Assignment One
Archives, Articles and Records (or, Picture This)
Reading Room, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales,
photograph by Max Dupain, 1930s (Mitchell Library, SLNSW)
What do you know of the architecture of Australia What have you encountered as you start to locate
yourself in its history This first course assignment asks you to gather a set of images that tells us
something about your encounter with this subject, and to convey your stake in it. What interests you
What do you want to know
Whether you are studying abroad and have yet to set foot in Sydney, first or second generation
migrants, someone whose forebears spoke Gadigal, or whose family first arrived by boat, you will have
something to draw upon and ambitions to express in responding to these questions. You may use any
kinds of images, with one requirement: you must find them. Though this process you will learn something
about how to find historical material; and will engage with institutions and their holdings. You will
inevitably discover something you’ve not seen before. How does it connect with what you know What
can be said about what you already know Or in what other ways can you know it
You will gather ten (10) such images as a series of reflective incursions into the subject of Australian
architecture, offer a brief commentary on each, and supplying details of their sources, and where one
might learn more about the themes that cross each image.
You may format your selection and writing in any way you wish. However you proceed, legibility is
important. Each image (high resolution, carefully documented) will be accompanied by text of 100–150
words. Captions and further reading (documentation to follow the Chicago Manual of Style) are in
addition to this. An image may be taken from any institutional source, so long as it is properly
acknowledged. (If, for instance, you find something on Pinterest that you like, your job is to figure out
where the poster found it.)
You will curate your images as a set. Submission will be as a document lodged through the Canvas
assignment portal. But think of this as arranging images on a wall in a small gallery. T
hrough these
images, you will tell us about what you know, and what you want to know, of Australian architecture.
The accompanying text, necessarily brief, will serve to clarify and direct details of your experience of
this history that will also in some way be legible at a purely visual level.
To Recap
10 images, sourced from institutional collections (don’t limit yourself to web searches).
For each, an explanatory text of 100–150 words.
Source and further reading supplies for each image.
Our Suggestion
Do one thing on this each day. Pick an image: day’s work done. Write a caption: ditto.
The Fine Print
This is to be read in conjunction with the Unit of Study outline. Any amendments or clarifications will be
made on the Canvas site of this course, with an announcement to be posted to all students.
Weighting: 20%
Due: Friday 17 March 20232, 11:59pm (end of Week 4)
Learning outcomes assessed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (see Unit of Study outline).
Assessment Criteria
1. The clarity of your curation (5 marks)—how well does everything sit together as a set; does it add up
to something larger than the sum of its parts This criterion concerns conceptual aspects of the work.
2. The range and selection of your images (5 marks)—does the set of images, and what is said about
them, reflect a wide-ranging search for materials; does it move beyond the worldview offered by a
single source; is there room in the selection to surprise us; or teach us something This criterion concerns
the scope of the selection.
3. The analysis/description of your images (5 marks)—what can you say about each image; does the
description interact with the image, or extend it, or challenge it; how far does your writing go in
enriching what you have to show us This criterion concerns the relationship of text to image.
4. The quality of your presentation (image resolution, format and design) (5 marks)—have you found
the best version of each image; and given evident thought to putting together the submission, as a work
of composition; is everything spelled correctly; grammar under control; sources accurately documented
This criterion concerns technical aspects of the work.