Global Architect’s Education: Tearoom Database of Interactive Online Workshops (original) (raw)
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2015
Research in the built environment is moving in new directions, yet architectural discourse regarding interdisciplinary research typically focuses on how other disciplines can inform architecture. This paper examines the value of the reverse process. Where can innovative architectural research enter within interdisciplinary programs and research outside the architecture discipline and profession? At a time when many universities are creating Global Studies programs, one wonders why the concepts, research, and practices of architecture are excluded. Certainly the design of human settlement is central to many of the supranational phenomena examined in global studies research, such as climate change, rapid urbanization, disaster relief and development, human health, and sustainability broadly conceived. This paper develops a case study based on two years of participant-observation research analyzing a new interdisciplinary major in Global Studies at the University of Virginia. A complex partnership between the College of Arts & Sciences and the Schools of Architecture, Commerce, Education, Engineering, Leadership and Public Policy, and Nursing, the program structures research and courses around broad skills and methods of understanding global phenomena. Outcomes include both substantive knowledge and enduring life-enhancing skills. While Public Health, Development Studies, and Security and Justice were originally planned concentrations for the major, serious consideration of the built environment was absent. As a Professor of Architecture, I worked to integrate environmental issues within the proposed major through a Global Environments and Sustainability concentration. The architectural discipline’s knowledge and research methods, such as design thinking, participatory and practice-led research and experiential learning methods, can effectively contribute to a focus on creating innovative solutions to real-world environmental, social, and economic challenges. The Global Environments + Sustainability approach establishes a translatable model to bring research in sustainable architecture and environmental design to the forefront of Global Studies.
Rethinking the Human in Technology Drive Architecture - ENHSA International Conference Proceedings, 2011
In his magnum opus, " Truth and Method " , published in 1960, the German philosopher Hans Georg Gadamer (1900 – 2002) argued that since the enlightenment, scientific research method in general has become increasingly interrelated with the methods and norms of the so called natural sciences. As a result, humanistic fields of research have suffered as they were forced to adopt the methodology, the tools and eventually, the philosophy of natural sciences. Accordingly, for architecture this trend meant nothing less than a " process that reduced all that is worth knowing about the making of architecture to transparent productive knowledge " (Vesely, D. 2004). It can be argued that this reduction remains one of the central issues that confront the so called " digital " or " IT driven " architectures of today. This is outlined by the problems arising from the integration of a medium, digital tools in this case, that deals primarily with quantifiable elements in an environment (architectural design) that must take into consideration elements that are impossible to reduce to quantifiable variables. The roots, as well as the repercussions of this inherent dichotomy in contemporary architecture is a matter that merits serious discussion, and can be traced to the gap that has appeared between architectural praxis and architectural theory (Hays, M. 2000). Faced with the present digital revolution it is useful to recall Mies Van der Rohe's observations, when faced with the " new time " imposed by the industrial/technological revolution. Mies stated that we must set new values and point out ultimate goals in order to gain new criteria. For the meaning and justification of each epoch, even the new one, lies only in providing conditions under which the spirit can exist (Neumeyer, F. 1994). The issues outlined by Mies, remain in many ways, the issues with which contemporary architecture, facing the challenges of the digital revolution of present times, has to deal with. Ultimately, the question of digital (or IT) architectures is not only a matter of " what we design and how we design it " as illustrated by various digital architecture theorists (Kolarevic B.2000, Lynn, G., 1999, Mitchell, W. 1990, etc) but also a matter of WHY we design (Martin, R. 2005). It can be theorized that the WHY can stem from the process of architectural education and the architectural culture it cultivates. As a result, it is crucial to examine the reaction of the architectural educational system vis a vis the introduction of the digital in architectural design. Kastoriadis, in his essay " Psychoanalysis and the demand of autonomy " (Kastoriadis, K. 1989) layed out the following principles that he considered of paramount importance to any educational system: a) An educational system that cannot logically answer the question of those subjected to its education " why are we learning this? " remains incomplete, and b) an educational system that does not afford the maximum possible independence to those educated, is bad. In this regard, if we take for granted the changes of the digital revolution in the field of architecture, we must ask ourselves if the processes of architectural education that are emerging in the wake of the digital are incomplete, or even bad. This line of thought is further discussed in the paper while emphasis is placed on issues related to architectural education in the digital era (Ascanowicz, A. 2007). The discussion in the paper poses questions regarding the integration of digital media in the design process and highlights the need for a re-evaluation of both the role of Information Technologies in architecture as well as the educational framework that supports it.
2018
Keynote Presentation as part of KLAF 2018, Kuala Lumpur Architecture Festival, Malaysia, 4 July 2018. ________ DATUM:EDU 04 July 2O18, 9:OOam - 6:00pm, Plenary Hall KL Convention Centre The architectural profession is today confronted with an increasingly complex and challenging environment. From the local to the global, the international to the vernacular, architects have to continually adjust and adapt their practice in a fast changing milieu to engage with new shifting conditions both within the profession and externally. The new generation of architects are called upon to provide better answers and solutions, to lead and inspire in a world requiring ideas, beauty, optimism and inspiration. As part of the yearly Datum:KL conference, the inaugural Datum:EDU conference is a one-day event that seeks to explore the different methods of pedagogical approaches and formats of institutions and academies across the region and internationally. How does architectural education keep track with the CHANGES in our contexts and circumstances to remain relevant in an age of the contingent. Delegates from the South East Asia (ASEAN region), Malaysia and internationally will gather in Kuala Lumpur this July 4th, 2018 to meet, network and discuss current issues on architectural education and its direction.
