Guita Farivarsadri and Üstün Alsaç
Teaching design through learning by doing is still the dominant form of architectural education as it is believed that the skills, the language and the approach to problems of…
Abstract
Teaching design through learning by doing is still the dominant form of architectural education as it is believed that the skills, the language and the approach to problems of design can be learned more effectively through direct experience rather than through other means. That is why architecture students have to repeat design studio courses until they reach a certain level of experience.
Design, especially the work done in design studios, has many similarities with play. Generally the subjects are imaginary. The designs are presented using models trying to simulate real-life situations. And it has some fixed rules. Actually there is very little difference between a girl playing with a doll, a boy with toy trucks and an architecture student working on a design project. All of them deal with simulations, role-playing, preparing themselves for real-life situations. We have observed that students learn more about design when they approach it in a playful manner. When they do this they also enjoy what they do. But this kind of education needs planning and preparation if it is going to yield good results. This article attempts to discuss about the benefits of planning a design studio as a kind of play activity by giving some examples from our experiments and observations we have been conducting at our university.
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The process of educating future architects and designers around the world varies dramatically. However, there is one striking similarity - the dominance of the design studio as…
Abstract
The process of educating future architects and designers around the world varies dramatically. However, there is one striking similarity - the dominance of the design studio as the main forum for knowledge acquisition and assimilation, and for creative exploration and interaction. Such a setting encompasses intensive cognitive and physical activities, which ultimately result in conceptualizing meaningful environments proposed to accommodate related human activities. The design studio is the primary space where students explore their creative skills that are so prized by the profession; it is the kiln where future architects are molded. It has occupied a central position since architectural education was formalized two centuries ago in France and later in Germany, the rest of Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.