The Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney is highly ranked in Australia. It has been leading teaching and research in design, architecture, urban planning, and architectural science for over 100 years. The School takes a human-centered approach and has over 3,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and postgraduate programs. It also has an active research program spanning areas like interaction design, smart cities, and human-computer interaction.

1. About the Sydney School of Architecture, Design
and Planning
The Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the
University of Sydney is highly ranked in Australia. The School has
been leading the way in innovative teaching and research across
Design, Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning and Policy, and
Architectural Science, for over 100 years.
From the design of wearable technologies to urban planning
outcomes that enrich communities, our work is human centred,
multi-scaled and geographically diverse. The School’s global view
is supported by faculty members who have significant international
engagement, including associations with the world’s leading
academic institutions. Across all of this, our high-performance
culture is informed by a long-standing commitment to social issues.
Our strategic plan reaffirms and extend our commitment to social
justice; to educate architecture, design and planning professionals
with the skills, critical orientation and collaborative mindset
appropriate to 21st century careers; and to produce disciplinary and
multidisciplinary knowledges valued equally by the society we serve
and our intellectual peers.
Our students also take an active role in influencing change within
and beyond the University. Many former students now hold senior
professional and academic posts in Australia and around the world,
including as President of the International Union of Architects, CEO
of the Greater Sydney Commission, and founders of national and
international technology firms such as Small Multiples. Creative
technologist and interaction designer Steven Bai who founded
Sencity also once walked the halls of the Wilkinson building (where
we are still located today).
‘Shared-space interactions
between people and autonomous
vehicles’ is an ARC Discovery
Project aiming to understand
how autonomous vehicles in
urban environments need to
interact with the people that
they share those spaces with.
The project contributes to
Australia’s Smart Cities
Plan, and the Transport for
NSW Future Transport 2056
Strategy.
Alumni and industry sharing
their experiences and advice
at EMBARK, a careers festival
for architecture, design and
planning students run by
the School.

2. Teaching and Learning
Degree Programs in Design
Research
Our annual Architecture, Design
and Planning Graduate Exhibition
showcases over 800 students works,
across eight of our degrees.
The School’s diverse teaching and research programs foster
critical and creative thinking across all disciplines within the
School. Our strong reputation is exemplified by the School’s
extensive collaboration and strategic partnerships with professional
associations, including the Interaction Design Association,
Australian Institute of Architects, the Planning Institute of Australia,
and the peak bodies for engineering, building, development and
design professionals. These relationships provide many invaluable
opportunities for networking and employment. We offer a
broad range of scholarships, international exchange, internships
and industry sponsored projects that support and encourage
talented students. Our students graduate with globally recognised
qualifications, making them highly sought-after by employers all
over the world.
The School offers four undergraduate programs in architecture
and design and eight postgraduate coursework programs in design,
architecture, architectural sciences and urbanism as well as
research degrees. The School has just over 3000 enrolled students
which is split evenly between undergraduate and postgraduate
enrolments. Currently, there are 72 academic and 26 professional
staff permanent employed at the School with a large number of
specialist teachers and tutors employed throughout the year to
deliver education support.
• Bachelor of Design (Interaction Design)
• Bachelor of Design/Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Interaction
Design)
• Master of Design (Design Innovation) (Strategic Design)
• Master of Design (Design Innovation)
• Master of Design (Strategic Design)
• Master of Interaction Design and Electronic Arts
Research undertaken by the Design Lab explores the role of design
for speculating on the future, and to envision, define and inform
the interactions and experiences between people and digital and
emerging technologies.
Through making and imagining new forms of existence we
critically rethink objects, systems and processes that shape
human experience and life on the planet. We combine methods
and approaches from the social sciences, humanities, science,
engineering and the arts to explore and evaluate ideas, prototypes,
new materials and experiences through the lens of design.
We collaborate across disciplines and with external partners,
including industry, not-for-profit, government and community
groups and organisations. Our areas of research span interaction
design, design innovation, co-design, computational creativity,
designing for health and well-being, digital place-making, human-
computer interaction, human-robot interaction, smart cities and
urban data science.
The group’s expertise contributes to the following research groups:
• Affective Interactions
• Designing with AI
• Urban Interfaces
• Social and Civic Design
Our research connects to a number of multidisciplinary initiatives,
A pop-up engagement for
Master of Design students who
designed an activity that
would enable them to capture
data on improving student life
at the School.
REALM by Rohann Dorabjee explores
the study of natural hand gestural
commands to navigate and interact
with immersive 3D interfaces
and widgets.

