Studio Teaching Research Articles

THE IMPLEMENTATION MODEL OF INTEGRATING THE THREE SUSTAINABILITY ASPECTS INTO THE UNDERGRADUATE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO

ABSTRACTThe concept of sustainability in design is meant to ensure that the product of the design is in harmony with humans and nature by taking into consideration the three aspects of sustainability: environmental, social and economic. The objective of this experiment was to integrate the three aspects of sustainability principles into the architectural design studio to train future architects to be able to design sustainable buildings. The study aimed to create an integration method that could be validated through the junior students’ work in the innovative Sustainable Architecture Design Studio (SADS) at Izmir Institute of Technology. The impact of the pedagogy on the students’ ability to integrate sustainable design principles into their projects was measured through the evaluation tools formulated for this purpose by the instructor. Further, the students’ feedback through course evaluation, questionnaire, and colloquium at the end of the term was used to assess the method. The findings of this research demonstrated that the innovative studio pedagogy and teaching method were successful in integrating the sustainable design elements into design studio projects, while the level of sustainable elements integration was 68%.

(Mekši) softver arhitekture - iskustva u nastavi unutrašnje arhitekture i dizajna na Tehnološkom Institutu Sligo, Irska

Of the many lessons that the pandemic has taught us and brought into our personal and professional lives, the recognition of human agility and flexibility is possibly the least recognised, but most valuable. Architecture courses, which traditionally apply practice-based pedagogy and foster studio-based learning, were the most reluctant to embrace the growing cohort of online and blended (or hybrid) model programmes. However, pandemic-induced circumstances found us, less than a week into lockdown, embracing the virtual world and carving our own spaces in its digital alcoves. After two and a half semesters of exclusively teaching architecture and interior architecture remotely across a range of practical modules (from Studio to Architectural Representation), it became apparent that architecture was finally given the permission to become fluid and be interpreted through the tools which we still refer to as digital, thus distinguishing and removing them from the realities of their seamless, quiet integration to our everyday, physical lives. On return to on-campus teaching, elements of the virtual practice became an established part of studio pedagogy, proving that remote learning is not only beneficial for providing access to knowledge, but also an instrument for conducting advanced layers of analysis, thinking and creativity. However, in bringing us together, the technology not only establishes itself as the (only) means, but also as a selector: qualifying participation based on connectivity and equipment quality.

Prednosti metode obrazovanja arhitekata na daljinu u arhitekturi u doba posle kovida - zatočenost I oslobođenje

With the digital environment, the capacity to communicate and be connected beyond the narrow economic, political and social dimensions has increased. Are the conditions for closing universities across the world in 2020 delineating the system of architectural education as confinement or liberation? Searching for answers, we take into account not only the conditions currently emerging in the world, but rather emulate the stage of life that reveals the conditions which produce the world. Accordingly, this presentation discusses new educational contexts for the post-Covid age and investigates alternatives to the traditional studio teaching. It provides a theoretical insight into how knowledge is used as an approach to online teaching and what alternative pedagogies are applicable against the backdrop of the escalating large-scale crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This presentation takes a series of architectural programmes and workshops performed at European universities and across the United States that test alternative educational methods. By examining the relationships in the production and ways of disseminating knowledge across diverse platforms, I hope to discover how the current unstable and unpredictable educational context regenerates virtuality, instrumentalities and intelligences to maintain its vital capacity unaffected. This comprehensive approach will provide new ventures into speculating the spaces of virtualisation, confinement and liberation in the encounter between the real and virtual worlds.

Integral and Inclusive Research by Design Pedagogy

This article reflects on my integral design studio teaching and inclusiveness in its design processes. This is exemplified in two different systemic design case studies focusing on social and environmental justice via the lens of empathy. The design studio and/or design practice tend to be fused in this article because my design studios have always focused on practice-based, real-life built projects, while my commercial and not-for-profit practices have always implemented design education in real-life built projects through internships and/or other student participation. Therefore, my approach fully follows the pathway of ‘learning by doing’(Dewey, 1997), focusing on systemic feedback looping of integral real-life experience and reflection through research and practice, targeting brighter post-Anthropocene futures.

