Handbook

This course is an international, interdisciplinary urban design elective that places you on the streets of Phnom Penh and Sydney, in collaboration with your Cambodian design colleagues. In these contrasting contexts, you will use quick hand drawing, data collection and digital post-production techniques to observe and analyse the dynamic layers of public street space: physical, behavioural, and systemic. This on-field research will be used as ‘evidence’ to create an urban design proposal in response to a real-world challenge observed in the street. The proposal will contribute to resilient, inclusive, and vital public space.

Phnom Penh streets are clear examples of diverse urban dwellers appropriating the public domain. In many Sydney streets, this kind of informal or unplanned activity is less apparent. What knowledge can be exchanged in comparing these contexts? How can we use interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration to expand our understanding? How can we draw from both the formal and informal dynamics of street space? How might we, as designers, use observational research to meaningfully contribute to place-making?

www.streetlifestudies.wordpress.com.