Future learning landscapes for architectural education: Linking space, place, pedagogy, technology + context

Diversification and expansion of global higher education in the 21st century, has resulted in Learning Landscapes for architectural education that can no longer be sustained by the traditional model. Changes have resulted because of surging student numbers, extensions to traditional curricula, evolving competency standards and accreditation requirements, and modified geographical and pedagogical boundaries. The influx of available new technology has helped to democratise knowledge, transforming when, where and how learning takes place. Pressures on government funded higher education budgets highlight the need for a critical review of the current approach to the design and use of learning environments. Efficient design of physical space contributes significantly to savings in provision, management and use of facilities, while also potentially improving pedagogical quality. The purpose of this research is to identify emerging trends in the design of future Learning Landscapes for architectural education in Australasia; to understand where and how students of architecture are likely to learn, in the future context. It explores the important linkages between space, place, pedagogy, technology and context, using a multi methodological qualitative research approach. An Australasian context study will explore the Learning Landscapes of 23 Schools of Architecture across Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The focus of this paper is on the methodology which is being employed to undertake dynamic data collection for the study. The research will be determined through mapping all forms of architectural learning environments, pedagogical approaches and contextual issues, to bridge the gap between academic theory, and architectural design practice. An initial understanding that pedagogy is an intrinsic component imbedded within the design of learning environments, will play an important role. Active learning environments which are exemplified by the architectural design studio, support dynamic project based and collaborative connected learning models. These have recently become a lot more common in disciplines outside of design and the arts. It is anticipated, therefore, that the implications for this research may well have a positive impact far beyond the confines of the architectural studio learning environment.

An innovative learning model for teaching architectural technology using building information modelling : a Queensland University of Technology perspective

In architecture courses, instilling a wider understanding of the industry specific representations practiced in the Building Industry is normally done under the auspices of Technology and Science subjects. Traditionally, building industry professionals communicated their design intentions using industry specific representations. Originally these mainly two dimensional representations such as plans, sections, elevations, schedules, etc. were produced manually, using a drawing board. Currently, this manual process has been digitised in the form of Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) or ubiquitously simply CAD. While CAD has significant productivity and accuracy advantages over the earlier manual method, it still only produces industry specific representations of the design intent. Essentially, CAD is a digital version of the drawing board. The tool used for the production of these representations in industry is still mainly CAD. This is also the approach taken in most traditional university courses and mirrors the reality of the situation in the building industry. A successor to CAD, in the form of Building Information Modelling (BIM), is presently evolving in the Construction Industry. CAD is mostly a technical tool that conforms to existing industry practices. BIM on the other hand is revolutionary both as a technical tool and as an industry practice. Rather than producing representations of design intent, BIM produces an exact Virtual Prototype of any building that in an ideal situation is centrally stored and freely exchanged between the project team. Essentially, BIM builds any building twice: once in the virtual world, where any faults are resolved, and finally, in the real world. There is, however, no established model for learning through the use of this technology in Architecture courses. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a tertiary institution that maintains close links with industry, recognises the importance of equipping their graduates with skills that are relevant to industry. BIM skills are currently in increasing demand throughout the construction industry through the evolution of construction industry practices. As such, during the second half of 2008, QUT 4th year architectural students were formally introduced for the first time to BIM, as both a technology and as an industry practice. This paper will outline the teaching team’s experiences and methodologies in offering a BIM unit (Architectural Technology and Science IV) at QUT for the first time and provide a description of the learning model. The paper will present the results of a survey on the learners’ perspectives of both BIM and their learning experiences as they learn about and through this technology.

Assessment of architectural work experience by employers and students

A major element in the architectural work experience program at Queensland University of Technology is the assessment reports provided by students and employers. This paper gives an analysis of assessments submitted during the period 2000 to 2007 as viewed from a practice-base perspective. By comparing the 398 student assessments with 403 employer assessments in five specific categories over an eight year period one is able to obtain a clear understanding of the performance of the program and the relevance of its various sections for its participants that is not always obvious in a yearly analysis. In the major work experience areas there is close agreement between the student and employer assessments. However, the analysis did highlight a misunderstanding of the program’s aims by some participants. Overall the students were very positive about the program and appreciated the opportunity to work on real projects and be given a degree of responsibility for these projects. For Work Integrated Learning (WIL) practitioners this study clearly demonstrates the value of obtaining assessments from students and employers in order to establish the acceptance of a WIL program.

Butterpaper, sweat & tears : the affective dimension of engaging students during the architectural critique

Considering how dominant a feature of architectural education the critique has been, and continues to be, little has been written about the affective dimension of engaging students during this key final stage of the design or documentation process. For most students, the critique is unlike any previous educational or life experience that they have ever confronted, and the abrupt change in the instructor’s role, from tutor to judge, can be disconcerting at a time when the student is feeling their most vulnerable. The fact that the period immediately leading up to the critique habitually entails not only a focused and sustained effort, but also sleepless nights of intensive work, further exacerbates this. The purpose of this paper is to recognise the affective phenomena influencing student engagement, during the critique. The participants of this research were second to fourth year architecture students at a major Australian university. Following the implementation of trials in alternative modes of critique in architectural design and technology studios, qualitative data was obtained from students, through questionnaires and interviews. Six indicators of engagement were investigated through this research: motivation and agency, transactional engagement with staff, transactional engagement with students, institutional support, active citizenship, and non-institutional support. This research confirms that affective phenomena play a significant role in the events of the critique; the relationship between instructor and student influences student engagement, as does the choreography and spatial planning of the critique environment; and these factors ultimately have an impact on the depth of student learning.

