ARCH1003 Visual Studies

Target Students BSSc1, BSSc2

Course Term 1

Course Type Required

Teacher(s) CHOW Chi Wai Kelly

Seeing FORM – visual forms – seems to be an obvious activity related to design. But what does it mean to “see”? And what does it mean to say you “know” it; that you “understand” it? To even begin addressing these questions, one must “learn to see;” specifically for this course, visual studies.

Visual studies can be considered in two aspects with respect to any visual form – what do we see?; and how do we see? These are not the same thing, although they are closely related. Developing an ability to see form and how its aspects can be described and understood; to develop an ability to critically read and understand form through formal, geometric, tectonic and spatial analytic processes – these act as intermediaries between observation, understanding, and expression, offering deep insights into visual works.

This course introduces visual media, examining how its history and ideas can help develop our critical understanding of spatial design. The course offers an overview of the subject for those with little or no visual art + design background and is intended to provide a sense of visual literacy. The course is designed to develop skills of observation, interpretation and creativity, as well as giving a strong intellectual grounding in visual thinking, and the form, meaning and content of visual media.