Different Educational Approaches in Design Studio

Purpose In the architectural design studio education, series of approaches, such as vertical, traditional, constructivist or virtual, are executed. In this research, an experiment was executed with the aim of revealing the effects of different architectural design studio approaches through the comparisons of student assessments. The study was based on the research question related to which of the approaches applied in the architectural design studio is the successful and productive one. The research hypothesized that in architectural design education, the independent design studio approach is more successful than the controlled studio approach. Design/Methodology/Approach Two different approaches were compared. The independent studio approach, in which students studied freely in studio milieu, was applied full-time 9 hours a week session in the Fall Semester. The controlled design studio approach, executed as two half days per week in the Spring Semester, proceeded with the desk critiques in a group supervised by an instructor. At the end of each semester a questionnaire that evaluated each design studio approach was conducted to 44 third-year design studio students. Findings The controlled design studio appeared to be a more dynamic approach in which following on the critiques of the instructor was ease. The group instructor provided sufficient time to all students for the critiques, whereas in the independent studio approach, the interaction between the instructors and the students was weak. Following up the critiques of different instructors was a difficult process. The controlled design studio was found to be more successful than the independent studio approach. The hypothesis of the research is not confirmed. Research Limitations/Implications The most important limitation of this study was that the comparisons were only made through the students’ assessments, and the instructors were not included in the research. Social/Practical Implications The meetings with the instructors should be arranged twice a week to keep students under control of instructors, and to prevent the reluctance of the students in the design studio. Originality/Value This study makes a difference in comparing studio approaches and contributes to the discussions on architectural design studio education.

Teaching Architectural Design Studio Remotely: The Introduction to Architectural Design Course at METU

This paper aims to briefly assess the potentials and limits of online learning environment for studio education by focusing on the case of 2019-20 spring semester studio of Introduction to Architectural Design course at Middle East Technical University’s Department of Architecture. As a transitory course between basic design principles and architectural design, Introduction to Architectural Design addresses the issues of site, program, structure, form, and material in reference to small scale architectural interventions. Reviewing the usual course of the semester until the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the effects of the unexpected switch to the emergency distance teaching, the paper highlights both the creative advantages and material shortcomings of the course’s adaptation process into the online studio format.

Training Intelligent Innovation Ability of Packaging Engineering Talents

<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'">The</span> <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">21^st</span> <span style="font-size:16px;font-family:'Times New Roman','serif'">century is an era of innovation. Actively carrying out innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students is not only conducive to solving the problem of college students' employment difficulties, but also conducive to the overall development and success of students. Starting from the packaging engineering, this paper puts forward the innovative design of the packaging engineering professional studio teaching platform for the problems existing in the packaging engineering professional teaching, and explores and studies the packaging engineering professional innovation and entrepreneurial talent training, which has strong practice for training. For talents with the ability, innovation ability, entrepreneurial ability and employability, it has strong theoretical and practical value. It provides a new constructive idea for professional teaching reform and research.</span>

Integrating technology subjects with design studio teaching: comparing curriculum of architecture education in Australia and Iran

PurposeDesign studio and technology subjects are two dominant parts of the architecture curriculum. How to integrate these different parts of the curriculum is one of the important challenges in architecture education around the world. With increasing internationalisation of both the profession and higher education, an understanding of similarities and differences across the globe is important. This paper illustrates two different approaches to such integration in two very different contexts: case studies at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia and the University of Tehran (UT) in Iran.Design/methodology/approachThe study implemented a case study approach based on document analysis methods. This paper explores the integrated role of technology subjects in architecture education, followed by a critique of the teaching of technology within the design studio. The analysis is conducted across four significant features of the curriculum.FindingsOverall, in both programmes, the aim is for students to develop architectural knowledge and skills; although the Iranian programme has a stronger focus on knowledge, the Australian programme has a stronger focus on the application of knowledge and skills, particularly within the design studio projects.Originality/valueThe comparative analysis of architectural education in these two different contexts offers an insight into alternative approaches to teaching technology. Such an insight may offer guidance in curriculum development to support the exploration of new hybrid approaches as well as supporting international student mobility.

