Architectural Curriculum Research Articles

İÇ MİMARLIK PROJE DERSİ SÜRECİNDE DİJİTAL ÖYKÜNÜN KULLANILMASI

Studio education entails a process that allows the student to acquire experiences within an interactive and free environment, which provides different study choices. Similar to other disciplines that were based on design, the studio education is at the center of curriculum in interior architecture. The project course is at the center of the studio education and it is a formal educational activity conducted by the exchange of ideas between the lecturer and the student in the design process. It includes different stages where the data is collected, the study field is analyzed, and the product is obtained through evaluation and development phases. In the present study, an attempt was made to conduct a test to manage the data collection phase on the study area, and stories were developed. Especially during recent years, in studio education where technology is used extensively, narration is used as an instrument to produce a story through multiple methods such as texts, graphics, sounds, videos and music. Thus, the use and impact of “digital storytelling” method in design education were scrutinized within the context of the studio course titled Reuse and Functioning of Traditional Texture for Touristic Purposes in Project 7 course at KTU, Department of Interior Architecture during the 2017-2018 academic year fall semester. Based on study findings, the results of the survey conducted with 13 students demonstrated that digital storytelling was used actively, the students were included in and managed the process and it was considered a significant narrative technique since it provides infinite solutions that would stimulate creativity and improve the perceptions of the students.

Digital Prototyping and Augmented Reality Models for Studies of Architectural Design

The communication of an architectural design project by default is the selling point of any idea when it is being presented to the clients. The use of advanced digital prototyping and virtual 3D models can facilitate the process of presentation significantly, because these technologies allow understanding features that are hard or impossible to present in drawings or pure renderings. CAD/CAM paradigm has set new standards in the field of teaching architectural design, as the contemporary practice has raised the demands for standard skillset expected from future architects once they graduate and enter the design offices. Digital systems that allow designing directly for manufacturing has returned the production and responsibility for giving engineering solutions back to architects. And parametricism in contemporary academic environment is one of the main driving forces of architecture that exercises the exploration of complexity, possible only through 3D modeling tools. Therefore the use of technology in representing complex ideas becomes a standard procedure. The author explores the implementation of physical and virtual models in architectural design curriculum – CNC and rapid prototyping or pure virtual models in format of augmented reality experience. Despite the time-intense learning curve of the additional specific tools and methods involved, there are more advantages to support the efforts of implementing new workflows in the studies of architectural design in as early stage as possible. Students who mastered these skills were able to reach better understanding of tangible and more logical structures in the way they conceptualized, and demonstrated to have more advanced 3D thinking and independence on making formal decisions. Both the physical and virtual models have their own strengths and weaknesses and neither one of them will totally eliminate the necessity of usage of each other. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.22.1.21255

An Introduction to Architecture and Building Construction: A Starter Module for Freshers of Interior Design

Architecture is an interdisciplinary area itself; a world of design, materials, textures, history, culture, art, technology, construction, visualisation, economics, management and so on. As it consists of many diverse knowledge-areas, the curriculum of architecture is often too loaded with different types of modules. Some modules are delivered only thematically, while some are introductory in order to prepare students to the next core modules. This paper focuses on the content development of the module of Introduction to Architecture and Building Construction, which is delivered to the fresher year of the Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design in their spring semestre. The module is required to complete in the four-year curriculum and is formed of two theoretical hours and two practical hours in a week. In accordance with the title as well as the structure of the module, the content was developed in two-folds. The number of the students registered for the module was 24. For the part of Introduction to Architecture, each student was assigned a well-known architect to study, which aimed to make students familiar with the names, their career path, their design approach and building characteristics, the history of movements they followed, their strands in interior design and product design. For the part of Introduction to Building Construction, it was aimed to make the students familiar with the world renowned designs as well as materials and construction technology they used. Using the series of videos explaining the design and construction process of some of the selected buildings in the lectures and the follow-up discussions formed the latter part of the module. Accordingly, the paper explains how the module content was developed, why the rationales were behind and what was aimed to achieve by this kind of structure and content.

