Spatial Design Education

New Directions for Pedagogy in Architecture and Beyond

Ashraf M. Salama

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317051510
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture Criticism

Design education in architecture and allied disciplines is the cornerstone of design professions that contribute to shaping the built environment of the future. In this book, design education is dealt with as a paradigm whose evolutionary processes, underpinning theories, contents, methods, tools, are questioned and critically examined. It features a comprehensive discussion on design education with a focus on the design studio as the backbone of that education and the main forum for creative exploration and interaction, and for knowledge acquisition, assimilation, and reproduction. Through international and regional surveys, the striking qualities of design pedagogy, contemporary professional challenges and the associated sociocultural and environmental needs are identified. Building on twenty-five years of research and explorations into design pedagogy in architecture and urban design, this book authoritatively offers a critical analysis of a continuously evolving profession, its associated societal processes and the way in which design education reacts to their demands. Matters that pertain to traditional pedagogy, its characteristics and the reactions developed against it in the form of pioneering alternative studio teaching practices. Advances in design approaches and methods are debated including critical inquiry, empirical making, process-based learning, and Community Design, Design-Build, and Live Project Studios. Innovative teaching practices in lecture-based and introductory design courses are identified and characterized including inquiry-based, active and experiential learning. These investigations are all interwoven to elucidate a comprehensive understanding of contemporary design education in architecture and allied disciplines. A wide spectrum of teaching approaches and methods is utilized to reveal a theory of a 'trans-critical' pedagogy that is conceptualized to shape a futuristic thinking about design teaching. Lessons learned from techniques and mechanisms for accommodation, adaptation, and implementation of a 'trans-critical' pedagogy in education are conceived to invigorate a new student-centered, evidence-based design culture sheltered in a wide variety of learning settings in architecture and beyond.

1

Introduction: Sustaining the Discourse on Architectural Design Pedagogy

Design and architectural educators and professional societies have been discussing the role of the architect and the position of education in shaping the built environment since professional instruction was formalised more than two centuries ago. On the one hand, there are the educators who continuously massage and modify architectural curricula to maintain a sense of timeliness by introducing topical areas of current professional interests. On the other hand, there are professional organisations or accrediting boards whose main function is to ensure the quality, relevance, and competent performance of students through formal and rigorous validation and accreditation processes. In addition, there are the regional, national and international conferences where educators meet to deliberate and debate the tenuous future of education and practice, particularly when concerned with the impact of the new global order and the international economic crises. Unfortunately, despite budding interest in the topic, voluminous research and writings on architectural and urban design education and on the design studio, pedagogy continues to be marginalised in academia. ‘Spatial Design Education: New Directions for Pedagogy in Architecture and Beyond’ explores the evolutionary nature of the educational process of architecture and traces its roots in light of current and variegated endeavours to shape responsive and responsible design teaching practices. A major point raised in the book is the dismal state of stagnation and placidity that architecture and design pedagogy finds itself in: while the practice of design professions has changed significantly and continues to change, architectural and urban design education has been slow to react to these changes at best or resists change or adaptation at worst.

Design education can be regarded as the cornerstone of the profession of architecture while the design studio is the backbone of architectural education. Both are potentially rich fields of theoretical and practical discourse whose current processes, theories, content, methods, and tools need to be questioned and critically examined. While there is a rising interest in discussing architectural and urban design education, it is insufficient. Contemporary writings on the topic focus on fragmented issues either by expressing biased criticism or by proposing immature or untried solutions instead of examining its larger context and intrinsic particularities and peculiarities. This chapter discusses architectural design pedagogy by examining some of the major manuscripts published over the past few decades. It also looks at contemporary interests in the education of future architects and designers and evolving paradigms in design studio pedagogy. Furthermore, it underscores the benefits and value that this endeavour hopes to provide to academic and professional communities worldwide.

MAJOR TEXTS ON ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION AND DESIGN PEDAGOGY

The various educational, societal, cultural, environmental, socio-political, and socio-economic transformations currently taking place are irrevocably changing the fabric of societies worldwide. These changes mandate that architectural and urban pedagogy, as a learning system, needs to reconsider its long-term goals in order to better and more comprehensively align itself to such change. The accelerated pace of these transformations and the impact and influence of technological advances demand an urgent response as education globally moves away from lecture-driven deductive learning to the learner-centred inductive learning practices digital natives expect. To some extent, there has been a concerted, although not substantial, effort to introduce more inclusive and collaborative pedagogical approaches in architectural and urban design; additionally, there have been a number of attempts to re-configure the structure of the studio and to re-think the manner in which domain knowledge is delivered and experienced. However, the variety of approaches, the different contextual factors, and the lack of standardisation in addition to a basic lack of common understanding have resulted in heated debate among educators and academics on two major questions: what changes and developments in design pedagogy will best meet the needs of design professions and how will these adequately support the aspirations of contemporary societies and the concomitant transformations. Thus, in order to suitably respond to these questions a thorough examination of design education and a comprehensive investigation of architectural design pedagogy are requisite.

