Excursions is a web-based project working in the realm of ‘mobile in-context learning’ to put together a series of ‘tours’ of Perth’s urban environment. The project will have educational application and will hopefully appeal to professionals in a range of fields relating to the built environment.
Our team comprises a group from the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts – Dr Kate Hislop (Senior Lecturer in Architecture) collaborating with current senior students and recent graduates from the Master of Architecture including Daniel Martin, Felix Joenssen and Jason Macarlino.
Our aims are two-fold:
- to curate a set of tours within the central Perth metropolitan region, organised according to a series of themes or ‘filters’ that emphasise particular aspects of the evolution and experience of Perth’s urban places; and
- to build a comprehensive database of architectural projects (including unbuilt and demolished buildings), urban streetscapes and precincts.
The ‘tour’ is the primary mode of output (via a website which will also be mobile-responsive) and form of experience for users, offering the multiple benefits of learning ‘in context’ and through mobility. We are interested in the peripatetic notions of interactive learning through travelling – walking, cycling, driving etc.
Within the twelve month period of the scholarship grant we aim to complete the database, develop a series of tours to a basic level, and more fully research and construct the tours relating to our focus filter, which we are currently calling ‘Enterprise‘. Within this theme we are looking at buildings and places in Perth that illustrate examples or moments of enterprise or innovation, in relation to a number of sub-themes including ‘procurement’, ‘technology’, ‘typologies’ and ‘events’. Each of these sub-themes will be illustrated through one or more tours.
Our hope is to attract further funding (from industry and other sources) to allow us to build tours for all filters to a developed level over a longer period.