Showing papers on "Design studio published in 2008"

Architectural Education after Schön: Cracks, Blurs, Boundaries and Beyond

Abstract: It is quite extraordinary that architectural education remained un-theorised until the 1970s when Donald Schon, following his studies of the design studio, put forward the notion that design studio learning simulated real professional action (1983, 1985, 1987). Schon subsequently presented architectural education as a paradigm for all professional education (1987). Schon identified a number of key elements in architectural education that together constituted his theories of ‘reflective learning’ and the ‘reflective practitioner’. Central to Schon’s understanding of learning to design were two concepts. Firstly, the necessity for students to engage in studio-based projects that simulated the complexities of real life projects. Secondly, the importance of reflection in the design process that was constituted of: reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action and most critically reflection-on-action that allowed students to observe and re-align their thinking with the ‘expert’ thinking of their tutors. A...

Agile user centered design: enter the design studio - a case study

Abstract: In this paper we describe the merger of user centered design into agile (team) development practice as manifest in a one day design studio. Benefits and challenges to a design studio approach are discussed, and the evolution of one design using the design studio process is presented.

Correspondences and Divergences between Teachers and Students in the Evaluation of Design Creativity in the Design Studio

Abstract: The assessment of design creativity is a fundamental issue in the educational curriculum in schools of architecture. Assessment in the form of criticism is carried out in the design studio, where students acquire skills and knowledge, forge judgments about their design outcomes, and get feedback from their instructors. This study focuses on the assessment of creativity in design problem solving. The major objective of this research was to test to what extent architects and design students share the same conceptions of creativity, and how similar they are. Contrasting differences were found between the two groups. While architects focused on innovation aspects, students paid more attention to operational aspects, such as dealing with design requirements. It is maintained that handling these differences by means of intervention programs in the design studio may promote the acquisition of design processes and procedures by the students, and also that, it will contribute to bridging the gap between the way te...

The Design Studio: Interface Design for Agile Teams

Abstract: In this report we describe our experience with the merger of user centered design (UCD) into agile (team) development practice as manifest in a one day design studio. We will walk through our process from the preliminary design research through the conclusion of the day-long workshop that is the design studio by describing those activities in the context of one project. We will follow by enumerating and explaining the benefits we have observed from taking a studio approach to design.

From CAD to BIM: The Experience of Architectural Education with Building Information Modeling

Abstract: In the spring of 2006, Montana State University began to include a Building Information Modeling (BIM) program in its digital graphics and design curriculum. Since then, an increasing number of students have had the experience of designing with BIM programs and comparing their processes and final products with other students who are using traditional Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs. While 2-dimensional CAD and 3dimensional BIM models may simply be tools to accomplish the same end, they provide two radically different approaches to learning architectural design. This paper discusses the implications of BIM with respect to the student experience. Within this topic, the paper describes the classes in which students are using BIM software and exactly how the experience of designing with BIM is different than the experience of designing in two dimensions. The paper also outlines the ways in which we can expect BIM to alter architectural education in the near term as well as in the future. Lastly, the paper addresses the concern that many have that Building Information Modeling hinders creativity. The paper concludes with some recommendations as to how BIM can be used to the greatest advantage in the classroom. Opportunities in the Curriculum The architectural curriculum at Montana State University currently offers students the opportunity to learn Building Information Modeling programs in two separate classes. The first is a digital graphics course for sophomore-level students. In this class, a variety of software programs are introduced in the hopes that students will get a sense for which of these tools they would like to become more familiar with and use during the course of their design education. Drawing programs, such as AutoCAD, free-form 3-d modeling programs such as 3D Rhinoceros and BIM programs like ArchiCAD and Revit Building are introduced along with rendering programs and several components of the adobe creative suite such as Photoshop and InDesign. The second course, offered in the final year of the undergraduate program, is a required construction documents class emphasizing BIM modeling programs and providing students with another opportunity to learn and use BIM programs. This course involves the creation of a small set of construction documents and also covers cost estimating and specification writing. In this course, the time saved by using a BIM is significant and therefore it is at this time that many students genuinely learn to use a BIM program. In the design studio however, students at Montana State use a broad array of rendering and drawing methods. Some create 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional presentation materials by hand. Others handdraw or use AutoCAD for 2-dimensional drawings and render free-form digital models for perspective views of the building. A growing number use BIM modeling tools in the studio. In the final years of the program these tools are especially useful in the design studio; by this time, we are required to integrate electrical, mechanical and plumbing

