Showing papers on "Design studio published in 2007"

Design Studio Pedagogy: Horizons for the Future

Abstract: This groundbreaking book is a new comprehensive round of debate developed in response to the lack of research on design pedagogy. It provides thoughts, ideas, and experiments of design educators of different generations, different academic backgrounds, who are teaching and conducting research in different cultural contexts. It probes future universal visions within which the needs of future shapers of the built environment can be conceptualized and the design pedagogy that satisfies those needs can be debated. Addressing academics, practitioners, graduate students, and those who make decisions about the educational system over twenty contributors remarkably introduce analytical reflections on their positions and experience. Two invited contributions of. N. John Habraken and Henry Sanoff offer visionary thoughts on their outstanding experience in design pedagogy and research.Structured in five chapters, this book introduces theoretical perspectives on design pedagogy and outlines a number of thematic issues that pertain to critical thinking and decision making; cognitive and teaching/learning styles; community, place, and service learning; and the application of digital technologies in studio teaching practices, all articulated in a conscious endeavor toward the betterment of the built environment.

Understanding the Effects of Cognition in Creative Decision Making: A Creativity Model for Enhancing the Design Studio Process

Abstract: The essential components of creativity—persons, processes and products—were investigated inside a creative environment by deeply focusing on the cognitive stages of the creative decision making process. Mental imagery and external representation were considered as the implicit parts of creativity for enhancing design studio process. An experiment was conducted with 15 subjects who designed the public area of a train as the task in design studio. Observation, protocol analysis, and rating scales were used as assessment tools. Considering the components of creativity, it was found that the highest correlation was between process and overall creativity. Person and product followed process, respectively. However, no significant relationship was observed between imagery and creativity in design process. Three-dimensional representations were found to lead to more creativity compared to 2-dimensional depictions.

Environments for creativity: a lab for making things

Abstract: We have, with our students, engaged in cross-disciplinary research in design. We describe parameters and principles that we have found helpful in organizing and conducting this kind of work. A variety of projects that have been developed in our group illustrate these parameters and principles. Our group focuses on making and we have come to see creativity as grounded in the ability to make things.

Revitalizing architectural design studio teaching using ICT: Reflections on practical implementations

Abstract: The advancements in ICT are reshaping the architectural design studio teaching and design practices. The digital-imperative to switch from analogue to digital mode has already begun to manifest itself at the schools of design. This paper introduces the application of two approaches representing various dimensions of revitalizing architectural design studio teaching using ICT: paperless design studio and collaborative virtual design studio. The paper reflects on the practical implementations of these two approaches including design process, communication and presentation, studio pedagogy, and students' learning. The next step ahead for architectural design studio teaching in which ICT acts as a partner is introduced.

Parametric Designing in Architecture

Abstract: Parametric design techniques offer obvious advantages for engineering and manufacturing processes, now architects emerge to apply these methods in their creation of design suggesting solutions at an earlier stage of the process. Through the coupling of architectural design with parametric modelling methods, the paper presents novel techniques that enhance architects' contribution to building processes based on parametric design creation. This allows a deeper comprehension of the design objectives and aids designers in their decisions to find solutions.

101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

Abstract: This is a book that students of architecture will want to keep in the studio and in their backpacks. It is also a book they may want to keep out of view of their professors, for it expresses in clear and simple language things that tend to be murky and abstruse in the classroom. These 101 concise lessons in design, drawing, the creative process, and presentation -- from the basics of "How to Draw a Line" to the complexities of color theory -- provide a much-needed primer in architectural literacy, making concrete what too often is left nebulous or open-ended in the architecture curriculum. Each lesson utilizes a two-page format, with a brief explanation and an illustration that can range from diagrammatic to whimsical. The lesson on "How to Draw a Line" is illustrated by examples of good and bad lines; a lesson on the dangers of awkward floor level changes shows the television actor Dick Van Dyke in the midst of a pratfall; a discussion of the proportional differences between traditional and modern buildings features a drawing of a building split neatly in half between the two. Written by an architect and instructor who remembers well the fog of his own student days, 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School provides valuable guideposts for navigating the design studio and other classes in the architecture curriculum. Architecture graduates -- from young designers to experienced practitioners -- will turn to the book as well, for inspiration and a guide back to basics when solving a complex design problem.

