icon

WELCOME TO ISSUE [70] OF FABRICATE

Dear staff,

Fabricate is the official student newsletter at the Melbourne School of Design. You are receiving this email as a current student or staff member of the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning. The cover image is of Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban or the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The building was the late great architect Louis I. Kahn's last project and was completed in 1982, after his death in 1974. Widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest architectural monuments and Khan's magnum opus, this monolithic building consists of multiple plazas and is part of a complex which includes hostels, dining halls, and a hospital.

MSD Director's welcome to commencing students

Welcome to the Melbourne School of Design at The University of Melbourne.

The Melbourne School of Design (MSD) is emerging as a vibrant community of exceptional students and staff involved in shaping the built environment and often through unexpected discoveries. The MSD is rich in diversity, creativity, and scholarship and our interests and expertise explore and shape the needs of our 21st century towns and cities. Our graduates discover how space affects the human experience and how to shape the modern physical world in positive sustainable ways.

Situated in the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and within the intellectual and cultural centre of this cosmopolitan city, the MSD is a stimulating place to study and research.  As a city with a growing population it is often used as a laboratory for testing and researching ideas within the MSD.

Read the second half of the welcome message here

Master of Architecture Studio C, D or E Design Studio Selection Day

Date: Monday 4 March
Venue: Wilson Hall
Time: 10:00 am – 6.00 pm

Student enrolled in a Master of Architecture Studio C, D or E Design Studio are invited to attend this session to view presentations by all the studio leaders offering studio topics this semester.

As part of a new initiative by the Melbourne School of Design and the Environments and Design Student Centre to publish streamlined and transparent information for students, we have prepared individual webpages for the 32 studios on offer. These pages give a brief outline of the different studios on offer and include specific objectives and teaching modes. The allocated studio times are for each offering is also provided.

Click on the button below for more information

Melbourne University Planning Students Society

MUPSS is the student group for anyone interested in planning - whether in the course or not. We organise social events, industry connection and and student representation.

If you want to join, it's $5 for the year which gets you free entry to our events. We'll be having sign-ups concurrently with locker sales, as well as at our first movie night for the semester - although there are only 50 places. Otherwise stay tuned for more events.

If you sign-up you can also opt into a competition to attend YP Connect in Canberra worth $140.

Click on the button below for more information

Sale dates for student lockers - Lincoln Square South Building

Dates: between Monday 4 March - Friday 8 March
Venue: Lincoln Square South Building

Need some space for your stuff on campus? MUPSS (Planning Student Society) are organising the sale of 164 lockers in Lincoln Square South at:

  • Monday 4th March: 12-1pm
  • Wednesday 6th March: 12-1pm
  • Friday 8th March: 12-1pm

It's first in best-dressed, bring $20 cash and your student ID.

Click on the button below for more information

15th National Student Leadership Forum

Date: Applications close 5pm Wednesday 13 March
Location: Canberra

Professor Glynn Davis, Vice Chancellor, has been invited to nominate two University of Melbourne students to participate in the 15th National Student Leadership Forum in Canberra from 30th May – 2nd June 2013. They are looking for young adults aged between 18 and 26 who exhibit leadership potential in their field of endeavour – be it at university, in the workplace or the broader community.

If a student from the Faculty is accepted to participate in the Forum, Professor Tom Kvan, Dean, ABP, will provide funding to cover the costs (approximately $1050).

If you believe you would make a suitable participant, and wish to be considered by Professor Davis for nomination, please provide a statement of no more than 250 words outlining your leadership potential and a CV to Stephanie Morgan by clicking on the email button below.

Click on the button below for more information

Peter Cook Lecture Available Online

Don't worry if you missed the Dean's Lecture by Professor Sir Peter Cook, entitled, From Archigram to CRAB: Nosing Forward. You can now listen to the lecture online by clicking on the button below.

Academic Skills Workshops in March

Academic Skills will be teaching workshops on the following topics in March. Enrolments open 2 weeks prior to sessions.

  • Returning to learning: Strategies for Success
  • Time & task management
  • Understanding referencing and avoiding plagiarism
  • Managing the reading load
  • Editing and proofreading your writing
  • Critical thinking
  • Critical reading & note-taking
  • English for Academic Purposes (EAP) - various topics
  • Minor Thesis writing - various topics

For details and enrolments, visit the Academic Skills Workshop Calendar below.

Individual Tutorials with Academic Skills

The Academic Skills offer  thirty minute sessions which focus on developing academic skills such as effective study strategies, reading & writing skills & tutorial participation. This free, one-to-one service can be booked by visiting the Environments & Design Student Centre or by calling 13MELB.

Click on the button below for more information

MSD Electives available in Semester 1, 2013

Date: Semester 1
Location: Parkville campus

Hopefully you will by now be enrolled into a full load for both Semesters 1 and 2, but if you are looking for an additional (or alternative) elective subject for Semester 1, why not consider the following subjects.  Most have no pre-requisites, but please do check the handbook entry carefully to ensure you are eligible before enrolling.

ABPL90150 Theorizing the Asian Metropolis
ABPL90308 Experiences in Industry
ABPL90267 Development of Western Architecture
ABPL90085 Culture of Building
ABPL90056 Sustainable Transport and Public Policy
ABPL90339 International Real Estate Economics

Click on the button below to search for subject details

Urban EPO needs you!

Date: Semester 1, 2013
Location: Parkville campus

Are you a graduate student in landscape architecture, urban design or urban planning? Are you interested in urban environmental issues? Do you want to help developing resilient green cities for the future?

Then ABPL90341 Urban Environmental Policy and Planning is the performance enhancing subject you need to take! For more information check the subject Hanbook entry or contact the subject coordinator Ole Fryd by clicking on the email button below

Click on the button below for more information

ABP AGENDA: More than One Way to Skin a Building

Date: Thursday 7 March
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre

Introducing the new ABP AGENDA series, profiling the people and practices transforming our modern world. ABP AGENDA kicks off in 2013 with renowned New York-based design critic and blogger, Alexandra Lange.

Alexandra will join a panel of experts, including; the University of Melbourne's Dr. Karen Burns, design writer and former Architecture Australia editor, Justine Clarke, editor of Architectural Review Asia Pacific, Michael Holt and author of Future Practice (2012), Dr. Rory Hyde, to discuss architectural writing and criticism at a free public event hosted by the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning.

Media Partner: Architectural Review Asia Pacific.

Click on the button below for more information