Sigma Group

This article discusses the complex cumulus of theoretical references and artistic ideas that shaped the particular understanding of art and learning of Sigma, a seminal artistic group founded in 1969 in Timișoara, Romania. In the epoch, the group’s name became associated with an innovative analytical practice pioneering, simultaneously with then-current international debates, a scientific and research-based attitude which moved the interest from the medium condition of art toward alternative cognitive models for understanding society and life. Inquiring the significant detour Sigma produced in art and pedagogy that was general in Romania at the time, the study reflects upon the matrix of cultural relations that shaped the particular environment in which the artists lived and the interdisciplinary dialogues which fostered at the Art Lyceum in Timisoara the development of a more nuanced and experiential type of curriculum in art, product design and architecture.

BIM in architecture curriculum: a case study

ABSTRACTWhat opportunities is Building Information Modelling, BIM, offering to the architectural design process, and consequentially to the architecture education? How can architectural education benefit from BIM potentials and cope with – if any-? The paper attempts to investigate these research areas, by presenting a case study of an elective course in an architecture curriculum, in which BIM associated with different computer programmes of building performance analysis, is employed by the students to improve their designs. The paper utilizes design cases of the students to highlight certain benefits of using BIM in the design process, particularly how BIM analysis in the regard to environmental and sustainable factors would help in the designing phases.

An Assessment of Architecture Students’ Perception on the Soft and Practical Skills Integration into the Curriculum Structure for Sustainable Development in Nigeria

Graduates’ unemployment is a critical issue in Nigeria. The government and Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs) emphasis on the soft and practical skills integration in the curriculum structure is to turn out graduates with balanced capacities, diversities and flexibilities to survive the competitive labour market. Even though, little empirical findings are available on the level of soft and practical skills integration in the Nigeria public universities, particularly architecture programmes, the construction industry is seen as a major contributor to national economic development. Contemporary skills requirement for the graduating architects’ self-empowerment is still contentious in the academic circle. This paper aimed to propose Architects’ Career Skills Development (ArCaSD) assessment model and ten hypotheses were postulated to test the model. It is premised that the architecture students’ perception on the level of infusion and acquisition of the entire range of soft skills and practical workshop practice embedded in the architecture's curriculum structure for self-empowerment be evaluated. Quantitative research methodological approach and structural equation modelling were employed to analyse the data collected from 153 students. The finding showed that all the ten hypotheses were supported and positively significant. In addition, the perception of the students on the soft skills integration is substantially positive and above average. The findings further indicates that, despite the practical skills acquisition, there is need to focused more on the architectural design rather than combining it with practical training in entrepreneurship and pragmatic workshop practice. In conclusion, students’ narrow-mindedness on the importance of entrepreneurship and practical skills development call for innovation in architecture’s curriculum structure and pedagogical approach to facilitates capacity building for employment creation and national economic development in Nigeria.

Investigating elective courses in architectural education

One of the approaches used by educational institutions to ensure that their programs reflect advances and changes in the architectural profession is the inclusion of elective courses. This study aims to establish a basis for integrating elective courses into architectural curricula by investigating the component of elective courses in 30 highly-ranked undergraduate architectural programs around the world. The need for this study arose as a result of the limited literature and lack of scientific foundation with which to support the process of merging elective courses into architectural curricula. This study has raised many questions in terms of direction, amount, subject, and timing of elective courses in architectural education. This study adopts an analytical deductive methodology supported by quantitative research. It is structured into four sections: topic overview, survey and its procedures, findings of the survey, and discussion. The discussion includes a proposal for integrating elective courses into architectural education. This study draws conclusions to its research questions, which broadens its impact on the quality of architectural programs and benefits for those concerned with architectural accreditation.