3. including the Sydney Environment Institute, Charles Perkins Centre,
China Studies Centre, and the Policy Lab.
Our global view is supported by our internationally recognised
academics and our associations with world-renowned institutions,
such as the Bartlett UCL, TU Munich, Tsinghua University and Tongi
University.
In addition, the School has an active events and alumni program
that sees visiting scholars and architects speaking in lectures,
symposiums and debates, while our Tin Sheds Gallery provides a
calendar of stimulating, provocative exhibitions to advance our
research.
Increasingly we work with partners to resolve complex problems.
Whether reaching out across the University of Sydney’s depth of
scholarship, other universities in Australia and internationally, or
working with industry, government agencies and the community, we
are energised by these collaborations and look forward to engaging
with the brightest minds to uncover solutions that benefit people
worldwide.
For more information on the School visit: sydney.edu.au/
architecture
Current ARC funded projects
An interaction model for human–machine creative collaboration
Dr Kazjon Grace (ARC Discovery Project)
The project aims to demonstrate how interactive systems
can enhance creative productivity, through the development
and evaluation of a model for how humans and AI can
interact while creating.
Trust and Safety in Autonomous Mobility Systems: A Human-
centred Approach
Professor Martin Tomitsch (ARC Discovery Project)
This project aims to understand the link between trust,
safety, and the public acceptance of driverless cars.
Shared-space interactions between people and autonomous
vehicles
Professor Martin Tomitsch (ARC Discovery Project)
This project aims to understand how autonomous vehicles
in urban environments need to interact with the people that
they share those spaces with.
Broadening horizons: using curiosity to diversify behaviour
Dr Kazjon Grace (ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award)
This project aims to explore how interactive systems can
encourage their users to try new things. This project
expects to generate new knowledge about how interactive
technology can encourage diverse behaviour by stimulating
curiosity.
LEO, created by Heidi Laidler,
Mark Ollis and Annabelle Pound, is
a smart home bedside table lamp
designed to help stressed people
relax before bed.
The Tin Sheds Gallery provides
a platform for public debate
about the role of architecture,
design and planning in
contemporary society through
the production of research-led
exhibitions, publications and
related activities.
John Gero, a global pioneer
of design cognition,
computational creativity, and
design science, speaking at a
recent event about studying
the minds (cognition) of
designers while they design.

4. An excerpt from the
2022 Assemblage
Design Graduate
Exhibition catalogue
as part of the annual
Graduate Exhibition.
A few parting words
from the Design
teaching team to our
Design graduates.
Where do you think our graduates will have the most
impact?
SENURI WIJENAYAKE
You will have the most impact when you champion a
cause that matters to you. Follow your passion!
HAMISH HENDERSON
Our graduates have been given a set of tools to
better understand people and the problems they face.
This, combined with an understanding of technology
and the design process gives them the ability and
opportunity to affect significant change in the world.
Our graduates have the potential to be extraordinary.
I can’t wait to see them get started.
SAM GILLESPIE
You’ve learnt how to design solutions to problems.
Now you get to choose the problems you solve---follow
your vision and passion!
KAZJON GRACE
The number of challenges that can only be solved by
someone interdisciplinary – someone who understands
a little about people, a little about tech, and a
little about business – is only going to increase. In
a decade, anyone who can’t grok at least two of those
will be at a disadvantage. Our graduates can do all
three.
LIAN LOKE
Your design skills give you the tools to bring others
to the table and on the journey, across industries,
disciplines and communities.
ROBERT DONGAS
Our graduates will have the most impact through the
thoughtful application of design and technology to
help solve real problems in the world, regardless of
industry/discipline!
ROHAN LULHAM
You will flourish where you find meaning in the
application of your knowledge and skills.
BRITTANY KLAASSENS
Designers bring a whole lot of empathy, drive and
passion to whatever challenge, career, opportunity,
or daily tasks they face. This is your opportunity
to make a difference to the world, far beyond the
designs you make on the page.
LEIGH-ANNE HEPBURN
You can create real change beyond the discipline of
design - you’re equipped with creative skills in
communication, collaboration, and complex thinking
and these are in demand in every industry and field.
In Conversation with Design
The discipline of design has grown significantly in recent years, bringing
together a diverse and engaging group of scholars, practitioner, and
designers. Whether the focus is on design for technology, or design for
social change, one theme resonates across everyone – a drive to equip our
graduates with the skills and experiences needed to make a difference in
the world.

5. CLARE COOPER
I think these design graduates will bring a
readiness to stay creative in difficult circumstances
(persisting with study during a pandemic!) While
extremely difficult at the time, this has built up
their resilience, and honed ability to engage in
a kind of design futuring that is sensitive to
communities who are facing myriad social challenges.
CALLUM PARKER
Design grads have the power to shape the future of
any discipline they find themselves working in -
anywhere, and everywhere.
YARON MERON
Hopefully new design graduates will put their
enquiring minds and problem-solving talents to good
use, by addressing big challenges in small ways.
WENYE HE
Our graduates are equipped with multidisciplinary
knowledge, fantastic imagination, and most
importantly, PASSION. They will impact every aspect
of our lives and improve our experience in the
combination of digital and physical worlds.
DENSIL CABRERA
Graduates have rare and valuable expertise in areas
that really need good design.
LUKE HESPANHOL
In changing the world from the ground-up, in any
area, at the scale of each interaction, with ability
to swiftly adapt to new contexts.
Whats your top piece of advise to our graduating
designers?
LIAN LOKE
Stay curious, open and empathetic. Don’t be afraid to
jump in the deep end ... you have a strong foundation
to build upon.
KAZJON GRACE
Don’t ever convince yourself that the reason why your
crazy idea isn’t a thing is because someone else
already had it, tried it, and binned it. The space of
possible ideas is huge: you might just be first!
CLARE COOPER
Be open to bringing in all of the things that are
unique to your story into your collaborations. You
don’t need to repeat or to emulate. If you find people
and projects that resonate with your values, chances
are you’ll then help to define the direction they
take.
ROBERT DONGAS
Remember that the interactions and experiences
you design will shape our societies, culture and
ecosystems, so always consider the bigger picture.
SENURI WIJENAYAKE
Be confident in what you have learnt and take on
learning opportunities to build up on that. Advocate
for yourself but be open to different perspectives.
SAM GILLESPIE
Follow your passions and keep learning new things.
Each step you take changes you, so reach out for the
world you aspire to see and leap in its direction!
CALLUM PARKER
Stick to your guns. Not everyone will understand
Design and “the process”, you will need to carefully
help them understand. I will also say, don’t be
afraid to keep learning. The industry moves fast, and
you should always be looking to expand your skillset
and try cutting edge techniques and technologies.