Facebook : a 24 hour studio environment for contemporary architectural education

The popularity of Web 2.0 technology amongst tertiary students has become an increased talking point due to its pedagogical capabilities. The purpose of this research was to incorporate the social network Facebook within an architectural design studio to reintroduce the social interaction that was once generated within the traditional, 24 hour setting. This interaction has proven vital to an architect’s future as here they develop the initial peer network within the industry. The study draws upon existing literature to gage the effectiveness of introducing Facebook within the contemporary university environment, further, a case study was established within a second year architectural class. The correspondence was monitored at five intervals across the semester, with the information that was shared, quantified. The aim of this research was to provide the necessary foundation for the feasibility on the possible inclusion of Facebook within architectural tertiary education.

Pedagogy and community engagement in environmental design courses

This article describes an evaluation of student experiences in environmental design courses with a community engagement focus. It aims to identify pedagogical approaches that minimize obstacles faced by students while maximizing learning opportunities. Focus groups composed of undergraduate students in seven classes generated three major findings: (1) learning how to effectively engage with community partners is one of the most beneficial challenges of this type of course; (2) logistical hurdles and course characteristics that limited students’ ability to connect with the community partners or synthesize the social, emotional, technical, and theoretical aspects of the course were perceived as learning obstacles; and (3) social and emotional connections with community partners are the most educationally significant part of the experience for students. The conclusion discusses recommendations for how environmental design instructors can take advantage of the unique social and emotional connections with community partners that facilitated community engagement can foster, while limiting the learning obstacles that students may experience. Areas for future research

Design studio terrains: Mapping the learning landscapes of Australian architectural education

It has been nearly 25 years since the problems associated with passive learning in large undergraduate classes were first established by McDermott (1991). STEM education, for example North Carolina State University’s SCALE-UP project, has subsequently been influenced by some unique aspects of design studio education. While there are now many institutions applying SCALE-UP or similar approaches to enable lively interaction, enhanced learning, increased student engagement, and to teach many different content areas to classes of all sizes, nearly all of these have remained in the STEM fields (Beichner, 2008). Architectural education, although originally at the forefront of this field, has arguably been left behind. Architectural practice is undergoing significant change, globally. Access to new technology and the development of specialised architectural documentation software has scaffolded new building procurement methods and allowed consultant teams to work more collaboratively, efficiently and even across different time zones. Up until recently, the spatial arrangements, pedagogical approaches, and project work outcomes in the architectural design studio, have not been dissimilar to its inception. It is not possible to keep operating architectural design studios the same way that they have for the past two hundred years, with this new injection of high-end technology and personal mobile Wi-Fi enabled devices. Employing a grounded theory methodology, this study reviews the current provision of architectural design learning terrains across a range of tertiary institutions, in Australia. Some suggestions are provided for how these spaces could be modified to address the changing nature of the profession, and implications for how these changes may impact the design of future SCALE-UP type spaces outside of the discipline of architecture, are also explored.

The sublime, affective process + architectural production

A year before Kate Nesbitt’s Theorising a New Agenda For Architecture (1996), the author penned a chapter on the significance of the sublime and its contribution to post-modern architecture via the uncanny or disturbing through the theories of Vidler and Eisenman (Nesbit, 1995). Twenty years on, we see its ongoing presence within the contemporary works of artists Kapoor, Ellison and Viola. Eisenmann and Libeskind aside, explicit reference to the Sublime whether through architectural praxis or theory appears to have been trumped by ecological derivatives and associated transactions, as catalyst for new architecture and architectural thinking. For Edmund Burke (1757), the Sublime was seen as a leading, an overpowering of self to a state of intense self-presence, often leading to a state of otherness. To experience the sublime is to experience affect, physiologically overwhelming the mental faculties through intensities of astonishment, terror, obscurity, magnificence, and reverence. Key here is Burke’s articulation of the stages of the sublime encounter, particularly so, its implications for the process of production which architectural theorists appear to have overstepped in their valorisation of the sublime object. This paper seeks to resituate the sublime within the context of architectural production. Through concepts such as material thinking, bodies and making strange, the paper explores a shift in focus toward affective processes traced from Burke’s inquiry. Rather than proposing strategies solely for affect within the work itself, the focus lies upon the designing experience, where blockage and desirous forces are critical partners in the process of production, as revealed through recent studio programs entitled Strange Space.

Lady Nugent and Tom Cringle on the veranda : early nineteenth century observations on a Caribbean architectural feature

This study of the veranda as seen through the eyes of Lady Maria Nugent and Michael Scott, alias Tom Cringle, clearly demonstrates the important role that the piazza, as it was then more commonly known, played in the life of early nineteenth century Caribbean colonial society. The popularity of the veranda throughout the region, in places influenced by different European as well as African cultures, and among all classes of people, suggests that the appeal of this typical feature was based on something more than architectural fashion. A place of relative comfort in hot weather, the veranda is also a space at the interface of indoors and outdoors which allows for a wide variety of uses, for solitary or small or large group activities, many of which were noted by Nugent and Scott. Quintessentially, the veranda is a place in which to relax and take pleasure, not least of which is the enjoyment of the prospect, be it a panoramic view, a peaceful garden or a lively street scene. Despite the great changes in the nature of society, in the Caribbean and in many other parts of the world, the veranda and related structures such as the balcony continue to play at least as important a role in daily life as they did two centuries ago. The veranda of today’s Californian or Australian bungalow, and the balcony of the apartment block in the residential area of the modern city are among the contemporary equivalents of the lower and upper piazzas of Lady Nugent’s and Tom Cringle’s day.