Helping Education Students Understand Learning through Designing.

Abstract: This article describes a course in which graduate students in education learn practical and theoretical aspects of educational design by creating technologies for learning. The course was built around three themes: Analyzing technologies, in which students study state­ of-the-art technologies and interview their designers; design studio, in which students design their own technologies using an instructional model that was developed in this study; and theory, in which literature is reviewed. Outcomes illustrate tensions between students' professed beliefs about learning and their actual design practices in four dimensions that characterize the technologies they designed: Learner activity, Collaboration, Autonomy, and Content accessibility. Via peer-negotiating of these tensions in each of the course themes, students have developed their skills to design educational technologies and increased the coherence of their epistemological understanding of how people learn.

SketSha --- The Sketch Power to Support Collaborative Design

Abstract: This paper presents a new supporting tool for distant collaborative design, named SketSha. This prototype supports the early stages of design and more particularly the initial and crucial step of free-hand sketching. SketSha and its particular interface, named the virtual desktop, aim to keep from Front-To-Front collaborative work all the benefits and to appoint to them some of the nowadays IT facilities, in order to manage in a realistic and efficient way a long distance collaboration and to effectively serve the designers' needs. Our hope is to re-introduce the social aspects and group interactions, crucial for real system efficacy and adaptation to the business world. The paper presents the fundamental assumptions made to implement SketSha, that are questioned and analyzed through a real-size experimentation featuring 30 architecture and building engineering students, working together in real-time in different locations (Belgium and France). This experiment and the necessary survey open up interesting fields of investigations, such as the relevance of the sketch stage and the proposed device to support distant collaborative design in architecture and the benefit it represents for students, in a pedagogical point of view, to merge the IT aspects and the design studio. The methodology and the replicability are analyzed to increase the level and quality of our students' formation and, finally, a critic of SketSha constitutes a benefit for the developing teams.

Studio life : The construction of digital design competence

Abstract: This paper analyses how interaction designers act and think in two different studio settings in order to understand what potential each setting presents for the development of digital design competence. We first observed interaction design students working in a design studio and then in a computer augmented interactive space. In the studio, the students oscillated continuously between individual and cooperative work, while in the interactive space, the work was focused on shared displays. The results describe how students collaborate to develop digital design competence, which not only includes competence in using digital media, but also competence in envisioning and articulating someone else’s future use of digital media.

The Iterative Design of a Virtual Design Studio.

Abstract: Our journey in the development of the Design eXchange has taken us a long way and there is a long way yet to go. We began with a vision for encoding design knowledge and creating online virtual des ...

Intelligence-based design: a sustainable foundation for worldwide architectural education

