Architecture as Conciliator: Toward a Unifying Principle in Architectural Education

Abstract

We believe that architecture has lost its role as conciliator between humanity and the universe, it has lost much of its meaning. We use an example of a studio problem and process to explore issues in architecture, science, and meaning as they relate to architectural education. The confrontation of this problem in architectural education should involve the infusion of scientific thought and theoretical issues into the design studio, as well as other courses, to aid students in formulating their own world view in order to create an architecture of meaning. A seven-week design studio offered to second-year students included reading Stephen W. Hawking's A Brief History of Time and analyzing the spatial theories outlined in the book. This research informed site analysis as well as the architectural and landscape design.