Project 4

Code:

PJ104

Acronym:

PJ4

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
CNAEF	Design

Instance: 2023/2024 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Design
Course/CS Responsible:	Communication Design

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
DC	68	Plano de estudos de LDC_publicaçao em DR de 24/05/2022	3	-	12	90	324

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

This course unit develops a critical perspective on the various media through which contemporary communication design operates, on the ways how these complement and intersect each other, and how they give rise to phenomena of remediation and the emergence of hybrid media. Studying contemporary convergence culture and how it centres on computing, Project 4’s conceptual model differentiates media from their supporting technologies, looks at their contexts of access and use and studies their temporal and spatial influences. Thinking about the designer's work in a post-digital context, this course unit researches the ways in which computing favours the development of non-linear structures and of modes of reading that lead to the emergence of unique aesthetic and communicational experiences. Continuing skills developed in previous courses, Project 4 promotes computational media literacy, introduces methodologies for projecting and documenting computational design, and experiments with the creation of interactive and multimedia narratives.

Learning outcomes and competences

After concluding this course, students should be able to: 1) Understand the nature and phenomenology of computational media; 2) Understand the modes of reading that computational media allow and how these create room for the development of new types of messages and aesthetic experiences; 3) Problematise contemporary computational media and the post-digital condition in the context of the development of design projects; 4) Understand the creative potential of computational media and the instability it can cause; 5) Design and develop multimedia, multimodal and interactive projects.

Working method

Presencial

Program

This course unit is developed through the development of theoretical-practical projects that combine individual work and research with group projects that explore the complementarity of students' skills and competences.

This course unit studies: 1) the digital medium and new media; 2) the phenomenon of remediation; 3) the tension between transparency and hypermediation; 4) transcoding and agency in computational media; 5) interaction; 6) modes of reading in computational media.

Some technological skills are introduced to complement those already acquired in other course units, exploring tools and contexts for procedural creation, for creative programming and for prototyping.

In the practical component of the course unit, students develop narratives that articulate technologies and communication strategies and that explore the interaction, dynamism and instability of computational media. In the theoretical component, students will be encouraged to think critically about the nature of media, about their impact on communication, society, culture, and about the relationship between new computational media and the traditions developed around analogue media.

Mandatory literature

Miguel Carvalhais; Artificial aesthetics. ISBN: 978-989-746-092-0

Complementary Bibliography

Espen J. Aarseth; Cybertext. ISBN: 0-8018-5579-9
Jay David Bolter; Remediation. ISBN: 0-262-52279-9
Miguel Carvalhais; Art and computation. ISBN: 978-90-828935-5-7
Peter J. Denning; Computational thinking. ISBN: 978-0-262-53656-1
Shane Denson; Discorrelated Images, Duke University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781478010913
Matthew Fuller; Software studies. ISBN: 978-0-262-06274-9
Matthew Fuller; Media ecologies. ISBN: 978-0-262-56226-3
N. Katherine Hayles; How we become posthuman. ISBN: 0-226-32146-0
Rob Kitchin, Martin Dodge; Code/Space: Software and Everyday Life, The MIT Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-262-52591-6
Henry Jenkins; Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York University Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-8147-4295-2
Golan Levin; Code as creative medium. ISBN: 978-0-262-54204-3
John Maeda; How to speak machine. ISBN: 978-0-593-08632-2
Lev Manovich; The^language of new media. ISBN: 0-262-63255-1
Marshall McLuhan; Understanding media. ISBN: 0-262-63159-8
Janet H. Murray; Inventing the medium. ISBN: 978-0-262-01614-8
Miguel Sicart; Playing Software, The MIT Press, 2023. ISBN: 9780262047722
Brian Upton; The^aesthetic of play. ISBN: 978-0-262-02851-6
Noah Wardrip-Fruin; The^new media reader. ISBN: 0-262-23227-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

The classes in this curricular unit will be theoretical-practical, articulating: 1) Lectures; 2) Discussion; 3) Workshops; 4) Independent research; 5) Writing technical and critical documents; 6) Oral presentation of works; 6) Development of projects; 7) Production of project documentation.

keywords

Technological sciences > Technology > Interface technology
Technological sciences > Architecture > Design > Computer-aided design
Technological sciences > Architecture > Design
Social sciences > Communication sciences > Audiovisual communication

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	10,00
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	60,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	174,00
Estudo autónomo	60,00
Frequência das aulas	90,00
Trabalho escrito
Total:	324,00

Eligibility for exams

Positive average evaluation in the projects and in the remaining parameters of the evaluation.

Calculation formula of final grade

Assessment focuses on the work developed, participation in classes and the documentation produced.

The following are evaluated: 1) Acquired knowledge, demonstrated by its application to projects; 2) The conceptual component, the ability to develop projects and adapt and acquire knowledge to solve design problems; 3) The ability to communicate the project, through oral presentations and documentation; 4) Critical capacity in relation to projects; 5) Attendance, integrity and responsibility towards the class, projects, and compliance with deadlines and specifications associated with these.