Abstract: Architectural theory as currently taught in modern universities throughout the world no longer provides a plausible basis for the discipline and practice of architecture. Students studying within this model are left to their own inventions if they hope to gain an architectural degree. Forced to formulate a body of work constrained by the paradigm of contemporary design, students learn to copy fashionable images without understanding their geometry; or simply invent forms that look as if they possess a contemporary sense of architecture. By their very nature, such forms are irrelevant to human needs and sensibilities. Contrary to what students are led to believe, this practice does not provide a broader base for creativity, but instead effectively restricts choices to a very narrow design vocabulary. Most architectural institutions continue to propagate a curricular model that has sustained their particular ideals and ideologies for decades. While many innovative didactic materials and ideas for revising the architectural curriculum are available today, they are often overlooked or ignored. If implemented, these new ideas could drastically improve the educational model, allowing students the world over to participate in a learning experience specific to their immediate and local context. By re-situating the education of an architect in more practical and contextual terms, we emphasize components of building design that relate directly to human existence, human perception, and the human values and beliefs that have for millennia served to establish culture and identity. A new model of learning is developed here for students wanting to make real architecture, and for educators and practitioners that seek the same. The following proposal is predicated on the knowledge of human interaction with the physical world and the necessity of corporeal engagement with the built environment. Furthermore, our model re-institutes values in the practice and education of architects, values that once sprang forth naturally from local cultures and traditions throughout the world, but which have in recent decades been usurped by the influence of global capital.

Distance Learning in Architectural Design Studio: Two Comparative Studies with One Onsite Teaching

Abstract: In this paper three teaching experiences of supervising and discussing architectural design projects are compared. They were developed to extend access to students living in different states of Brazil. It also provided an opportunity for testing whether the quality of teaching architecture at distance was at least the same as on site. The first teaching experience was carried out through on site teaching. The second was developed through a low cost real time collaboration system, RTCS, based on a hosted service. The third involved developing the same activities through a low cost RTCS based on dedicated server. The results show, particularly in the third experience, that the distant education in architecture is viable and effective.

Architectural education : peer culture in design studio and its relationship with designing interest

Abstract: Architectural design studio is an active educational site: it is not only to be defined as a visible space; it is also a way of thinking and learning. Within its physical and virtual qualities, there seems to be the presence ofunique peer cultural signifying practices that are influential to the learning and social process ofthe design students. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge concerning this intriguing and invisible phenomenon. This study is an attempt to investigate this phenomenon by unfolding its hidden manifesting elements and their relationships to the multiple events of design and social cognition. At the same time, this investigation will examine its possible benefits for the learning of design among students both at the personal and interpersonal level. This study also attempts to identify the fundamental differences between studio peer culture and other cultures, in different fields of study. It is considered as a useful approach by looking at this phenomenon from a different point ofview to verify its possible significant influences. A multiple-strategy that combined qualitative and quantitative approach for comparative measures was employed in this investigation. Such a strategy allows for the triangulation of results and findings in order to provide a richer picture of the cultural phenomenon being studied. The unfolding process began with qualitative investigation by using individual interviews to identify possible shared commonalities among the studio learning peers. Following this investigation was a focus group study that involved participants who had dual learning experiences in the design studio and other learning environments. Subsequently, a survey study was formulated based on 'constructs' identified in earlier findings. This was for the purposes of comparative and quantitative investigation oflarger samples. From the various stages of investigation, several interesting findings were revealed. There were notable commonalities shared among the design studio peers. Findings indicated that they had particular ways of learning and socializing with their peers. These were manifested in the form of meaningful words, models ofreferences, non-verbal behaviours and intrinsic values. These shared commonalities were further exemplified by findings from the comparative investigation. The findings revealed that studio peers had fundamental differences in the way they construed their learning, situational and social events in comparison with peers from different learning environments. One of the key contributions ofthis study is the provision of a more meaningful approach to understanding studio peer culture and its influences on design learning. This may also serves as an observational tool for design learning process and development.

Distributed collaboration in design education: practising designer and client roles

Abstract: Changes in industry require new forms of design education that better prepare students for the realities of concurrent engineering, increased involvement of suppliers in agile manufacturing, and the digitisation and virtualisation of collaboration. This article outlines these challenges for virtual design collaboration and reports first experiences of a distributed design studio (DDS) established between three European universities. In the DDS, students were taught core skills for virtual collaboration and could practice designer-client interaction in an experiential learning environment. The results of a course evaluation (during, at the end and one year after) show that students positively evaluated their own skill development. Student and staff feedback indicated that the embodiment phase proved to be more challenging and the evidence showed it coincided with reduced communication. Overall, the studio format can be seen as a suitable and realistic environment for practicing the relevant skills for virtual teamwork and designer-client communication. As a teaching initiative across institutions, it also served as personal development for staff.

