Bachelor of Design

The Bachelor of Design is focused on the life-cycle of the constructed and inhabited world. Its application is wide ranging, from the macro-level of the metropolis to the construction of buildings, bridges and landscapes, to the small-scale of systems and micro-structures.

Design is the unifying force that ties multiple disciplines together - from Architecture to Civil Systems, Computing and Software Systems (prior to 2023 called Computing), Construction, User Experience Design (prior to 2023 called Digital Technologies), Landscape Architecture, Mechanical Systems, Property, Digital Infrastructure Engineering Systems, Urban Planning through to Visual and Performance Design. Via completion of majors and minors, electives taken from other disciplines within the degree, double majors, and specialisations, students will encounter design in a transdisciplinary and complementary manner. Students will be exposed to the spectrum of design – from the creative and imaginative, through to the algorithmic and policy-generated, to iterative and managed problem-solving.

Design is the lens through which students will understand the constructed world and explore options for its future. In achieving this, students will demonstrate understanding of design processes and methods - identifying and analysing problems, synthesising ideas, prototyping and evaluating solutions and communicating outcomes as they apply to aspects of the constructed environments related to particular majors.

Students will learn from internationally recognised scholars and industry professionals, and, as graduates, will have a broad understanding of the role of design in the contemporary world. Graduates will be ready to further their education with a professional Masters degree or be skilled to enter the workforce.

Graduates of a Bachelor of Design will have a broad and coherent body of knowledge of design as a concept, with depth in the underlying principles and concepts of at least one discipline in the areas of built environments, performing and visual arts, engineering, and relevant technologies as a basis for independent lifelong learning.

Graduates of the Bachelor of Design will possess comprehensive knowledge and skills through completion of at least one major in a specific discipline. Double majors, minors, specialisations and electives taken from subjects offered within the degree ensure that Bachelor of Design graduates have interdisciplinary perspective in the areas of the built environment, design, engineering, visual and performance design and technology, and breadth offerings offer graduates new ways of thinking in areas distinct from their major.

Students will have access to site visits, field trips, subjects taught by world renowned academics and industry based practitioners, participation in classes with real-world design briefs, and advanced fabrication technologies. Graduates of the Bachelor of Design with the skills to enter the workforce directly, go on to graduate study and then enter a profession or to a research higher degree.

Exposure to a range of disciplines within the Bachelor of Design will ensure students are able to critically examine different types of knowledge. Students will have access to diverse learning experiences in settings ranging from the lecture theatre and tutorial rooms to the design studio, stage, and scientific and computer laboratories.

Bachelor of Design graduates will be characterised by their creative, flexible and multi-disciplinary approach. Graduates will possess strong written, oral and graphical communication techniques, and will develop practical skills and apply these to problem-solving.

Bachelor of Design graduates will be exposed to working independently and in teams; to become adept at finding information for themselves through research and experimental activities; and to use a wide range of technological applications. Throughout the Bachelor of Design, a strong sense of professional ethics, intellectual integrity and social responsibility will be instilled in students. Graduates will be aware of their responsibilities to shape and manage their professional environments in a sustainable way.