Integrating Sustainability within Architectural Education in Cairo

Architectural education has great potential to moving the entire in-dustry towards sustainability within buildings and cities. Having the fundamental knowledge to apply the sustainable strategies can help solving different environmental challenges being faced today. Sus-tainability is then recognized as a core topic in architecture and to re-flect this recognition, it is crucial to integrate it into the architectural education curriculum. Many approaches are used to introduce the concept of sustainability into the architectural programs ranging from integrating the concept into existing modules to adding new mod-ules that are entirely dedicated towards this subject. The design stu-dio is the most dominant module in architectural education having the highest credit hours per week; and being a pool within which all subjects dissolve. The studio is characterized by creating a unique learning environment modelled around a problem solving practice. Introducing sustainability into design studio was then found to be a key potential that enable graduate architects to make sustainable de-cisions within their design process rather than handling it separately. Realizing that potential; architectural educational institutions used different approaches in order to include sustainability within their curricula. This paper sheds lights on the education of sustainability within the architectural curricula in a number of Egyptian universities. It dis-cusses the teaching and learning of sustainable design then, identi-fies and analyses different approaches used in integrating the con-cept of sustainability into the curriculum. Follows, a qualitative anal-ysis takes place from semi structured interview conducted to practi-tioners and educators from various universities in order to stand on methods used to integrate sustainability into their architectural cur-ricula. The findings are to develop recommendations that could help discovering the best practices that could enhance the learning experi-ence for integrating sustainability in design studio modules.

Learning to Know and Think: Computing for Architecture Course

Computational technologies for solving design problems become increasingly important in architecturalpractice. In responding, architectural education has encouraged the use of this tool and method in the curricula. As the technology and environment are ever changing, the curricula should be evaluated and updated to adapt and to teach method and skills necessary to the students. Over the last four years, Architecture Program of ITB has inserted new computational courses into undergraduate levels. These courses are the mix of a skill focused computational workshop that is compulsory for the second-year students and introduction of computational design as an elective course that can be enrolled both by third and fourth year students. This paper delivers a report of our methods and findings from our continuingstudy of the courses including analysis of student outcomes, student evaluation of the course structures, assignments, and feedback as well as computational abilities after completion of the courses. The aim of the study is to have a grounded validation of computational courses in architecture curricula and to improve courses goal based on the evaluation. The result of our study reveals challenging issue to teach computational thinking undergraduate level rather than only providing them a set of computer skills for production and presentation techniques of the design.

Unconventional formulations in architectural curricula: An atelier on design for outer space architecture

Unconventional formulations in architectural curricula: An atelier on design for outer space architecture

Effective use of water in the landscape architecture curriculum

Water is an indispensable life source for all living creatures, and such a vital source is being increasingly polluted and running out due to lack of effective use. Aridity is on the rise due to water cycle issues caused by global warming and, as such, water is becoming more and more a limited resource for the future. Necessary measures should be taken immediately to prevent this outcome. Training and awareness raising campaigns for effective use of water play a significant role in this respect. Striving to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources for improving the living quality of humans, landscape architects take various courses on the effective use of water throughout their education from the preservation, planning, design and management aspects of such endeavor. Topics such as xeriscape landscape designs, effective irrigation methods, choice of right vegetation, effective use of water resources and assessment of water resources on ecological level are considered to be significant elements of landscaping studies in tackling water scarcity issues brought on global warming and aridity. The present study aims to emphasise the place and significance of landscape architects and landscape architecture, as an academic study, in tackling the issue of water scarcity, which is an important issue on a global scale. With this aim in mind, the courses and syllabuses concerning the effective use of water included in the landscape architecture programs teach in both Turkey and around the world have been identified. The case studies on the effective use of water resources in Turkey and elsewhere have been studied and the things to be done in this respect have been presented. Keywords: Water, climate change, xeriscape landscaping, landscape architecture programs.