Augmenting Mood Boards: Flexible and Intuitive Interaction in the Context of the Design Studio

Abstract: In our studies aimed at understanding design practice we have identified the creation of mood boards as a relevant task for designers. In this paper we introduce an interactive table that supports one part of the mood-board making process (i.e. image browsing) by providing flexible and intuitive interaction for designers in the context of their design studios. We propose an image browser that: 1) merges with the real context allowing designers to work in the comfort of their existing design studio environment, 2) captures the current flexibility of interaction with physical images by allowing designers to work using hand movements, and 3) provides an alternative solution to a cluttered desk and messy design studio by using the space above the table for interaction. Exploratory evaluations show that designers were able to use the system with no prior training, and to see a practical use of the proposed image browser in their design studios.

Collaboration, computation, and creativity: media arts practices in urban youth culture

Abstract: The focus of this paper is to turn our attention to the arts as an understudied area within the computer-supported collaborative learning community and examine how studying the learning of arts and programming can open new avenues of research. We analyze urban youths' media arts practices within the context of the design studio, particularly by focusing on how collaboration, computation, and creativity play out within this context. We utilize a mixed methods design that draws upon three approaches: (1) participant observations; (2) media arts object analyses; and (3) comparative in-depth case studies. Aspects of new literacy studies, social theories of literacy, and situated learning guide the methodology and interpretation in this study. Media arts projects like these are not well understood in the research literature but have the potential to teach us about learning and literacy in the age of multimedia.

Teaching Digital Design Exploration: Form Follows…:

Abstract: This paper presents some challenges of teaching computational geometry to architectural students, and proposes a multi-level pedagogical scheme introducing associative geometry and parametric modeling/design into architectural design education. It reports on two pedagogical experiences: one held in the context of a spatial geometry course in the first year of education; and another one, in a digital design studio with third-year architectural students. More specifically, it discusses the impact on design exploration of a library of interactive referents models introduced into the architectural studio. Situated in the 'performance' paradigm of digital design methods, they allow for design object explorations based on modification of architecturally meaningful features (structural, environmental, functional, etc.). The form of a design object can thus 'follow' function, structure, or even sustainability. The digital methods and the design knowledge transferred by the interactive models, together with their ...

Supporting design studio culture in HCI

Abstract: The workshop considers the needs and possibilities for integrating design studio culture within the research, education, and practice of interaction design and HCI. The primary goals of the workshop are (i) to assess the current state of design studio culture within HCI in comparison with other design disciplines, (ii) to invite participants to collaborate on the design of the artifice required to support design studio culture within HCI, and (iii) to aggregate insights from these designs into strategies for the future.

Exploring Web 2.0 for virtual design studio teaching

Abstract: Following the development of e-learning platforms, the virtual design studio (VDS) has become a new method for implementing studio-based design education in online environments. With the rise of Web 2.0, the ways in which people engage with digital technologies has been transformed.

Framework for a cross-border transdisciplinary design studio education

Abstract: This paper presents a conceptual framework for an architectural construction integration (A-CI) design studio curriculum in the context of an architectural graduate program. It aims to apply trans-disciplinary principles to educate competent graduates in sustainable global design-build practice. The A-CI curriculum emulates the computer-integrated Project Based Learning Laboratory (PBL) model developed at Stanford University by building on the PBL’s framework, and principles of learning and teaching professional, cultural, technological, and spatial differences amongst the building stakeholders. We extend it to include a project’s financial and regulatory decision-making process along the planning and architectural design processes at the earlier project development life-cycle phases. The paper will first present the literature review on transdisciplinary learning, followed by a description on the framework and principles of the PBL model before proposing how we extend the PBL model to integrate the early architectural design phase. The proposed program’s framework covers a four-semester curriculum at graduate level during which, students from participating universities in developing countries have the opportunity to participate in a global building project with students from participating universities in developed countries. An additional benefit of this curriculum is that it would allow students from both developing and developed countries to experience cross-border trans-disciplinary learning and teaching.