Together but Apart: Creating and Supporting Online Learning Communities in an Era of Distributed Studio Education

AbstractIt would seem that technological campuses of tomorrow have manifested in 2020 as an essential spontaneous response to a world event. This article examines the current crisis in physical art and design studio learning in higher education as a consequence of the COVID‐19 outbreak and the sector’s response to the fast‐track conversion of blended learning to a distributed model. Universities are focusing on virtual community building where group work, ‘crits’ and presentations are being carried out online. Moving assessment and engagement to online formats has consequences for practice‐based art and design courses: distributed learning changes how we teach and learn. This article discusses the implications of art and design studio education in a time of distributed learning. It considers the loss of control over a physically based, practical curriculum and the repercussions for students unable to perform to the depth and rigour required for creative art and design practice. Studio education is considered a signature pedagogy, and has a distinct set of guiding principles such as facilitating critical play, thinking and making, and a pedagogy of ambiguity. This article examines the successes and challenges of moving these pedagogical principles into distributed spaces to support student engagement, using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) as a research framework. The article also examines pedagogical strategies that support students to engage in physical forms of creative practice that enable them to connect their lived experience in a time of crisis.

Teaching Improvement in Studio on Feasibility Study of Sewage Disposal Project

Yang, H.X.; Chen, X., and Chen, L.P., 2020. Teaching improvement in studio on feasibility study of sewage disposal project. In: Guido Aldana, P.A. and Kantamaneni, K. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Coastal Management, and Marine Science Technology. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 104, pp. 94–100. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The major of environmental engineering is to train applied interdisciplinary talents, the feasibility study ability of project is the core that management specialty students must master. How to improve the project assessment ability to sewage disposal projects, and promote the teaching methods of studios are common concern of teachers and students. Based on the studio teaching mode of the existing sewage disposal project, this paper investigates the satisfaction of the student in studio and does an analysis with the PLS-SEM. The reliability and validity of questionnaire data were verified by SPSS statistical analysis. Through the analysis, the paper built a model and made parameter estimation by PLS 2.0 software. According to the result of a comprehensive evaluation, the perceived quality was found to have the strongest correlation with satisfaction. Finally, some suggestions for improvement of the studio teaching were given.

BİR ÖĞRENME ORTAMI OLARAK TASARIM STÜDYOSU: MALTEPE ÜNİVERSİTESİ TASARIM STÜDYOSU 1 DENEYİMİ

In architecture education, as in other disciplines of design, design studios stand out as unique environments where architectural design is learned by transforming theoretical and practical knowledge into design knowledge. Design studios, which constitute the core of the architectural education program starting from the first semester to the last semester, are the environments where students seek solutions to design problems - that gradually increase in scope and complexity each semester-, by trial and error, and interact with the studio tutor while seeking solutions, and thus experience the design action. Among all the design studios, first term design studio is the first place, where students encounter the critical, creative and multidimensional way of thinking required by the design action and design process for the first time. The first term design studio has a critical importance as the skills gained and attitudes developed by the students during this period form the basis of their subsequent education. Therefore, it is crucial to question the teaching-learning methods applied in the first term studios and discuss how to provide a more efficient learning environment. On the basis of these questions, the aim of the study is to present and discuss a studio approach that is developed for the first term design studio. For this purpose, firstly, current approaches to the basic qualities, components and methods of the design studio, as a learning environment in architectural education, are introduced with the literature research method. Afterwards, the methods, productions and learning experience of the Design Studio 1, which was conducted at the Maltepe University, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture between 2016-2018, are discussed and evaluated. Sharing and discussing the design studio experiences will contribute significantly to the experience/knowledge of the design studio education.