Despite the occasional discontent and criticism voiced in casual discussions among educators and within professional organisations, for many decades questioning actual architectural education and design studio pedagogy and practices has been a taboo, un-debatable and incontrovertible. Only since the late seventies have a few scholars started to critically discuss the formation of architects and designers, the quality of education and whether it prepares them to meet the realities of practice. These queries and discussions resulted in the publication in 1981 of a comprehensive report in which a number of educators identified crucial problems in education in content and delivery; the report, entitled ‘Architectural Education Study’ by the Consortium of East Coast Schools of Architecture, was published by the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Since that time very little has been done in a systematic, visionary, and research-based manner to explore the rituals of design pedagogy and the ills of studio teaching practices. Even so, a few serious attempts have been made over the past three decades by individual scholars to investigate and critically question design pedagogy, its nature and peculiarities. What follows is a brief mention of a number of pertinent manuscripts, published in the eighties and nineties. These have contributed significantly to the establishment of a discourse on design pedagogy and can be viewed as a prelude to instigate and encourage debate on current architectural education and practice:

• Architectural Education in the Islamic World (Ahmet Evin ed., 1986) discusses some of the dilemmas architectural and design teaching encounter in different parts of the developing world. It details various approaches, experiences, and positional interpretations on architectural education as they relate to culture and tradition in specific countries throughout the Islamic World.¹

• Design Juries on Trial: The Renaissance of the Design Studio (Kathryn Anthony, 1991) dissects the very essence of design pedagogy and the jury system; it also explores juror decisions and their rationale for these. Additionally, it offers useful suggestions on how students can improve their skills, how judges can be more effective, and posits whether the jury process should be transformed into a more effective learning vehicle.²

• Voices in Architectural Education: Cultural Politics and Pedagogy (Thomas A. Dutton, et. al. eds. 1991) is a collection of articles that challenges architectural educators to think consciously of their work, experiences and interaction with students in political, social, and cultural terms. It establishes links between architectural education and society and presents a conceptualisation of architectural pedagogy within a critical analysis of the larger society.³

• Architectural Education: Issues in Educational Policies and Practice (Necdet Teymur, 1992) contextualises the debate on architectural education and discusses the role and impact of various theories in design teaching. The author enthusiastically supports the notion of education for international practice and global exchange. He also elaborates on the need for better designed, more relevant and more genuine postgraduate courses in architectural education.⁴

• Architecture: Art or Profession? Three Hundred Years of Architectural Education in Britain (Mark Crinson and Jules Lubbock, 1994) attempts to answer two major questions: what relation does an architect’s education have to the overall built environment and what lessons can be learnt from the past? The book presents a comprehensive forward-looking perspective on the evolution of the British architect from Sir Christopher Wren to post-modernism and beyond, and provides the first general history of architectural education.⁵

• New Trends in Architectural Education: Designing the Design Studio (Ashraf M. Salama, 1995) critically examines the role of the design studio and introduces a wide range of innovative concepts and practical methods for design teaching. It analyses various visionary and even avant-garde types of studios that have opened the door to vigorous debate on the delivery systems of architectural education and their impact on the attitudes, skills, methods, and tools of designers.⁶

• Building Community: A New Future for Architectural Education and Practice (Ernest L. Boyer and Lee D. Mitgang, 1996) asserts that today’s ever-changing world needs professionals not only to prosper in their careers but also to fulfil civic commitments and social obligations. It argues for a more liberal, flexible, and integrated curriculum that ties studios to ‘real life problems,’ pointing out that in the continuum of things, the curriculum is only one phase in life-long learning.⁷

• Architecture and Teaching – Epistemological Foundations (Halina Dunin-Woyseth and Kaj Noschis, eds. 1998) discusses the dynamics of architectural knowledge; the book also includes a collection of articles that explore different bodies of knowledge and theories underpinning the teaching of architecture and urbanism.⁸

The more recent discourse on design pedagogy of the past fifteen years offers practical constructive criticism and provides examples of best practices in teaching and learning. Major contributions to this more pragmatic and hands-on trend include the following:

• Changing Architectural Education: Toward a New Professionalism (Simon Pilling and David Nicol, eds. 2000) attempts to answer two major questions: how should architectural education respond to contemporary professional challenges and how can students be better prepared for professional practice? In response, the book consists of a collection of articles that discuss the way in which students can be better prepared to meet new challenges facing the profession. It points out that architectural education is not only under increasing pressure to meet the demands of an evolving construction industry but must also cater to the increasingly varied career requirements.⁹

• Architectural Education Today: Cross Cultural Perspectives (Ashraf M. Salama, William O’Reilly, and Kaj Noschis eds. 2002) is a collection of intergenerational views and thoughts from both new and veteran academics. It calls for a revisionist approach to architectural pedagogy, one that is responsive to the needs of contemporary societies and trainee architects and designers. The book discusses four aspects of architectural pedagogy: knowledge, profession, experiences and experiments and tools, as they relate to current educational practices.¹⁰