Emerging technologies in a tele-collaborative design studio between the Pennsylvania State University and Carleton University

Abstract: The research project investigates the use of a network-enabled platform (NEP) involving a combination of technologies that include: high bandwidth network infrastructure; high-performance visualization and computer cluster solutions; standard and high definition tele-presence/communication infrastructure; co-located immersive environments; and a range of modeling and imaging applications. The NEP enabled student teams in multiple locations to collaborate via on-demand, synchronous access to project data, visualization, modeling, simulation and multimodal interpersonal communication tools through a web service based dashboard interface that hid the logistic and technical complexities to the user. As a preliminary report on a proof-of-concept design studio conducted during the spring semester of 2007 between the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS) at Carleton University in Ottawa and the Immersive Environment Laboratory (IEL) at Pennsylvania State University, the paper first describes the implementation of this network-centric collaborative design platform. The report articulates the “staging” of the conditions of possibility for a dynamic interplay between technological mediation and the reality of making, then compares the use of high bandwidth technology with customized symmetrical toolsets in the tele-collaborative educational environment, versus commercial toolsets deployed over moderate bandwidth connections. In each setting, the collaborative environment is assessed according to issues encountered by students and design outcomes. The effectiveness of the digitally mediated collaborative studio is also gauged in terms of student reaction to the learning process via feedback surveys and questionnaires.

Online learning of visual design course: Framework for the interactive learning

Abstract: The spread of online learning challenges for all disciplines, especially visual design education, in Australian universities to develop a pedagogically effective online learning model. Traditionally studio-based visual design education deals with various visual materials and is conducted through regular consultations between teacher and students and communications between students and students. This denotes that merely transplanting course content into an online learning setting could arise many pedagogical issues. The paper aims to define the pedagogical features of online visual design learning through an empirical study. A visual design course was redesigned to offer in both off-campus and oncampus mode via Blackboard®. To embed the design studio education features in the online delivery, the course development was focused on quantitative and qualitative aspects of design practice and effective communication. Based on data analysis and students feedback on the course, this paper suggests a framework and practical implications for developing and teaching an online-based visual design course in terms of creating an effective online learning experience.

Simuiating dynamic forces in design with special effects tools

Abstract: Special effects technology can facilitate dynamic sketching in the early stage of a design project without needing time-consuming effort. This form of sketching was tested in a design studio taught by the author. The study of dynamic materials and oceanfront site conditions set the stage at the beginning of a design process for a more comprehensive analysis later on. On the one hand, the risk of using special effects tools is that the visual look can seem convincing, but the apparent result is based upon an overly simplified set of assumptions. On the other hand, the use of such technology can be very stimulating to the design imagination without requiring complex analysis that may bog down the free flow of ideas. Once a greater commitment is made to a particular design proposal, more complete physical analysis and modeling can be undertaken to help avoid the risk of false first impressions. In the studio, cloth simulation was used to develop the design of tension membrane structures (tents) that retracted and unfurled in a series of complex movements. Fluid dynamics effects were used in the design and development of related boat dock facilities. A wind-tunnel simulation tool was used to explore the performance of the tension-membrane fabrics under varied wind loads. The visualization techniques were complemented by ¼ to ½ scale assembled components created by rapid prototyping. The use of an actual wind-tunnel further tested the prototypes in some cases. On the whole, quickly implemented special effects were the starting point for reacting to and developing some initial design concepts and served as the basis for more complete physical modeling of prototypes later on. Using animation as a design method is well established in other work (Hirschberg 06). Animation is also a helpful way to work out the step by step assembly of complex architectural form (Mark 95). The special effects tools permit a larger range of initial design alternatives to be initially considered that are subsequently narrowed down by physically based prototypes that are more predictive of real world performance.

