Design and Evaluation of an Integrated Design Practice Course in the Curriculum of Architecture

Abstract

The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) domain is moving to a new kind of practice. Professionals are leaving the traditional way of design - engineering projects delivery and moving to a more integrated one. The implications of this initiative have started to appear in the curriculum of construction and architecture schools as well. This chapter presents the design and evaluation of an elective undergraduate course which aims to convey both the theoretical and practical principles of integrated design. This course has been designed for the curriculum of architecture to replace the Computer Aided Design and Drafting course, in which traditional 2-dimensional drafting used to be taught. In this new course, students tried to deliver a design project collaboratively by exchanging data between selected applications. Although some technical problems have occurred, the case studies have proved that integrated design is possible using the latest improvements in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) domain. The evaluation of the course has also revealed various barriers related to implementing integrated design principles at educational programs.