• The Redesign of Studio Culture, a report by the American Institute of Architecture Students (Studio Culture Task Force, AIAS, 2002/03) identifies various fundamental values integral to directing studio pedagogy towards developing more engaged and effective professionals. The report critically examines various aspects of studio culture such as the experiences and habits, as well as identifies the extant and emerging patterns found within the contemporary design studios. It also probes those subliminal aspects of studio culture that are not usually written into the curriculum, or even the design assignments, but are likely to be the most memorable and influential.¹¹

• Design Studio Pedagogy: Horizons for the Future (Ashraf M. Salama and Nicholas Wilkinson, 2007) is a comprehensive collection of views of architects and design educators from various parts of the world. The book delves into a number of contemporary studio pedagogy issues that include decision-making, cognitive styles, place-making, and digital technologies. It also considers, contextualises and debates what will be needed to effectively prepare and accommodate future professionals to work in a more demanding, ever changing and technologically driven world.¹²

• Transformative Pedagogy in Architecture and Urbanism (Ashraf M. Salama, 2009) is an updated version of ‘New Trends in Architectural Education: Designing the Design Studio.’ The book has added some of the more recent issues, concerns, concepts, and practices which have emerged since the first edition was published in 1995. These issues are examined from a more contemporary perspective of architectural and urban pedagogy and the new ways in which it can be analysed, understood, and approached.¹³

• Architecture Live Projects: Pedagogy into Practice (Harriet Harriss and Lynnette Widder, 2014) describes successful evidence-based live projects and makes a valid case for incorporating such innovative strategies into current and future architectural curricula. The book is a collection of essays and case studies that discourse on a variety of topics including theory and learning ambitions, academic best practices, and contemporary professional licensure and accreditation.¹⁴

While little effort has been made to develop constructive criticisms on the underlying teaching practices of design pedagogy, those few that emerged over the past fifteen years have generated important discussions in the literature and can be regarded as catalysts toward developing and promoting a more solid and relevant foundation of design pedagogy. As a rule, emphasis is generally placed on issues central to our own role as design educators and our responses to demands placed on design professions by society. For the most part, this simply involves the development of skills and critical thinking abilities for future shapers of the built environment.

CONTEMPORARY INTERESTS IN INTRODUCING PEDAGOGICAL CHANGE

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest, on the part of academics and design professionals, in having articles on design pedagogy published in various international academic journals. For example, the ‘Centre for Education in the Built Environment’ in the United Kingdom has been publishing two major journals: CEBE Transactions (since 2004) and the Journal for Education in the Built Environment (since 2006). International academic journals on architecture education include publications such as ‘Journal of Architectural Education-JAE,’ ‘Open House International,’ and ‘Archnet-IJAR-International Journal of Architectural Research.’¹⁵

The ‘Journal of Architectural Education-JAE’, a dedicated journal for architectural education first published in 1947, is rather parochial as it is mainly directed to North American readers.¹⁶ Despite the ‘pedagogical’ title, few of the articles in the journal have actually addressed issues related to pedagogy; in fact, most are centred on the history and theory of architecture with a primary focus on analysing and critiquing building interventions. To clarify, a preliminary review of the abstracts of all the articles published in JAE between 1980 and 1994 reveals that only 14 percent of the articles were indeed related to pedagogical issues. Evidently this lack or lapse was taken note of as a more recent preliminary investigation of the abstracts and outlines of articles, published over a similar span of time, between 2000 and 2013, reveals a dramatic sea change: to wit, approximately 35 percent of the articles are now dedicated to discussing design teaching practices. This trend indisputably reflects the growing interest and attention paid to architectural education and design pedagogy as a field of inquiry.

In 2006, the journal ‘Open House International-OHI’ published a special issue entitled ‘Design Studio Teaching Practices: Between Traditional, Revolutionary, and Virtual Models.’¹⁷ The issue focused on the increasing importance of studio pedagogy within the context of contemporary architectural and design education. Over thirty submissions to the call for contributions were received from scholars and design educators from four continents; of the twelve articles published, nine were selected from these respondents. The other three articles had been written by the three winners of the international architectural education competition, ‘Alternative Educational Ways for Teaching and Learning Architectural Design;’ this competition, held in 2005, had been organised by Open House International and the Faculty of Architecture, Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus. The articles were intended to encourage debate on topics such as how architectural pedagogy has become a validated and recognised area of research, how studio teaching invigorates the attitudes of future architects and designers, and how design teaching can contribute to the creation of better built environments. The articles discussed different studio typologies that clearly delineate a forward-looking paradigm shift from the static domain-knowledge traditional approach, based on outmoded principles and practices, to a more updated, integrated and integrative response that effectively meets the challenges of recent advances in social and behavioural sciences and digital technologies. This new and more interactive dialogic approach is characterised by a student-centred learning process which succinctly shapes, identifies and realises challenging teaching objectives to take the student out of the classroom and into the real world. This new thrust towards active and interactive learning takes into consideration how a sound, holistic and collaborative design pedagogy can positively impact student stakeholders to provide them with the requisite skills they will need and to instil in them a curiosity a...