Handbook

Designing Diversity: Architecture and Urbanism in a Multicultural Context explores the relationships between built environment, culture and society. It presents social and cultural processes as well as modes of engagement vital in the shaping of urban space and a sense of place. Building on interpretative techniques and visual methodologies of sociology, cultural studies and anthropology, the course develops an understanding of the interconnections between the built fabric, the individuals and communities for whom cities are created. You will develop skills to interpret relationships between urban spaces and specific cultural practices and patterns of habitation.

Sydney provides the primary site for student projects; its multicultural character offers a rich context for interrogating the relationship between architecture and culture. The course introduces several distinct types of spaces, such as migrant and minority groups’ religious and community spaces, for their spatial representation of beliefs and practices. We explore diverse community and public spaces as well as places of consumption to understand their cultural significance and representation dynamics.