Architectural profession in India: perception towards service marketing

PurposeSpurred by the internationalization trend, many architectural professional bodies across the globe relaxed their norms related to the acceptance of promotion and marketing within the services. However, in India, the architectural services codes have not reflected any changes. This paper aims to focus on Indian architectural practice and attempts to investigate about the causes of low marketing activities within the practice in the country.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a primary research process of data collection through survey administration. Survey is conducted using a close-ended structured questionnaire based on Likert scale technique. The data are analysed using both descriptive and empirical research techniques mainly, factor analysis. The sample is defined using random clustering sampling technique, from the list of architects registered with the professional regulating body of India, i.e. the Council of Architecture.FindingsThe findings of the study are suggestive that architectural firms in India are instinctively practising marketing-related activities, to position their firm to attract clients without formally adopting them. There appears to be a silent routinization of the marketing tasks in the firms. The findings are suggestive of academic and professional ignorance as one of the barriers towards marketing. The findings advocate that recognizing the growing competitive nature of architectural practices in the country, the regulatory and institutional body, Council of Architecture, may retrospect their code of conduct. The results of the present study have a great implication on the architectural education in the country. The findings advocate that the architectural curriculum in the country should be broadened to include the basic knowledge about marketing.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study opens a newer paradigm in the practice of architectural services. It highlights the growing linkages between the field of marketing and architecture. It opens a new area of research where linkages between interdisciplinary fields is an important aspect that needs researchers attention, to have a good model of survival for professional firms in a highly competitive environment.Practical implicationsThe research findings have great implications for the architectural firms that seek to operate in the globally volatile environment. The increasing competitive nature of the architectural services in India demands a dynamic decision and procurement methods that can strategically position firms in the market. Marketing strategies have a significant role in positioning firms and increasing their client base.Originality/valueThe subject of architectural practice and its operation is an under-researched area. The present study makes a strong point for formal involvement of marketing strategies in the promotion of architectural firms in India. The paper attempts to bridge this gap, and the strength of the paper lies in the empirical nature of its investigation.

Design studio discourse in architecture in Australia: The role of formative feedback in assessment

Studio-based teaching is a central component of the curriculum in architecture where designs are discussed, critiqued and challenged in the assessment of students’ creative works. Drawing on Dannels’ genre framework and a holistic approach to assessment, this article presents an analysis of design studio discourse based on non-participant records of observations of design studio presentations/crits and audio recordings of student focus groups and interviews with design studio tutors. Aspects of design studio pedagogy explored are the studio as context of learning and the discourse of guidance and feedback. Findings reveal the tension between providing explicit guidance that may constrain the freedom required for creative works, the difficulty of providing transparent feedback and the centrality of the subjective in design assessment. The studio as context of learning remains a challenging forum, in which the subjective nature of design is openly negotiated in discourse based, to a considerable extent, on tacit discipline understandings.

The Metaphoric Perceptions of Architectural Design Students On The Concept Of Jury System In Architectural Design Education

The core of the architectural curriculum is based on the design studio which focuses on learning by doing. The learning process in the design studio is takes place in critic sessions. These sessions are kind of communication of ideas and transmitting of knowledge from instructor to student. In contrast to other disciplines, in the architectural design education the evaluation and the assessment are the important part of the learning and teaching process. The Jury system is a traditional architectural learning assessment tool. In this system the student present his/her work in the front of the jury and get feedback or criticism. According to Webster (2006), Jury is the most performative stage of education where the student and agency (the discipline of architecture-as represented by the critics) actually interact. (Webster, 2006). The aim of this study was to reveal the perceptions of architectural design students’ about the ‘Jury system’ as an grading system in architectural design studios. The participants for this study included second, third and fourth grade architectural design students enrolled in the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of Mersin University during the 2014-2015 school year. To collect data, each participant was asked to complete the prompt “A jury is like . . . …because . . . …..” . Phenomenological design was used in the study. The content analysis technique was used to analyze and interpret the study data. The detailed discussion will be presented in full paper.

Professor Bertram Y, Kinzey, Jr., mentor, scholar, practitioner, artist, and colleague

Professor Bertram Y. Kinzey, Jr., had significant impacts on the shape of architectural acoustics today through his teaching, professional practice, research, and service. He influenced several generations of students at Virginia Tech and the University of Florida where he developed innovative, laboratory-based courses to teach architects about acoustics and other environmental technology subjects. At Florida, he initiated graduate coursework to allow students to specialize in Environmental Technology and later architectural acoustics as part of the professional Master of Architecture curriculum, with a thesis in acoustics in addition. His teaching was based on ideas expressed in his landmark textbook, Environmental Technologies in Architecture that was published as a primer in the art and science of sustainable design in 1963, over 50 years ahead of its time. His students entered the profession with ideas of sustainability, integrating serious, graduate level research into their design work, grounded by ...