Cooperative learning in design studios: a pedagogy for net-positive performance

Students of architecture are often inadequately prepared to address the consequences of climate change. Among the factors contributing to this, traditional design studio pedagogies tend to privilege individual ownership of projects instead of promoting cooperation and collaboration. This traditional focus on individual projects has the effect of minimizing the cognitive diversity that can be brought to bear within the development of projects, and that new knowledge is created through interactive processes based on the sharing and integration of previously unshared knowledge. A new studio pedagogy is presented in which cognitive diversity is foregrounded by means of shifting away from individual ownership of work and towards groupings of works and students. Periodic discussions focus on works grouped by thematic commonalities and re-assigned ownership based on interest, self-identified strengths (skills they can contribute or teach), or deficits (skills they need to learn), rather than authorship. Evidence from implementation reveals this process supports the creation of new knowledge in a short period of time (a 6.5-week studio) and students learn skills related to quantification of performance measures and develop capabilities to transform existing buildings to be net-positive contributors to their communities. Practice relevance The presented pedagogical method, entitled ‘Shifting Allegiances,’ is easy to replicate and flexible for customization. It does not require larger curricular or program changes and is not bound to specific content. It can be implemented by an individual instructor in a single studio section. An emphasis on shared student authorship, cooperative structures, and collaboration led to a learning process based on productive comparisons of student work. Comparisons in students’ energy modeling results due to in-depth knowledge of, and participation in, their colleagues’ work became second nature to the students. This led to the acquisition of new capabilities enabling students to use a variety of strategies to achieve a 70% reduction in energy demand over the current baseline; this was augmented further with the use of photovoltaics. Other aspects (water, waste, resources), selected by the students are also actively reduced to meet net-zero goals.

Teaching strategies for linking knowledge acquisition and application in the architectural design studio

PurposeIn the context of architecture education, design studio projects usually start with “research” on the design theme and the context, but often there is no strong link between this research and its application in the project and the resultant design product. This paper explores strategies which link knowledge acquisition and knowledge application in design studio teaching and learning.Design/methodology/approachThese strategies have been applied in several design studios and master’s theses and involve sixteen years of research by the author through observation, surveys and analysis of student work.FindingsThe results show that these strategies are not limited to the design studio, with more than half of them (eight out of fourteen) also applicable in theoretical subjects that sit outside the design studio unit and generate knowledge of relevance to studio projects. As such, the paper advocates for a multi-level approach involving the following: course design and curriculum development, teaching and learning pedagogies and organizational decisions regarding the deployment of staff as for collaborative team-based teaching.Research limitations/implicationsThe results also recognize the relevance of problem-based and project-based learning to the broader higher education context and its dependence on a collaborative approach.Originality/valueThis paper which synthesizes this work contributes to the literature on architecture pedagogy, specifically that related to the integration of theoretical and practical subjects.

Critical Reflections on the Surface, Pedagogical and Epistemological Features of the Design Studio under the “New Normal” Conditions

This study aims to make a critical reading on the constraints and potentials that emerge through the transition from face-to-face to screen-to-screen teaching and learning experiences in design education during the COVID-19 pandemic. By making a critical reading of current discussions, mostly in narrative surveys, on architectural design education, it is attempted to re-contextualize the emerging concepts of the remote teaching and learning to the broader context of design studio pedagogy literature. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the model developed by Shaffer (2003) regarding the three main elements of the design studio pedagogy as (1) “surface structures”, (2) “pedagogical forms” and (3) “epistemological principles.” The study revealed that the current situation, on the one hand, opened the ways for us to test “new” tools, methods and experiences of teaching and learning, and on the other hand, allowed us to better understand the potentials and well-functioning aspects of the “existing” pedagogical models. Rather than reducing the discussions on remote teaching and learning to a ‘technology-driven’ paradigm change in design education, future research should focus on the effects of changing pedagogical tools and practices on the manifold dimensions of ‘human learning’, which in turn will have implications for the epistemology of design pedagogy.

