This essay examines how architectural education can cultivate civic responsibility through a renewed engagement with tradition and typology. Drawing on two pedagogical models—the AA’s “Architecture and Continuity” in London and Rome University’s “Project and Tradition”—it explores how each redefines “type” not as replication, but as a flexible framework rooted in cultural memory. Through contrasting approaches—Rome’s typological survey and the AA’s symbolic “exemplary situations”—both studios offer valuable strategies for educating architects attuned to historical continuity, spatial meaning, and the ethical dimensions of building within contemporary urban contexts.

Embracing a critical pedagogy of play, this paper explores how first-year architecture students can be introduced to the sociocultural complexity of contested urban environments, while simultaneously cultivating their imaginative and creative skills. The pedagogical method adopts play as a colearning tool and situated design methodology to activate spatial performativity and foster community engagement for collectively reimagining spaces of coexistence within contested urban contexts. By positioning play as a critical and exploratory mode of engagement, students can begin to apprehend and interrogate the complexities of urban space through embodied, situated, and imaginative practices, fostering an educational culture that nurtures civic-minded architects.

Johanna Hurme is an architect, cofounder and managing partner of 5468796 Architecture. Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Hurme received her architectural education at the Aalto University in Helsinki and at the University of Manitoba (Bachelor of Environmental Design 1999, Master of Architecture 2002) after emigrating to Canada. She cofounded 5468796 Architecture with Sasa Radulovic in 2007. With its beginnings in student design competitions, Hurme’s design partnership with Radulovic spans nearly three decades, resulting in some of the firm’s most seminal projects. She brings conceptual depth and a focus on how spaces and places shape human experience. Influenced by Nordic sensibilities, her approach emphasizes clarity and restraint, reducing projects to their essence and always seeking for the “just enough.” She has also shaped the firm’s ethos, broadening architectural practice to intersect with politics, economics, social activism, cultural research, and pragmatic engagement. Sasa Radulovic is an architect, cofounder and partner at 5468796 Architecture. Originally from Sarajevo, the former Yugoslavia, Radulovic was educated in Sarajevo, Belgrade, and at the University of Manitoba (Bachelor of Environmental Design 1999, Master of Architecture 2003) after escaping the Sarajevo and Balkan war during the mid 90s. He cofounded 5468796 Architecture with Johanna Hurme in 2007. As an exceptionally accomplished designer and an avid follower of contemporary architectural work around the globe, Radulovic spearheads the firm’s artistic output through a critical lens on current movements, issues, and contexts, grounded on deep technical understanding of buildable solutions and real-life cost implications. His relentless pursuit of a new language and ‘architecture of consequence’ has driven the firm’s work to be recognized with numerous national and international awards and inclusion in publications around the world.

This essay examines the overlooked history of the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968, the first federal legislation recognizing architectural exclusion as a civil rights issue. Focusing on Hugh Gallagher and Senator Bob Bartlett’s legislative efforts, it reveals tensions within the disability rights movement, architects’ resistance to regulation, and competing visions of disability and independence. The ABA reshaped public perceptions of disability, highlighting architecture’s central role in civic participation. The essay concludes with a reflection on the complexities of disability in architectural education, arguing that true accessibility requires a deeper understanding of disability as both a social and architectural condition.

The modern movement, understood as a process of social transformation, directly linked to the social and natural environment and coupled with state-supported development processes, would champion the idea of the city as a system after World War II on a much more complex and ambitious political and institutional scale. In this itinerary, there is a huge bibliographical gap related to a regional movement that emerged in South America, in which young designers firmly believed that the main challenges of underdevelopment could be addressed through new teaching of architecture, with a strong and participatory social commitment.

Contemporary architecture requires public responsibility and social awareness. However, “Professional Practice” courses at public universities in Türkiye primarily focus on technical and private sector aspects, neglecting the vital civic role of architects. Drawing on Boyer and Mitgang, Till, and Deamer, this study analyzes the learning outcomes and course content of forty Turkish public university programs based on five civic architecture themes (T1-T5: Technical/Legal, Ethics, Public Responsibility, Policy/Governance, Pedagogical Method). The findings reveal a moderate level of civic theme integration (44.94 percent on average), although significant gaps exist in policy, ethics, and a widespread knowledge transfer pedagogy. This deficiency is exacerbated by Türkiye’s unique four-year full qualification system, faculty challenges, accreditation issues, and cultural dimensions (e.g., high Uncertainty Avoidance). To address this issue, we propose a 14-week pedagogical model, the “Civic Practice Studio.” This model integrates civic responsibility with traditional knowledge, aiming to develop architects beyond mere technical training into active citizens capable of critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and community participation.

This narrative examines how a civic architecture practice emerged in South Africa as a response to exclusion from formal professional pathways. Without access to mentorship and formal recognition, a collective of graduates developed an alternative design organization rooted in coproducing interventions with marginalized communities, informal settlement leaders, and grassroots networks. What began as a survival strategy evolved into a decade-long praxis that questioned the norms of architectural education and practice—how architects are trained, and by whom.

Architecture has and should continue to define the built manifestation of civitas, the community of citizens. Beginning with Leon Battista Alberti, architects have used their talents, knowledge, and skills in collaboration with others to contribute to the common good. Throughout its history, historic preservation has always worked in the civic and political realm to carefully manage change in the historic built environment. This is often entails directly engaging in the political and legal realm. This essay discusses the many ways of how historic preservation pedagogy can contribute to the education of civic architects.

This essay explores the pedagogical legacy of Italian architect Giancarlo De Carlo (1919–2005), focusing on his original approach to architectural education and his conviction that the historic city can serve as a living, evolving workshop for learning. Drawing from his extensive teaching experiences—from the CIAM Summer Schools of the 1950s to the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design (ILAUD)—the text examines how De Carlo’s educational philosophy was grounded in civic responsibility, interdisciplinary dialogue, and critical engagement with real urban contexts. Urbino, the Renaissance city where he worked for over five decades, emerges as both a laboratory and a pedagogical case study, central to his vision of participatory and ethical design. By integrating professional practice with academic instruction, De Carlo challenged traditional ex cathedra models and championed a collaborative, process-oriented approach to architectural education.