Life After HSC: Architecture at UON

A magnet for those who are quietly determined wish to change the world, University of Newcastle (UoN)’s Architecture program is all about impact – not scale. Students who study a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) are encouraged to explore and think outside of the proverbial box. And in this degree, you’ll be design spaces for a sustainable and, at times, uncertain future. Recent graduate Bobbie Bayley (pictured) knows this firsthand.

What got you interested in architecture?

I completed my Year 10 work experience in a local architecture firm in Newcastle and hated it. It did help me figure out, however, that working in an office definitely wasn’t for me. A couple of years later after finishing high school I took a gap year in the UK. During this time, I travelled to a heap of architecturally brilliant and beautiful cities. I really enjoyed trying to understand their inner workings and looking at all the buildings. I thought, “Maybe I should reconsider architecture.”

What have you most enjoyed about studying Architecture at UON?

Meeting and getting to know a large network of professionals and inspiring architects has been the most rewarding aspect of my undergraduate years. Being a Newcastle Architecture student also afforded me many opportunities to partake in lots of extracurricular activities, such as The Glen Murcutt Masterclass which is led by world-class, accent medal winning architects from every corner of the globe. This whole UON experience has been invaluable.

What has been the most challenging aspect of your degree program?

I found the entire degree very mentally challenging. It consistently required me to think laterally and more broadly about ways of living. UON Architecture students are essentially taught to creatively solve problems through overcoming, persevering with, and responding to a wide range of contextual, philosophical, and physical constructability issues.

What are your plans for next year?

Beginning in January 2017, in an effort to experience the broader Australia, I will journey from the East to West coast of the country (straight through the centre!) by bicycle for a year.

Many of the architecture teachers at UON like Professors Rick Leplastrier, Peter Stutchbury and the late Paul Pholeros focus on stories of travel and journeys both here and abroad, placing a great deal of emphasis on connection with site-specific responses and a learned ability to read a landscape and its conditions. In Australia, however, the majority of us inhabit the coast so much of this understanding is superficial.

My journey in 2017 will see me travel the girth of our country through its heart in Uluru, starting on Fraser Island and ending up on Dorre Island. My hope is to intimately engage with and record its geographical variations using architectural documentation techniques, and in so doing, widen the dialogue around contemporary Australian habitation.

How has UON prepared you for life after study?

UON, and the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment in particular, teaches you how to think critically and use design theory and practice in order to be able to comprehensively and successfully work through complex problems.

What do you think separates UON’s undergraduate architecture degree from other university architecture degrees?

I believe the Bachelor of Design (Architecture) at UON is a unique one. It doesn’t try to be “the next big thing.” Instead, it has a much more understated way of being. You look at the fundamentals of living and designing spaces and using complex algorithmic and parametric design principles that are currently leading architecture discussions the world over. Hand drawing, which is an invaluable skill to pick up, is also championed as a primary way of communicating.

Learn more about studying a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) at the University of Newcastle, by visiting: http://www.newcastle.edu.au/degrees/bachelor-of-design-architecture.