From Sketch to Architectural Production/Design Process: A Studio Experience

The purpose of this text is to determine how the architectural sketches produced by the educator-architect can be transformed by architecture students into an architectural composition and how coherent relationships are established in achieving a holistic outcome product. The method, which is a part of the architectural studio education, starts with the sketches made by the educator-architect instantly for each student separately. The expectation in the design process is a holistic outcome product development that defines a coherent network of relationships from the initial idea sketch. As a result, two groups of orientations were identified as “the ones interpreting the sketch with contextual-formal elements” and “those who created separate situations from the linear character of the sketch” but despite similar orientations, it was found that similar analogy tools were used in the meaning-perception-comprehension phase of the idea sketch. Through this study, the group of students who previously used the sketch process in their design studios with their own practices or experimented with the transition to the third dimension with models by using the sketch process, handled the linear-contextual-formal pattern of the sketch produced by the educator-architect and discovered different orientations of architectural production at this point.

The Infographic Model of Design Thinking Process

Purpose Creativity as an outcome of our thoughts and actions is a controversial concept that has been discussed by many disciplines in different ways. In the light of cognitive research on creativity, this study aims to deal with the components of the idea generation process specific to interior design education. Based on the study conducted in the interior design studio, this paper introduces the infographic model of design thinking. the main purpose of the model is to summarize how design students initiate the design process, create their own design ideas, and also how they lead design thinking for a spatial solution. Design/Methodology/Approach The cross-disciplinary research paper within the context of the psychological studies on creative cognition consists of a detailed analysis of the design process in the design studio. A case study was conducted in the second-year undergraduate interior design studio at Hacettepe University in order to observe the students’ experiences during one semester. In the wake of this qualitative research, the data obtained from 15 design students selected have been analyzed gradually and a design thinking model has been generated with the findings. Findings In addition to the interpretation of the creativity models from the literature, initial analyses showed that design thinking can be explained in three main stages as preparation, conceptualization, and spatialization that underlie the internal and external process of design thinking in the design studio. With subsequent analyses, these stages have been divided into different strategical layers according to students’ experiences. As a result, the infographic model of the design thinking process is structured based on the evaluations of these components and the design approaches identified. Research Limitations/Implications The data acquired from the case study undertaken by the author were compared so as to identify the similarities and diversities of these processes. More research on different stages of the design process can shed more light on design thinking. In addition to this, qualitative data are based on a small group of students to get detailed information about the process. The proposed model can be adapted for different studies in the context of the design studio with more participants. Practical/Social Implications The proposed model in the research is intended to be used as a content map that shows the alternative ways of thinking in design ideation, and also an analysis method of the design process for future studies. In other words, the paper shows the two-way implications of the design thinking model on design education. One of which is a guide for practical use for design students and the other is an analytical tool for studio instructors or researchers. Originality/Value This study brings to focus on conceptualization and spatialization for creative idea generation in design studio education. On the basis of drawn from creativity models, the paper introduces a new process model that provides an original interpretation of existing models in design. The proposed model differs from previous cognitive studies, as it expands the ideation process with both internal and external operations.