Gender and Learning in the Design Studio

Abstract: This study examines the gender based learning issues of architectural education in a second year undergraduate architecture studio. It focuses on students’ learning dispositions, attitudes to, and perceptions of learning in the studio, their interpersonal relations with the tutors, and their learning motivations. By examining these issues, this study highlights that gender differences do exist in certain studio environments, and provides suggestions for change that would make learning in the studio more inclusive for all students.

Inserting New Technologies in Undergraduate Architectural Curricula

Abstract: This paper describes a set of curricular tools devised to insert new technologies in an undergraduate architectural curriculum. These tools encompass three courses and laboratories with advanced geometric modeling, rapid prototyping, virtual reality, and remote collaboration facilities. The immediate goal was to set up the virtual design studio and enable creative design thinking. The ultimate goal was to fulfill the criteria of intellectual satisfaction, acquisition of specialized professional skills, and contribution for the economic development of society that should underlie university education.

Opening the digital box for design work: supporting performative interactions, using inspirational materials and configuring of place

Abstract: We started the work reported on here with the ambition to create inspirational learning environments for design and architecture students in the spirit of Weiser’s vision of taking the computer “out of the box” and making computational resources augment a design studio environment ubiquitously Computing environments are becoming populated by a rich and diverse set of devices and networks, many of them integrated with the physical landscape of space and artefacts Early attempts to take the desktop metaphor of graphical interface design back to the real desktops and whiteboards by exploring new semantics of interaction was pioneered by Weiser’s group, as well as by Buxton and others (Weiser 1993; Fitzmaurice 1995; Rekimoto 1997) The idea to have a new and more complex set of physical handles to digital media promised a richer interaction between people and technology, and, in line with Engelbart’s pioneering work on direct manipulation for graphical user interfaces (Engelbart 1962), a new set of generic interface building blocks would open up a new realm for design of interaction technologies

Introduction: legacies for the future of design studio pedagogy

Abstract: Emerging concerns about undergraduate pedagogy in universities present new opportunities for us as academics to strengthen our programs, to enhance our role in shaping education, and to improve the quality of that education. These concerns are not new; they have emerged in one form or another, from early reform efforts by John Dewey, Alfred Whitehead, and Jean Piaget, to the experimental colleges of the 1960s and the work of Benjamin Bloom and more recently David Kolb. However, in the last few years, the level of concern has intensified and the flood of reports and position papers has crested at an alarmingly high level. On the contrary, for many decades design studio pedagogy continued to be a taboo, un-debatable and untouchable. Only in the late 1970s few scholars started to discuss design education. Such discussions culminated in a comprehensive report titled Architectural Education Study by the Consortium of East Coast Schools of Architecture, published by MIT School of Architecture and Planning in 1981. Since then few efforts have emerged to explore the rituals of design pedagogy and the ills of studio teaching practices in a systematic, visionary, and research based manner. While efforts on discussing design pedagogy and on developing constructive criticisms on its underlying teaching practices are really few, those that have emerged over the past fifteen years generated some lively discussions in the literature. Currently, emphasis is placed on issues central to our own mission, as design educators, which simply involves the development of skills and critical thinking abilities for future shapers of the built environment that, in turn, respond to demands placed on design professions by society.

Distributed design studio - evaluation of three-way collaboration

Abstract: The Globally Distributed Design Studio (GDDS) was developed as a course in which students could practice virtual collaboration and designer-client interaction. Geographical distance was used to provide students with an experiential learning environment to prepare them for collaboration in a distributed product development process. The GDDS course was established between three universities. The results of a mid-term course evaluation show that most of the students found it an interesting and motivating experience and felt they had improved their skills for virtual teamwork and designer-client communication. In terms of the student feedback, the course can be seen as successful even more so for collaboration across greater distance.