The challenge of change: addressing global forces vs local realities in architectural education
Conference Proceedings: The Challenge of Change: Addressing Global Forces vs. Local Realities in Architectural Education, 2016
Multiple, abrupt and often unexpected changes that cities face today due to globalization, massive internal flows of labor and migration, climate change, economic fluctuations and terrorism pose challenges of increasing complexity. On one hand, important global forces underpin the aforementioned changes, while on the other hand there seem to be alternative effects in cities around the world whose understanding entails taking into account local socio-spatial realities. Tensions between global forces and local identities entail a respective transformation of the built environment where the everyday life of the diverse and different groups living in cities unfolds. Contemporary urban contexts lead to an enormous increase in the complexity of the challenges architects have to deal with and have an evident impact on design practice and the design process itself; the latter has gradually become a complex process involving an increasing number of agents and types of knowledge. The future actors of the built environment, therefore, need to be trained to address effectively continuous changes and transformations, instability and the increased tensions between global dimensions and local contexts. Design studio pedagogy, still considered as the backbone of architectural education, needs to be informed and encountered in its broadest sense. This paper seeks to address these issues, in the educational context of the design studio offering a diversity of options on possible futures of architectural education. How well do we prepare students in an age of change and uncertainty? The tensions between global dynamics, cultural diversity and local realities are explored highlighting potential 'opportunities' to redefine the core of education for our future graduates by rethinking and redesigning the teaching and learning relationship.
Doctoral dissertation, 2020
Understanding cultural differences and their relations is necessary in a world marked by the complex discrepancies between various cultural interpretations. As our indigenous culture largely determines the way we see the world, it is only through a conscious decision that we are able to find mutual understanding and a common ground in our search for sustainable solutions to contemporary global challenges. This thesis discusses global sustainability, cultural locality and humanitarian crises in the framework of architectural design practice and interdisciplinary pedagogies fundamental to integrating the framework into architectural education. It positions the discussion in the context of higher education and explores transdisciplinary and socio-cultural dimensions of architecture and their societal impacts. The overarching research question covering the main themes of the thesis is: What happens in the interface of architecture, cultures and disciplines from the point of view of university pedagogy? The aim of this research is to develop a pedagogical framework for interdisciplinary architectural education that would respond to global humanitarian challenges in a variety of cultural contexts. The dissertation is a monograph written in English. The first part of the research discusses the thematic areas of cultural locality and humanitarian challenges in the framework of architectural practice and presents an ethnographic analysis of data collected from the fieldwork carried out during architectural design projects in low-resource communities in the African context. The research questions framing these discussions are: ‘What is the role of architecture and architects in the context of global humanitarian challenges’? and ‘What are the cultural features one needs to acknowledge when working in a cultural context other than one’s own?’ The reading of the data initiates a hermeneutic circle, revealing cultural aspects, common denominators and relations that determine spatial arrangements and the ways we as humans conceptualise and inhabit space in different cultural contexts, as well as cultural features affecting the design profession and building processes. The main categories identified are related to a) context, b) culture, c) knowledge and technology and d) society. Secondly, this dissertation scrutinises interdisciplinary higher education in architecture, and discusses the various pedagogical developments that encourage the accumulation of cultural understanding and the societal development of low-resource communities in an interdisciplinary university context. The thematic research questions are: ‘What kind of pedagogical frameworks are applicable for interdisciplinary architectural education?’ and ‘What kind of pedagogical developments encourage the accumulation of knowledge of cultural locality in a university context?’ The realities described in this book are rooted in real life experiences, tested in the field and discussed in the context of education. The connections of cultural localities in architecture and interdisciplinary university pedagogy become tangible in course planning, studio teaching and in the forging of university programmes that aim at creating connections and entry points between disciplines. Amidst the supercomplexities of our realities, we cannot but accept that this discussion is necessarily open-ended and avoids enclosed definitions; other discussions, dimensions and emerging interpretations are – and should – always be present and possible. Keywords: cultural locality, complexity, globalisation, critical regionalism, cross-cultural design practices, architecture, architect’s role, architectural pedagogy, interdisciplinarity, higher education.
Architecture in the Wild: Architectural Research in a Digital and Global World
ARCC/EAAE 2010 International Conference on Architectural Research Published & professionally reviewed by: Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC), 2010
In order to define the place of architectural research, the first section of this paper uncovers some basic conditions of the relationships between theory and architectural practice. In a second section, the authors analyze a concrete empirical example of research. In a third section, the authors present a possible analysis of this architectural research core.
Architectural education in the digital age
Alexandria Engineering Journal, 2019
Architecture is a technology-intensive discipline. It uses technology, both in the process of design and also in production. It is believed that digital computer technology has a strong impact on architectural design, architectural teaching as well as in practice. Image architecture, digital simulation and virtual scene among other applications have gradually become progressive architectural design phrases. There exists a necessity that architectural teaching should adapt to such transformations. With the rapid development of computer applications in the architectural profession, the need to find a framework to integrate the computer applications with architectural curriculum has increased. Hence, it became mandatory to examine the computer integration's impact on architectural schools, at the same time explore the architecture profession's needs in order to help find an efficient framework for architectural education. This paper studies the integration of computer applications in the top 20 international architecture schools as well as in eight architectural departments in Egyptian universities, with the aim of understanding the current educational status nationally and internationally. A survey was conducted on a sample of architects in order to investigate the profession needs in various architectural fields. The study is carried out to bridge the gap between architectural education and architectural profession.