Drawing is the fundamental language that designers in different fields use to communicate their design ideas to clients, manufacturers, builders, and others. This module uses a lecture/lab format, in which topics are presented by lecturers, then drawing assignments are completed by students. The assignments range from freehand sketching to technical drawing and orthographic projection. Students will also be introduced to the use of drafting tools and basic design drawing procedures.

This module ensures that all students have the conceptual and technical knowledge and have had adequate practice to competently sketch in both two and three dimensions. This module explains the theory and practice of sketching and interpreting views of three dimensional objects, including prespective, isometric, orthographic and other projections and sectioning. It also introduces students to technical standards in engineering drawings, including the specification of symmetry; dimensions, surfaces and tolerances; chamfers and blends; sections and standard parts. Students work through a structured series of problems to sketch increasingly complex objects and interpret complex drawings, including the calculation of feature dimensions based on geometric analysis.

This module is an introduction to architectural principles and processes, comprising a sequence of exercises emphasizing the development of basic skills, ideas, and techniques used in the design of simplified projects. It forms a comprehensive introduction to the foundation studies of architecture, addressing the issues essential to the training of an architect. The aim is to develop architectural literacy, improve critical and analytical skills, enhance visual, spatial, and conceptual sensibilities with emphasis on the presentation of ideas, concepts, and present designs in visual and verbal formats.

This module will introduce students to the development of major architectural ideas and significant architectural monuments in Europe (and to a lesser extent, non-Western cultures), from ancient times until the nineteenth century. The main themes in the study of architectural history and the methods used to analyze and interpret buildings in various spatial and temporal contexts will be presented. Lectures will emphasize the impact upon architectural production of cultural, economic, and political contexts in Europe and the wider world.

Continuing from Architectural design III, this module focuses on environmental and spatial considerations with emphasis on the integration of building technology in design and the use of digital media in conceptualizing and presenting design ideas. The module aims at developing an awareness of building within community environments, and the ability to apply a distinctive architectural language. Particular attention will be paid to architectural character and context.

This module explores the basic ideas underpinning contemporary approaches to heritage conservation. The meaning of heritage and the value of conserving it is considered, along with the different schools of thought and the most widely adopted approaches to conservation. As well as the adaptive reuse of structures and public spaces, the role of memory, cultural identity and tradition in maintaining heritage buildings and sites will be examined; community participation on heritage projects and management; analytical concepts for the impact of new structures in heritage sites; concepts of mapping heritage.

This course examines the discursive issues that affect architecture and the built environment today. Emphasis will be placed on understanding contemporary challenges in architectural practice and theory and their origins in the continuation, diversification, and transformation of the modernist tradition over the course of the last century. Major issues to be addressed include the relationships between architecture and its global-local context, the digital revolution, the conservation of urban and cultural heritage, public housing, sustainability, and the complex relationships between architecture and other disciplines.

This module addresses techniques and approaches for the sustainable design of buildings. Reuse and recycling of building elements are examined through real case studies. The strategies, approaches, and technologies available to minimize consumption of energy, water, and other resources are also examined. The module will explore the latent potential of these different systems (whether natural or artificial), and how they affect and are affected by the built environment. Through interactive discussions, students will learn to apply design strategies for greener buildings and also be made aware of the sustainable evaluation systems, criteria, and methods for building performance evaluation, such as LEED and BREEAM. Case studies relevant to the situation in Macau are used to illustrate these concepts and technologies.

Continuing from Architectural Design V, this module emphasizes the development of design skills that allow students to organize buildings of medium within a social and economic framework, particularly in the environmental context of Macau. The module is focused on a comprehensive design project, with supplementary design exercises.

This subject aims to introduce different literary genres. Students are expected to be conversant with some of the most pertinent literature of and for our times. Even though we disavow the relative merits of fixed lists of works considered classics, we do affirm the intrinsic value of communal reading and theorizing. Reading lists will be defined and evolve through proposals from faculty and students.

This Module provides an initial experience of supervised research work where students will work with their intended supervisor in a collaborative tutorial model that resembles the practice of Thesis Supervision. During the Module the intended supervisor will guide the student trough multiple meetings (up to 15) during a full academic year The students will conduct autonomous research that should result in a preliminary literature review, research contextualisation and a thesis proposal completely finished and prepared to be submitted to the Foundation Year Final thesis proposal review and assessment instances.

This module gives students the opportunity to further explore specific issues and topics in architectural and urban theory, with an emphasis on contemporary critical debates. Students will develop knowledge and skills by means of analysis and evaluation of recent, innovative, seminal design projects, and their techniques, strategies, discourses, and effects. Other topics that may be addressed include heritage studies, religious architecture, and the history of institutional buildings. The aim is to provide a thorough technical and ethical background to theoretical knowledge required in contemporary avant-garde design studios.

Regarding any building or city as a combination of artificial and natural ecologies, students will examine relationships between architecture and urbanism in the contemporary context. This module concentrates on the principles of building structures, materials, and technology, environmental controls, and building services, at an advanced level of integrated architectural design, geared to the Macau context. For building materials and construction technology, the emphasis is on the performance criteria and applications of building materials, components and systems of construction. For building structures, the emphasis is on structural schemes systems relating to local building regulations and codes. For environmental controls and building services, the emphasis is on coordination of services for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, fire safety, plumbing and drainage, electrical, lift and escalators, etc. Urban conditions are examined through readings of critical theories, analyses of developmental models, and empirical investigations. In conjunction with physical, historical, social, and economic research, alternative design strategies are explored to challenge existing models of urbanism.