Boatyard at Aplichau-second year essay into industrial architecture
which the student's intuitive sense is developed by first making models for simple structures in bamboo. cut timber and brick and then rationaliz- ing the design on the drawing board from the experiences encountered in the model-making.
This is carried through until by the end of the year he is able to study in depth a small group of single storey buildings, where spatial and formal relationships have to be resolved as well as functional and technical.
Village survey
In the second year, the student is first faced with overall environmental problems of a small community. He undertakes a survey of an existing village in Hong Kong, which includes the social and economic structure as well as its character. From this stems most of the programmes for the year
from a "master plan" for the future development of the village down to the design of street furniture.
By the end of the year, he is able to tackle in depth programmes calling for two-storey solutions in both urban and rural settings.
In the second year the tendency is to allow the student to have his head. He has a comparatively large number of programmes, so that he starts to develop a working method, forcing himself to come to grips with pro- blems and to make the decisions at the right moment.
Between the second and third years, studies are made of old buildings of architectural interest; detailed measur- ed work is not often undertaken since there are very few buildings in Hong Kong worth measuring in detail and it is not considered worth doing measured work for its own sake. These studies produce records in words, photographs and sketches (often based on a quick survey to determine overall dimensions and proportions) which will be of interest and value to posterity.
The third year is concerned with rounding off the students basic education. He tackles a limited num- ber of programmes, two or three of
which are studied in depth. They are
syllabus as "multi-cell, one to four storey buildings of medium span (30 ft.) in rural and urban environments on flat or medium sloping sites (30 degrees)".
One project is done working with a "client", in order to make the student more conscious of the suc- cessive phases in the design process.
In all three years, the lecture courses in environmental technology, services, structures and building ma- terials and techniques are kept in step with the studio programme, by which these courses are also supplemented.
Other lecture courses such as His- tory of Architecture and Town Planning. Town Planning, and Architectural Practice and Manage- ment do not need to be so closely phased, although aspects of all are brought into the studio programmes.
The school is working towards the introduction of a first degree at the end of the Third Year, and the syllabus has been amended progres- sively with this end in view. Thus by the end of the Third Year, the student has received an all round balanced education in the fundamentals of his chosen profession.
In other words, he has acquired the knowledge, experience and training essential to all architects, allowing him to concentrate on the more specialized and sophisticated aspects of architec- ture in his later years.
The fourth
TARTING
S the Fourth Year, the
student has bridged a gap in his education. The Third Year cul- minates with the passing of an examination equivalent to the R.I.B.A. Intermediate. Thus the student steps from a sphere of fundamental learn- ing to a sphere where professional attitudes are developed and profes- sional considerations are uppermost in his mind in the solution of problems.
In the future, when the Fourth and Fifth Years will constitute a Master's Course, the work will be considered more as a continuous process extend- ing over six terms rather than being taken as two further distinct steps, as tends to happen under the present system.
In the junior years, it is difficult to find realistic problems with a Hong Kong background small enough in size to match the current capability of the student, In the Fourth Year this is no longer a problem, since the large complex and pressing projects that confront the authorities in Hong Kong are ideal for study at this level.
is
On the other hand, it can of course be argued that the realism of the problem is not important, but the method by which it is tackled is. However, the average student stimulated by having the opportunity of possibly contributing to social progress, in what often appears to be an endless period of academic study.
Urban renewal
Urban Renewal, Housing and the technological influences on the design of tall and large span buildings are the main areas of study of the Fourth Year. Urban Renewal is considered mainly from the environmental standpoint since lacking at present a full Town Planning course in the Department, comprehensive social, economic and technical study cannot be applied and many assumptions are
described rather prosaically in the Architect's home-studied in depth as the culmination of the second year's work
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Far East BUILDER, June 1968.