Climate in the Interior Design Studio: Implications for Design Education

Abstract: Researchers in the social sciences and in education have established that the classroom climate has a significant effect on a variety of student performance variables. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze empirically the interior design studio climate to better understand the dynamics of this educational environment. The College Classroom Environment Scales (CCES) instrument, which includes six subscales related to student perceptions of the classroom climate, was administered to 41 interior design students in three studios at a large public research university. The results were compared to a theoretical model representing conventional classroom climates to determine if and how the interior design studio classroom climate varied. Additionally, this study measured the degree of variance in interior design student perceptions of the studio classroom climate relative to the student's level in the interior design program (junior, senior, fifth-year senior). Finally, this study considered the relationship between student perceptions of the studio classroom climate and their individual academic performance as reported by the instructors. The results of this study support some previous research conclusions concerning the nature of design studio education, while challenging others. The findings clearly suggest that understanding the studio classroom climate can be an effective tool for design educators as they seek to respond to changing student populations and to create educational settings that maximize student achievement.

Collaboration between students and experts in a virtual design studio

Abstract: The present study examined the design process as a socially and physically mediated activity. This activity was investigated in the context of design education, where students imported their design proposals into the virtual design studio; then, with external domain experts, they discussed and modified them. The study proposed a framework for constructing the horizontal and vertical development of design representations and for analysing expert participation through these representations within the virtual design studio. The results indicated that the design representations had an essential role in the process of continually improving design ideas. The conceptual and visual representations served as a basis for experts to evaluate and question students' design proposals or to create new ideas. In addition to the virtual collaboration, the feedback and ideas from the prototype-testing situation played a very substantial role in students' design decisions.

Prisoners at work: A collaboration between documentary photographer Andy Aitchison, Barbed graphic design studio (HMP Coldingley) and the Howard League for Penal Reform’

Abstract: The photographs reproduced here represent an alternative way of communicating the experiences of those incarcerated in British prisons through visualising and contextualising ‘prisoners at work’. The photographs were taken by Andy Aitchison, a freelance professional photographer with experience working in the prison system, and commissioned and produced as an exhibition piece by design studio, Barbed Design. Barbed Design is part of the Howard League for Penal Reform and based in HMP Coldingley, Surrey, England. The studio employs and trains prison inmates in graphic design, IT, and pre-press. Managed by an experienced graphic designer, and with regular participation from visiting experts, volunteers and professional teachers, Barbed is a working design studio. It is run as a profit-making enterprise which competes for and carries out design work for external clients. All profits are put back into the charitable work of the Howard League for Penal Reform. What is unique about Barbed, in addition to its location, is that employed prisoners are paid minimum wage. They pay tax and national insurance, start bank accounts and pensions, and they are protected by employment legislation. These conditions enable Barbed staff to contribute toward supporting their dependents while incarcerated.

A structured content and a rigorous process meet in studio pedagogy

Abstract: In his book: The Sciences of the Artificial, Herbert Simon (1976) argues that the act of design is a form of problem solving. He sees design, in its purist form, as an optimization process thereby ignoring controversial, uncertain, and unique situations.

Architecture for children: Understanding children perception towards built environment

Abstract: This paper discusses the importance to teach students on children’s architecture base on the perception of the children, not on the presumption of adults. It focuses on the approach teaching design and planning of built environment for young children, early to middle childhood. A trans-disciplinary approach is introduced integrating the knowledge of childhood development, architecture and landscape architecture. Therefore, teaching design studio on children’s architecture begins with the discussion on functioning of children to the built environment. That is, how sensorial and motoric actions as well as social activities of children are influenced by the elements of architecture and landscape. Finally, the effects on children’s functioning are discussed in terms of designing and planning buildings and landscape for the children.

Drawing Dialogues: Participatory Design Education

Abstract: This paper offers an alternative view of drawing activities within an educational design studio environment. It analyses drawing tasks using the theoretical propositions of transformative learning, educational dialogues, and conversational frameworks. Such analysis highlights the possibilities for exploring true visual communication through drawing dialogues. It describes an action research project in which students and staff engaged in a range of drawing activites in order to generate deeper visual conversations with their associated systems of participation and feedback. The paper concludes by proposing that the theories of conversational and participatory education can be applied through the drawing activities of a design studio to generate and promote drawing dialogues.

