Final Project– Domain Formulation

Semester and Year Offered: Winter Semester, Second Year

Course Coordinator and Team: Divya Chopra (Programme Coordinator) and individual Faculty Guides assigned to each student

Email of course coordinator: divyachopra@aud.ac.in

Pre-requisites: Successful completion of Studios of Semesters 1, 2 and 3

Course Objectives/Description:

This is the first part of the Final Project where students will make the choice of a domain/subject/area to work in; have a chance to explore multiple approaches through workshops; complete a literature survey and fact-finding in their chosen field and articulate a design brief. Domain exploration will include a series of workshops on Design methods, research methods and writing.

This project is a comprehensive investigation of a particular issue or problem to explore opportunities for intervention identified through the initial workshops, which would manifest in a design project that engages the symbiotic relationships between the social and material inhabited world.

Students will be actively encouraged to choose projects at an organizational scale and the final project would culminate with the student being able to demonstrate how their project can achieve social change. The nature of projects, while being located in real life, can be either supported by a client/organization or independent proposals with potential for implementation. This might lead up to either a focused internship with an organization relevant to the chosen domain or a series of monitored interventions during the summer break between Semester 4 and 5.

Course Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1. Frame the boundaries of their final project with literature surveys, case studies and systems maps
2. Identify a focus area for social design intervention within the broader subject area
3. Identify experts for further consultation
4. Plan a timeline for project intervention including iterative prototyping

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

• Contents and reading list will vary with the nature of project area undertaken by each student and hence is not stated here.
• Domain expertise to be accessed by individual students based on the project area
• Field visits and external support from relevant institutions/agencies to be facilitated by the School

Assessment Details with weights:

Tentative Assessment schedule with details of weightage:

Reading List:

As determined by individual supervisors in conjunction with the student’s subject area.