Individual learning styles and design performance in the metaphorical reasoning process

Abstract: Metaphor plays a key role in design practice. By framing problems in particular ways, metaphors not only impose structure on a design, but also determine the interpretations that can be made and approaches that can be taken. With the metaphorical reasoning process also it requires a wide range of skills essential for design, metaphors are suggested as a key area for investigating competencies that students may lack and therefore, as a means of helping instructors direct support for individuals in the design studio. Kolb's experiential learning theory, and the notion of learning styles, is proposed as a means of exploring the role of these competencies in different phases of metaphorical reasoning and for different kinds of individual learning tendencies. These relationships are then stated as hypotheses to be used in further investigations. Finally, recommendations for design education are suggested.

Motivational Aspects of Creativity in Students and Architects: Implications for Education

Abstract: The research was concerned with the study of motivation for creativity. The goal was to assess motivation for creativity in design students based on the Cognitive Orientation theory which defines motivation as a function of a set of themes identified as relevant for creativity. It was expected to find differences in the scores of the themes between more creative and less creative students, as assessed by the students themselves, the architects, and the design studio teachers. Participants were 52 architectural students who were administered a design task, and a questionnaire about the Cognitive Orientation of Creativity (COQ-CR). The independent variables were the scores of the themes for motivation obtained from the COQ-CR, and the dependent variables were design creativity as assessed by design students, expert architects, and design instructors. Findings support the validity of the COQ-CR for assessing motivation in creativity and of the cognitive motivational approach to creativity. The results showed which attitudes and personality tendencies promote creativity. Significant differences in regard to several motivational themes were found between more creative and less creative students in the three groups of evaluators. Themes characterizing the more creative students were: readiness to make efforts and invest in the design task, willingness to use talent to achieve originality, freedom to apply individual criteria, and delve into the unknown. These findings suggest important implications for improving design education which are discussed in the paper.

Do you Moodle? Experiences with a virtual learning environment

Abstract: The authors follow up on their long-standing interest in Virtual Learning Environments (VLE’s). They sketch out connected terms and definitions, taking into account the framework conditions of a design studio context as well as regular teaching. Subsequently, they describe the MOODLE-platform and supply arguments for selection along with alternatives. They particularly focus on enriching interaction targeted towards learning effects and discuss the connected pedagogical models. The selective use of features is also taken into consideration. The contribution concludes with a discussion of the pros and cons of MOODLE.

Designing a Utopia: An Architectural Studio Experience on David Harvey's Edilia

Abstract: The design of a utopia was devised as a studio project in order to bring critical thinking into the design studio and to stimulate creativity. By suggesting a utopia, the pedagogical aim was to improve progressive thinking and critical thought in the design education of architectural students — and also future architects. From this perspective, the utopia called Edilia, from the book Spaces of Hope by the critical geographer David Harvey, was taken as a basis for the students to design a utopic environment. In addition to Harvey's book, students were not only challenged by the idea of an alternative society but also by the idea of a different space. Utopia, as an inter-disciplinary subject, brought various issues and different perspectives into the design studio such as public and private realms, everyday life, work, leisure, nature, technology and sustainability. With the help of the concept of utopia, a theoretically-informed design studio enabled students to criticise the existing world, dream about an alternative one and make the design of their dreams in a creative way.