Learning through Collaboration, an Industry/School of Architecture Partnership

Abstract: In the academic year 2003/04 a collaborative industry/university project to design an exhibition stand was conducted between the Institute of Architecture at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham-based Canal Engineering. The project was incorporated into the educational curriculum through the Year 3 Design Studio course, as well as forming a ‘design competition’ judged by Canal Engineering. Four schemes were short listed from the competition entries, from which the winning scheme was selected, developed, fabricated, built and used at Interbuild 2004. The winning students were involved at all levels of the design development, fabrication and realisation. Using first hand student experiences this paper focuses on the learning opportunities brought about by collaboration and the influence upon the design studio environment, concluding on the positive effects the project introduced to both tutor/student relationships and the students’ learning experience, and suggesting the case study as a possible model for others.

Mathematical Aspects in an Architectural Design Course: The Concept, Design Assignments, and Follow-up

Abstract: This paper considers a Mathematical Aspects in Architectural Design course in a college of architecture. The course is based on experiential learning activities in the design studio. It focuses on designing architectural objects, when the design process is tackled from three geometrical complexity directions: tessellations, curve surfaces, and solids intersections. The students perform seminars, exercises, and projects in which they analyse and develop geometrical forms and implement them in design solutions. Students achievements in design and mathematics are assessed. The course follow-up indicated that the students used mathematics as a source of complex geometrical forms and a tool for designing efficient solutions.

Is a Digital Model Worth a Thousand Pictures

Abstract: This communication addresses the use of a new type of referents database in the context of an architectural design studio. It discusses the results of design experiences held with the objective to study the cognitive effects of a teaching approach based on precedents and metaphors available as interactive and reusable digital models to students. The introduction of this referent-based approach is inspired by three major principles: the largely accepted fact that the creative work of architects is highly supported by referring to precedents and metaphors; the use of algorithmic digital methods to encapsulate architectural knowledge; and the constructivist approach to architectural design education. The study finds that the role of the modeled referents is helpful for the design studio learning, and that they are most creatively used when internalized by the student.

Architectural Science and Student-Centred Learning

Abstract: The curricula of architectural schools consist of various types of teaching as design studios and supporting subjects, contextual/technology oriented design studios, or integration of these topics to design studio teaching. The present paper reviews insights from the theorectical literature on research into students' learning experiences. Deep and surface learning approaches are discussed, as well as the student-centred learning approach in design studios. The paper also aims to present and discuss the experience gained through the authors' teaching practice, especially through student engagement in learning. During the past decade, technology and science units have been carried out harmoniously with the design studio, providing and opportunity to support the design process, taking some pressure off the workload of the design project by providing solutions to some of the technical issues separately, yet in synchronization. Exercises and assignments have been organised in the form of hands-on applications or by the use of computer software, in accordance with the design project criteria. In this way, students see, touch, feel, or try to experiment various solutions.

Sharing Understanding of Assessment Criteria in Design Project Tutorials: Some Observations of, and Implications for, Practice

Abstract: This paper discusses and develops several findings out of a small action research project conducted in the context of a first year design studio. The basis for the project arose out of feedback that design critique is ambiguous, subjective and largely unqualified from the student point of view. While we implement criterion-referenced assessment (CRA) in design units, it is a struggle to identify and clearly express criteria and standards for design projects. Tutors may also struggle, as they relate their own frames of reference for design quality to the order of a CRA matrix. If the academics leading design units have difficulty with defining and agreeing on objectives and the standards against which student achievement is assessed, then where does that leave the student? The paper proposes framing a space of shared understanding by incorporating a dialogical address to criteria and standards into teaching practices, cumulatively expanding this discussion into more pervasive operational and developmental terms that embrace both the procedural and the (often delightful and surprising) declarative knowledge of our students.