The Need for the Inclusion of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Architectural Design Education in Nigeria

The inclusion of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methodologies as functional design tools in architecture has become a staple feature in architectural studies and research work. The trend while necessitated by challenges presented by the actualities involved in architectural practice, takes for granted the acceptability and knowledgeability of the built environment professional. This study highlights the fact that for MCDM to find general adoption and to provide its benefit in widespread solutions, the architect to whom these methodologies are advanced, should have an introduction to these approaches, formally at the educational level. Therefore, this paper evaluates the need for the inclusion of MCDM in architectural curriculum in Nigerian schools of architecture. The views of practicing professional architects, faculty members and students, were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed in a cross-sectional survey administered via questionnaires. A total of 54 respondents were evaluated, with findings of the study, indicating the novelty of MCDM and a general consensus for its introduction into the architectural curriculum, but varied opinions at what stage it should be introduced: 64% (undergraduate level); 26% (Masters’ level) and 10% (postmasters’ level). Consequently, the study recommended that MCDM be introduced at the undergraduate level, because students would be better situated intellectually to apply, modify and diversify the methodology in architectural problem modelling in the long run.

THE COLLABORATION OF ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY AND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION COURSES IN ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Nowadays interdisciplinary teaching methods maintain their importance in architectural education. Construction courses are among the main components of architectural curriculum having theoretical and practical aspects. In these series of prerequisite courses, students learn the types of constructional systems and materials. On the other hand, Architectural History courses are theoretical and the students are introduced to the variety of structural systems and elements throughout history concerning the architectural styles in these courses. In this paper, the collaboration of building construction and architectural history courses in the architectural curriculum was discussed. In addition, learning outcomes of the students who attend both courses were compared and common aspects were examined. At the end of the study it is found out that interdisciplinary teaching methods increase student’s permanent learning and provide more efficient teaching in architectural education. Keywords: Interdisciplinary teaching; architectural education; construction courses; architectural history courses; North Cyprus

Which Software Are You Teaching?: A Survey of Design Software Usage in Landscape Architecture Curricula

Which Software Are You Teaching?: A Survey of Design Software Usage in Landscape Architecture Curricula

Flipped Learning as a Paradigm Shift in Architectural Education

The target of Education for Sustainable Development is to make people creative and lifelong learners. Over the past years, architectural education has faced challenges of embedding innovation and creativity into its programs. That calls the graduates to be more skilled in the human dimensions of professional practice. So, architectural education has a great role in developing students’ skills and attitudes needed for professional practice and in fostering continued learning throughout the lifetime. Architectural education that establishes a base for lifelong learning is the best way to face global challenges of the 21st century. More effective methods are needed in introducing lecture-based courses in architectural education to meet the 21st century proper skills. Lecture-based courses are often associated with teacher-centered method that inhibits the possibility to apply such skills. This paper suggests applying the concept of Flipped Learning that stands on active learning and its related pedagogy; Problem-Based Learning. The paper aims to; 1) draw a clear vision of flipped learning relying on its pillars; pedagogy, technology, and space, 2) investigate the challenges face such concept and the opportunities, 3) explore the mechanism of the Problem-Based Learning pedagogy, 4) review the previous promulgated literature of applying PBL within the framework of FL on LBCs in the architectural curriculum, and 5) apply Problem-Based Learning pedagogy on Lighting and Acoustics as a lecture-based course. The paper concludes by; establishing a conceptual approach for the flipped classroom environment, and devising a proposal of Lighting and Acoustics course in a framework of Problem-Based Learning pedagogy.

Students’ Attitudes to Universal Design in Architecture Education

It is widely recognised that the built environment can dramatically impact the participation and engagement of people with disability and diverse needs. It has therefore become necessary for architects and designers to consider these needs when working within their profession. The implementation of universal design teaching into architecture and design curriculum has been recognised as an important step in facilitating and enhancing the uptake of universal design during the design process. Using a quantitative approach, this study aimed to compare, contrast and explore the attitudes of two groups of architecture students to the universal design of built environments. One group had received education relating to diversity and universal design as part of a prior project while the other group had not received this content. Findings from this comparison demonstrated that overall, no significant differences between groups existed. However further investigation provided interesting insight and perspectives into student attitudes to universal design and potential influencers of these attitudes.