Students’ Quest For Sustainability

Abstract: Sustainability was an umbrella term in a design studio in one of the architecture schools in Turkey. Students were offered a site on the flat plains of Central Anatolia. The objective of this paper is to depict certain design propositions that investigate sustainability in cultural facilities reinterpreting the organizational and spatial structure of the existing surroundings. The students were asked to design a project focusing on the following issues: • To design a culture complex or building near the existing fabric of an ecology-friendly “Village Institute” on the site, these institutes being widely acknowledged as a significant attempt of the early years of the Republic to create an integrated education and production system in Anatolia. • To develop a spatial program to discover new potentials for a contemporary culture complex, providing its users with a maximum of outdoor facilities. • To foster a design for a zero-carbon environment through recycling the water of the nearby river and through waste management and the design of an eco-farm, balancing strategies for emission and dispersion on the site. Examination of the integrated system of the institutes, which fits with the distinct character of the place and the global culture and environment, laid the groundwork for the design solutions. Ultimately a site visit, discussions with experts in the studio, research studies and a series of workshops allowed for very fruitful propositions. These projects also incorporated miscellaneous ecostrategies discussed in the studio toward the goal of a zero-carbon environment.

Consider Multiple Solutions

Abstract: Design teams rarely consider multiple solution ideas before committing to one. They often forget that an even better idea could be just around the corner, and consider alternative ideas only when they don't like the current one. Using sketchboarding, design studio, or a combination of these two techniques can let teams quickly ideate over many solutions. They then have a chance to arrive at a solution that no one individual had thought of.

Distance Learning in SecondLife: A Virtual Crit

Abstract: Architectural education has not been well served by distance educa- tion tools despite their many advantages. Educators are reluctant to use these tools due to the preconception of the unique nature of the studio-based learning of design. Architecture in contrast to other disciplines is taught by coaching methodologies, and involves non-verbal forms of communication. The review system in architecture educa- tion or 'criticism' is the most common learning method used in the design studio. It engages students and tutors in a reflective conversation about the project in a graphic and oral communication. In this investigation SecondLife, an online 3D world that offers spatial capabilities via interactive avatars, is used as a computer-mediated tool for text and graphic-based communication in a virtual critique. This paper presents a demonstration experiment applied in a pilot study of doctoral research which explores the use of 3D virtual worlds as distance learning tools in ar- chitectural education. The main aim of this paper is to observe the potentialities of the use of SecondLife as a computer-mediated tool for communication in distance learning situations in architecture. This was done by applying a 'virtual crit' where students com- municated with their tutor and displayed their projects at a distance in a virtual learn- ing space designed purposely in SecondLife. Using multiple methods of data collection, based on an electronic observation of the experiment, the paper explores the usability of SecondLife as communication supplementary of real interaction. This paper pres- ents initial descriptive results of the experiment proposals for modification.

An education of the urban tissue design studio to reorganize the urban environments in downtown Tokyo ?A case study of the Shimbashi areas of Tokyo ?

Abstract: AND

Exploring architectural education in the digital age: learning, reflection and flexion

Abstract: This paper reports on work carried out within the module ‘Digital Space & Society as part of the MSc Adaptive Architecture & Computation course at UCL. I describe my approach in investigating possibilities for integrating digital media and computation into a module taught to students coming predominantly from a design background. The teaching adopts the design studio culture, which integrates: teaching, discovery (research), and application (practice). Here I present an attempt to develop new ways that extend beyond conventionally applied methods within traditional architectural education by adopting project based learning that is carried out in the real world. The project is driven by my recent research activities. Donald Schon’s concept of the ‘knowledge in action’ provides a useful framework for interpreting my approach.

Journals of a Digital Design Studio

Abstract: 1. This week I remembered what it feels like to stop thinking and just pro­ duce. When you’re forced in that way, you sort of swallow your fear and hes­ itation, and move forward into a place you didn’t think you’d be able to go. I was resenting turning the analog dia­ grams into digital ones, but it had to get done. I found myself looking at the source image (a Richard Diebenkorn painting) in a whole new way and I ended up having fun using Illustrator to do what pens can’t. I think the ma­ jor reason I have so much bitterness toward the computer is that it does such a poor job imitating the quality of hand made work. However, what I am coming to terms with is the fact that it can actually help to create okay stuff, it’s just entirely different. So analog/ digital can go hand-in-hand, but like you were saying, you can’t just let one be the clean-cut copy of the other.