Polyphonic narratives for built environment research

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to construct a series of narratives by assessing a selection of the key literature generated by Open House International (OHI) over a period of 15 years. The paper also presents a brief review of the latest developments of the journal while introducing concise observations on the articles published in this edition – Volume 45, Issues 1 and 2.Design/methodology/approachThrough a classification procedure of selected special issues published by OHI since 2006, 10 issues were identified based on the currency of the issues they generated. Following the review of the editorials, the key content of more than 100 articles within these special issues, the content of this edition and relevant seminal literature, the analysis engages, through critical reflection, with various themes that echo the polyphonic nature of built environment research.FindingsThe analysis conveys the plurality and diversity in built environment research where generic types of narratives are established to include three categories, namely, leitmotif, contextual/conceptual and open-ended narratives. Each of which includes sub-narrative classifications. The leitmotif narrative includes design studio pedagogy, sustainable environments for tourism, responsive learning environments, affordable housing environments, diversity in urban environments and urbanism in globalised environments. The contextual/conceptual narrative encompasses architecture and urbanism in the global south and the tripartite urban performance and transformation. The open-ended narrative embraces thematic reflections on the contributions of this edition of OHI.Originality/valueConstructing polyphonic narratives in built environment research based on contemporary knowledge is original in the sense of capturing the crux of the themes within these narratives and articulating this in a pithy form. The elocution of the narratives stimulates a sustained quest for re-thinking concepts, notions and issues of concerns while invigorating research prospects and setting the future direction of OHI.

Designing an archaeology centre for students

This paper is about the interdisciplinary approach to the interior architecture studio education. The second year Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at the Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey, was given the task of designing a modular living unit for archaeology students. The brief expected the design of a living unit for students out of two- and three-dimensional modules. There were three aims of the project: first, the advantages of the process being interdisciplinary and collaborative working closely with the archaeology centre; second, the role of modularity introduced at the interior scale; and third, the structure of the semester enabling an understanding of the interior architecture process, delivered at the second year level. In the paper, the means by which the aims are fulfilled will be discussed with examples from students’ projects, and furthermore, directions for research are discussed with an emphasis on design thinking.&#x0D; Keywords: Interior architecture education, design education, design process, design thinking, archaeology.

Design Education through Facilitating Student-Centred Learning

Student disengagement in the architecture design studio is our research-focus. Design teachers complain that their multitasking students are not interested in learning, whereas the industry complains that the products of design schools fall short of their expectations. Having observed student disengagement in design studio as a cause for this schism, we tested ways to bring students back to learn-through-application. Among the reasons for their demotivation, we found, is the gradual drifting of design studio pedagogy towards stereotyping, moulding students to design a final product rather than inspiring them to fine-tune a design process. Our hypothesis is that if the design studio includes its participants in the learn-ing process, their engagement in the studio can be improved. We tested various methods of improving the design studio pedagogy, the most tested pedagogical tool in architecture school by providing an open forum for knowledge-construction and dissemination. Our major breakthrough came when the students were made to feel that they were included in shaping their learning exercises. Our quest is to test the strength of such learner-centred design studio, in which responsibilities to knowledge-construction and dissemination could be shared. Our qualitative research methods included observation and participatory observation of design studios and depth-interviews of teachers and students at several schools. We also conducted experimental design studios to test the hypothesis of collaborative studio, and found that more we include the students and more they learn. Keywords: Design-pedagogy; Design-studio; knowledge-construction; Learner-centred-teaching

Dialogue and studio space: the architectural design studio as the setting for continuous reflection

Teaching and learning in the design studio aims to continuously offer the learner opportunities to relate their individual experience to the discourses shaping the professional field through an iterative process of inquiries, reflection and actions. This paper highlights the role of level-specific dialogue in the provision of design studio teaching at the early stages of the student’s journey toward professionalisation. It will be suggested that the Problem-Based Learning model enshrined in the idea of studio teaching alone does not facilitate for a sufficiently refined and truly reflective learning experience. By looking at a range of publications on the reflective practitioner, I hope to focus the discussion on the diachronic nature of dialogue in the disciplinary context of architectural education. The discussion of a number of case studies from the First Year provision at the CASS School of Architecture will illustrate a participatory approach to the dialogical scaffolding of early learning experiences and the assessment of generated outcomes as the conceptual framework of dialogical learning in the design studio. It will be argued that sustaining a dialogical process, based on multi-voiced provision, can contribute to the continuity of the learning experience at advanced levels of undergraduate studies, while critically addressing concerns raised about traditional studio teaching practices.