VDS/DDS Practice Hinges on Interventions and Simplicity - A Case Study of Hard Realism vs. Distorted Idealism

Abstract

This paper reports on a contemporary and laborious ongoing experimental work initiated during the establishment of a new Virtual/Digital design studio “VDS” in Sept. 1999 by CAAD tutors at University of Petra “UOP”. The new VDS/DDS now works as an experimental laboratory to explore several solutions to problems of efficiency in design teaching as a new digital design studio paradigm, in tandem with CAD/Design staff, DS environment, materials and facilities. Two groups of graduating level students participated as volunteers in this experiment. The first group was comprised of three fifth-year architectural design students while the second group was comprised of two fourth-year interior design students. The media currently in use are ArchiCAD 6.5 as a design tool along with CorelDraw 9 as a presentational tool, running on Pentium III computers. The series of experiments evaluated the impression on architectural design studio tuition requirements arising from the changes brought about by the implementation of the new CAD pedagogical approach (VDS/DDS) at UOP. The findings echo several important key issues in tandem with CAAD, such as: the changes brought about by the new design strategies, adaptation in problem solving decision-making techniques, studio employment in terms of environment, means and methods. Other issues are VDS/DDS integration schemes carried out by both students and staff as one team in design studio practice on one hand and the curriculum on the other. Finally, the paper discusses the negative impact of conventional design studio hardliner teaching advocates and students alike whose outlook and impressions undermine and deplete effective CAAD integration and obstruct, in many instances, the improvement of such experiments in a VDS environment.